I agree with your review. But why wasn't Yoko Ishida mentioned? She sang the ending themes incredibly well. Her powerful singing was the best thing about this anime(yes, I enjoyed the ending the most). ^^; But other then that I agree with your review. The first episodes kept me watching the entire season, waiting for it to pop. I got disappointed, especially at the end.
Shakugan no Shana tv Review
Yuji Sakai is suddenly plunged into an alternate reality where he sees human souls being consumed by monsters.
Just as he is attacked, the katana-wielding Shana intervenes and destroys the monsters known as 'Denizens of the Crimson Realm'. Identifying herself as a 'Flame Haze', an enforcer of balance in the spirit realm, Shana reveals Yuji is a 'Mystes', a special soul that holds a powerful treasure sought by the monsters to throw the spirit world off balance. From that moment on, Shana vows to protect Yuji as his guardian and becomes his companion at school.
Summary by princessmeyrin023
Story & Characters
Shakugan no Shana! Shakugan no Shana! I bet just saying that has a few of you foaming at the mouth. BUBBLE BURSTING TIME! It's not that good. Ever hear the saying "less than the sum of its parts?" Shana is a perfect example of that. Cute girls, great action, good character interaction, crazy enemies and more. Problem is, everything is presented in such a way that all those great things come out to be just average. Have your thesauruses ready, you'll need it for all the synonyms of the word 'mediocre'.
Shakugan no Shana follows the life of Yuuji Sakai, an average high school student living out his days as normal. One day, while returning home from school, everybody around him freezes and a battle breaks out between a mysterious stranger and two monsters known as Rinne. The stranger defeats this menace and returns everything to normal. She introduces herself as a "Flame Haze" or someone whose job it is to defeat the Guze no Tomogora (beings that eat existences of humans) so as to maintain the balance of the world. Intrigued by what just took place, Yuuji follows this girl and asks her all kinds of questions as to what just happened. She explains to him that he is actually dead and simply exists now as a torch. Torches act as a filler from a person whose existence has been eaten by the Guze no Tomogora. Yuuji though is a special kind of Torch, known as a Mistes. The Mistes' hold within them certain powers that normal torches do not, and Yuuji's happens to be that unlike all other torches, he will not disappear. Now Shana decides to protect Yuuji because of his power and that all of the tomogora would be after him and his power.
The above description is all things within the first few episodes, and could have proven to be quite a solid and original plotline. What follows is where Shana falls into mediocrity. The majority of the show is Shana and Yuuji slowly getting closer to one another and the situations they go through as a team. Of course they slowly fall for one another, but admitting it would make the show too short. Throw in the occasional battle with a tomogora and you have the crux of the show. The enemies they fight are 'creative' to say the least. A man who is obsessed with fulfilling his plans so he can give life to one of his doll creations (of which he is way too close to). Another is a brother and sister combo who love each other so much they exchange deep kisses all the time, quite frankly to point of disturbing. But monster of the day shows just don't do it for me.
The show does try to take on a much more serious tone towards the latter part of the show, but is mostly overshadowed by the love triangle that has developed. Yuuji is torn between one of his classmates and his feelings for Shana. Shana refuses her very obvious feelings for Yuuji and that tends to cloud the seriousness of the end of the show. While the city is in turmoil and possible destruction surrounds them, it still ends up focusing more on what Yuuji and Shana are to one another. Not the best direction for this show. While the last couple of episodes were fairly good in and of themselves, it can't make up for the previous lack luster twenty-two episodes.
Rating:
Art
I believe art and animation will be an arguing point for many people. I liked the art overall, but it certainly didn't impress me. Character designs were fair, but seemed awfully generic. Yuuji looks like every other average high school male in anime, and Shana was just a lolish character that was over killed with the color black. Eyes and hair all had a black color to them, making her character all but featureless. When she did transform into her Flame Haze form, all that happened was her hair and eyes turned red, leaving her still all but featureless. We are also presented with the classmates of these two, which again lack creativity. We get a maid and the big-breasted blonde (what anime doesn't have those these days). The word I think I'll use is passable.
Aside of the character animations themselves, we have the absolutely appalling backgrounds. It honestly looks as if someone painted the backgrounds with oil crayons and someone came behind with a wet paper towel and just smeared it all. They lack any real detail and just appear lazy. I'd say that this problem by itself is likely enough to kill any real positive animation value.
Rating:
Sound
I would like to score this section higher simply because of two things; KOTOKO and Mami Kawada. I adore both of their music, and jump at the opportunity to buy a new album. They provide solid songs for the Shana soundtrack. But the reason I can't rate it as high as I'd like is the background music. There is very little to speak of, and there is one in particular that plays during every tense situation. Granted the song definitely gets you pumped up for the battle that is taking place, but since it is played during every imminent battle, it loses its effect early on. Music can sometimes turn the tide of emotion for the viewer and allow for maximum involvement and enjoyment of a particular scene. But when you rely on one arrangement to pull that off consistently, you are asking for trouble.
