document_title: Battle of Fort Sumter

question_text: who fired the first shot in the civil war

text: Battle of Fort Sumter

text: Background

text: Secession

text: On December 20, 1860, shortly after Abraham Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1860, South Carolina adopted an ordinance declaring its secession from the United States of America and, by February 1861, six more Southern states had adopted similar ordinances of secession. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at Montgomery, Alabama. A February peace conference met in Washington, D.C., but failed to resolve the crisis. The remaining eight states declined pleas to join the Confederacy.[5][6]

text: The seceding states seized numerous Federal properties within their boundaries, including buildings, arsenals, and fortifications. President James Buchanan protested but took no military action in response. Buchanan was concerned that an overt action could cause the remaining slave states to leave the Union, and while he acknowledged there was no constitutional authority for a state to secede, he could find no constitutional authority for him to act to prevent it.[7][8]

text: Forts of Charleston

text: Several forts had been constructed in Charleston's harbor, including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, which were not among the sites seized initially. Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island was the oldest—it was the site of fortifications since 1776—and was the headquarters of the U.S. Army garrison. However, it had been designed as a gun platform for defending the harbor, and its defenses against land-based attacks were feeble; during the crisis, the Charleston newspapers commented that sand dunes had piled up against the walls in such a way that the wall could easily be scaled. When the garrison began clearing away the dunes, the papers objected.[9][10][11]

text: Major Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery regiment had been appointed to command the Charleston garrison that fall because of rising tensions. A native of Kentucky, he was a protégé of Winfield Scott, the general in chief of the Army, and was thought more capable of handling a crisis than the garrison's previous commander, Col. John L. Gardner, who was nearing retirement. Anderson had served an earlier tour of duty at Fort Moultrie and his father had been a defender of the fort (then called Fort Sullivan) during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the fall, South Carolina authorities considered both secession and the expropriation of federal property in the harbor to be inevitable. As tensions mounted, the environment around the fort increasingly resembled a siege, to the point that the South Carolina authorities placed picket ships to observe the movements of the troops and threatened to attack when forty rifles were transferred to one of the harbor forts from the U.S. arsenal in the city.[1][12][13][11]

text: In contrast to Moultrie, Fort Sumter dominated the entrance to Charleston Harbor and, though unfinished, was designed to be one of the strongest fortresses in the world. In the fall of 1860 work on the fort was nearly completed, but the fortress was thus far garrisoned by a single soldier, who functioned as a lighthouse keeper, and a small party of civilian construction workers. Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter.[14][15]

text: President Buchanan and the Star of the West

text: South Carolina authorities considered Anderson's move to be a breach of faith. Governor Francis W. Pickens believed that President Buchanan had made implicit promises to him to keep Sumter unoccupied and suffered political embarrassment as a result of his trust in those promises. Buchanan, a former U.S. Secretary of State and diplomat, had used carefully crafted ambiguous language to Pickens, promising that he would not "immediately" occupy it.[16] From Major Anderson's standpoint, he was merely moving his existing garrison troops from one of the locations under his command to another. He had received instructions from the War Department on December 11, written by Major General Don Carlos Buell, Assistant Adjutant General of the Army, approved by Secretary of War John B. Floyd:[16][17]

text: ... you are to hold possession of the forts in this harbor, and if attacked you are to defend yourself to the last extremity. The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on or attempt to take possession of any one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar steps whenever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act.[18]

text: Governor Pickens therefore ordered that all remaining Federal positions except Fort Sumter were to be seized. State troops quickly occupied Fort Moultrie (capturing 56 guns), Fort Johnson on James Island, and the battery on Morris Island. On December 27, an assault force of 150 men seized the Union-occupied Castle Pinckney fortification, in the harbor close to downtown Charleston, capturing 24 guns and mortars without bloodshed. On December 30, the Federal arsenal in Charleston was captured, resulting in the acquisition of more than 22,000 weapons by the militia. The Confederates promptly made repairs at Fort Moultrie and dozens of new batteries and defense positions were constructed throughout the Charleston harbor area, including an unusual floating battery, and armed with weapons captured from the arsenal.[N 1]

text: President Buchanan was surprised and dismayed at Anderson's move to Sumter, unaware of the authorization Anderson had received. Nevertheless, he refused Pickens's demand to evacuate Charleston harbor. Since the garrison's supplies were limited, Buchanan authorized a relief expedition of supplies, small arms, and 200 soldiers. The original intent was to send the Navy sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn, but it was discovered that Confederates had sunk some derelict ships to block the shipping channel into Charleston and there was concern that Brooklyn had too deep a draft to negotiate the obstacles. Instead, it seemed prudent to send an unarmed civilian merchant ship, Star of the West, which might be perceived as less provocative to the Confederates. As Star of the West approached the harbor entrance on January 9, 1861, it was fired upon by a battery on Morris Island, which was staffed by cadets from The Citadel, among them William Stewart Simkins, who were the only trained artillerymen in the service of South Carolina at the time. Batteries from Fort Moultrie joined in and Star of the West was forced to withdraw. Major Anderson prepared his guns at Sumter when he heard the Confederate fire, but the secrecy of the operation had kept him unaware that a relief expedition was in progress and he chose not to start a general engagement.[22][23][24][1]

text: In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, Governor Pickens demanded of President Buchanan that he surrender Fort Sumter because, "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina."[25]

text: Preparations for war

text: Conditions at the fort were difficult during the winter of 1860–61. Rations were short and fuel for heat was limited. The garrison scrambled to complete the defenses as best they could. Fort Sumter was designed to mount 135 guns, operated by 650 officers and men, but construction had met with numerous delays for decades and budget cuts had left it only about 90 percent finished in early 1861. Anderson's garrison consisted of just 85 men, primarily made up of two small artillery companies: Company E, 1st U.S. Artillery, commanded by Capt. Abner Doubleday, and Company H, commanded by Capt. Truman Seymour. There were six other officers present: Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford, First Lt. Theodore Talbot of Company H, First Lt. Jefferson C. Davis of the 1st U.S. Artillery, and Second Lt. Norman J. Hall of Company H. Capt. John G. Foster and First Lt. George W. Snyder of the Corps of Engineers were responsible for construction of the Charleston forts, but they reported to their headquarters in Washington, not directly to Anderson. The remaining personnel were 68 noncommissioned officers and privates, eight musicians, and 43 noncombatant workmen.[1]

text: By April the Union troops had positioned 60 guns, but they had insufficient men to operate them all. The fort consisted of three levels of enclosed gun positions, or casemates. The second level of casemates was unoccupied. The majority of the guns were on the first level of casemates, on the upper level (the parapet or barbette positions), and on the center parade field. Unfortunately for the defenders, the original mission of the fort—harbor defense—meant that it was designed so that the guns were primarily aimed at the Atlantic, with little capability of protecting from artillery fire from the surrounding land or from infantry conducting an amphibious assault.[26][27][28]

text: In March, Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard took command of South Carolina forces in Charleston; on March 1, President Jefferson Davis had appointed him the first general officer in the armed forces of the new Confederacy,[29] specifically to take command of the siege. Beauregard made repeated demands that the Union force either surrender or withdraw and took steps to ensure that no supplies from the city were available to the defenders, whose food was running low. He also increased drills amongst the South Carolina militia, training them to operate the guns they manned. Major Anderson had been Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point; the two had been especially close, and Beauregard had become Anderson's assistant after graduation. Both sides spent March drilling and improving their fortifications to the best of their abilities.[30]

text: Beauregard, a trained military engineer, built-up overwhelming strength to challenge Fort Sumter. Fort Moultrie had three 8-inch Columbiads, two 8-inch howitzers, five 32-pound smoothbores, and four 24-pounders. Outside of Moultrie were five 10-inch mortars, two 32-pounders, two 24-pounders, and a 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore. The floating battery next to Fort Moultrie had two 42-pounders and two 32-pounders on a raft protected by iron shielding. Fort Johnson on James Island had one 24-pounder and four 10-inch mortars. At Cummings Point on Morris Island, the Confederates had emplaced seven 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, an English Blakely rifled cannon, and three 8-inch Columbiads, the latter in the so-called Iron Battery, protected by a wooden shield faced with iron bars. About 6,000 men were available to man the artillery and to assault the fort, if necessary, including the local militia, young boys and older men.[31]

text: Decisions for war

text: On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president. He was almost immediately confronted with the surprise information that Major Anderson was reporting that only six weeks of rations remained at Fort Sumter. A crisis similar to the one at Fort Sumter had emerged at Pensacola, Florida, where Confederates threatened another U.S. fortification—Fort Pickens. Lincoln and his new cabinet struggled with the decisions of whether to reinforce the forts, and how. They were also concerned about whether to take actions that might start open hostilities and which side would be perceived as the aggressor as a result. Similar discussions and concerns were occurring in the Confederacy.[32][33]

