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View Poll Results: Shakugan no Shana II - Episode 1 Rating
Perfect 10 30 16.48%
9 out of 10 : Excellent 46 25.27%
8 out of 10 : Very Good 54 29.67%
7 out of 10 : Good 35 19.23%
6 out of 10 : Average 10 5.49%
5 out of 10 : Below Average 3 1.65%
4 out of 10 : Poor 1 0.55%
3 out of 10 : Bad 2 1.10%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad 0 0%
1 out of 10 : Painful 1 0.55%
Voters: 182. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 2007-10-07, 20:30   Link #41
beamknight87
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Just watched it... the OP rocks but this ep felt much like a recap due to the circumstances. Hope the next eps are better though...
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Old 2007-10-07, 21:33   Link #42
grey_moon
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Hee hee did I start off with a shock....

Spoiler for thoughts on epi1:
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Old 2007-10-07, 21:56   Link #43
Aquifina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DazarGaidin View Post
You know, it is possible to have romantic drama with an actual couple.. :P I wish they woulda focused on their relationship from the first season developing further/dealing with that relationship (which would be interesting in itself especially given shana's inept social skills/experience). Maybe a lead up to HIM responding to her feelings equally?

The triangle was wearing thin and now they reset it...
I actually would have preferred this option too, but I think Yoshida can make the triangle interesting. Yoshida showed an impressive (and at the time, wholly unexpected) amount of spine when she declared "war" against Shana. And then there's Ike in the mix. But yeah, it would have been more interesting and less cliched if they had Shana and Yuji actually try to sort things out in the open.
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Old 2007-10-07, 22:26   Link #44
outlaw97
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Despite seeing the movie two days ago, I haven't seen season 1 in a while, so the recap wasn't as painful. At least they tried to tie the recap into the plot, as opposed to just a plain ol' "What happened in season 1".

Other than that, WOW, does HD make a whole world of difference. I've always appreciated the aesthetics of the series - it's familiar enough yet has a style all to its own at the same time (I can't get enough of Shana's flame aura!). And now with the HDTV raws we really get to see it shine, even if parts are blatantly CG.

EDIT: Having just read the SD vs HD thread, I'll have to rephrase that last paragraph - bottom line is whatever they're doing in season 2 is really showing off the aesthetics and style that I loved from season 1.

What's nice is that while yes, the relationships are generally unchanged from season 1, the fact that everybody knows everybody else's positions in their respective pairings means that no more setup or introductions are needed. From the looks of it there appear to be two new villains, but other than that we can just hit the ground running, so to speak.

I don't know, I'm getting Nanoha A's vibes in terms of comparing first and second seasons, which in my book is not a bad thing at all. The OP still has to grow on me, but I latched onto the ED pretty quickly - definitely gives the "Shana" feeling.

Last edited by outlaw97; 2007-10-07 at 22:38.
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Old 2007-10-07, 23:00   Link #45
SeedFreedom
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................WOW!!!

Hot damn, i never expect a lot from a second season, but this blew me away. to start the intro, i fell in love with right away and was drumming on my keyboard from the first note. the acutal story is not much to comment on cuse it was mostly recap, but i think its needed. for those who have never seen shana can now get a glimpse as to whats going on and they did it in a way as to not be a complete recap episode. i agree with, i think almost everyone here that they should just kill the love triangle already

Spoiler for ep1:


this was easily my most anticipated show of the season beating out gundam and CLANNAD so i really hope the reast of the season turns out well
im hoping yuji will play a bigger role as a fighter in this season and not just stare dumbly like he's commenting a hockey game.
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Old 2007-10-08, 03:04   Link #46
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I really like the rocking opening, probably the best I've heard this season, and it also has some dramatic shots of Shana in what I refer to as "Come Get Some" poses. Speaking of Shana, Rie Kugimiya storms onto the scene again as Shana causing me to smile, cheer and laugh as she works through situations involving fawning over Yuji, intimidating the teacher and the Tomogura with her growly voice, and acting all embarassed and chipper while eating her Melon Bread and talking to Yuji. I don't think there any many Seiyuu quite so good at bringing out the most in characters as Kugimiya.


