Shakugan no Shana takes place in modern day Tokyo with a twist of fiction, where creatures from another realm stray into our world to feast on human souls. All these ‘feasting’ takes place without the knowledge of the humans as the creatures are invisible to the human eye. However, to prevent the people from uncovering the fact that people around them have been disappearing into thin air (once their soul has been eaten by the creatures), Flame Hazes of the Crimson Realm are trained to maintain the balance of the world.

        Among some of the responsibilities of the Flame Haze is to slay the stray creatures and to restore all damage that the creature have inflicts during its existence in the human world. To aid them in their task, the Flame Haze have the ability to summon a Fuzetsu at will which is a dimension where time is temporarily stopped within a limited radius. They can also use the Power of Existence to replace the dead humans with Torches; emotionless corpses that will eventually fade away from the people’s memories as the Power of Existence sustaining them diminishes over time.

        Now that you’ve got some idea of the setting in this anime, we’ll move on to where Yuuji comes in. Yuuji is an ordinary high school boy, or at least he thinks he is, until one day after school, he stumbles into a Fuzetsu by accident and witnesses a creature in the midst of its feasting. Realising that Yuuji has not been affected by the time-stop, the creature immediately recognises Yuuji as a Mistes and not just an ordinary Torch. A Mistes is a unique Torch that contains a Hougu, which is a magical object that can provide special abilities to its owner. The creature then proceeds towards Yuuji in hopes of obtaining the Hougu inside him.

        Just in the nick of time enters a Flame Haze wielding the sword Nietono no Shana. The Flame Haze then proceeds to slay the creature and restore the balance of the world. Yuuji witnesses the whole thing, even the reconstruction of the previously living human bodies using the Power of Existence. After lifting the Fuzetsu and restoring the flow of time in that area, the Flame Haze proceeds to leave the scene. Flabbergasted by the whole incident, Yuuji follows the Flame Haze and through many questions, he learns more of the alternate realm and also the fact that he himself is a Torch that has been created as a result of another creature that has roamed into the human world.

       Yuuji slowly learns to accept reality and the fact that he will seize to exist once the Power of Existence in him depletes. Wanting to make the most of the time he has left, he vows to help the Flame Haze in hopes of protecting the people, especially those close to him, from such soul-eating creatures. The Flame Haze considers Yuuji’s proposal and concludes that it will be beneficial to have him around as more creatures will come looking for Yuuji once word that he is a Mistes spreads. Ultimately, Yuuji hopes that by being a bait, the creatures will not set eyes upon the human beings. The Flame Haze and Yuuji quickly form a strong bond, which led to Yuuji giving the Flame Haze a name, Shana (after the sword she wields), as she has none and felt the need for one.

        This anime reminds me of Bleach with both having a similar storyline; ordinary teenager finds warriors from an alternate dimension fighting with monsters in his hometown. However, IMO, Shakugan no Shana has nicer animation and colour palettes. Besides that, the anime deals with many interesting themes, one of them is to learn to accept who you are and to make best of what you have. It is also fun to watch how Yuuji slowly moulds Shana into a person with more emotions. Before they’ve met, Shana regards Torches as objects that are tools to restore the balance in the world, thus prompting her to address Yuuji as an ‘it’ instead of ‘he’.

        It is also a plus that the side characters’ roles and personalities (not just the main characters’) grow over the course of the series, thus making them fun to follow. Each of their personalities are so different from the other that it makes the characters believable. The characters also seem to act beyond my expectations, making them all the more unique and different from the usual characters you’d expect them to be.

        In conclusion, Shakugan no Shana is a great anime although I felt as though the writers are trying to fit in too many plots towards the end of the series. The excellent quality of the animation remains steady throughout the show and the soundtrack is not bad either, especially the first opening song; Hishoku no Sora. What’s even better is the length of the anime; only 24 episodes and not the 100+ of Bleach ^_^!

Characters

“Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!”

        Shana a.k.a. Yukari Hirai – Initially known as the Slayer with Flaming Hair and Blazing Eyes, this Melon Bread lover is a Flame Haze who was given the name Shana by a Mistes she partnered in her quest to restore the balance of the world. She is bound to Alastor, a Guze no Ou or Lords of the Crimson Realm who acts as a mentor to Flame Hazes, taking the shape of a pendant. To avoid arousing questions when she’s with Yuuji, Shana takes on Yukari Hirai’s identity.  Hirai was Yuuji’s classmate who’s Power of Existence as a Torch has completely depleted. Shana is very confident in her abilities and takes her responsibilities as a Flame Haze seriously. After meeting Yuuji though, she becomes more humane so much so that it has started to affect the decisions she makes as a Flame Haze, earning her a huge telling off by Wilhelmina.

