Shakugan no SHANA Anime Season 1 Discussion

[AvatarST]

Something that some people might find interesting, but probably full of spoilers:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...rela_trans.jpg

A relationship chart. In English.

Credits: translated by Deranged/Arkanos, a friend of mine. The original pic was posted by Fencedude, both of them are users from GameFAQs.

[Owaranai Destiny]

Well now, that's quite some huge spoilers there. Nevertheless, it clears up some doubts I had a little while ago about certain characters.

[Shiroth]

Its good to check it out, but i think you should show some information that the link leads to spoilers.

[AvatarST]

There, I made the message from "maybe spoilerific" into "probably full of spoilers".

I don't think there'd be much of a point in putting the link in spoiler tags though, or you think I should do it? The warning is there.

[blitz1/2]

No! Too many spoilers, can't resist!

[athos]

The titles for characters from Guze sound pretty funny in English, like "Seat of Reception" or "Thousand Curiosities". Do they sound more serious in Japanese?

[Owaranai Destiny]

Originally Posted by athos

The titles for characters from Guze sound pretty funny in English, like "Seat of Reception" or "Thousand Curiosities". Do they sound more serious in Japanese?

Well, I think that's pretty obvious. The translations aren't really that 100% accurate, so I think the Japanese names should sound more 'serious', if you put it that way...^^'''

[CarpeDiem]

I started watching Shakugan no Shana yesterday (well, two days ago since it's morning right now, technically) and finished catching up with it today. I have to say that this series has far more depth than I initially gave it credit for. This particularly lies in Shana's development. The following is my analysis, for those who would like my view on this. Beware of the spoilers.

Spoiler for Shana Analysis and Some Others:

Shana: I can honestly say that, at first, I didn't really like her character too much. She was very arrogant that I almost couldn't handle it. However, I learned later that she doesn't have much experience with human interaction, as made clear from her initial idea of what a kiss is and what it signifies. Another example is that she didn't even use a name to refer to herself as a person. She didn't even consider herself a person ("I'm just a Flame Haze"). She seemed to be okay with shielding herself from others and to just do her duty as a Flame Haze. This explains her haughty attitude and insecurities when she does interact in a social environment. A truly lonely soul, and she didn't seem to mind that fact up until she met Yuji. Only then did she realize the pain of being alone, as expressed in episode 10 with her line: "It hurts, Yuji. Being alone hurts.." She is only now truly beginning to understand what it means to be a girl. This is quite a change, and she doesn't know how to handle her situation at times. Often, this ends up with her shouting "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" in an attempt to distance herself away from her problem. She can't interact well with other people. In that scene in episode 11 where she gave a loaf of melon bread to Yuji, she was clearly jealous of Kazumi giving a boxed lunch to Yuji. I can't say for sure that she is in love with Yuji at this point - I say "at this point" because it'll probably develop into romantic love later on - because, as I see it, she is confused with her emotions. Prior to meeting Yuji, she didn't seem to have experienced human relationships of any kind. One thing I can say for sure is that Shana was jealous because of her desire for companionship. Yuji is the closest person to Shana - except for maybe Alastor, but I don't think he is enough to fill that void of loneliness that Shana now feels - and she clearly doesn't want her closest friend to be taken from her. We, or at least the anime-watchers, don't know much about Shana's past other than that she, at one point, chose to become a Flame Haze. Prior to that event, we are oblivious as to what kind of environment she was raised in, but we can infer that she's led a lonely and isolated life. At any rate, I really like her as a character now because of how much depth she has as well as the realism of her personality and behavior as a result of how she grew up. She is perhaps my favorite character of the series now. Oh, and she can really kick some butt while looking extremely cute when doing so!

Other than Shana, there isn't much to say about the other characters. Yuji is a very typical character that we see a lot of nowadays. However, he does have a redeeming quality in the aspect that he does try to help Shana in her battles in any way that he can. I also admire his desire to become stronger for Shana's sake. Other than that, he's a pretty bland character, but I do like him better than... Kouta from Elfen Lied. Alastor plays a fairly interesting "father" figure to Shana. His logic clearly does not take human values into account, since he did say he would kill Yuji because he was an obstacle. I really like Yuji's mom, Chigusa, because of her wisdom and the fact that she successfully reasoned with Alastor in a very mature fashion. She's also very cute. Kazumi is your shy girl who has a crush on the male lead - reminds me of Honoka from Suzuka too, in this sense. Ike, another minor character, doesn't get much depth, but we can see that he does mean well in his attempts to help Kazumi with her efforts to get together with Yuji.

I'm really liking the series thus far. The animation and character designs are awesome. I love the music, and the story is original. I like how it dives into the concept of existence and being. It's a philosophy I enjoy thinking about and debating with other people. It's one of the better series of 2005, I'd say.

[Village Idiot]

Ep12 raw is out

Ep13 won't air until Jan 4th?

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

Ep13 won't air until Jan 4th?

Ah well, i thought something like this might happen.

Gives me even more reason to watch all the episode's upto now again. ^^

[tun]

Spoiler for ep 12 raw:

I must say that I loved the little picnic scene and the subsequent talks between the guys and the girls. There's just something about Ike and Shana being in denial about their feelings that I like. I hadn't even thought about Ike liking Kazumi until Yuji blurted it out right at the end of their conversation. And I couldn't really believe the sudden confidence that Kazumi found within herself. It was cute to see Shana being defensive and confused by her feelings. This should definitely make things interesting.

