Shakugan no Shana S

As a fan of Shana I was wanting a season 3 instead of another OVA and watched this with a lot of anger towards the makers. The opening played and I forgave the boys at the top without second thought.

This was made to give us Shana fans a nibble before we get thirds not to piss us off. It gives us alot of the humor that this story mold of body-swapping use (Yuji reaching towards his chest when he is in shana's body was an inevitable moment the second they swapped bodies) and I think the "shana" feel behind it adds new life ... to the cliche plot.

Overall it was a great OVA in part 1 and am highly looking forward to the next 3 followed by the long awaited Shakugan no Shana III

I will be reviewing all seasons of Shakugan no Shana and the ova series called Shakugan no Shana S
Shakugan no Shana (Burning-Eyed Shana) also known simply as Shana are a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 too November 2012 under there Dengeki Bunko imprint.

In fall of 2005 Shakguan No Shana received an anime adaptation and it spawning 3 seasons that aired in different years, 1 movie and a OVA called Shakugan no Shana S. It was produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Takashi Watanabe whom are also ... directed one of my favourite series called Slayers.

Now what do I think about Shakugan no Shana?

Well I first I hated the series but after a short while I decided too re-watch S1 as well as watching S2 and S3 for the first time and well.

Shakguan No Shana went from being one of most overrated anime series too one of my favourite series in a blink of a eye because it contains great action, a good love triangle a story that gets better as the series progresses, wonderful art/animation and the main theme that Shana presents.

So why are Shakugan No Shana so good you may ask? Well we are going too find out in the course of this review.

Hello Everyone Shawn/TheCodeTrigger and today I will be reviewing all three seasons of Shakugan no Shana and with out of the way lets us begin.



Story.

The story begins with Yuji whom are youre average boy whom just graduated into high school. One day as he was going home he comes across a scarlet sealed area where everyone except him are frozen in time and on top of that theyre’s monsters named Tomogara. On top of that the Tomogara are stealing souls from human body and now they are after Yuji soul. Hope are almost lost until a female flame haze comes in and save Yuji as well as defeating the Toomgara. After that the flame haze tells Yuki that he now a torch. A leftover of someone whom has already been eaten by the Tomogara. Usually that you will only have a few days too live at most before disappearing completely but inside Yuki he has a mysterious and unique item that are called Reiji Maigo which every day at midnight he gets his existence replenished. So together with the flame haze which Yuji named Shana they set off too fight Tomogara together too protect the city.

The first 2 seasons of Shakugan no Shana features a lot action, slice of life and a bit of romance which manages too blend well for the most part. I liked too romance and slice bits of the show because they are well in my opinion and they give character development too most characters in like before Shana was just cold hearted tsundere but thanks too slice of life elements she becomes more humane character instead of being that rough main character. The action was just wonderful of J.C staff because theyre were well directed and the fights can get really intents at times.



Now I have too admit the first half of S2 are easily the weakest of the trilogy. It’s not bad by any means but compare too everything else in the trilogy it stick out like a sour thumb of being meh. Unlike most people I actually like the first half because I got too see the great character interactions with each other while they do bunch of slice of life stuff. Then again we have the love triangle hat shouldn’t really happen at all and the one whom brought this love triangle are the character that I hate the most. We get too her later.



The second half of S2 in my opinion are the best of the trilogy because J.C staff managed too show the potenal of series perfectly by giving us great villains, Yuji finally becomes a great male lead and he finally got real character development.

The only problems that I had with the first two seasons are the second villains of S1 which had some messed up insets with each other and the one girl which I will mention in the character section.

Shana S are just more Shana fun for the most part.

The first 2 episode are filler but highly enjoyable filler because of the character interactions were spot on.

The last two episodes are heavily character driven because they explore Shana as a character before she met Yuji. Plus those 2 episodes don’t have any action.

Finally we have Shana final.

This was the season where Shana fans were heavily divided.

I seen people whom Shana final was the shit or people whom thought Shana Final was the worst thing that J.C staff has ever done.

Where do I stand on this? I liked but at the same time I thought it was kinda rushed.

I can see why people hate this because that made that set character into a villain ruining the character development that they had with that set character but for me I found set character becoming a villain was a good move because in my opinion its adds more too the show.

Compare too Shana S1 and S2 Shana final are more action pack and very emotional too the eyes.

The ending of Shana final was good in my opinion because it closes the series in a great way.

The only real complaints that I had with Shana final are not Yuji becoming a different person but are almost all of the new characters that appear in Shana final hardly get any character development whatsoever and it's really a shame because I liked some of this new characters but they hardly get any back-story or mutations’ of why they taking part of the war.

Besides that I liked Shana Final.

One more that I like too mention are the theme of Shana. You see Shakguan No Shana deals with the theme evolution and the show manages too portray that theme properly because throughout the series you will see characters constantly evolving too become better people.



Overall I really like the story of all seasons of Shakugan no Shana.

9/10

Characters.

The characters of Shakgan no Shana start off generic but as the series progresses they all evolve too great characters.

I first hated Yuji because he stared off a generic protagonist but over the course the series I found him too a well written male lead because he well developed and actually has a personally unlike most generic male leads.

One more thing I will mention Yuji becomes a different person on Shana III and the things he does in Shana are just mind blowing.

Overall Yuji was a good character in my eyes.

Shana are a really good character in my opinion.

Sure she starts off as a rough tsundere but as the series progresses she becomes more of a humane character that can fit with her peers really well. Also by the time you get too Shana final her signs of her Tsunderism are completely gone and she finally evolve too become a light hearted badass whom loves Yuji.

