Shakugan no Shana II - Episode 1 Discussion / Poll

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by ElementSun

You think Yuji would of figured something out after seeing Shana take a spear in the chest for him =/

Density itself is an anime stereotype.

*nod, nod*

[ashlay]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

And about the smile - even if he didn't hear, it wasn't exactly the right circumstances to shout "WhaaAAT?", so just smile and nod.

if they keep doing the shana-tan specials in the DVDs they're going to have to throw that one in.

[Panzer Bandit]

Originally Posted by ashlay

if they keep doing the shana-tan specials in the DVDs they're going to have to throw that one in.

That would be so perfect.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by ElementSun

You think Yuji would of figured something out after seeing Shana take a spear in the chest for him =/

Well..... he might have thought Shana protected because of the Reiji Maigo.


To tell the truth, WE know that Shana "loves" him, but from the receiving person's POV, it can be hard at times.

[Klashikari]

That's not exactly possible, since Wilhelmina told to Yuuji that Shana even agreed about "killing the host will put the Reiji Maigo in a safer place"

Basically, as a Flame haze, Shana doesn't gain anything to protect Yuuji, especially if Wilhelmina was the one who wanted to finish him off.
He obviously knows their bound, especially when he was expecting a kiss after Sorath&Tiriel arc.

The scripters are just jumping back and forth with "yuuji's denseness", but really, he actually have doubts about her feelings.

[Azmaria]

I thought it was a good start for the new season, I really enjoyed the first chapter

[puretsundere]

Personally, I thought the episode started out kind of slow. It kind of picked up towards the end.

It is so great to see Shana again.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

That's not exactly possible, since Wilhelmina told to Yuuji that Shana even agreed about "killing the host will put the Reiji Maigo in a safer place"

Basically, as a Flame haze, Shana doesn't gain anything to protect Yuuji, especially if Wilhelmina was the one who wanted to finish him off.
He obviously knows their bound, especially when he was expecting a kiss after Sorath&Tiriel arc.

The scripters are just jumping back and forth with "yuuji's denseness", but really, he actually have doubts about her feelings.

Well, it's true that as a Flame Haze, she should have let him die, and he probably knows it. But he might figure that she's come to consider him as a friend, but that she doesn't want anything more. Especially since girly stuff and displays of affection are out of character for her.

[alvinkhorfire]

Judging from what happened in the last episode, Yuji should liked Shana more than Kazumi. If he liked Yoshida, why would he offered to die along with Shana with possibility that he might die and might not see Kazumi again? Although he can't decide now which girl he likes most, he should be more inclined towards Shana.

As much as I hate it, the reset button has to be pushed to align the storyline back to the novels. The Seiren-den arc did not exist in the novels, so whatever happened at there has no effect in current storyline.

[Guido]

It was way back to October 2005 when I was setting the mood for the Halloween season.

Back then Jigoku Shoujo have immersed with its supernatural-revenge theme, then on a night like this one I watched the first episode to the previous Shakugan no Shana serious, and a whole new world of strangeness and mysticism spread all on me.

I would never forget the bang on how the very, very first episode to season one started. Beginning with a flash forward with Yuuji about to be eaten by a Tomogara inside a frozen and void world when he was suddenly barely spared death by a cute chibiko with red-eyes and red-haired, Shana.

I know that I should never keep my expectations high on how they would started the prologue to season two, and this is because, unlike the introduction for season one, season two's introduction was built and given pace. However, I must said it worked with a bang.

Spoiler:

Like Yuuji I was as well lost and gone off track with the deja-vú dream sequence, that's until he realized he was trapped in his own, imagined dream.

It was really weird watching Friagne and the twins, since they were presumedly killed by Shana back on season one.

But, thankfully, Yuuji slapped and came back to reality just in time to avoid more death at hands of the brand-new, horned Tomogara.

My favorite scene at the dream sequence was the overview of Misaki City getting absorbed into that void of ruin as Yuuji watched with horror; kind of sci-fi and fantasy horror mixed in.

