Review of Shakugan no Shana: Season I

Let's have a review starting at the end: Shakugan no Shana is a good show; if you're at all interested in monster-fighting urban fantasy with magic and powers running around keeping the world safe on the secret, you'll probably like it. More interesting, I feel, is why Shakugan no Shana works: because it's far from unique. There are a million other stories like this one, both older and newer, both in Japanese and in Western media. But in my opinion, Shana does kind of stand apart from the pack as something memorable and good. So if it's not the core concept being uniqueand engaging, what is it?

It's... a little bit of everything. For one, we have the story. Again, this is sort of every urban fantasy story: something supernatural is menacing the locality of the writers' choice (City, in this case, but country, world, or school grounds would make no difference), most humans are unknowing, but a main character gets dragged into the other world that exists parallel to the one we know, probably as something special. Shana kind of knows that we don't care too much about what was going on before that point, and gets us pretty much right to our main character, Yuji Sakai, receiving his tutorial on this particular shadowy monster-infested world, followed very quickly by being pulled into further adventures/mayhem by the Flame-Haired, Burning-Eyed Hunter.

Being thrown into the deep end right off the bat is something of a bold choice: it would be easy to lose viewers who, like Yuji himself, can't quite follow what's transpiring in the first couple episodes, but as I just mentioned, that's actually like Yuji, and there is therefore a degree to which the viewer is forced to share his experience. Beyond that, the writing is what I might call clean. It's not simplistic -- not by any means, there are plenty of made-up names, secret histories, and weird rules of the supernatural being thrown around -- but it is easy to quickly understand. You know, pretty much instantly, what the stakes and drives of the characters are, and the characters are used to draw you deeper into the story. We care about the city because Yuji cares, and we have a sense of urgency about the danger that denizens present not because they eat nameless faceless masses (which they do; Shakugan no Shana has quite the body count of unnamed characters, even if no one in setting will notice or remember) but because Shana has and properly expresses a sense of urgency in what she does.

Which brings me to the characters. They're very good, and do a lot of the work of setting Shakugan no Shana apart from its innumerable competitors. True, they are somewhat typical: Yuji is mostly the special-but-wimpy former unknowing, Shana is the hardened veteran badass, Yoshida is the perpetual unknowing. The Crimson Denizens are, for the most part, monsters with a theme but not really a relatable human personality. Margery Daw and her schoolboy minions are a little less archetypical, but they still fit into molds that have been used elsewhere.

The thing is, all these characters grow. Yuji Sakai starts off frightened and depressed (a natural reaction to his situation, frankly) but as the story goes on, he gains the conviction to fight for what he believes in and, though he's anything but strong, really play the part of the hero. Shana is in some ways the perfect image of the Tsundere done well: at the start, she isn't in touch with her feelings, but slowly, by growing and reaching some degree of self-knowledge, she comes to terms with them (to a degree) and the nature of and triggers for her flustered outbursts change. She begins the story not wanting anything, gains desires, and finally gains understanding of what she wants. It's the kind of transformation you want to see. Margery Daw goes through some forced character growth earlier, having to address her serious issues in an early arc and find a new balance when some of her world view was shattered, while her henchmen go from random and kind of shiftless recruits to dedicated fellows doing what they can as regular humans. Even Yoshida, who you'd normally expect to be locked out of the loop, becomes aware of the Crimson World and had to answer for herself how the knowledge she gains might change her wishes or priorities. No one is static in Shakugan no Shana, they're all characters we see multiple sides of, and who's trials have a real impact upon them. For a show where the stated mission of the heroes is to "maintain the balance of the world", which would seem to lend itself to having a strong status quo, there really isn't much of one to speak of: every adventure sees some fundamental change to at least some of the characters we care about, and their growth and change stick. That seriously narrows down the competition Shakugan no Shana has to face from the rest of its 'pack'.

Also of note is the action. It's a mix of powers and martial arts that's fast and impactful. On the subject of action, I have a theory: when a show does action poorly, there can still be a lot of technical action (or at least motion), but that motion will lack weight. Good action needs stakes, drama, and meaning in order to properly convey the intensity and purpose. Bad action shows a lot of stuff happening without actually doing anything, while with good action will also show a lot of stuff happening (as the complexity of fight choreography can be a selling point) but none of that will be wasted, and every move will represent a shift in the ebb and flow or the fight, or at least properly 'sell' the drama inherent in the moment, rapidly showing the characters engaged in the action going through as many emotional and dramatic moments as a powerfully charged conversation or other 'dramatic' scene, but doing it with the visuals of a life-or-death struggle rather than with words. In essence, good action speaks to the viewer, and communicates meaning, while bad action just makes a lot empty noise to cover for the fact that it really doesn't have much to say.

By that metric, the action in Shakugan no Shana is very good. The drama of the scene will typically support the stakes of the fight, and the movements, animation, and choreography will have that important element of constant and clear communication. You know why these characters are fighting, and how they fight lets you learn more about them as characters. More than once, Shana's inner turmoil, or lack thereof, can be clearly expressed in how she handles herself in an action scene.

The voice acting helps too: it's really top notch. There's a reason Shana's VA has been typecast as characters that are at least a little Shana-like thereafter, despite having an otherwise huge range, and it's because she does an incredible job bringing such a complex character, and most critically that character's growth and change, to life. The rest of the cast aren't slouches either. The music, meanwhile, is excellent: all the opening and ending themes were strong and memorable, and the in-episode music and sound was mixed well to augment, not distract from, the events on screen.

All in all, I enjoyed the show a ton, and looking forward to watching more of it -- not more of the millions of other stories that might have the same general tropes and patterns, more of Shakugan no Shana, which has done so much to earn my respect and continued viewership.

Story: 8
Art: 8
Sound: 9
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8