The voice acting of the show is extremely one-dimensional. Aside of a few actors that had excellent performances, the rest end up with such one-dimensional characters that they are unable to maybe show their true range of vocal talents. Rie Kugimiya brings out Shana's erratic personality well. She runs the gamut of arrogant, annoyed, playful and emotional with spot on accuracy. Satoshi Hino (who plays Yuuji) complements Shana well when on screen together. Since his character is someone with no battle capabilities, he is portrayed as a weakling, but also is able to voice his sheer determination against insurmountable odds. Now for the shocker, the best voice acting award goes to Mitsuo Iwata as Marchosias. Marchosias is the sidekick of Margery Daw and is one sarcastic and hilarious book (I did say book). He is all the time picking on his partner and is always trying to sneak in that one sarcastic comment during a serious moment. Just watch, you'll see what I mean.
Rating:
Presentation
Oh how I waited for this show to convert me into a Shana fanboy. It had all the potential, all the ingredients it needed to do something great. The interaction between Shana and Yuuji was at times a huge highlight. Seeing Shana slowly break down her emotional barriers and allow Yuuji into her life, slowly making her more human. Seeing Yuuji gain strength from Shana. Truly a wonderful thing to see... early on. Eventually though it turned into a run of the mill "I love you but can't admit it" type of show, which just doesn't work anymore. The plot twists were presented early on in the series, which allowed plenty of time for execution, which was never truly realized in the end. It seemed after all of the pent up anxiety waiting for the story to come to a head, that I was left empty at the end of the experience because nothing really happened. Sadly when it did try to churn out an epic ending, it ended up being overshadowed by the character angst and drama.
Nearly everybody that gives Shana a chance will find something they enjoy. It covers every genre and provides some entertaining moments. But this will likely be one of those shows you'll end up forgetting not too long after you finish it.
Side note, I know that this show tends to be a huge crowd pleaser and seeing such a low score is likely going to rile some of you up, well enjoy yourselves and flame on... I'm rather used to it. But I stand by this anime reviewing creed "What is popular is not always good, and what is good is not always popular."
Rating:
Final Verdict
5.1667 (moderate)
Reviewed by shoujoboy, Jul 09, 2006
Comments
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Mabui Jul 09, 2006
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kyokujitsu Jul 10, 2006
Wow, your review is awesome. It's rare to see people go against the tide of opinion, but I agree with you on every point. When I heard everyone praising the series on every point, I tried to look for parts that I enjoyed, but actually couldn't find anything particularly satisfying aside from the music.
Of course, there was the stereotypical boy-with-cool-personality in the form of Khamsin, which I can't help but adore, but he didn't really do anything. And Lamie had potential, but he didn't really do anything either. I'm surprised at your perception into the love triangle though, I didn't realise that it was the thing that ruined the story. I particularly hated the point where Shana and Yuuji hold hands in the final episode, because to me that was just such a rushed tieing up of the strings between them, it felt like there was actually no lead-up to it.
I loved both of the opening songs and the second ending, but I agree, they're just about the only thing that was good about the sound. One thing I particularly hated... the orgasmic sounds of Hecate >.< To me, she was one of the characters with the most potential until that point...
And so, again I congratulate you on an awesome review. It's straight to the point, clearly expresses what you think and really cuts into the anime. Lets just hope that the movie redeems the anime ^_^
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Kryuzei Jul 10, 2006
lolz, u right, there's some part of the stories that makes this series not very good. for example, something like really...really fast battle, not only that. the love triagle is just too..normal.
But i still think the main plot is quite brilliant. Like "What happened if you know that the real you had died" Something like that is quite unique.
About the sound part ? well, i'm not really good at commenting the seiyuu. most part of them that i really love is Shana's "Urusai Urusai Urusai" dialouge.
I think it match well, for the seiyuu. and Wilhelmina as well.
But i know some people some kind of dissapointed of this series.
It ended so fast....even they *look* like rushing it out a bit, still, they make a *useless* episode for it.
The art ? have you tried the game ? it looks much better than the anime. so i can somehow agree with you.
oh yeah, about your score. i'm not going to flame you or anything. u have your own rating for this seriesYour rating may be acceptable if i look this series throughly..(..huh?) but a higher rating for someone who desperately trying to find this kind of genre for an anime (like me lolz)
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Renzey Jul 11, 2006
I love it!I tink tat the plot of SNS is really clear n good.I'd rate it 9/10!Juz the art tat's not really good at some parts.(Not saying tat mine's good)Yea so overall,SNS RAWKS!
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harakiri Jul 11, 2006
Thanks for this review. Although I think that your ratings are a bit too harsh sometimes I am convinced by your explanations. A well explained harsh rating is better than 10-rating where the reviewer is far from reality (like most MT reviewers are).