        Yuuji Sakai – Yuuji is the male lead who finds himself trapped between the occurrences of both realms. He sure has some awesome amount of composure for someone who just learnt that he is no longer a living human being but a Torch acting as a shock absorber to those close to him. Fortunately for him, Yuuji is a Mistes and the Hougu that is contained within him, Reiji Maigo, provides its owner the ability to replenish the Power of Existence every midnight. This means that as long as Yuuji manages to save an ounce of his Power of Existence by every midnight, Yuuji can continue to exist and will not disappear like the rest of the Torches. With such a powerful Hougu, he can use his Power of Existence to help Shana out in battles providing that he leaves enough for himself to survive the day. Yuuji is a very compassionate person and this trait of his even manages to affect Shana.

        Margery Daw – She a Flame Haze known as the Interpreter of Condolences who has a drinking problem. She arrives at Yuuji’s town in pursuit of Ramies the Corpse Retriever, in hopes of obtaining clues to locating the person who killed a loved one of hers. Margery’s quest for revenge has led to a couple of violent disagreements between herself and Shana, even though they are both Flame Hazes. However, over the course of the series, her focus shifts from getting revenge to maintaining the balance between the two dimensions, which is greatly influenced by Keisaku and Eita. Her Guze no Ou is Marchosias which takes the form of a book and can also act as a flying transport medium for Margery! She also has the ability to transform into a werewolf when she’s in battle mode.

        Keisaku Satou and Eita Tanaka – They are both classmates of Yuuji (though they are almost never in class being the delinquents that they are) who was unintentionally saved by Margery one day. They then vowed to become her followers, not knowing the full extent of the situation they are putting themselves into. More than often they are unable to help Margery in her battles but Keisaku is at least able to provide her with a place to stay while she’s in the city; his house. Although they are involved with the extraordinary proceedings through Margery, Keisaku and Eita do not know that Yuuji is involved as well, right until the last few episodes.

        Kazumi Yoshida – She is also a classmate of Yuuji’s and has a crush on him. She is rather shy and has been unable to directly express her feelings to Yuuji. However, she does little things like making bento for Yuuji as a way of expressing her feelings. Ever since Shana assumes Yukari Hirai’s identity, Yoshida notices that Yuuji and Yukari have been rather close with each other, thus sparking jealousy within her. This provides some interesting viewing as both Yoshida and Shana have their own ways of trying to get Yuuji’s attention...very contrasting ways indeed!

        Wilhelmina Carmel – Wilhelmina is one of the great Flame Hazes of the ‘great war’ era who used to fight alongside the previous Slayer with Flaming Hair and Blazing Eyes. Her Guze no Ou takes the form of a headdress or when in battle mode, a mask worn by Wilhelmina. She has the ability to manipulate ribbons which entitles her the Manipulator of Ten Thousand Ribbons. She acts as Shana’s custodian even before Shana became a Flame Haze but she only appears towards the end of the series. This is during the period where Shana have become more humane and have lost her touch slightly as a Flame Haze. Therefore, Wilhelmina’s role is to bring Shana back to reality as the final battle approaches. Despite her dislike for Yuuji, this character is actually fun to watch as she almost always ends her sentences with ‘-de arimasu’; I believe it’s a more formal version of ‘-desu’.

        The Bal Masqué - An organization of Denizens from the Crimson Realm. They are the enemies of the Flame Hazes in the final arc of the series, ensuing a deadly final battle at the end. The Bal Masqué is led by Hecate, Sydonay and Bel Peol or better known as the Trinity. It happens that Sydonay is the one Margery seeks in her quest for revenge. Other members include Vine, Orgon and Dantalion. Their ultimate goal is unclear to me but it involves using the Reiji Maigo to create a Spring of Power of Existence, which contains vast amounts of power to sustain the existence of the Denizens.

        Sorath and Tyrael – Other enemies in the course of the series consists of various Rinnes and Denizens. Most of them are defeated by the Flame Hazes without many difficulties but the most significant of them is the Sorath and Tyrael duo. They might not look like formidable opponents but they are the toughest to beat other than the Bel Masqué . The pair are siblings but seem to be practise a romantic relationship. Sorath’s goal in venturing into the human realm is to obtain the sword Shana wields, Nietono no Shana, whereas Tyrael’s is to do whatever that is in her power to please her elder brother!

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