[Srin Tuar]

Originally Posted by tun

Spoiler for ep 12 raw:

I must say that I loved the little picnic scene and the subsequent talks between the guys and the girls. There's just something about Ike and Shana being in denial about their feelings that I like. I hadn't even thought about Ike liking Kazumi until Yuji blurted it out right at the end of their conversation.

Spoiler:

Hehe, you couldnt tell?
Not to brag, but I thought they telegraphed it well- he's just a lot smoother
than Yuuji is, and well, most anime males in general. He's doing his best
to be kazumi's friend, and she is clearly willing to confide in him and spend time
with him.

If he wouldnt have forced the issue so quickly at the picnic, he could have spent
more time with her. Maybe offering to help her shop for things or Yuuji or whatever,
then once on the date with her, only talking about her and interesting things, and basically being charming and friendly in general....

Hehe During the part when Kazumi ran off I felt like turning to hayato and saying 追え。 I do like how yuuji saw through him though- remember he doesnt have
all the 3rd person viewpoints we get as an audience, so im impressed that he
figured him out like that...

[ludacris10]

Any1 might know where i could get SnS avvies?

[Owaranai Destiny]

Originally Posted by Srin Tuar

Spoiler:

Hehe, you couldnt tell?
Not to brag, but I thought they telegraphed it well- he's just a lot smoother
than Yuuji is, and well, most anime males in general. He's doing his best
to be kazumi's friend, and she is clearly willing to confide in him and spend time
with him.

If he wouldnt have forced the issue so quickly at the picnic, he could have spent
more time with her. Maybe offering to help her shop for things or Yuuji or whatever,
then once on the date with her, only talking about her and interesting things, and basically being charming and friendly in general....

Hehe During the part when Kazumi ran off I felt like turning to hayato and saying 追え。 I do like how yuuji saw through him though- remember he doesnt have
all the 3rd person viewpoints we get as an audience, so im impressed that he
figured him out like that...

Indeed, considering how clueless he might be, due to the fact that he was oblivious to the reasons behind Shana's 'weird' actions as well as Kazumi's behaviour towards him.

[tun]

Spoiler:

You can't talk about who subs liscenced anime. And regarding your question, I didn't notice any difference. But intros usually do get edited when new villans appear and disappear, so it might have happened for SnS as well.

[blitz1/2]

I'm still lost why the Raw has a different opening.

[Owaranai Destiny]

Depends on which opening(s) you are talking about. Some of them have the same as the RAW, but let's not go into detail about them.

episode 12:

Spoiler:

Shana didn't really think things through and blurted out her reply to the challenge by Kazumi, did she?

The twins are really scary. Seems that twincest is not the only thing that makes them 'frightening', but their coordination as well as their combat abilities, causing Shana to lose terribly. One thing puzzles me though...Where's Sydonay gone to?

From the preview, seems like our favorite busty blonde is back in action, and this time with Yuuji in tow. Looks like Shana's sword is taken by Sorath as well. Whatever it is, I look forward to an action-packed episode 13.

[blitz1/2]

Shana's going to have a hard time against the Twins. I mean she is almost die.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

Ep13 won't air until Jan 4th?

Broadcast schedule

It says 13 will be available online on the 2nd, but I thought the online version was supposed to be a week after TV broadcast so this must be out of date. Has anyone actually tried the official streaming version? What's the quality/cost like?

On a different note, can anyone translate the announcement of SnS Comiket 69 merchandise? Looks like Rondo Robe are doing a new telephone card + booklet, but I'm intrigued by the ななついろ★ドロップス ("Nanatsuiro Drops") tie-in. Itō Noiji is providing art for the game (some of the character designs look familiar...), but I'm curious whether the Comiket offering has other links to SnS than just the artist.

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

Shana's going to have a hard time against the Twins. I mean she is almost die.

Spoiler:

I sometimes wonder if we've been too quick to write off the light-heartedness of ep9+ as "filler". Yes there's been lots of typical high-school romo-comedy, but I wonder if they're softening us up for some emotional brutality in episodes ahead - you know, show the characters enjoying some normal adolescent hopes, dreams and fears, then just when we're daring to hope things might work out for them their world gets shattered by the power of Guze (which after all has always been there).

Because let's face it, every Torch is living on borrowed time...

[LytHka]

Originally Posted by Simon

Looks like Rondo Robe are doing a new telephone card + booklet, but I'm intrigued by the ななついろ★ドロップス ("Nanatsuiro Drops") tie-in. Itō Noiji is providing art for the game (some of the character designs look familiar...), but I'm curious whether the Comiket offering has other links to SnS than just the artist.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Original Comiket merchandise will hardly be accessible to the otakus of the west except through auction services and Nanatsuiro Drops will be purchasable through amazon.co.jp or Himeya shop. Not sure why would the new game be relevant to the Shakugan no Shana anime discussion. BTW, some Shakugan no Shana telephone cards (which are useless to westerners anyway ) were already available since the dawn of time.