[darktruth]

First found out about Shakugan no Shana at Manifest 2006 during the screening of the first two eps. While the story of this anime isn't exactly the best, I really took a liking to this series because of the action and Shana's character. It's a rather fast paced series despite it being only 24 episodes. By the time I got up to episode 12, I had thought I was only up to episode 6 so by that time, I realised I was really into this anime. I guess it was the fight sequences and story that kept me hooked.

The comedy is done like any other stereotypical fanservice anime but doesn't really go over the top with it. The music are also quite catchy and haunting at the same time, it's first opening theme "Hishoku no Sora", sung by Kawada Mami, is definitely a real eye opener in getting people curious about the anime. This was what got me interested in watching the series in the first place. The second opening theme "Being", sung by KOTOKO, lives up to the first one too although it'll probably take a few listens before you can appreciate it. The two ending themes however, "Yowake Umare Kuru Shoujo" & "Aka no Seijaku", can get pretty dull and annoying but listening to the full version of "Aka no Seijaku" made me realise how much better it sounds (especially the electric guitar part during the bridge of the song).

The characters are pretty much like any other stereotypical male and female protagonists in an action anime, e.g. Ichigo & that Death God girl from Bleach, but Shana can get pretty cute when she's angry, upset or happy. Her famous trademark quote "shut up! shut up! shut up!" is rather funny to listen to. Yuji is pretty much like Ichigo from Bleach but less aggressive even though he's unwillingly drawn into realising the truth about his world. The other characters, Ike (Yuji's best friend), Yoshida, Keisaku, Tanaka and Ogata pretty much serve as a comedy support though they do add a bit to the main storyline (especially Yoshida in terms of Yuji's relationship with Shana). I found the addition of Margery Daw served nothing more than to add sex appeal with her gigantic assets but her background story was kind of touching, however other than that, I didn't find her that interesting.

I'm really curious to see the Shana movie which is being released in Japan in April even though it's just a retelling of the first arc of the TV series (Friagne's arc) with some new stuff. The ending to the TV series was kinda rushed and was pretty much open-ended, which begs for a second season though no announcements of it has been made so far.

The Shana-tan specials, which pokes fun at its own anime, are hilarious to watch but you really need to see the TV series to understand the jokes made XD (loved Yoshida's split personality LOL). It just sucks that these specials are unlikely to be brought over to the R1 release since it was exclusively intended for a Japanese audience only and Geneon is having some difficulties to license these.

The special hot springs OVA was also fun to watch, while it didn't really put any focus into Yuji, Shana and Yoshida, it served an interesting insight into Ogata's character and Keisaku and Tanaka's friendship XD. Poor Ike was put into bad situations hahaha.

Overall, great action anime with a sub-par storyline which could've been executed a bit better. I found that the characters, music and action was what saved this anime from being crap.