Avalon: Shakugan no Shana

Weird…it hasn’t even been that long since I’ve seen this and I still get the feeling this is gonna being a little difficult. This anime is mainly a mix of action and romance.

Animation – 8/10
I had no problems with the animation. The characters all looked good, the battling looked good, nothing was really disappointing.

Sound – 9/10
The sound is very well done. The openings and endings were good and I have to say I love the 1st ending. Voice overs were well done. They fit the characters and got the emotions across very well. Background music I don’t really remember much of, but I know I would remember if it sucked, so I won’t say it was bad either.

1st Ending:

Story – 10/10
I personally thought the story was very well thought out and though some of the premises we’ve seen before, new things are introduced to make it very entertaining and suspenseful at moments. Yuji Sakai, the main guy, is living a seemingly normal day when suddenly everything around him freezes and some strange creatures appear. They began “devouring” the people around him and just as he is about to get eaten, a mysterious girl with flaming red hair appears and easily defeats the creatures. Yuji comes to find out that she is a “Flame Haze” and it’s her job to destroy these creatures. I’m not saying anything else, but this meeting completely changes Yuji’s life and lets just say he will never again have a dull moment. Of course we can’t have a romance anime without a love triangle, so Yuji also has to deal with that, though he is really stupid about is sometimes.

Character – 8/10
The characters aren’t bad at all even though we have seen them before, but I’ll be shocked if I find an anime that has COMPLETELY original characters. Yuji wants to do what’s right even if it means harming himself, which in turn annoys Shana, the main girl who is also known in the beginning as the “Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter”, because Yuji is special and can’t fall into the enemies hands. Shana is excellent with a sword or hand to hand combat if need be. She is quick to anger though that adds to her cuteness. Alastor pretty much advises Shana and takes the form of a pendant Shana always has around her neck. He is always very serious and gives good advice, but unlike Shana, doesn’t get angry that often. Margery Daw is another Flame Haze who loves to drink and loves a good fight some of the time. Marcosias is her partner who takes the form of a book. He loves joking around cracking jokes about Margery whenever he gets the chance. Finally there is Kazumi Yoshida who likes Yuji. She is very kind, but does begin to fight for what she wants as the anime progresses.

Isn’t she cute?

I probably didn’t need to describe all of them, but I already did and I don’t plan on doing any more…just watch the anime. Character development isn’t too bad, though some of it happens in the 2nd season, which this review is not about.

Overall: Average:8.75/10…My score 9/10
Originally I had put 8 on this, but I realized that another time I rated this anime I gave it a 9 and I want to stick with my original score I gave it since I rated it at that time right after finishing it so ya…

This anime is definitely worth a watch if you like action and romance. Don’t forget about the 2nd season if you do check it out though.

~ by Avalon on August 18, 2008.