text: After the formation of the Confederate States of America in early February, there was some debate among the secessionists whether the capture of the fort was rightly a matter for South Carolina or for the newly declared national government in Montgomery, Alabama. South Carolina governor Pickens was among the states' rights advocates who thought that all property in Charleston harbor had reverted to South Carolina upon that state's secession as an independent commonwealth. This debate ran alongside another discussion about how aggressively the installations—including Forts Sumter and Pickens—should be obtained. President Davis, like his counterpart in Washington, preferred that his side not be seen as the aggressor. Both sides believed that the first side to use force would lose precious political support in the border states, whose allegiance was undetermined; before Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, five states had voted against secession, including Virginia, and Lincoln openly offered to evacuate Fort Sumter if it would guarantee Virginia's loyalty.[N 2]

text: The South sent delegations to Washington, D.C., and offered to pay for the Federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with the Confederate agents because he did not consider the Confederacy a legitimate nation and making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government. However, Secretary of State William H. Seward, who wished to give up Sumter for political reasons—as a gesture of good will—engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed.[35]

text: On April 4, as the supply situation on Sumter became critical, President Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, to be commanded by former naval captain (and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy) Gustavus V. Fox, who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of smaller vessels than the Star of the West. Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only, and if he was opposed by the Confederates, to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men. This time, Maj. Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him. On April 6, Lincoln notified Governor Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, [except] in case of an attack on the fort."[36][37][38][39][1]

text: Lincoln's notification had been made to the governor of South Carolina, not the new Confederate government, which Lincoln did not recognize. Pickens consulted with Beauregard, the local Confederate commander. Soon President Davis ordered Beauregard to repeat the demand for Sumter's surrender, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before the relief expedition arrived. The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis's order on April 9. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack "will lose us every friend at the North. You will only strike a hornet's nest. ... Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal."[40]

text: Beauregard dispatched aides—Col. James Chesnut, Col. James A. Chisholm, and Capt. Stephen D. Lee—to Fort Sumter on April 11 to issue the ultimatum. Anderson refused, although he reportedly commented, "I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days." The aides returned to Charleston and reported this comment to Beauregard. At 1 a.m. on April 12, the aides brought Anderson a message from Beauregard: "If you will state the time which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree in the meantime that you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you." After consulting with his senior officers, Maj. Anderson replied that he would evacuate Sumter by noon, April 15, unless he received new orders from his government or additional supplies. Col. Chesnut considered this reply to be too conditional and wrote a reply, which he handed to Anderson at 3:20 a.m.: "Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said "If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next."[41][42][43][44]

text: Bombardment

text: At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Lt. Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Capt. George S. James,[45][46] fired a single 10-inch mortar round from Fort Johnson. (James had offered the first shot to Roger Pryor, a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war.") The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, the floating battery, and Cummings Point. Under orders from Beauregard, the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours. Edmund Ruffin, another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present for the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round, a 64-pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents (including diarist Mary Chesnut), who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort.[47][N 3]

text: Major Anderson held his fire, awaiting daylight. His troops reported for a call at 6 a.m. and then had breakfast. At 7 a.m., Capt. Abner Doubleday fired a shot at the Ironclad Battery at Cummings Point. He missed. Given the available manpower, Anderson could not take advantage of all of his 60 guns. He deliberately avoided using guns that were situated in the fort where casualties were most likely. The fort's best cannons were mounted on the uppermost of its three tiers—the barbette tier—where his troops were most exposed to incoming fire from overhead. The fort had been designed to withstand a naval assault, and naval warships of the time did not mount guns capable of elevating to shoot over the walls of the fort. However, the land-based cannons manned by the Confederates were capable of high-arcing ballistic trajectories and could therefore fire at parts of the fort that would have been out of naval guns' reach. Fort Sumter's garrison could only safely fire the 21 working guns on the lowest level, which themselves, because of the limited elevation allowed by their embrasures, were largely incapable of delivering fire with trajectories high enough to seriously threaten Fort Moultrie. Moreover, although the Federals had moved as many of their supplies to Fort Sumter as they could manage, the fort was quite low on ammunition, and was nearly out at the end of the 34-hour bombardment. A more immediate problem was the scarcity of cloth gunpowder cartridges or bags; only 700 were available at the beginning of the battle and workmen sewed frantically to create more, in some cases using socks from Anderson's personal wardrobe. Because of the shortages, Anderson reduced his firing to only six guns: two aimed at Cummings Point, two at Fort Moultrie, and two at the Sullivan's Island batteries.[49][50]

text: Ships from Fox's relief expedition began to arrive on April 12. Although Fox himself arrived at 3 a.m. on his steamer Baltic, most of the rest of his fleet was delayed until 6 p.m., and one of the two warships, USS Powhatan, never did arrive. Unbeknownst to Fox, it had been ordered to the relief of Fort Pickens in Florida. As landing craft were sent toward the fort with supplies, the artillery fire deterred them and they pulled back. Fox decided to wait until after dark and for the arrival of his warships. The next day, heavy seas made it difficult to load the small boats with men and supplies and Fox was left with the hope that Anderson and his men could hold out until dark on April 13.[51]

text: Although Sumter was a masonry fort, there were wooden buildings inside for barracks and officer quarters. The Confederates targeted these with Heated shot (cannonballs heated red hot in a furnace), starting fires that could prove more dangerous to the men than explosive artillery shells. At 7 p.m. on April 12, a rain shower extinguished the flames and at the same time the Union gunners stopped firing for the night. They slept fitfully, concerned about a potential infantry assault against the fort. During the darkness, the Confederates reduced their fire to four shots each hour. The following morning, the full bombardment resumed and the Confederates continued firing hot shot against the wooden buildings. By noon most of the wooden buildings in the fort and the main gate were on fire. The flames moved toward the main ammunition magazine, where 300 barrels of gunpowder were stored. The Union soldiers frantically tried to move the barrels to safety, but two-thirds were left when Anderson judged it was too dangerous and ordered the magazine doors closed. He ordered the remaining barrels thrown into the sea, but the tide kept floating them back together into groups, some of which were ignited by incoming artillery rounds. He also ordered his crews to redouble their efforts at firing, but the Confederates did the same, firing the hot shots almost exclusively. Many of the Confederate soldiers admired the courage and determination of the Yankees. When the fort had to pause its firing, the Confederates often cheered and applauded after the firing resumed and they shouted epithets at some of the nearby Union ships for failing to come to the fort's aid.[52][53]

text: Surrender

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Major Anderson's telegram announcing the surrender

text: The fort's central flagpole was knocked down at 1 p.m. on April 13, raising doubts among the Confederates about whether the fort was ready to surrender. Col. Louis Wigfall, a former U.S. senator, had been observing the battle and decided that this indicated the fort had had enough punishment. He commandeered a small boat and proceeded from Morris Island, waving a white handkerchief from his sword, dodging incoming rounds from Sullivan's Island. Meeting with Major Anderson, he said, "You have defended your flag nobly, Sir. You have done all that it is possible to do, and General Beauregard wants to stop this fight. On what terms, Major Anderson, will you evacuate this fort?" Anderson was encouraged that Wigfall had said "evacuate," not "surrender." He was low on ammunition, fires were burning out of control, and his men were hungry and exhausted. Satisfied that they had defended their post with honor, enduring over 3,000 Confederate rounds without losing a man, Anderson agreed to a truce at 2:00 p.m.[54][55]

text: Fort Sumter raised Wigfall's white handkerchief on its flagpole as Wigfall departed in his small boat back to Morris Island, where he was hailed as a hero. The handkerchief was spotted in Charleston and a delegation of officers representing Beauregard—Stephen D. Lee, Porcher Miles, a former mayor of Charleston, and Roger Pryor—sailed to Sumter, unaware of Wigfall's visit. Anderson was outraged when these officers disavowed Wigfall's authority, telling him that the former senator had not spoken with Beauregard for two days, and he threatened to resume firing. Meanwhile, General Beauregard himself had finally seen the handkerchief and sent a second set of officers, offering essentially the same terms that Wigfall had presented, so the agreement was reinstated.[54][56][57]

