The SoulTaker


The SoulTaker is an anime series that focuses on seventeen-year-old Kyosuke Date who was killed by his mother Mio Date, and afterward gained the ability to turn into an incredibly powerful winged mutant known as "The SoulTaker" and that he has a long-lost twin sister named Runa, and that his past is all a lie.
The series was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and was Tatsunoko's first anime to utilize digital animation as well as the first anime to be broadcast on high-definition television, and features a seven-episode spinoff OVA miniseries featuring the character Komugi titled Nurse Witch Komugi, albeit Shinbo did not return to direct the OVAs.

Plot

After being stabbed in the chest by his mother, Kyosuke Date is resurrected to find out he has a twin sister named Runa, and the ability to transform into the amazingly strong, powerful and dangerous superhuman mutant known as the SoulTaker. As he seeks out his twin sister, he is being pursued by the strange mutant doctors and nurses of the hospital, led by his own father, Richard Vincent, as well as the evil Kirihara corporation, led by Yui Kirihara, who are also tracking down Runa for their own malevolent purposes.
Assisting him along the way are the mysterious Shiro Mibu and the nurse mutant girl Komugi Nakahara, who betrayed the Hospital out of strong romantic love for Kyosuke.

Characters

;Kyosuke Tokisaka Date
;Shiro Mibu
;Komugi Nakahara
;Maya Misaki
;Yui Kirihara
;Dr. Richard Vincent
;Oribia Carlaile
;Dr. Kyoya
;Mio Date
;Tsubaki Tokisaka
;Runa Tokisaka

Terminology

  • Applicon Buster - A very deadly antidote that was created by Daigo Tokisaka for the sole purpose of destroying the Beta Applicon. It is powerful enough to be hurled like missiles to wipe out all mankind on Earth.
  • Beta Applicon - A virus capable of turning humans into mutants by altering their DNA.
  • Flicker - These are fragments of Runa that she generates as well as being reflections of her existence.
  • Hospital - An organization founded by its director Richard Vincent and many surviving mutants to relieve those who were infected with the Beta Applicon.
  • Kirihara Corporation - Originally a funeral business company, the Kirihara Corporation is a large global conglomerate. Armed with cutting-edge science and power, facilities and factories are set up around the world.

Production

In 1996, studio J.C.Staff collaborated with and provided director Akiyuki Shinbo for Tatsunoko Productions' 1996 OVA New Hurricane Polymar at the request of the character designer, Yasuomi Umetsu; and succeeding the end of New Hurricane Polymar, Shinbo and Tatsunoko Productions started work on another project which was ultimately never produced. Shinbo was then asked to direct the cutscenes for the Tatsunoko-produced video game Tatsunoko Fight and was then asked to direct an original series titled "Warhead", which eventually became "The SoulTaker."
Directing the series, Shinbo admitted to being more focused on the series' aesthetic and visual presentation than the story itself, which he left the entirety of the organization of to frequent collaborator and writer Mayori Sekijima. Character designer/chief animation director Akio Watanabe and visual director/mechanical designer Toshiaki Tetsura, also previous collaborators of Shinbo's, were invited to participate on the series as well. Together, Shinbo and Tetsura experimented with a technique of using the former's cleaned-up and enlarged storyboards for the purpose of using them as background layouts.
The series found itself in various production troubles, most notably in that Tatsunoko Productions and the team were unable to find studios who were willing to take on outsourcing jobs for the series. This set the series' production schedule back in the long run, and in total only three of the episodes were produced outside of Tatsunoko Productions: episodes 3 and 6, which were produced at Kyoto Animation; and episode 10, which was produced by Triangle Staff and Shaft. Shinbo lauded the studio's efforts, saying he was impressed with their quality. Triangle Staff and Shaft's episode in particular had a rough production schedule due to episode director and storyboard artist Shintarou Inokawa's storyboards being very late, and Shinbo was surprised that Shaft was interested in handling it despite the tighter deadline.
In a 2012 interview, Shinbo mentioned having interest in making a prequel or sequel series to The SoulTaker.

Anime

This thirteen episode-series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, premiered on the Japanese television network WOWOW on April 4, 2001, and ended exactly 3 months later on July 4, 2001. Two days after the last episode aired, North American anime licensor Geneon Entertainment USA licensed the series and released it on 4 volumes on DVD and VHS. In 2004, Geneon had re-released the series under their Signature Series label.
It originally aired in the United States on TechTV as part of Anime Unleashed, and later aired on G4 after the TechTV merger.
The series' opening theme is "Soul Taker" by JAM Project while the ending theme is "Memory" by Shinji Kakijima.

General notes