Review of Shakugan no Shana: Season I

Note: This will be a review of the series in its entirety, as in all three seasons plus the OVAs. Overview: It's a shame not many people talk about "Shakugan no Shana" nowadays, because at the time of its release it was one of the most popular anime on television. Unfortunately, this has caused many other series to replicate it, causing a lot of newcomers to go in and find nothing special. Having watched it myself, however, I feel this reputation is largely undeserved. While there are some parts that haven't aged well, it still has plenty of strengths that keep it several steps ahead of mostof its children, chief among these being some of the greatest character development I have ever seen.

Story (7.5/10):
The story is set in the fictional Misaki City, where unbeknownst to humanity, a waging war is fought between two groups- the Flame Hazes and the Crimson Denizens. The reason this is unknown to people is because these fights take place in the Crimson Realm, an alternate plane that only the supernatural can enter. One day, Yuji Sakai, a 15-year-old boy, gets pulled into this conflict and discovers that he is no longer human- in fact, he is a Torch, residue of the original Yuji who was devoured by a Denizen not long ago. Upon entering this realm, he meets Shana, a Flame Haze, and the two of them change each other's lives and views of the world forever.

At first, Crimson Denizens are shown to be vicious beings who devour people's Power of Existence, which results in people having never been born and disrupts the balance of the world. As such, it falls to the Flame Hazes to slay these Denizens and ensure that the world stays in balance. The problem is that these Flame Hazes are ruthless warriors who at best prioritize preserving the balance over protecting innocent lives, and at worst are sociopaths who hunt Denizens purely out of spite and pick fights with others of their kind for fun. The whole thing sounds very bleak and nihilistic, but overtime several Flame Hazes, most notably Shana, change for the better and we're introduced to some who were good from the beginning, while Denizens turn out to be a lot more sympathetic than we were initially led to believe. All in all, the series just continuously gets better overtime, all the way up to a fitting and highly rewarding conclusion.

Sadly, all three seasons have their problems. I couldn't help but feel sometimes that the first season was a lot longer than it needed to be, as a lot of the drama stems purely from characters taking tiny things completely the wrong way, which is fine the first couple of times, but gets pretty annoying after the sixth or seventh. The second season largely fixes this problem, but is mostly slice-of-life for the first half, which adds nothing to the story aside from some much-needed character development, though things do get much better in the second half once the action starts again. The third season is the best of the three, but it still has a few issues, including a treasure trove of new characters appearing out of nowhere and massive changes that won't make much sense unless A) you've been paying very close attention and B) you've seen the OVAs beforehand, though thankfully they are absolutely worth watching. All in all, while the story is unique and interesting, it still has plenty of flaws, pacing being the biggest one.

Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"Shakugan no Shana" starts off looking good enough, but there are quite a few notable rough edges in the first season and the characters could be more detailed. Things improve brilliantly in the second season when the character designs become notably more refined, and even more so in the third, which has some of the most amazing visual effects that J.C. Staff have ever produced, and I don't just mean the fight scenes. Unfortunately, I can't talk about the full extent of the visuals as doing so would give away massive spoilers, so all I can say is that it's best for you to see them for yourself.

Sound & Dialogue (9/10):
The soundtrack is easily one of the high points of the series. There are so many great tracks that it would be impossible to list them all. Including the OVAs, there's a grand total of seven openings and out of all of them, there are only two I didn't find memorable (the second of the first season, "Being" and the second of the second season "Blaze"), though my favourite of them is without a doubt the second opening of the third season, "Serment". On the other hand, the voice acting is somewhat hit-and-miss. Notably, the English dub of the second and third seasons have a completely different cast from that of the first. For the most part this isn't a problem- I think Josh Grelle does just as good a job as Yuji as Kristen Ayre and Cherami Leigh arguably does an even better Shana than Tabitha St. Germain- but there are a few cases where I preferred the original voice e.g. I preferred Paul Dobson as Alastor to Kent Williams. The worst change, however, would have to be Greg Ayres as Keisaku, which does not fit him at all, especially since Brad Swaile was the one who voiced him originally. They really should have gotten Micah Solusod to voice him instead, though unfortunately his only appearance is as a cameo return of arguably the least interesting character in the series.

Characters (8/10):
At the start of the series, being a Torch notwithstanding, Yuji is a ridiculously average person, most likely as a way to provide a surrogate for the audience. The biggest things he contributes are his insight and being Shana's voice of reason, since he initially has no fighting ability whatsoever. While initially it seems like he's going to disappear soon, he soon discovers that he has a mystical object within him that repeatedly regenerates his Power of Existence, though this also makes him a target for Denizens. As such, he asks Shana to train him to he can become strong enough to fight with her. At first, he struggles and fails to make any kind of progress, but by season 2 he starts to become more and more badass, while also colder and more ruthless. By season 3, almost none of his original self remains, to the point that he has become a completely different character (and I'm not exaggerating when I say that), and thankfully it's a character far more interesting and complex than the one he starts off as.