text: The Union garrison formally surrendered the fort to Confederate personnel at 2:30 p.m., April 13. No one from either side was killed during the bombardment. During the 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag—Anderson's one condition for withdrawal—a pile of cartridges blew up from a spark, mortally wounding privates Daniel Hough and Edward Galloway, and seriously wounding the other four members of the gun crew; these were the first military fatalities of the war. The salute was stopped at fifty shots. Hough was buried in the Fort Sumter parade ground within two hours after the explosion. Galloway and Private George Fielding were sent to the hospital in Charleston, where Galloway died a few days later; Fielding was released after six weeks.[58][59] The other wounded men and the remaining Union troops were placed aboard a Confederate steamer, the Isabel, where they spent the night and were transported the next morning to Fox's relief ship Baltic, resting outside the harbor bar.[60]

text: Anderson carried the Fort Sumter Flag with him North, where it became a widely known symbol of the battle, and rallying point for supporters of the Union.[61] This inspired Frederic Edwin Church to paint Our Banner in the Sky, described as a "symbolic landscape embodying the stars and stripes." A chromolithograph was then created and sold to benefit the families of Union soldiers.[62]

text: Aftermath

text: The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the first military action of the American Civil War. Following the surrender, Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call for all states to send troops to recapture the forts and preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days.[63] Some Northern states filled their quotas quickly. There were so many volunteers in Ohio that within 16 days they could have met the full call for 75,000 men by themselves.[64] Other governors from border states were undiplomatic in their responses. For example, Gov. Claiborne Jackson wrote, "Not one man will the state of Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade", and Gov. Beriah Magoffin wrote, "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states."[65] The governors of other states still in the Union were equally unsupportive. The call for 75,000 troops triggered four additional slave states to declare their secession from the Union and join the Confederacy.[66] The ensuing war lasted four years, effectively ending in April 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox Courthouse.[67]

text: Charleston Harbor was completely in Confederate hands for almost the entire four-year duration of the war, leaving a hole in the Union naval blockade. Union forces conducted major operations in 1862 and 1863 to capture Charleston, first overland on James Island (the Battle of Secessionville, June 1862), then by naval assault against Fort Sumter (the First Battle of Charleston Harbor, April 1863), then by seizing the Confederate artillery positions on Morris Island (beginning with the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, July 1863, and followed by a siege until September). After pounding Sumter to rubble with artillery fire, a final amphibious operation attempted to occupy it (the Second Battle of Fort Sumter, September 1863), but was repulsed and no further attempts were made. The Confederates evacuated Fort Sumter and Charleston in February 1865 as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman outflanked the city in the Carolinas Campaign. On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after lowering the Fort Sumter Flag in surrender, Robert Anderson (by then a major general, although ill and in retired status) returned to the ruined fort to raise the flag he had lowered in 1861.[68]

text: Two of the cannons used at Fort Sumter were later presented to Louisiana State University by General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was president of the university before the war began.[69]

text: Tributes

text: The U.S. Post Office Department released the Fort Sumter Centennial issue as the first in the series of five stamps marking the Civil War Centennial on April 12, 1961, at the Charleston post office.[70]

text: The stamp was designed by Charles R. Chickering. It illustrates a seacoast gun from Fort Sumter aimed by an officer in a typical uniform of the time. The background features palmetto leaves akin to bursting shells. The state tree of South Carolina, the palmettos suggest the geopolitical area opening Civil War hostilities.[71]

text: This stamp was produced by an engraving and printed by the rotary process in panes of fifty stamps each. The Postal Department authorized an initial printing of 120 million stamps.[71]

text: Footnotes


document_title: List of Soul Eater episodes

question_text: how many episodes in soul eater season 1

root

text: List of Soul Eater episodes

text: Episode list[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Original air date[20]

1
"Resonance of the Soul – Will Soul Eater Become a Death Scythe?"
"Tamashii no Kyōmei 〜Sōru Ītā, Desu Saizu ni Naru?〜" (魂の共鳴 〜ソウル=イーター、デスサイズになる?〜)
April 7, 2008

Meister Maka Albarn and her weapon partner Soul Eater have collected 99 kishin souls, souls of weapon meisters and death scythes who have eaten human souls, causing their souls to become corrupt and turn into what they call kishin, and only need the soul of a witch to turn Soul into a death scythe. The two seek out the witch Blair, who frequently gets the better of them and tries to seduce Soul. During a battle, Soul tricks Blair into thinking he wants to abandon Maka and become her weapon, allowing Maka to take her soul. Unfortunately, nothing happens when Soul eats it, as Blair turns out to be a magical cat rather than a witch and had merely lost one of her nine souls. As penalty for this mistake, Lord Death confiscates all the souls they've collected, forcing them to start over.

2
"I Am the Star! The Big Man Is Showing Up Here?"
"Ore koso Sutā da! 〜Mottomo Biggu na Otoko, Koko ni Arawaru?〜" (俺こそスターだ! 〜最もビッグな男、ここに現る?〜)
April 14, 2008

Following a failed attempt at collecting the 99 souls of mobster Al Capone and his men, assassin Black Star and his weapon Tsubaki track them down to the residence of the witch Angela, only to find they have all been killed by Angela's bodyguard Mifune. Black Star fights Mifune, but is easily beaten due to his lack of skill as an assassin. When Mifune insults him, however, Black Star accuses him of trying to upstage him and successfully utilizes a surprise attack that defeats him. However, Black Star decides not to kill him or Angela once he discovers the witch to be a helpless young girl. In addition, he declines collecting the mobsters' souls since he himself did not defeat them.

3
"The Perfect Boy – Death the Kid's Magnificent Mission?"
"Kanpeki naru Shōnen 〜Desu za Kiddo no Karei naru Misshon?〜" (完璧なる少年 〜デス･ザ･キッドの華麗なるミッション?〜)
April 21, 2008

Lord Death's son, Death the Kid, decides to go soul-hunting in the Egyptian Pyramid of Anubis where a witch is creating mummies to resurrect an evil pharaoh. However, Kid becomes easily distracted due to his obsession with symmetry, forcing his weapons, Liz and Patty Thompson, to collect the mummies' souls on their own. Upon encountering the pharaoh, Kid is unable to kill him as he attacks from his perfectly symmetrical sarcophagus. But when the pharaoh emerges and reveals his true, unaligned self, Kid relentlessly destroys him. Unfortunately, the pyramid is wrecked in the attack, and Kid is forced to surrender the souls he collected as punishment.

4
"Engage the Witch Hunter! A Remedial Lesson in the Graveyard?"
"Majo Gari Hatsudō! 〜Dokidoki Hakaba no Hoshū Jugyō?〜" (魔女狩り発動! 〜ドキドキ墓場の補習授業?〜)
April 28, 2008

To make up for the souls they failed to collect, Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki take a remedial class together under the threat of expulsion if they fail. They are sent to a graveyard to fight Sid Barrett, their former teacher and a powerful meister who had been turned into a zombie. Maka and Soul attempt to perform their Soul Resonance, "Witch Hunter", but are unable to control it properly, leaving Black Star to subdue Sid with Tsubaki's chain. With Sid captured, Lord Death reveals the one who turned Sid into a zombie to be Dr. Franken Stein, the most powerful meister to ever graduate from Death Weapon Meister Academy.

5
"Shape of the Soul – Enter the Ultimate Meister Stein?"
"Tamashii no Katachi 〜Saikyō Shokunin Shutain Tōjō?〜" (魂のかたち 〜最強職人シュタイン登場?〜)
May 5, 2008

Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki face off against Dr. Stein, who quickly proves his skill in battle and nearly kills Black Star. Following Black Star's defeat, Maka catches a sight of Stein's immense soul with her soul perception ability, and despairs over how his power vastly surpasses her own. Soul convinces her to keep fighting, and the two perform their Soul Resonance perfectly, but it isn't enough to defeat Stein. Afterward, Stein reveals that the entire fight had been set up by Lord Death for the remedial class, which they pass. Stein later becomes a new teacher at the DWMA, much to the dismay of the students.

6
"The New Student – Kid's First Day at the Academy, Will It Be an Entrance to Remember?"
"Uwasa no Shinnyūsei! 〜Omoide Ippai, Kiddo no Shibusen Hatsu Tōkō?〜" (噂の新入生! 〜想い出いっぱい、キッドの死武専初登校?〜)
May 12, 2008

Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters enroll at the DWMA, and Soul and Black Star team up to fight them on their first day of school. The fight proves to be very one-sided, as Kid's extraordinary battle abilities are more than a match for Soul and Black Star, who are unable to synchronize their soul wavelengths with each other. Just when it appears Soul and Black Star are left utterly defeated by Kid's destructive Soul Resonance "Death Cannon", Kid passes out from an earlier attack Soul made that ended up clipping Kid's hair, ruining its symmetry and earning Soul and Black Star a come-from-behind victory.