All in all I would tend to an overall score of 6 or 7 but I am fine with your 5 as well. -
Tyzz Jul 12, 2006
i agree ur review but except art i think it should go up lil bit higher around 7
their art pretty nice... isn that bad -
aIucard Jul 14, 2006
its cool anime... with lots of cute chicksssss...
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kokuyu Jul 14, 2006
after all, the plot is real twisting and fantastic. the score should go 9/10......
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zaira Jul 15, 2006
m.. someone ask me to put some comment here but oh well ehehe
well as for the plot i guess there are some parts that are you know.. boring but some of them are good enough so the rating should something 7-8.
for the art m...... well and again some parts in the anime are not good illustrated but some again there are good ones....
so the rating should be....7-8for the sound well the OP and ED got hook me up! as for the voice actors well i should say they are ok....... the rating should be something like...8-9
and for the presentation i should say you are right!
well that's all.... c ya!
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SebastianvonKane Jul 16, 2006
Oh my God! Please tell me evruthing you're talking about this series is not true!
I was looking forward this anime because many around here just keep talking a lot about it (and lately Utawarerumono).
But since I've been watching pretty much anime ending to be a crap, I was afraid of this anime tot turn into something harsh.
Is that true then? You've freed me from this potential curse.
Sadly, the story looks so, so, SO average, I'm sure I would get really bored by watching it. It reminds me lots of other animes I've have seen and rejected before.
Sadly, being such an extremely avid anime fan may cloud you jdgement.
Thanks a lot for this review. Thanks a lot for breaking such a paradigm.
Thank you. -
goldenstaralpha Jul 18, 2006
I somewhat agree. The plot did have its moments, as well as potential to develop into a deeper story. But as you said, the story just turned into the "I love you but can't admit it" type which seemed to let go of what they built on before it went in that direction.
The music was, of course, a highlight. I have no major complaints about the animation.
I would rate it higher than 5, however. More like a 7 or 8 for me; not quite good enough to be a classic, but not bad enough to throw away.
Well done review, btw.
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Lichking Jul 21, 2006
They just don't want yuji and "shana" to be together. I think they hate it. Think they should make the sequel (if they want to) better at character devlopment and ending. Wait, did i mention the voice actor can live up the atmosphere? I don't have any complaint about the OST. But you need a detoxification of anime judgement. I would rate it 6 myself, but i don't want to write a review.
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psy295 Jul 21, 2006
9/10?
the people that posted that are stupid =P
unless of course they are all freaken lolis then i guess it makes sense.. hehe..but yea good review =P
i would of given the animation a 6 but eh i guess its my opinion.. but w/e keep up the good wok -
otaku3987 Jul 26, 2006
That review was pretty good. However, don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on them. I'd give them a seven in the least and the highest would be a nine.
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mav3rick Aug 14, 2006
i really did enjoy this anime granted it is not in my top 10 but still gave me plenty of fun filled entertainment which is all i need to give it a 7.5 AT LEAST! probably an 8, story was interesting and seemed original to me at least and i have seen a lot of anime, plenty of action and mystery and got me excited a few times, nice romance action mystery all rolled up into what i thought was a well made series, it saddens me it didnt review a higher score...
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Rosegirl18 Sep 22, 2006
Can't agree with you more on this series!
Shana appeared to be such a great series and then it just... sunk.
Thanks again for providing such an excellent review for the community of Minitokyo! -
AnimeHungry Jul 07, 2007
In the series, in the series...... well thats what this review's about... so i won't go off topic :sweat: Good review, very thorough, but 6 atleast, the anime is better than a 5
Since you put SNS in such simpleness.... then through your way reviewing (such as) bleach/naruto (which are also popular) would also be put very close to 5. The most simplest way to group these three anime's together is *Save the world* which is NOT unique which seems to be your main arguement (besides the love traingle)... point being, if you like the show watch it, if you dont then just stop. Like all anime there are good & bad parts, dont narrow it down (although I must admit I hate how it ended). -
bdrc Aug 27, 2007
I find it difficult for me to agree with you. I will rate it 7~8 instead of 5. It isnt that bad. Or maybe every person has different taste or fansy, cause I found sometimes even people rate some anime very good and I find it appears to be very bad.
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shaochan3 Mar 01, 2008
Oh well, I think you explained your point of view very well and your review is good, although I also think that your rating is quite harsh - I mean: 5? I'd say SnS is more around 7 - okay, that's my opinion of course. ^^ Maybe you believe that there are flaws in the storyline - and there are definitely some of them, as in every other show ^^ - but your rating would imply that these flaws would account for 50% of the anime? Not exactly understandable in my point of view. But anyhow, thanks for the review. It's good to see that there are people who are more critical than I am. xD
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SchRita Mar 20, 2011
Uh, I see your point but I must agree with it on shaochan3.
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