This are how you write a tsundere guys.

Overall I adore Shana.

The rest of the characters are also good for the most part for example I really like the other characters ranging from the badass and mother figure too Shana Wilhelmina, the comic relief and also badass Margery, the rough but chilled Keisaku too the emotionless villain Hecate. In almost any show that I liked theyre are always that one or two character that I don’t like. In Shana case that character are Yoshida. She are a definition of a bad character because not only she’s annoying but she messes up the relationship of Shana and Yuji by adding a unnecessarily love triangle in the first half of S2. I don’t fully hate her as much as other people do but I she was that character that I heavily dislike.

Also I like too mention that some of the villains in S1 were not great they are .Not offensively bad like Yoshida but compare too the villains in the second season and final they are rather forgettable.

Overall besides from Yoshida this character cast was great.

9/10

Art/Animation.

Like with the characters the art/animation continuously evolves as the series progress.

The art style of the first half of S1 feels kinda generic and outdated in a lot of areas but the second half of S1 the art/animation general improves for the better. Shana Final has some of the best art/animation I seen from a J.C Staff because you can clearly tell that they really effort on the characters designs too the backgrounds of the locations.

Not too mention Shana hair on S3 are beautifully animated.

Overall the art/animation are really good.

9.5/10

Sound

The OST of Shana are just wonderful listen because it has both the action and romance music that are very memorable plus the show knows too use appropriate songs on each scene.

By the time of this review the Shakugan no Shana OST are one of my favourite OSTs in anime.



All of the openings were good but noting can top Shana III Final opening 1 Light My Fire" by KOTOKO because it's sounds legendary and it’s more hype for the show. Not too mention it’s one of my favourite anime openings of all time.

The endings are good but nowhere near as good as the openings in my opinion. The only endings themes that I adore are Shana 2 Ending 2 Sociometry" by KOTOKO and Shana 3 Final Ending 1 I'll believe" by ALTIMA.



Now I only have seen Shakugan no Shana dubbed and I thought it was great dub.

Unlike Familiar of Zero you can tell they put effort of the dub because the voice acting for almost all of the characters were great. Unlike Slayers where two voice actors have too be changed as that series progresses everyone character a new voice actor in by the beginning of Shana Second. I personally enjoyed the new voice actors because I think they did a good job with the roles.

Overall the OST was just masterpiece. The openings, endings and the dub was great.

Enjoyment.

I really enjoyed the story from the action pack S1, the clam slice of life first half of S2, the more interesting second half of S2 too the wonderful war setting that are Shana 3 final because each season are very different from each other’s and its works really well in my opinion.

I personally enjoyed all of the seasons because of the character cast evolving every season too become better like for example I use too wrote off Yuji are a generic MC but after seeing Final he became a better and more interesting character.

Same goes with Shana because I was worried that Shana will became a another Lousie from The Familiar of Zero but in the end not only she's a well written tsundere with amazing character development she’s one of the best female leads I have ever seen in a long while.





Final Thoughts.

Shakguan no Shana has been a wonderful ride for me.

It's a great story that gets better written as the series progresses, the charterers are great and fun too watch, the art/animation just wonderful especially in S3 the ost are amazing and easily one of my favourite anime OST and the dub are great.

Shakugan no Shana has currently maintain a spot in my top 20 favorite anime series.
It's a much watch anyone whom are looking for a fast pace action anime with some good slice of life bits.

I give Shakugan No Shana this presenting scores for each season below.

S1 9/10

S2 9/10

Shana S 9/10

S3 8.5/10

My overall score a 9/10 (This series has been one hell of a fun and romantic ride)

My Anime Recommendations

Toradora

Slayers (for more Takashi Watanabe greatness)

RailDex

Bleach

Kaze no Stigma

Soul Eater

Shaman King.

Anyway this was TheCodeTrigger and I will see you guys next time.

This is my first review, so please forgive me if it is a little sloppy (there are some minor spoilers).

Summary: The 1st and 2nd episodes of the OVA are mildly interesting filler that you could skip without missing much. The 3rd and 4th episodes, on the other hand, are VERY powerful. They give some back story to Shana right before she meets Yuuji and serves as a great and emotional reminder about what it means to become a torch and disappear. These 2 episodes are mostly emotional and character driven and have little to no action. I highly suggest watching it!

More Detail:

I found these to ... be quite enjoyable and a bit more than filler because they taught Shana a valuable lesson about the relationship between mother and daughter, about family in general, and especially about adolescent romance. I really like how the first episode starts with Shana killing the torch (typical to a standard episode) and then going back through her past and figuring out what happened to her. This approach allowed for a build up of emotion as she got to know the torch and ended with the touching scene between Shana and the torches mother. I also liked how the second episode went into the details of the torches' relationship with her new boyfriend. The approach of slowly building up her final few days after she is already dead again proves to be very effective (for example finding out the bracelet she likes so much was a gift from her new boyfriend and that the reason she fought with her mother is she caught them kissing in the park.)

One thing that isn't completely clear until the end of the second episode is that this is a flashback and that Shana is basically just about to approach the town where Yuuji lives. It is ironic how Alastor wonders if she will one day find a human who can interact with her and she replies that it would be troublesome... if only she knew, haha. This episode (similar to the 1st few episodes in season 1) deals with the loss of human life, becoming a torch and disappearing. It is interesting how the show basically drops this concept, instead worrying about the relationships between the main characters. It is refreshing to get a reminder than all of the people who are devoured cease to exist and their loved ones and families will forget them... it really brings home what everyone is fighting for.