7
"Black-blooded Terror – There's a Weapon inside Crona?"
"Kokketsu no Kyōfu 〜Kurona no Naka ni Buki ga Iru?〜" (黒血の恐怖 〜クロナの中に武器がいる?〜)
May 19, 2008

Maka and Soul go to Italy for a supplementary lesson to collect another evil soul. Once they finish their mission, Maka senses strong soul activity coming from a church and decides to investigate. She and Soul encounter Crona, meister of the Demon Sword Ragnarok, who resides within Crona's body in the form of black blood. Crona's blood hardens to defend against all of Maka's attacks, while Maka is unable to guard Crona's attacks as Ragnarok can harm Soul in his weapon form. Afraid of hurting her partner, Maka attempts to flee, but Soul receives a severe blow to protect his meister.

8
"The Witch Medusa – Bearer of the Great Terrible Soul?"
"Majo Medyūsa 〜Ōinaru Waruki Tamashii o Motsu Mono?〜" (魔女メデューサ 〜大いなる凶き魂を持つ者?〜)
May 26, 2008

Just when Maka and Soul are about to be killed by Crona, Stein and Maka's father, Death Scythe, appear to save them. The two have some trouble against Ragnarok's ability to transform every bit of Crona's blood into a weapon, but the two combine their strength and defeat Crona, who is then retrieved by the witch Medusa, Crona's master who had been observing the fight. Soul receives surgery for his injury and Stein tells Maka he will recover, but secretly confesses to Death Scythe that his body has been infected by Ragnarok's blood. Maka vows to become stronger and is comforted by the school nurse, unaware that she is in fact the witch who had attacked them.

9
"Legend of the Holy Sword – Kid and Black☆Star's Great Adventure?"
"Seiken Densetsu 〜Kiddo to Burakku Sutā no Daibōken?〜" (聖剣伝説 〜キッドとブラック☆スターの大冒険?〜)
June 2, 2008

Black Star and Kid learn about Excalibur, the Holy Sword whose legendary powers are said to surpass those of any other weapon and promise to bestow eternal glory to anyone who wields him. The two decide to search for Excalibur, but when they find him, they cannot stand his unbearable personality and end up abandoning him. Meanwhile, Death Scythe tries to cheer up Maka, who is still worried about Soul, and explains to her the origin of the Demon Sword, describing it as a weapon that has been devouring human souls and threatens to transform into a kishin, which is the reason the DWMA was founded to prevent from happening.

10
"The Enchanted Sword Masamune – Break the Soul Possession: A Heart Sings in the Rain?"
"Yōtō Masamune 〜Yabure Tamashii Hyōi, Ame ni Utau Kokoro?〜" (妖刀マサムネ 〜破れ魂憑依、雨に詠う心?〜)
June 9, 2008

Black Star and Tsubaki are assigned the task of tracking down and defeating Masamune, the Enchanted Sword, who has been devouring human souls. When they come to the village where the Enchanted Sword was last spotted, they are met with hostility from the villagers due to Black Star's heritage from the murderous Star Clan. Masamune later appears and possesses the body of a young boy, but Black Star breaks the boy free from the Enchanted Sword's control. At her own insistence, Tsubaki sends her soul into the Enchanted Sword to confront the soul of Masamune, who is in fact her older brother.

11
"Tsubaki, the Camellia Blossom – What Lies Beyond the Grief?"
"Tsubaki no Hana 〜Kanashimi o Koeta Saki ni Aru Mono?〜" (椿の花 〜悲しみを越えた先にあるもの?〜)
June 16, 2008

Tsubaki fights Masamune inside the Enchanted Sword, but is easily beaten. Masamune claims that Tsubaki's inheritance of their family's weapon forms led him to become evil, and is agonized by her pity of him. Just when Tsubaki's soul is about to be absorbed by Masamune, Black Star's voice reaches her, and she gains the will to defeat her brother, absorbing her very first soul in the process. Masamune's soul also grants Tsubaki the power to transform into the Enchanted Sword, though its power is too much for Black Star to handle.

12
"Courage That Beats Out Fear – Maka Albarn's Great Resolution?"
"Kyōfu ni Makenai Yūki 〜Maka Arubān no Ichidai Kesshin?〜" (恐怖に負けない勇気 〜マカ=アルバーンの一大決心?〜)
June 23, 2008

During a medical examination, Soul tells Medusa about a recurring dream in which he is goaded by the Little Demon to gain power through madness, followed by a nightmarish scene where he emerges from Maka's stomach, something Medusa deems to be an effect of Ragnarok's black blood. Maka, who remains troubled by Soul's injury, becomes determined to grow stronger and overcome the need to always be protected by Soul, but realizes that she must first face her fear of Soul being injured again. Meanwhile, Medusa's plans have raised the ire of two other witches, Eruka Frog and Mizune, who ambush and attempt to kill her. However, they realize that Medusa had placed magical snakes in their bodies when she had threatened them earlier, which kill Mizune. Eruka escapes with her life, but is tracked down by Medusa, who forces her to break into Witch Prison and release a prisoner who had stolen the eye of the witches' leader, whom Medusa intends to use for an experiment on Soul.

13
"The Man with the Magic Eye – Soul and Maka's Diverging Soul Wavelength?"
"Magan no Otoko 〜Sōru to Maka, Zure Yuku Tamashii no Hachō?〜" (魔眼の男 〜ソウルとマカ、ズレゆく魂の波長?〜)
June 30, 2008

Maka and Soul undergo a special training session under Stein by pointing out each other's flaws under the effects of emotional stimulants, which leads to an argument between the two that threatens to permanently prevent their souls from resonating with each other. The two later take a supplementary class in London with Black Star and Tsubaki where they encounter Free, the immortal werewolf with the magic eye who Eruka had released from Witch Prison on Medusa's behalf. During their battle with Free on a suspension bridge, Black Star quickly passes out after using Tsubaki's Enchanted Sword mode, leaving Maka and Soul to fight alone. However, their soul wavelengths have already diverged to the point where Soul burns Maka's hands in his weapon form, making him unwieldy. The two begin to bicker again until Tsubaki persuades them to set their differences aside and accept each other, allowing their souls to resonate stronger than ever, though it causes the madness of Soul's black blood to intensify and risk consuming Maka's soul. Nevertheless, Maka is able to use her Witch Hunter against Free and, with aid from the newly revived Black Star, force him off the bridge. After the battle, Maka coughs up black blood into her hand.

14
"The Super Written Exam – Heart-Pounding, Reeling, and Restless. You're Kidding!?"
"Chō Hikkishiken 〜Dokidoki, Wakuwaku, Sowasowa, Usōn?〜" (超筆記試験 〜ドキドキ、ワクワク、ソワソワ、ウソーン?〜)
July 7, 2008

A big test is coming up, and the students in the DWMA are all studying for it, one way or another. Maka feels she has to be the best in class like her mother was, aiming to surpass her class rival Ox Ford. Death the Kid believed that he knew all the answers on the test, spending the time sketching a symmetrical face. Liz uses her time worrying about her appearance, which Patty happily dozes off. Black Star, after hopelessly trying to study, attempted to steal the answers to the test, being caught and punished by Stein in the process. Furthermore, Soul had stocked his clothing with cheat sheets, but was quickly caught by Sid. Kid spends the entire exam writing his name, while Patty makes her test into an origami giraffe. Ultimately, it is Maka that receives the top score of her class.

15
"The Soul Eating Black Dragon – Scaredy-cat Liz and Her Merry Friends?"
"Tamashii o Kū Kuroki Ryū 〜Okubyō Rizu to Yukai na Nakama-tachi?〜" (魂を食う黒き龍 〜臆病リズと愉快な仲間たち?〜)
July 14, 2008

Kid and his weapons are investigating the Black Dragon, who have terrorized the Baltic Sea recently. The investigation leads them to a ship called Nidhogg, and an evil soul controlling it. As they find the evil soul, he sends Liz to the hull of the ship. There, she encounters human spirits who guide her to the deck of ship, meeting up with Kid and Patty. Liz and Patty transform into handguns to assist Kid in defeating the evil spirit. However, Crona arrives, slices off the head of evil spirit, and summons Ragnarok, in preparation in for the upcoming battle.

