Dryftco

I’m here today to pen my first anime review. It is of the most recent Anime I have watched in full. The title is Shakugan no Shana. I’d place this in an Drama/Action/Romance category, in that order. More after the jump.

Summary:

Shakugan no Shana combines slice-of-life with extraordinary powers to create a quite-not-so-magical-girl series. The series itself is very dark if you haven’t seen Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni or somewhat dark if you have. It deals with a gallon-sized heaping of human nature and behavior involving death, romance, “existance”, and even forays briefly into love vs lust in a depraved, incestious manner. If you can get past these things, you’re in for a treat of a series. It is paced adequately, although somewhat slow in the middle. It starts and ends both with a bang, leaving you satisfied but just wanting more.

Story: 8.5

(Characters: 9, PlotSpan: 7)

The story in Shakugan no Shana is definitely one of it’s strong points. The characters are incredibly well done and will leave a lasting impression on your memory. You have the key female stereotypes such as tsundere (Shana), moe (Yoshida), and drunkard (Marjery Daw). The male stereotypes are here too in the forms of best-friend love rival, ordinary guy with something special, and the generic friends. The great thing about this is that the stereotypes play to that role but are much deeper as characters. The generic friends become surprisingly not-so-generic with their own subplots that end up influencing the main plot in a great way. The moe-girl takes her bashful crush a little too far and discovers a big secret. The tsundere girl actually has a good reason to act how she does that isn’t involved with fan service. There are many examples of even minor characters (such as Yuji’s mother) having a unmeasurable impact on the main story.

Music: 7.5

(Background: 8, Op/Ed: 7)

The music in Shana is very good for what it is meant to do. The overarching themes are well done while the background music is just varied enough to keep it from being repetitive. The opening and ending themes (especially the first ending theme) are somewhat memorable, but overall felt generic j-popish. The exception is the first ending theme, which stuck in my mind and I generally don’t like j-pop. The “love theme” is also really well done and is used excellently throughout the series. The “Shana” arrangement, an amalgation of the various themes found in the show is very representative of how the different themes are arranged to create an excellent little piece.

Animation: 8.25

(Foreground: 8, Background: 8.5)

The animation is very stylized and sleek, just what you would expect from J.C. Staff. The special effects are used sparingly and very well. Much talk has been made of the cinder effect that surrounds Shana when she goes into “Fame Haze” mode and it is well deserved. The effect itself is excellent and never gets old. The other visual effects, such as the fighting, spellcasting, and others are also done very well. The quality of the effects was attended to moreso than the quality which is a welcome change for a barrage of low-key special effects.

Overall: 8.1

(Story: 8.5, Music: 7.5, Animation: 8.25)

Overall, Shakugan no Shana was a great surprise. I was expecting a mediocre series that would get me by in a slow time. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this diamond in the rough. While popular in Japan, the series has yet to catch on here in the States. Shakugan no Shana is a series that has worked it’s way into my top ten amongst other titles such as Card Captor Sakura, Abenobashi, Evangelion, Code Geass, and a few others. If you like a good mix of drama, action, romance, and mystery, it’d be hard to resist a series as good as this. It may seem ordinary on the surface, but it’s execution is far from it. I have to give it 8 Nietno No Shana-s out of 10.