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I haven't been posting much on Shana III lately, but I have been enjoying it a lot. I've been waiting for these new (or reintroduced after a long absence) major characters to grow on me a bit before trying to make a full assessment of them. Also, Shana III's overarching war narrative is a bit unlike anything I've seen in the Shana anime before. So much so that it almost feels like I'm watching an entirely different anime, and hence I've been trying to square in my mind how this new identity that the Shana anime has crafted for itself ties into what came before.
I'm still having a hard time squaring that, and this still feels like an almost entirely different anime to me than the previous Shana anime shows, but I know this much: I like this anime, and it's worth talking about.
Rebecca Reed has done a superb job of taking up where Margery Daw left off. She's a great high-energy, high-octane protagonist. That being said, I hope we do see Margery again at some point.
Khamsin's personality makes for a nice contrast with Rebecca's, and his Super Robot-esque big giant weapon of mass destruction is simply loads of fun.
This brings me to one area where Shana III does a good job of tying into what came before: The action scenes.
I truly love how the Shana series/trilogy handles action scenes. Very explosive, typically fast, often unpredictable, and sometimes pretty creative.
I do like how one-on-one standoffs in Shana don't go on endlessly, but rather progress simultaneously with other exciting showcased conflicts and/or end after a quick and impressive fight. This variety of combat helps to ensure that the action scenes always come across as dynamic, engaging, and exciting. Shana's action scenes, and their quality/consistency, has become a real trademark for the series, and a major part of its overall appeal.
Now, going back to the overarching war a bit, I'm relieved to see the Flame Hazes mount an impressive counterattack. A few episodes back, I felt that Bal Masque's domination was becoming a bit excessive, and hence draining a bit of drama and suspense form the conflict. As such, it's great to see the advantage in this war shift back-and-forth, making it more interesting for me.
I'm still not sure how I feel about Sophie Sawallisch and her immediate allies, but their scenes are good ones, starting to match (if not surpass) the Bal Masque scenes in this episode and the last. Bal Masque really was carrying this show for awhile, I felt, so it's good to see the Flame Haze side gain greater prominence and appreciable characterization in recent episodes.
All-told, it certainly makes for a fun-filled and often thrilling viewing experience. I continue to hope, though, that the more human side of the players involved come a bit more to the forefront soon. In particular, I hope that we don't have to wait too much longer for Yuji to reveal his grand plan (whatever it is), and I hope that we see Shana (and other former allies/friends of Yuji) truly reflect deeply on whatever it is, and not make a knee-jerk response to it (one way or the other).
In any event, 9/10 for this episode, which was my rating for Episode 9 as well. For simply providing a pleasing half-hour of entertainment, Shana continues to be one of the very best anime shows for me.
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