16
"Fierce Battle Aboard the Ghost Ship – The Hell inside My Head?"
"Gekitō! Yūreisen 〜Boku no Atama no Naka no Jigoku?〜" (激闘! 幽霊船 〜ボクの頭の中の地獄?〜)
July 21, 2008

Kid continues to fight against Crona. Kid commences to attack recklessly at Crona, however Crona manages to survive. It is then that Crona uses Screaming Resonance, causing the ship to split in half. Kid begins to chase Crona across the sea, but he allows Crona to escape due to his obsession with symmetry. Meanwhile, Maka visits Medusa and explains to her about having coughed up black blood. In response, Medusa prescribed Maka a bag of pills that enhances the presence of black blood, though Maka is unaware of it. Stein also goes to see Medusa, being investigative about the pills, ending up convinced that she is a witch. Therefore, he sends Sid and Mila Naigus to Medusa's house to further investigate, finding out the truth about Medusa's evil scheme regarding the black blood. However, they are caught by Eruka, who was sent by Medusa to retrieve a briefcase containing black blood to carry out the plan. Kid returns to the DWMA and asks his father a question concerning the presence of kishin within the academy.

17
"Legend of the Holy Sword 2 – Wanna Go Drinking, Gambling, and Playing?"
"Seiken Densetsu Tsū 〜Nomu, Utsu, Kau, Ittoku?〜" (聖剣伝説2 〜飲む、打つ、買う、いっとく?〜)
July 28, 2008

Ox is searching for the legendary sword Excalibur in order to write a report about him. However, upon meeting him, he discovers that the holy sword is not quite what was expected, forced to listen to the sword's one thousand provisions as well as his tales. Excalibur tells about his times when he was resided in a ghettoized city, when he performed at an opera house, when he incorrectly solved a crime case, when he accompanied an expedition into battle, and when he suffered a heartbreak from his first love. Excalibur ends up singing a song about himself, and later gave Ox the opportunity to be his partner. However, Ox chooses to abandon him, negatively commenting on his personality.

18
"The Eve Party Nightmare – And so the Curtain Rises?"
"Zenyasai no Akumu 〜Soshite Maku wa Agatta?〜" (前夜祭の悪夢 〜そして幕は上がった?〜)
August 4, 2008

The students and staff of the DWMA, including Lord Death himself, gather for a party celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the academy, giving Medusa the perfect chance to carry out her ultimate plan, as to revive the kishin sleeping beneath the academy. During the festivities, Stein confronts Medusa to ascertain her plot before Sid arrives to warn everyone about her trap. Medusa escapes to launch an assault throughout Death City with the assistance of her minions. Free traps everyone in his Independent Cube. Nevertheless, Sid allows Maka, Black Star, Kid, and their respective weapon partners, as well as Stein, to escape. The group of heroes follows Medusa underneath the city where they make their final preparations to stop her.

19
"The Underground Battle Commences – Break Through Medusa's Vector Arrow?"
"Kaishi, Chika Kōbōsen 〜Toppaseyo, Medyūsa no Bekutoru Arō?〜" (開始、地下攻防戦 〜突破せよ、メデューサのベクトルアロー?〜)
August 11, 2008

The group of heroes is intercepted by Medusa, who unleashes her deadly Vector Arrows upon them. Maka, Black Star, and Kid make their way past the attack as Stein remains behind with Death Scythe to keep Medusa occupied. Kid goes further ahead to pursue Free and Eruka, who possess the black blood intended to awaken the kishin Asura. Black Star attempts to engage Crona in combat, but Maka, seeking revenge, convinces Black Star to catch up to and assist Kid while she fights Crona instead.

20
"The Black Blood Resonance Battle! – A Small Soul's Grand Struggle against Fear?"
"Koketsu no Kyōmei Sen! 〜Kyōfu ni Hamukau Chiisana Tamashii no Taifuntō?〜" (黒血の共鳴戦! 〜恐怖に刃向かう小さな魂の大奮闘?〜)
August 18, 2008

The black blood in Soul proves to be dangerous for both him and Maka during their battle against Crona and Ragnarok. Before Maka can be defeated again, Soul confronts the Little Demon within himself and encounters Maka, whose consciousness was brought within Soul's by the demon in an attempt to claim both of their souls. Maka discusses with the reluctant Soul her intention to use the black blood's power and gain the same madness Crona has, hoping it will allow her to reach some understanding about Crona's wavelength. Soul relents and allows Maka to go slip into madness, promising to pull her out of it before it's too late.

21
"May My Soul Reach You – A Dry Heart inside Unbearable Isolation?"
"Todoke, Watashi no Tamashii 〜Kawaita Kokoro, Tamaranai Kodoku no Naka de...?〜" (届け、私の魂 〜乾いた心、たまらない孤独の中で…?〜)
August 25, 2008

Maka is overtaken by madness, allowing her to overpower Crona, but also to match her soul's wavelength with Crona's and see Crona's true will. Maka determines that the source behind Crona's madness is the neglect he suffered as a child under Medusa, causing Crona to withdraw from other people. Maka's contact with Crona's will throws Crona's soul into chaos, and Soul successfully pulls Maka from her madness. Maka then comforts Crona, purifying Crona's soul and befriending Crona.

22
"The Seal Shrine – The Immortal Man's Tricks?"
"Fūin no Yashiro 〜Fujimi no Otoko ga Shikaketa Karakuri?〜" (封印の社 〜不死身の男が仕掛けたからくり?〜)
September 1, 2008

Kid continues pursuing his targets until he suddenly encounters and engages Free, discovering that none of his own attacks are effective. Thanks to Black Star's timely intervention, however, Kid deduces that the Free they are fighting is actually an illusive Free projecting himself, as the actual Free is trying to buy enough time for him and Eruka to reach the shrine of the kishin. The two enter to find themselves immersed in the madness wavelength of the kishin, which causes them to hallucinate and nearly commit suicide, but they regain their senses in time to uncover the sleeping kishin.

23
"Dead or Alive – In the Rift between Revival and Dazzlement?"
"Deddo oa Araibu! 〜Fukkatsu to Genkaku no Hazama de?〜" (デッド オア アライブ! 〜復活と幻覚の狭間で?〜)
September 8, 2008

Stein attempts to finish his battle with Medusa as quickly as possible while Medusa tries to draw it out, leading to a deadlock between the two. Meanwhile, Kid and Black Star finally reach Free and Eruka within the shrine of the kishin. Kid keeps Free at bay while Black Star chases down Eruka, who sticks a syringe of black blood into the sleeping kishin. In one final desperate attack, Black Star seemingly succeeds in destroying the syringe before the black blood is injected, only to discover his victory was a hallucination induced by the madness wavelength of the kishin. Stein cuts Medusa down as she expresses her joy, but it does nothing to prevent the kishin Asura from awakening.

24
"The Battle of the Gods – Death City on the Verge of Collapse?"
"Kamigami no Tatakai 〜Desu Shitī Hōkai no Kiki ni?〜" (神々の闘い 〜デス･シティー崩壊の危機に?〜)
September 15, 2008

Maka, Black Star, and Kid are all incapacitated as Asura emerges from underground, but Lord Death, now free from the Independent Cube, confronts the newly awakened kishin. The two gods clash in an epic battle over Death City, but without a weapon, Lord Death unfortunately lacks the power necessary to properly fight Asura, who flees to spread his madness across the world. Lord Death orders various Death Scythes from around the world to be summoned to combat their new enemy, and Medusa seemingly dies after her battle with Stein. However, a snake can be seen emerging from the sewers.

25
"The Death Scythes Convene – Stop Dad's Staff Reassignment!?"
"Shōshū! Desu Saizusu 〜Fusege Papa no Jinjiidō!!?〜" (召集! デスサイズス 〜ふせげパパの人事異動!!?〜)
September 22, 2008

Lord Death summons Death Scythe, Marie Mjolnir, Yumi Azusa, and Justin Law to discuss the new threat Asura poses, though Death Scythe fears it also means he will be demoted. Fortunately for Death Scythe, he remains as Lord Death's weapon while Marie becomes Stein's partner. Azusa searches for Asura while Justin remains on standby. After the meeting, Lord Death discusses his concerns with Death Scythe that Stein may be reverting to his old ways of insanity. Meanwhile, after surrendering to the DWMA, Crona is enrolled by Lord Death.

26
"The Exciting and Embarrassing Trial Enrollment! The DWMA New Lifestyle Support Fair Is Open?"
"Ureshi Hazukashi Taiken Nyūgaku! 〜Shibusen Shinseikatsu Ōen Fea Kaisaichū?〜" (嬉し恥ずかし体験入学! 〜死武専新生活応援フェア開催中?〜)
September 29, 2008

Maka and Marie try to help Crona adapt to life as a DWMA student with little success. Later, Maka and Crona are assigned by Lord Death to investigate an incident in a Czech village involving a berserk golem. They encounter a man named Giriko, who turns out to be an insane weapon involved with the golem. Maka is nearly defeated by Giriko and the golem until Crona steps in to assist her.