But while Yuji is a fantastic character in his own right, Shana is easily a superior one, though she's definitely not likable at first. When we first meet her, she's a borderline nihilist who only cares about her duties and sees little to no meaning in even the most basic of things, not even having a name until Yuji gives her one (he names her after her sword, the Nietono no Shana). However, we soon learn that this is the result of her having no social skills, having been raised to be the perfect Flame Haze, and she gradually grows out of this problem thanks to the magic of character development. Much like Yuji, it is NOT an exaggeration to say that Shana ends the series as a completely different character from what she starts off as, perhaps even more so than him as changes in her become visible very early on. But while Yuji starts off as a nice guy but becomes colder and more ruthless overtime, Shana goes in the exact opposite direction, becoming progressively kinder and more compassionate and coming to see herself as more than just the Flame Haze she was raised to be. Ironically, despite being considered one of the quintessential examples of a tsundere, not only is this attitude justified, but by the final season it would be more accurate to call her the non-tsundere, as only her "dere" side remains. All in all, not only is she the single best character in the entire series, but I would go so far as to say she is THE reason to watch the show, with her character development being easily one of the most drastic transformations in the history of anime.

But let's be honest, I've only scraped the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the characters in this series. For starters, there's Alastor. Each Flame Haze is contracted to a god called a Crimson Lord, and Alastor is Shana's, as well as one of the most powerful out there. Most of the time, he doesn't do much since he resides within Shana, which is mirrored by a pendant she wears around her neck, and so he mostly acts as a mentor to Shana and Yuji. In particular, his relationship with Shana is a lot like that of a father and daughter, albeit a far from perfect one, though this makes it all the more compelling. Equally compelling is the relationship Shana has with her mother figure Wilhelmina Carmel, a fellow Flame Haze who dresses like a maid and always speaks overly formally (if you were to take a drink for every time she says 'Indeed', you'd be dead within minutes). While Wilhelmina does try her hardest to raise Shana, the unfortunate truth is that she simply doesn't know how, since she can't provide her emotional support and often fails to recognize when she's in pain. Making matters worse is that Wilhelmina is all too aware of this, which greatly frustrates her and causes her to believe she's done an inadequate job as her guardian. Another notable character is Kazumi Yoshida, a classmate of Yuji and Shana's who unlike them is completely human. She's had a crush on Yuji since before the start of the series, and so soon becomes a love rival for Shana (oh, did I mention this series is a love story as well?). She starts off very shy but overtime becomes much more confident and bold, and even goes so far as to befriend Shana despite their love for the same boy. She gets much less screentime in season 3, however, though ironically she arguably has a bigger impact in that season than in the first two combined.

Unfortunately, having so many characters means that there's only so much time to spend on them, and in particular some early villains end up being relatively unexplored. The most glaring of these is Sorath, a teenage-like Denizen who appears midway through season 1 alongside his sister, Tiriel, whom he relies upon to teach him everything. He's defined almost entirely by this, with his only other trait being his obsession with Shana's sword. The problem is that it's never explained exactly WHY he wants Shana's sword- he just does and that's it. While he does only appear in a few episodes, it's still strange to see such a flat character in a series full of character development, especially since Tiriel gets roughly the same amount of screentime and has at least some personality beyond her devotion to her brother, as well as a clear motive. Thankfully, the villains do get a lot more interesting in later seasons, and by season 3 it wouldn't be a stretch to say they are just as sympathetic as the protagonists, save for Shana and a couple others.

Enjoyment (8/10):
Due to the often slow pacing, "Shakugan no Shana" can occasionally be a bit of a slog, especially during the first half of season 2 which has almost no action, though season 1 is still the worst in my opinion due to the repetition of the drama. Thankfully, there is some great comedy to balance things out and keep you from wanting to drop the series, and not only does season 2 improve drastically in the second half, but season 3 consists almost entirely of either action, progression of the plot, or both.

Overall:
"Shakugan no Shana" is a mixed bag in a lot of ways, but ultimately the good parts of the series far outweigh the bad. The action and music are fantastic, the visuals only consistently improve between seasons, and the characters change so much over the series that by the end you'll feel like you're watching a completely different show. It's a shame it's so underrated nowadays, given how popular it used to be. Personally, I would definitely recommend it to any fantasy, action or romance fan, if for nothing else than for its truly excellent titular heroine.

Score:
7.5+8.5+9+8+8=41/50=8.2/10