Wej: Shakugan no Shana

I actually had a friend recommend me this anime. When I told Avalon to download it, I found out he already has…. GOD DAMMIT!!!

This is a review for the first season of Shakugan no Shana. Shakugan no Shana Second will come soon.

Animation: 9/10
The girls were cute, and I liked the color scheme. That’s probably the best I can say. The fighting isn’t “blow your mind out” either (but then again, I haven’t found very many animes that are. If someone knows of one, tell me, I am really craving a good sword fighting anime).

Sound: 10/10
I adored what this anime did with the music. Both the opening, and especially the ending, are good. They had a lot of techno in the music, which I love catchy techno beats. I loved how they faded in the music towards the end of an episode.

Story: 8/10 (Sorry for any spoilers that may appear, I kept it to a minimum)
The story starts out with some normal high school boy (Yuji Sakai) and a really good friend (Hayato Ike). Yuji finds out that this girl he kinda likes, likes Ike. So he wants them to be together. But the girl and Yuji are walking out of a store, the world freezes (and changes color and stuffs). He is confused as he watches a demon type thing devouring people. That girl gets eaten. Then Shana comes in and takes out the thing. Yuji is completely confused and still scared about what happened to that one girl. Shana puts everything back together. Shana and Yuji eventually become close, and Yuji wants to fight by her side. (This is leaving a lot out)

Sounds interesting right??? Why did it get an 8??? For the first half of the anime, it had a lot of potential. But the second half decided to center around the gay ass love triangle between Shana and Kazumi who like Yuji. A love triangle can usually add to an anime. But this one didn’t. Instead, you know he is going to end up with Shana, you want him too. BUT WHY THE FUCK IS KAZUMI GETTING IN THE WAY????? God dammit!!! She should have realized that she cannot compete with Shana. She may “love” Yuji and want to fight for his love, but all she is doing is getting in the way, and causing Shana pain. I can’t completely blame her. After she confessed to Yuji, he should have told her that he didn’t feel the same way. BUT HE DIDN’T!!!

It should have been some small side story, that would have made this way better. But instead, the center around the love triangle!!! That pissed me off to no end.

Characters: 9/10
It did do pretty well with character development. There are a few things that I wished happened though. Like Ike getting involved with the main story. And Yuji having more balls. And Kazumi to die…

I got so annoyed at this anime that the only girl I wanted was Shana and I gave the rest to Avalon. But I guess he only wanted Kazumi.

Overall: 9.0/10
It was an enjoyable anime to watch. If you like the love triangle annoying girl in the way, you will love this anime more then I did. I loved the first half of the first season and the second half of the second season. If the whole anime was like that, I would have absolutely loved it to make it around my #2!

Oh boy. It had the strangest short OVAs I have seen yet. They are called “Shakugan no Shanatan”. A smaller version of Shana, and it has a lot of sexual references. I laughed like nothing else at how stupid they are.

There was another OVA that was better and the length of a full episode. Ike gets his ass kicked, for no reason…you have to feel bad for him… And an enjoyable fantasized love triangle.

Time for a Yaoi Moment!
(Click pics to make bigger)

Starts off with an explanation:

They find themselves staring out on the night filled ocean:

What can he say??? The moment got to him:

OK! The moment REALLY got to them:

*That night*

On the ride home:

~ by Wej on August 18, 2008.