27
"800 Years of Bloodlust – Advent of the Heretic Witch?"
"Happyuku-nen no Satsui 〜Itan no Majo Kōrin?〜" (800年の殺意 〜異端の魔女降臨?〜)
October 6, 2008

As Maka and Crona struggle against Giriko and the golem, Stein discovers a certain heretic soul is inside the golem. The soul reveals herself as Arachne, a witch that was defeated by Lord Death in the past and had to hide herself in that same golem. As Giriko easily beats up Crona and is ready to finish them off, Justin appears and confronts him, leaving Arachne with no choice but to run away with Giriko. The golem stays behind to slow them down, but Justin easily finishes it off. A small man, named Mosquito, brings Arachne and Giriko into a small hideout, where she, along with all her minions, swears to beat Lord Death.

28
"The Sword God Rises – Does It Have a Sweet or Salty Taste?"
"Kenshi Tatsu 〜Aji wa Amai ka Shoppai ka?〜" (剣神立つ 〜味は甘いかしょっぱいか?〜)
October 13, 2008

While Maka is recovering, Sid receives a new report from Azusa about the location of one of Arachnophobia's labs, where a magic tool, which messes up people's morals, is being developed by Mosquito. While they lay out the plan to destroy it, Black Star follows them and also attacks the facility, and ends up facing Arachne's new bodyguard, Mifune. Even after using everything he has, he still cannot defeat Angela's bodyguard, but an ambush laid out by Sid, Naigus, and Asuza gives him the opportunity to escape. In the end, Black Star gives a piece of candy to Maka, one that Mifune gave him to console her.

29
"Medusa's Revival! A Spider and Snake's Fateful Reunion?"
"Fukkatsu no Medyūsa! 〜Kumo to Hebi, Innen no Saikai?〜" (剣復活のメデューサ! 〜蜘蛛と蛇、因縁の再会?〜)
October 20, 2008

A little girl, named Rachel, is taken over by Medusa's snake. She starts to act strange, and eventually leaves her house, much to her mother's despair. Medusa, in her new child form, arrives at Baba Yaga's Castle, the domain of Arachne. However, she is rejected by Arachne, Giriko, and Mosquito. She leaves the castle with a disguised Eruka, swearing to take something she left over at Death City. Meanwhile, Stein is determined to teach his students about duel arts, where they will be able to figure out how to resonate as a team. He volunteers Maka and Soul, Ox and Harvar de Éclair, and Black Star without Tsubaki, only to see them fail at the attempt.

30
"The Red Hot Runaway Express – A Magic Tool Left Behind by the Great Wizard?"
"Shakunetsu no Bōsō Tokkyū! 〜Daima Dōshi ga Nokoshita Madōgu?〜" (灼熱の暴走特急! 〜大魔導師が残した魔道具?〜)
October 27, 2008

Kid and the Thompson sisters head over to a train station in the Sahara Desert to investigate a possible magic tool being the power source of an unstoppable train known as the Runaway Express. They end up facing the youngest Mizune and the Fisher King, an Arachnophobia assassin, who also wish to take control of the tool. Upon defeating the Fisher King, Kid discovers that his father had something to do with the creation of the train along with the great wizard Eibon. Before the Fisher King can elaborate, he is killed by Sid, and Mizune escapes. While investigating in the library, Kid discovers the only book containing information on Eibon was checked out on the day that Asura was revived, deducing that Medusa was responsible for checking out the book.

31
"Drying Happiness! Whose Tears Sparkle in the Moonlight?"
"Kareta Shiawase 〜Tsukiakari ni Hikaru no wa Dare no Namida?〜" (涸れた幸福(しあわせ) 〜月明かりに光るのは誰の涙?〜)
November 3, 2008

Crona is experiencing a new life at the DWMA, and ends up going to a party with Maka, Black Star, and Kid. Crona encounters the newly revived Medusa, who tells to search around the DWMA for the vault. Crona does so, and is quickly found by Marie. Marie leads Crona to Crona's room, and Crona shortly meets with Eruka. Medusa, broadcasting through Eruka, tells Crona to drop a liquid in Marie's drink, and when doing so, they are able to hear Marie and Stein. Crona goes to Stein's house to talk with Marie, and adds the liquid to Marie's drink.

32
"Legend of the Holy Sword 3 – The Academy Gang Leader's Tale?"
"Seiken Densetsu Surī 〜Shibusen Banchō Monogatari?〜" (聖剣伝説3 〜死武専番長物語?〜)
November 10, 2008

Hiro, an ordinary DWMA student who is always being ordered by his classmates, learns about the legend of Excalibur and decides to retrieve it in order to become a true hero. The students of the DWMA are surprised when they learn that Hiro indeed managed to make Excalibur his weapon. However, even as Black Star with Tsubaki, Kid with the Thompson sisters, and Kilik Rung with the Pots of Fire and Thunder decide to challenge him together, they all are defeated with a single blow. To continue being Excalibur's master, Hiro manages to successfully complete the 1000 requests ordered by him, but decides to discard him and return to his former life, as he could not tolerate his annoying sneeze, of all things.

33
"Resonance Link – Play the Melody of the Souls?"
"Kyōmei Rensa 〜Kanadero, Tamashii Tachi no Senritsu?〜" (共鳴連鎖 〜奏でろ、魂たちの旋律?〜)
November 17, 2008

Stein continues to have moments of insanity caused by Asura's revival along with additional destabilization from Medusa's magic within Marie, which results in Lord Death's concern. Meanwhile, Black Star resonates with the soul of the Enchanted Sword, a giant deer-like creature, who warns Black Star about his descent to a demon. Stein and Death discuss the topic of "Brew", in which the DWMA and Arachnophobia are likely to meet in combat for, and Lord Death instructs Stein to speed up the process of duel arts for the students for greater offense. Maka, Black Star, and Kid are formed as a team, along with their weapons. After many unsuccessful attempts, Maka accuses Black Star for their failure to do so, causing the two quarrel over the mishap. Ultimately after conversing with Tsubaki, Maka begins to accept Black Star for who he is, resulting in the accomplishment of duel arts among the three.

34
"The Battle for Brew – Clash: The DWMA vs. Arachnophobia?"
"Buryū Sōdatsusen! 〜Gekitotsu, Shibusen bāsesu Arakunofobia?〜" (BREW争奪戦! 〜激突、死武専vsアラクノフォビア?〜)
November 24, 2008

The DWMA and Arachnophobia are imminent to engage in combat over the magic tool "Brew". Sid and his team will contain Arachnophobia while Stein and his group attempt to recover "Brew". Shortly after landfall, Sid's team is ambushed by Mifune's Arachnophobia squad, and Sid and Azusa confront Mifune. Justin confronts Giriko. Stein and Marie enter a strong magnetic field while the others wait behind, but Maka eventually loses track of Stein's and Marie's soul wavelength. Ox, Kilik, and Kim Diehl, along their respective weapons Harvar, Fire and Thunder, and Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré, all hold off the enemies while Maka, Black Star, and Kid enter the magnetic field to find Stein and Marie, however they find a perplexing image of the old Lord Death and Arachne and discover they are foreseeing the past. Meanwhile, Eruka sends the Mizunes into the magnetic field.

35
"Mosquito's Storm! Ten Minutes to Fight in the World of the Past?"
"Arashi no Mosukīto! 〜Arishi hi no Sekai, Seigen Jikan wa Jū-pun?〜" (嵐のモスキート! 〜在りし日の世界、制限時間は10分?〜)
December 1, 2008

Outside the field, the skirmishes between the DWMA and Arachnophobia end when Kim gives the signal to retreat as instructed. Meanwhile, Maka, Black Star, and Kid meet Marie and a maddened Stein inside the field. Because their bodies have reached the limit, Stein and Marie are forced to leave the field while the other proceed to locate "Brew". They encounter Mosquito, who claims to have "Brew" in his possession. He then reverts his body to a stronger form dated a century ago, but before they begin to battle, Eibon appears, leaving Kid temporarily distracted until Black Star and Maka begin attacking Mosquito. Meanwhile, outside the field, Kim reaches the retreat point, only to find Sid, Niagus, and Azusa and that none of her companions have returned. Meanwhile, Ox and Kilik have defeated all of Arachnophobia's forces near the field, but after noting only Stein and Marie exiting the field, they enter into it to lend a hand to their friends. Meanwhile, Mosquito easily overpowers Maka, Black Star, and Kid, until Little Demon goads Soul into playing the piano with his soul and lead the duel arts resonance link.