Spoiler for The Episode Itself:


Overall this is my favourite first episode of the new season (although I still haven't seen Celestial Beings), and the ending theme was good too. Hopefully either song isn't replaced by a Kotoko horrorshow too soon (preferably ever), as I'm really enjoying them right now. Overall a Nine Out of Ten from me.
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Old 2007-10-08, 04:01   Link #47
FieryAeon
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Well the first episode started quite okay IMO. Though I hated the recap-ish part, you would have thought that the movie was enough for a recap. Watching it in HD was very nice though. Overall, a decent start.
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Old 2007-10-08, 05:11   Link #48
HayashiTakara
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Originally Posted by Angrypokstick View Post
My, my are you going to be in for a surprise at just how important Yuji's role will become, not to mention how powerful he will be. Those who have read the novel or the novel spoilers will know what i m talking about. Anyways, great start to a new season of a great show.
I've "heard" some things... I can't wait to see what it is like!
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Old 2007-10-08, 05:22   Link #49
Shadow X
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Gave it a 8/10.

I like how they do this recap ep. Nice OP too.
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Old 2007-10-08, 05:25   Link #50
Sorrow-K
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Wasn't really the biggest fan of the first series of Shakugan no Shana. I didn't think it was all bad, I just didn't think it was very good either, and overall, pretty forgettable (hence why a pseudo-recap like this is somewhat useful). But this wasn't too bad. I mean, yes, it did have the same-old SnS-brand of generic-supernatural-action anime triteness that we all know and "love" from the first season, but the whole dream sequence and following Yuuji (who still has no balls) figure his way out of it was actually quite interesting.

But, never mind that. That's one episode's story, and it will hardly send waves through the rest of the series. The thing that does though, as Skyfall and others have pointed out, is that Yuuji forgot Shana's confession. Weeeaaak. Reminds me of ZnT (what about this doesn't?) in that respect... finally, after an entire series, we get relationship development right at the very end, and they bloody reset it in the first ep of th new season! To hell with that! Clearly I should no better and shouldn't have expected more, but it's still a sore point, nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm expecting much the same as we got in the first series: mindless fun (that unfortunately takes itself too seriously), and the writers chickening out any time there's a hint of relationship development. Hmmm... can't wait.

As long as this doesn't turn into another Zero no Tsukaima, which has just put out the most disappointing sequel series I can remember for years. The difference between this and that is that this doesn't have a cast of characters as strong and likable as ZnT's, so it really can't afford a dip in quality on any front.
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Old 2007-10-08, 06:31   Link #51
Ratix
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Haven't watched it yet but where does it end? And now Im totally convinced its basically telling the story of the DS and PS2 game... With that Mistes in the picture.
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Old 2007-10-08, 07:31   Link #52
Tsukou
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I'd hafta say I agree with the people saying it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Considering I watched, and by watched I mean skimmed through, the movie a couple nights ago, I thought the recap was just a waste of time >.>; or at least from my perspective. Sure we need to look back a little, but meh.

The OP is good at least. Yuji still appears mixed between what to do with Yoshida and Shana, while Ike seems to express his feeling to Yoshida. Either way, I wanna see how Yuji turns out, as well as Yoshida. And yea, I'm miffed too at the plot hole with the whole, "not remembering what Shana said" issue.. I mean, we got the words from Yoshida, but so why can't Shana be remembered too.. Oh well, maybe it's dealt with in the manga, but I haven't read it.. so..

Animation wise it definitely went up a gear. I can see why people would vote high, but animation alone still isn't enough for me. And Shana's english part still sticks needles in my ears..

All in all, while this second season is something to look forward to, I'll have to wait till episode 2 to really get into it. Right now.. Gundam 00 definitely seems the most fun.
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Old 2007-10-08, 09:23   Link #53
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I really enojyed this episode, it was great.
The op is amazing <3
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Old 2007-10-08, 09:51   Link #54
Klashikari
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For starter, I must admit I really regret my vote, as I gave a 8, instead of a 6.
Basically, this episode fail for many many things that it completely outnumber the awaited return of the enpatsu shakugan...


meh... i put my rant back on the blog.
SNSII, Episode 1: Screencaps, Summary and Thoughts

now, for the rant!

First, the biggest problem is probably the “reset button”. It is purely dumb, as the first season clearly demonstrates that Yuuji HEARD Shana, and the later scenes after the Tenpa Jyousai did imply deeper interactions.
I dunno if it was some device to actually fix the mistake they did in the first season (as, if IIRC, shana wasn’t supposed to confess back there), but it is terrible since they are just trying to boost up the triangle, which completely fails as i will explain later on.
AT LEAST, Kazumi’s confession was still aknowledged (hard to avoid this anyway…but they DID mention nevetherless, along with Hayato’s!).

