Found it a little nostalgic when Hishoku no Sora played.
... 7 years, what have I been doing with my life? :V
Season 3 really, really did feel like they fast tracked a lot of content. About half way into this season I found myself asking "Why should I care about this plan/these new people again?" but you know what, JC Staff managed to salvage what they could after the shenanigans of the second season and I did enjoy reading up extra on a series that over the years I totally grew out of touch with. Easier than it was back then since you can find all of it in one place now :V It was pretty clear they sacrificed development of most of the introduced characters to speed things along, but that also took away any tension from the buildups to the two major battles. Seriously, I found myself laughing when all the Flame Hazes started to lose their shit after Yuuji announced his plans for Xanadu.
The minuses out of the way, the folks they did choose to develop they did well enough. Looking back to where they started, there was certainly growth with the Shana core. Yoshida wasn't totally worthless this time, Eita decided to choose his own way, and Satou finally finished going through puberty - even managed to get laid in the process. High five. Margery I think was the point of reference to for the kind of grudge all Flame Hazes had. She managed to overcome her PTSD and stuck around long enough for a part in the finale. Shana kinda swapped places with Yuuji from the 2nd, having her own training arc. I liked how the season highlighted her capacity to lead most of all. Her general badassery aside, she still had to sort her own feelings out in the midst of all the chaos. Rather than dwelling on it she clawed her way back. Yuuji was great. Just, great. Being an antagonist with an objective better than the supposed heroes, man, I always love that. SnakeYuuji stayed dodgy for the most of it and was probably the main reason I continued to watch.
The season for me was spotty at best, since I believe an anime should function well enough standalone, not that the other material isn't worth looking into. As a final season, though, it did its job to wrap up this series. For its concluding episode, it was flashy, touching, and sorted out the two major character arcs.
Shana gave us a story about a world that is so fragile that it's literally breaking at the seams, and those that exist to protect that fragility. Your frame, in cliche anime fashion, is one such guardian and a human who was caught up in it. A little bit of overhead learning some new terms/mechanics of this world but is easy to get past. From LN, manga, anime, games, and a movie, Shana was not too shabby for its run. SnS to me is one of the more watchable series out there, fairly accessible in terms of content and could definitely recommend this to people.
Oh, and I dunno about you guys, but this is the scene where I fell in love with Shana.