36
"Unleash the Seven's Resonance Link! A Recital of Destruction and Creation?"
"Hanate, Shichi-nin no Kyōmei Rensa! 〜Hakai to Sōzō no Ensōkai?〜" (放て、7人の共鳴連鎖! 〜破壊と創造の演奏会?〜)
December 8, 2008

Giriko battles Justin, however he retreats after getting hit by Justin's law-abiding silver gun. Meanwhile, the Mizunes exit the magnetic field. Meanwhile, Maka, Black Star, and Kid gain an excessive amount of power due to Soul playing the piano for the Little Demon and have completed the duel arts resonance link. After turning the tables on Mosquito, they all finish him off with their soul resonances: first, Black Star uses "Shadow Star: Checkmate Slash", second, Kid uses his "Death Cannon", finally, Maka uses a new attack called "Genie Hunter". However, Mosquito manages to escape, resulting the DWMA's mission failing. However, Mosquito reports that "Brew" is broken, but Arachne is confident that it will work in their favor, as DWMA is unaware of this. However, Eruka and the Mizunes deliver the real "Brew" to Medusa, who also reveals that the snake planted in Marie speeds up Stein's madness.

37
"The Detective's First Case – Kid Exposes the DWMA's Secret?"
"Meitantei Daiichi no Jiken 〜Kiddo ga Abaku Shibusen no Himitsu?〜" (名探偵第一の事件 〜キッドが暴く死武専の秘密?〜)
December 15, 2008

Arachne continues with her plans. Meanwhile at the DWMA, everyone assigned on the "Brew" mission is depressed about their defeat against Arachnophobia. However, Kid ponders Lord Death's association with Eibon and later interrogates Stein about what "Brew" is and why Lord Death sought to possess it, but their chat turns into an argument about Lord Death's and Kid's justified actions. Later, Maka questions her ability of using "Genie Hunter" while fighting Mosquito, discussing the matter to Lord Death, who informs her that it a technique used by her mother; determined to use "Genie Hunter" again, Maka and Soul make an attempt, but they fail to do so. Meanwhile, Crona learns of Stein's maddened state and feels guilty of causing it. At the end of the day, a man named Joe Buttataki arrives at Death City at Lord Death's request.

38
"Asura's Temptation – The Big Man's Uncontainable Irritation?"
"Shura e no Yūwaku 〜Biggu na Otoko no Osaerarenai Iradachi?〜" (修羅への誘惑 〜ビッグな男の抑えられない苛立ち?〜)
December 22, 2008

Once he arrives at the DWMA, Joe begins his project by using the magic tools that are in Lord Death's possession. Meanwhile, Black Star's confidence begins to waver due to his recent defeats. When Tsubaki tells that Naigus asked her to stop using the Enchanted Sword Mode, Black Star decides to challenge Kid in a duel, but his soul force attack fails to activate. Kid eventually wins the battle, and Black Star starts training again. Meanwhile, Medusa feels that Crona is no longer useful enough to be kept alive, and Arachne discovers the hideout of Asura.

39
"Crona's Escape – Show Me Your Smile, Please?"
"Kurona, Tōbō 〜Kudasai, Kimi no Hohoemi?〜" (クロナ、逃亡 〜ください、君の微笑み?〜)
January 5, 2009

Crona is visited by Eruka again, who tells him to return back to Medusa. Meanwhile, Arachne visits Asura alone in the mountains to ask for an alliance against the DWMA, but Asura thrashes her about. Maka and Soul begin to search for Crona, after Death Scythe informs them that Crona has gone missing; it is revealed that Crona is outside of the DWMA walking in the desert sand, where Crona then falls into a hole and sits there, trying to hide from everyone. Back at Arachnophobia, Asura eventually has allied with Arachne. Maka and Soul find Crona in the hole, where Crona confesses about putting Medusa's snake in Marie's tea. Lord Death discusses with Death Scythe and Maka about Crona's betrayal when Sid suddenly announces that Medusa has come to the DWMA to surrender.

40
"The Cards Are Cut – Medusa Surrenders to the DWMA?"
"Kirareta Kādo 〜Medyūsa, Shibusen ni Tōkō Suru?〜" (切られたカード 〜メデューサ、死武専に投降する?〜)
January 12, 2009

To win the DWMA's trust, Medusa reveals the location of the real "Brew", and proposes to give information about Asura's whereabouts in exchange for her freedom and protection of her peers. When Arachne moves on with her plan to spread Asura's madness throughout the world, Lord Death decides to accept the deal. Medusa walking free shocks all the DWMA students. Marie later discovers that Stein is nowhere to be found.

41
"Twirl 'Round and 'Round – A New World in Which the Doc Dances?"
"Kurukuru Kururu 〜Hakase wa Odoru, Atarashiki Sekai?〜" (クルクルクルル 〜博士は踊る、新しき世界?〜)
January 19, 2009

A maddened Stein struggles with deciding the path he should take. Meanwhile, Joe discovers a secret page in the Book of Eibon, which shows it takes one last magic tool to operate "Brew". Crona and Marie decide to search for Medusa and bring back Stein. Maka, Black Star, and Kid, being doubtful about the DWMA, remain firm in fighting and defeating Asura. Finally, the path that Stein walks leads him to Medusa.

42
"Charge Baba Yaga's Castle! Things Are Kind of Gloomy?"
"Shingeki! Baba Yagā no Shiro 〜Nanka Moyamoya Suru?〜" (進撃! ババ･ヤガーの城 〜なんかモヤモヤする?〜)
January 26, 2009

Maka is confused due to the decisions recently taken by the DWMA, which is preparing for a huge battle against Arachnophobia, to defeat it along with Asura and destroying the six madness amplifiers. Sid later informs Maka that Crona and Marie have set off to defeat Medusa, stating that Crona's exile and Marie quitting her job acts as a loophole in the deal between Medusa and Lord Death. When the mission begins, Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, and Sid press onto Baba Yaga's Castle but are ambushed by Arachne's forces. Meanwhile, Justin starts a fight against Giriko. After Soul convinces Maka to follow her convictions, she leaves Black Star to go after Crona. Meanwhile, Kid is on the way to retrieve the latest magic tool.

43
"The Last Magic Tool – Mission Impossible for Unarmed Kid?"
"Saigo no Madōgu 〜Buki Nashi Kiddo no Misshon Inposshiburu?〜" (最後の魔道具 〜武器無しキッドのミッションインポッシブル?〜)
February 2, 2009

The battle against the DWMA and Arachnophobia continues. Kid, Liz, and Patty arrive at their destination, a town called Sarcophagus, whose inhabitants had disappeared mysteriously twenty years before. For the sake of his partners, Kid decides to enter the village alone. Once in, he easily finds the magic tool, but is attacked by a strange Clown, who informs him that it ate the villagers when they discovered the magic tool. Meanwhile, a lost Maka realizes she needs to use her Soul Perception ability in order to find Crona. Kid is chased by the Clown, who is soon joined by a second one. Due to the symmetrical attacks of the identical Clowns, Kid is unable to respond until Liz and Patty arrive to help and successfully defeat them. Shortly after the battle, a mysterious voice from the defeated robotic Clown warns Kid of disastrous consequences of the wrong person using the tool, leading him to decide not to give the magic tool to Lord Death just yet.

44
"Weakling Crona's Determination – For You, for Always Being by My Side?"
"Yowamushi Kurona no Ketsui 〜Itsumo Soba ni Ite Kureta Kimi ni?〜" (弱虫クロナの決意 〜いつもそばにいてくれた君に?〜)
February 9, 2009

Maka uses her Soul Perception ability to find Crona. Black Star continues to advance to Baba Yaga's Castle. Meanwhile, Crona and Marie manage to find Medusa's hideout and battle with her and a maddened Stein. Crona struggles in the battle with Medusa, but when she moves in to deliver the killing blow, Maka arrives in the nick of time to intercept the attack.

45
"Anti-magic Wavelength – Fierce Attack, the Anger-filled Genie Hunter?"
"Taima no Hachō 〜Mōkō, Ikari no Majin Gari?〜" (退魔の波長 〜猛攻、怒りの魔人狩り?〜)
February 16, 2009

Maka, Crona, and Marie continue their battle with Medusa and Stein, but are being overwhelmed. Marie asks Maka to concentrate on Stein, which gives her the chance to use the Healing Wavelength, but this fails. Medusa then moves in to finish off Maka, but Crona pushes her out of way and takes the full force of Medusa's Vector Blade, leaving Crona greatly injured and seemingly dead. Enraged at the apparent death of her friend, Maka is consumed by the madness and attacks Medusa in a frenzied rage, but Stein comes to her defense. Taking advantage of the opening, Marie uses her Healing Wavelength on Stein and Maka, saving them from their madness. Stein and Marie then distract Medusa while Maka and Soul use the opportunity to attack her with Genie Hunter, saving Rachel and defeating Medusa at the same time. As Medusa disintegrates, she warns them that Genie Hunter won't be enough to defeat Asura, but Stein tells Maka otherwise. Stein then tells Maka that Crona is not dead and will make a full recovery, then leaves to take the unconscious back to Death City while Maka resumes her fight with Arachnaphobia. Meanwhile, Black Star finally reaches Baba Yaga's Castle to battle Mifune.