I as well noticed that the animation for the character designs is slightly different from the previous season, obviously since likely some new animators were introduced in the animation crew but is refreshing to know that the director and most of the staff are back for season two.

The soundtrack is the same, and I did not forget at all about the names of other characters as well as the complex terminology of the Shana-verse.

The manner on how that Tomogara targeted Yuuji makes more certain that for this season the answers regarding about Yuuji's mystery hougu, the Reiji Maigo, will finally be revealed.

To conclude I think I'll need to listen one more time to the ending song in order to get accustomed with it, but the opening song leaves much to desire on me. Only time will tell if it's worth my interest.

Overall, a blazing restart to get Shana back where she left off.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by bmkharuhiism

Personally, I thought the episode started out kind of slow. It kind of picked up towards the end.

It is so great to see Shana again.

I agree, Shana can Urusai me anytime, mmmm, lol

[EadTaes]

Well it was good and a nice twits to the start off. However hitting the reset button on Shana and Yuji was a "awww come on moment" hopefully it will get unrested soon.

As for not leaving i kinda got a him from that at the end of season 1 when they left for school. but staying put isn't a dumb move either. I mean they have 3 flame haze's in the city and that one tunning boy in the near area. Plus they still have access to Friage magic citymap. And 3 humans to help out in some way. Plus is seems that Yuji can wield the super heavy sword. So i don't think he will be as defenseless, from back lien support to front line combat. Would be the first time a mystes engaged in battle. Remember were Shane got her sword from?

BTW WTH does "de arimasu" mean???? wilhelmina keeps saying at the end of every sentence. It's annoying hopefully she wont get to many lines this time around.

[Tokkan]

Originally Posted by EadTaes

BTW WTH does "de arimasu" mean???? wilhelmina keeps saying at the end of every sentence. It's annoying hopefully she wont get to many lines this time around.

"De arimasu" is the uncontracted form of "desu". There's no way of translating the difference in its use from desu into written words, it's only translatable into English as a much more polite tone of speech. Hence, Eclipse left it there.

[syniel]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

He didn't hear her confession ? My arse, this is just plain inconsistency to what we were shown last season. Yuji heard perfectly, then smiled at her ... now they made it seem the explosion happened before Shana could tell the final words ... this is just a poorly executed plot hole, nothing else. But hey - easier to drop it instead of straining the brain over this issue, right ?

OP is quite nice once the lyrics kick in, but the rock piece played before that feels terribly not fitting.

6/10 for the first episode ... can't bring myself to think of this more than just 'average'.

I'm pretty much of your mind here. ( however, I did think the visuals looked outstanding.) The sound quality was excellent BUT it wasn't just the rock piece that didn't really fit. I explore different genres of music as a hobby and so I couldn't help noticing that they constantly changed musical styles throughout the entire episode. They switched from rock and swung all the way to classical and then packed the rest of the show with incidental music that also switched styles constantly. Even the rock number at the start really started off metal before it ended up rock. So, for me the ST is so jarring if they don't change it I probably wont continue on with the series - which is a real shame since I liked the movie.

It's like they wanted to be avante garde and just ended up garbled.

[EadTaes]

Originally Posted by Tokkan

"De arimasu" is the uncontracted form of "desu". There's no way of translating the difference in its use from desu into written words, it's only translatable into English as a much more polite tone of speech. Hence, Eclipse left it there.

Aww i see. Well it's still annoying. I think she a to well behaved and mannered person IMHO.

[FatPianoBoy]

I'm liking the music (lightyears better than the first series') and the pretty animation, but... I dunno, I can't see this one succeeding where the first series failed: making me care. I did manage to finish it, but it was mostly because it was the only new thing I had left to watch for a while.

