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Mar 22 2006

Categories: anime, episodic review, shakugan no shana, spoilers
Tagged: shakugan no shana

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Shakugan no Shana ends.

The final episode picks up from 23 with the three title bouts simucast: Wilhelmina vs Bel Peol, Margery vs Sydoney, and Shana vs Hecate. Both Wilhelmina and Margery aren’t doing that well, and Hecate uses Yuji’s power to seal herself into a cocoon of existance. Hecate and Shana verbally spar over Yuji like he’s a toy. There’s plenty of awkward Hecate pseudo-sex and plenty of Shana panty shots… I felt like I watching Najica or Dirty Pair. The Hecate pseudo-sex is getting on my nerves though… a bit too over the top… which seems a little hypocritical from me considering I immensely enjoyed Toune resounding her melos in MoO (same staff as Shana). There’s also more Shana panty shots in the first five minutes than the first 23 episodes combined… and zero panty shots for Wilhelmina ? What’s the world coming to?

However, the true hero who saves the day is Yuji, who rejects the tomogara loli for the flame haze loli. He stops sending power to Hecate which allows Shana to break through and free Yuji. After he’s freed, he earns “Most Useful Male Lead Ever” status by lifting up Bloodsucker (!!!) and pwning the power of existance extraction machinery.

Unfortunately, by doing so, he sends Hecate into a major emo breakdown as well as dooming the city to be buried until an avalance of power of existance. The only recourse to save the city is for Shana to use her final power (“tenpa jousai”) and seal the power. Of course, as explained in 16, this final power destroys the flame haze and is how the previous Flame Haired, Red Hot Eyed Hunter perished… with Wilhelmina overlooking that death… and not without irony, she’s overlooking Shana’s so she lets Bel Peol go and rushes to Shana.

But Shana isn’t going to go alone as Yuji wants to accompany her, and they hold hands and walk into the flames together. It reminds me a lot of Bell and K1 through the Gate of Judgement, yet proving once again, Belldandy is the omega. Before they disappear, Shana says, “I love you, Yuji.”

The end. Cue Aka no Seijaku.

Heh, just kidding. Wilhelmina almost does an OTL seeing tenpa jousai in action, only to be dragged out by Margery. All of Belle Masque also makes it out alive, only with Hecate a shell of her former self. Sydoney comforts her with, “You are you.” Kind of a nothingburger ending.

Yuji and Shana wake up after having sex all night long to the rising sun, and everything is the way it should be. The town is safe, and everyone is okay… Yuji’s ring somehow protected them and saved them, thought it doesn’t explain why (1) the perverted doll fetishist went down so easily if he had such an awesome ring and (2) why is Shana nakkid but Yuji isn’t. And that blanket? Where did it come from, and why is it blocking my view?

Shana, appropriately, ends the series with an “Urasai, urasai, urasai!” before the credits start rolling… and everyone’s life is back to semi-normalacy. It’s good to see everyone one final time…

Eita and Ike

Khamsim

Moy

Chigusa

Ogata

Yoshida, who claims that they are now starting over for their battle for Yuji now that they both confessed. Since Yuji hasn’t gotten back to either of them, he can string both along and get twice the gohobis. (Actually, twice of zero is still zero… OTL.) It’s more fun to think that she’ll go Kaede on Shana and Yuji sometimes, like what her dark side showed in Shana-tan.

And they have this mysterious, “Shakugan no Shana movie planning” graphic at the very end. I wonder if that’s going to involve Fires.

Shakugan no Shana was the first series that I blogged episode-by-episode, and it ended up being a very fun experience since the series ended up being pretty damn good. Originally, I had picked it because it was the best show of Fall 2005 after one episode. Overall, Shana had a good level of action (though it could use more), decent level of fanservice (4 and 9 being the loadbearers), and a very good crop of characters.

Shana is the reigning loli extraordinarie having locked up first place in Megami magazine’s last loli poll, #10 on Newtype’s top female poll, and currently head-to-head with the Omega Goddess in AoMM’s own March Madness. Quite a trifecta. Yuji goes from whiny brat to one of the most useful male leads every quickly, and despite the fact that he’s a bit ignorant of the hawt chix0rs tossing themselves at him, he does coax a confession out of Yoshida and Shana. Wilhemenia made a huge impression and debuted at #3 on AoMM’s latest Meido Power Rankings™ de arimasu. Chigusa not only won Best Family of 2005, she was also #1 on AoMM’s Top Ten Anime MILF. Just a tour de force from a likable and memorable character perspective.

Toss in melonpan, Shana-tan, Wilhemenia in her medival dress, doll fetishist, Yoshida, Margery, Alastor, twincest, Shakugan no Shana has everything covered. Got loli? Yep. Got MILF? Yep. Got weird food fetishes? Yep. Got catchphrases? “Urasai!”

The series does have its shortcomings… no Wilhelmina x Chigusa action, average battle scenes, and the final two arcs were mostly to showcase Yuji and Shana or Yoshida’s relationships. The attacking Belle Masque seems almost like an addon to force Shana or Yoshida to confess, and since not much happened beyond the girls confessing and Yuji deflowering Shana, the last arc felt a bit empty. (But, with all the fanservice packed in, I’ll forgive them… though I’m livid that it’s the final frickin’ episode and there’s no melonpan.. who dropped the ball on this? I want names.) Also, a lot of characters, like Khamsim and Silver, seem to be tossaways. Used or mentioned for an episode or two and mysterious disappear.

Still, there’s a lot that the show does right. Beyond the fanservice and characters, it did paint an elaborate world like our own and embellish it in its own way. The titles like Manipulator of Objects and Flame Haired, Red Hot Eyed Hunter drew us into the struggle for balance, as well as a plot that flowed well from point a to b to c.

I’ll look forward to (and hope for) more Shana anime, but I’m satisfied with how the end turned out. Even though not much happens, Shana does confess to Yuji, and that’s a big step in itself. Hopefully, the franchise can gather enough support and steam to be like Full Metal Panic, after all, there’s a lot more stories in the original novels (like Fires and the Yuji/Shana switching bodies thing) left to tell. Great series, and good luck, good night Shana and Yuji.

Archived Shakugan no Shana posts
Old Shakugan no Shana wallpaper post