46
"Warrior or Slaughterer? Showdown: Mifune vs. Black☆Star?"
"Bu ka Shura ka 〜Kessen, Mifune bāsesu Burakku Sutā?〜" (武か修羅か 〜決戦、ミフネvsブラック☆スター?〜)
February 23, 2009

As Mifune fights with Black Star, he asks him whether he will follow the path of a warrior or a demon, recounting how Black Star's father, White Star, chose the wrong path of a demon and Mifune was forced to kill him. Meanwhile, Kid returns to Death City and Lord Death is now ready to explain the purpose of the magic tool, revealing that the final tool contains Eibon's soul needed to operate "Brew" and that Eibon once served as one of eight of Lord Death's warriors in the past. As Lord Death explains that Eibon used the magic tools as part of research for the greater good, Excalibur, who wishes to observe the transpiring events, arrives and reveals that Eibon was obsessed with immortality and was unable to find a way to transcend death until Arachne offered a helping hand. Meanwhile, as the DWMA near Baba Yaga's Castle, Mosquito operates a weapon of mass destruction. Returning to the battle, Black Star refuses to listen to Mifune, who, seeing no possibility of change for his opponent, decides to finish him with a lethal blow. Eibon finally puts the function of "Brew" to work and unlock its power.

47
"The Miraculous Coffee Table Flip – Fly, Our Death City Robot?"
"Kiseki no Chabudaigaeshi 〜Bokura no Desu Shitī Robo?〜" (奇跡のちゃぶ台返し 〜僕らのデス･シティーロボ?〜)
March 2, 2009

After taking Mifune's lethal blow, Black Star finds himself deep within the soul of the Enchanted Sword, where he is devoured by the souls fallen by the blade. Instead, Black Star accepts the burdens of those slain by the Enchanted Sword and vows to fight for them, finally mastering the weapon, and, declaring that he will take the path of neither the warrior nor the demon but his own, defeats Mifune. Black Star then spares Mifune and continues to invite him to be a teacher at the DWMA, and they soon set off to find Angela. Meanwhile, Free, Eruka, and Mizune flee from Baba Yaga's Castle after sensing the demise of Medusa. Meanwhile, wishing to repent for helping Arachne, Eibon uses a key created from his own soul to activate "Brew", which has been revealed to grant the desires of whoever uses it. Lord Death uses the Magic Tool to transform Death City into a giant robot, desiring to personally fight for others, and swiftly enters the battle. Baba Yaga's Castle immediately becomes mobile and fights Death City, but Death City eventually manages to breach the castle, grab Asura, pull him out into the open and consumes him, apparently trapping him inside the city.

48
"Lord Death Wields a Death Scythe – Just One Step from Utter Darkness?"
"Desusaizu o Motta Shinigami-sama 〜Chotto Saki wa Yami Darake?〜" (武器(デスサイズ)を持った死神様 〜一寸先はヤミだらけ?〜)
March 9, 2009

Upon being devoured by the mobilized Death City, Asura lands in the Death Room, where he is confronted by Lord Death and Death Scythe. Meanwhile Black Star, Tsubaki, and an injured Mifune find Angela in Baba Yaga's Castle. Lord Death and Asura begin to battle while Kid, Azusa, and Excalibur observe. As they fight, Asura begins to explain his purpose in life, believing that fear is the result of the imagination of the people, and plans to end all fear by spreading madness and preventing people from imagining again, but Lord Death disagrees, declaring to be the guardian of the world. Lord Death appears to have the upper hand until Asura fires a large blast from Vajra at Kid and Azusa, forcing Lord Death to block the blast with his body, leaving him gravely injured. Excalibur rebukes Asura who stands over Lord Death until he begins to have strange spasms and goes back to Arachne. As Arachne embraces Asura, he murders Arachne and devours her soul out of fear of her.

49
"Asura Wakes – To the End of the World?"
"Ashura Kakusei 〜Sekai no Ikitsuku Hate e?〜" (阿修羅覚醒 〜世界の行き着く果てへ?〜)
March 16, 2009

Asura, being injured from the battle with Lord Death, begins to put up a barrier around himself preparing for a deep sleep. Before the barrier closes, Maka, Black Star, Kid, and their weapons are the only ones able to get inside and they proceed to end the madness that began long ago. However, having devoured Arachne's soul, Asura grows tremendously in size and strength, but although they do not appear to be injuring him, Kid thinks they are as the barrier is weakening. However, Soul accidentally pushes himself too far and is devoured by the black blood of the Little Demon. With Soul, the only one who can help them do a duel arts resonance link, down for the count, Maka goes to bring Soul back, with Black Star and Kid protecting her, and after crossing a long corridor she finds "Soul", who closes the door behind her. Meanwhile, Crona recovers from the previous battle's injuries, Justin convinces Giriko to retreat, and everyone else outside of the barrier is forced to do nothing but place their hopes in Maka, Black Star, and Kid.

50
"Sink or Swim?! The Men Who Transcend the Gods?"
"Ichi ka Bachi ka?! 〜Kami o Koeru Otokotachi?〜" (イチかバチか?! 〜神を超える男たち?〜)
March 23, 2009

While everyone outside the barrier can only sit and wait anxiously, Death Scythe recovers, and Black Star and Kid continue to battle Asura with almost no results. Determined to avenge his father and protect the world, Kid tries to charge up, but Asura stabs him and Kid collapses to the ground. Seemingly dead, Kid's eyes suddenly fill with a blue light as the Lines of Sanzu, the white stripes in Kid's hair, activate and his soul becomes extremely powerful as his Death Cannon powers up. While Asura is distracted by this, Black Star takes advantage of the opening and knocks down Asura, allowing the empowered Kid to attack. However, Kid faints and Asura shrinks down to normal. Meanwhile, Maka is locked in a room with "Soul", telling her to open a box containing his courage, in which Soul's voice comes out from the box claiming to be the real Soul who sealed himself to prevent the madness from reaching him. However, Maka, knowing her partner too well, is aware that the "Soul" with her is actually Little Demon, who states to be a part of Soul now. Risking being devoured by the black blood while promising to save him, she decides to open a locked box and successfully saves him from darkness. Having lost control of the situation, the Little Demon shrinks in size, allowing Soul, who accepts the black blood as part of him, to eat him in one gulp. The two of them return to the battle to find everyone else laying unconscious and Asura still undefeated.

51
"The Word Is Bravery!"
"Aikotoba wa Yūki!" (合言葉は勇気!)
March 30, 2009

Maka and Soul are the only ones left standing against Asura. Believing that Maka's Genie Hunter is the only one that can combat against Asura, her strength and determination upgrades her ultimate attack to Kishin Hunter, but Asura easily shatters the attack and regenerates from it, and proceeds to issue his own attacks, one of which is blocked by Soul and for which Maka takes the full hit to protect Soul's unconscious body. As Asura believes Maka is finally defeated, her weapon blood awakens and she unconsciously continues attacking, but Asura still easily takes her down and forces her weapon blood to concede by waking her up with pain. Meanwhile, Crona tells everyone that Maka's true strength comes from her heart and not a technique, and Lord Death recovers. As Asura tells Maka that all hope for her is lost, she and the others, who recover from their unconscious state, reply that true strength comes from bravery. Asura, who doesn't understand what bravery is, then begins succumbing to fear. Afraid, Asura weakly tries to deny Maka's advances, but his attempts are futile when she punches him straight to the face. Realizing that bravery is just like madness, Asura explodes, cleansing the world of his madness. However, Kid fears the rebirth of another kishin. Maka remains confident, as everyone has bravery in their hearts.

tag: table

text: DVD / Blu-ray releases[edit]

text:
Partial box sets (DVD only)

Name
Release date
Discs
Episodes

Part One
February 9, 2010
2
1-13

Part Two
March 30, 2010
2
14-26

Part Three
June 1, 2010
2
27-39

Part Four
July 27, 2010
2
40-51

text:
Season box sets

Name
Release date
Discs
Episodes

The Meister Collection
May 24, 2011
4 (DVD); 3 (BD)
1-26

The Weapon Collection
August 9, 2011
4 (DVD); 3 (BD)
27-51

text:
Complete series box set

Name
Release date
Discs
Episodes

Complete Series
November 20, 2012
8 (DVD); 6 (BD)
1-51