I know that sounds harsh, but what I mean is that Shakugan no Shana, the more I think about it, feels like nothing more than a by-the-numbers magical girl story. Granted, Shana is much cooler than any rabbit ever was, but the elements of magic, action, weird villains (some of which are pretty cool, I'll admit), superfriends, and some school stuff thrown in is something I've already been through. All of this wouldn't be a problem if we had some interesting characters, but the only character that ever had more than one facet was Margery, who simply doesn't get enough screentime (drunken comic relief notwithstanding). Shana doesn't count because a tsundere must have two sides by definition. Also, the story is borderline incomprehensible, and the Power of Existence is almost on the same level as Minovsky Particles. But to me, characters are what make the story, so I'd still be willing to let that stuff slide.
I really enjoyed the first few episodes of the first season. That "You're dead. Have a nice day." bit was nice, and watching Yuuji desperately struggle to save Hirai was wonderfully bleak and depressing. In fact, I actually thought that this would be one of those shows where there'd be no-holds-barred on who lives and who doesn't. However, once the usual stride set it, I kept wishing the finish line would just meet me half way or something.

I want to like Shana. I really do. But before I can like it, it's going to have to do something which sets it apart. It isn't a bad show by any means, and I'd even recommend it to someone who was completely new to anime, but to impress someone who's been at this a while it's going to take something special. This first episode, with its first two-thirds being made of recycled material from the first season, certainly isn't off to the right start. I'll stick it out for a few more episodes, however, hoping that just maybe it'll manage to impress me.

[Owaranai Destiny]

I'm pretty sure plenty of people are disappointed with this episode, considering how we were completely thrown smack dab into the middle of the action and terminology at the beginning for season 1 and the relative popularity and success it had. The first time round, it was because we knew nuts about Tomogara, Rinne, Fuzetsu and stuff like that. Considering how we've become slightly more knowledgeable about such terms, this didn't go too well.

Considering how it started out, SnS II isn't doing itself too many favours. It might not be too surprising to actually consider that J.C was actually taking an undesirable leaf out of Sunrise's book with the recycled animation in some parts, even though the story was at least progressing instead of putting in scenes focusing completely on recaps. You have to admit, though, it was slightly reassuring to see evidence of a stronger backbone on Yuuji's back there, and the way he handled himself in comparison to Season 1.

Animation-wise, it seemed to be slightly better than Season 1's, while the fighting/action sequences were obviously disappointing to me, (that wasn't such an entertaining fight for Shana and Mare, but at least it brought about the notion of how 'weak' Mare was made out to be by Shana and Alastor) but at least the story kept me going for a bit, having at least paid better attention than some regarding the properties of some of the terminologies in the Shanaverse, which at least allowed me not to make insignificant comparisons.

With but a few extra scenes and dialogue hardcore Shana fans can recite backwards hundreds of times, this is a stuttering start. Still, the OP and ED were good, since it's Kawada Mami. Not to say that Season 1's OPs and EDs were not as good, but somehow the rock music at the start gave me the impression of something starting anew, because we've hardly heard any rock music in SnS's melodies.

Overall, I'd say I'm generally satisfied and at least looking forward to story development and a conclusion to the part with Mare. Episode 2's preview seems promising, but so far episode 1 hasn't been exceeding my expectations. a 7/10 here, especially for a show I loved in particular for it's action and surprises.

[kimchipride]

I never really watched Shana and thought it had real good action. I just liked the theme of Shana and the different elements it had which made this anime really fun. I hope that in this season we get more action. This episode was great! The deja-vu element looks promising and it hooked me in. Of course this episode wasn't as great as Clannad's first but it was a good episode nonetheless. I can't wait for sub for Episode 2!

[EternalDragonWarrior]

A bit heavy on flashbacks, but it's still nice to see Shana again after all this time. Also, the OP is simply awesome.

[kimchipride]

Originally Posted by EternalDragonWarrior

A bit heavy on flashbacks, but it's still nice to see Shana again after all this time. Also, the OP is simply awesome.

A bit heavy on flashbacks? I think that was the whole point of the episode... Each event gave Yuuji a clue to figure out it was a dream.

Spoiler for Shana ep 1:

Sakura in September, coffee question, falling off the ladder on purpose, looking for Margery Daw etc...

How can you expect or want less flashbacks? I'm curious. Still, indeed the opening is awesome.