Still, the triangle effect doesn’t worth anything if Yuuji is clear with his feelings (which can be altered if JC staff do jack, just like they did with the reset). How this move was stupid enough? Because even if Shana doesn’t confess to him, that doesn’t mean Yuuji might begin to change his feelings out of the blue. Knowing it or not just gives the ability to actually execute the “couple dilemna” later or not.
That absolutely doesn’t reactivate the triangle, as as i said, until Yuuji changes his mind (very unlikely), Kazumi has 0 chance.

Aside of the major disappointement, I just realized it when i was screencapping the episode for the blog: basically, the art was completely unstable.
It has nothing to do with the change of design (as it is quite easy to distinguish the changes, especially the girls’ eyes, much smaller, giving a wider gap between them. Compare “SII” shana with the faint flashback of the Tenpa Jyousai), but really the consistency of the design, which go completely budget in various instances.
Example: Friagne… “glove” (is that rather a muttin!?),
Let’s not mention the unbalance in detail: why the staff decides to put crapload of details for Shana’s lecture scene? See the details in the hair (though Kazumi was still shafted big time, anyway) and eyes were largely superior to most sequences in this episode.
I begin to fear some “ZNT” legacy for the art, as many “lazy” part can be spotted aside of what i just wrote.

At least, they didn’t use poor old footage for the whole “flashback dream” stuff. In fact, it is funny to see they completely reworked it to adapt with the Movie (as they have shown Marianne wielding bubble loot, which doesn’t happen in the first season)


That said, that doesn’t redeem JC staff for the very poor job in the character design consistency.
On the other hand, the animation is still smooth enough, though I would complain again for some parts (toncrap of stillshot).

Now as for the plot itself, we didn’t get much except that weird tomogara who can project such dream. It doesn’t exactly look like harmful yet, which is why this first episode was kinda useless. True enough the pace and the parts chosen were nice, but that didn’t exactly tell us who she is.
It would be better if they shortened this dream part to 2/3, and we could grasp something, instead of her idiotic laugh.

consequently, this episode looks really like a filler to me, as it didn’t flesh out the new plot yet (which could be done more efficiently with less dream thing)

Aside of the weird change for the Character Design, the series kept its heritage from the first season with the usual BGm and seiyuu (Kugimiya Rie engrish is even worse this year…)
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Last edited by Klashikari; 2007-10-08 at 20:17.
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Old 2007-10-08, 09:56   Link #55
newby
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama View Post
Overall this is my favourite first episode of the new season (although I still haven't seen Celestial Beings), and the ending theme was good too. Hopefully either song isn't replaced by a Kotoko horrorshow too soon (preferably ever), as I'm really enjoying them right now. Overall a Nine Out of Ten from me.
imo, kotoko's songs are ok. they dont sound like horrowshows to me. most sounded alright. they are not that bad till you need to describe them as horrorshows right?

for the episode, i gave it a 7, as...

Spoiler for ep1:


sorry for my horrible english.

Last edited by newby; 2007-10-08 at 10:20. Reason: spoilers
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Old 2007-10-08, 10:26   Link #56
Furean
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I thought it was a nice recap~ish episode, really liked that they included it to the plot.

But, I also thought the reset-button-thing between Shana and Yuji was a bit mehish.
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Old 2007-10-08, 10:30   Link #57
Kristen
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I didn't like this episode. I was hoping for some sort of buffer shock in order to represent the start of a new season. Higurashi did it fairly weel by having that 1 episode to say "Alright, this is the world of Higurashi, let's get back into it!" Shana just jumped into a new plot. It'll be great when viewing it from 1-48, but for right now, it just seemed to rapid pace. I was not a fan.
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Old 2007-10-08, 10:54   Link #58
Meloria
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Recap right after rewatching the series, oh the horror. High definition is a lot nicer this time round, consistency from previous series of ost and even the episode titles were nice - don't like the new eyecatch tune though. The episode itself wasn't too bad, though I don't expect much from first episodes for a lot of series, awaiting episode 2.
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Old 2007-10-08, 11:44   Link #59
Grimkill7
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I gave this episode a 9/10. I was going to give it a 10 because of the amazing visuals and the storyline was really exciting to me, but the whole "What did Shana say?" thing made me give it a 9. I mean come on! Just stick Yoshida with Ike and Shana with Yuji and problem solved. We dont need to go through the same thing over and over.
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Old 2007-10-08, 11:56   Link #60
Master Chibi
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Willheminainainainain (can't spell her name for shit) is the only reason I liked this episode at all.

Step it up Shana.
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