Changes made to Shana: Volume 3

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Created on Thursday, 21st August 2008, 16:42
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Revision 2

Created on Thursday, 21st August 2008, 16:40
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Change #1 - [page1] <newline> <newline>~~[heading]~~[heading]Int
Change #2 - heading]~~[/heading]~~ <newline>I bega
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Change #6 - heading]~~[/heading]~~ <newline>I’m re

Revision 1

Created on Thursday, 21st August 2008, 16:39
Change Submitted by Jitendar Canth

List of Changes:

Change #1 - e1] [heading]Introduction[/heading] <newline>I began my Shana reviews with a brief explanation of the term ‘tsundere’, adescriptive applied to certain female anime characters, and Shana inparticular, indicating a spiky combative personality that conceals a warmaffectionate centre. In the first two volumes, we have seen plenty of the spikycombativeness, but we’re overdue for the warm affectionate stuff. That shouldall change with the third volume, which begins with the obligatory animeswimsuit episode… Shakugan no Shana tells the story of high school studentYuji Sakai, and what happens when Shana enters his life. Shana is a Flame Haze,whose purpose is to fight the Denizens of the Crimson World and the Rinne theysend to do their bidding, and stop them eating the lives of the people in thereal world, who remain blissfully unaware. She isn’t always successful, whichis where the Torches come in. The balance of the world would be destroyed ifpeople suddenly started vanishing, so Shana creates Torches to take the placeof the dead, short lived replacements who eventually vanish from the world,along with any memory of their or the original’s existence. When Yuji walksinto the wrong place at the wrong time and dies, it’s the start of a really badday for him. In the last volume, Shana and Yuji had a tough time of itwhen Friagne put his plans to destroy the town into action, and then MargeryDaw went off the deep end chasing after a Denizen named Lamies. You’d thinkwith the hot summer would come a chance to relax, a change of pace and afterthe shared peril of a battle between two Flame Hazes, a better understandingbetween Shana and Yuji… The next four episodes of Shana are presented on this MVMdisc. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203603.jpg|0000106629] <newline> 9. Poolside of Love and DesireOn a sweltering hot day, Yuji’s training is goingparticularly badly. Fortunately in class, Ike is dishing out free tickets tothe Misaki Waterland swim park. It looks like the ideal opportunity to relax,but Shana doesn’t see the thrill. Yoshida on the other hand does, and she spendsall lunchtime trying to build up the confidence to ask Yuji out, before she ispre-empted by another girl Ogata, who decides the weekend will be the perfecttime for a group outing. Only she’s disappointed when the class delinquentsTanaka and Sato beg prior commitments. For Yuji and Ike, it’s a chance to seethe class cuties in their swimsuits, but when Yoshida learns that there is a‘Couple Cavalry’ contest in the pool, with a date (with all you can eat) as themain prize, she’s determined to enter with Yuji. Shana’s determined to win thechance to eat all the melon bread she can get her hands on. Meanwhile, Tanakaand Sato are trying to cheer Margery up, who is drowning her sorrows inalcohol, but when she agrees and decides to spend the day at the swim park,they’ll have to explain themselves to Ogata. 10. Entangled FeelingsThe fun is over, and it’s back to training for Yuji andShana, only it’s not as much fun as it once was, with Shana regularly beatingYuji in an attempt to get him strong enough to fight, and poor Yuji startstaking it all personally. Shana’s taken aback when Yuji’s mother tells her thathe’s acting oddly because he wants to impress her, and being regularlyhumiliated is probably putting him off. He’s put off so much that he’s actuallykeen for library duty at school to get out of the training sessions. ButYoshida will be there with him, and inexplicably, Shana’s getting jealous. Thenwhen a Rinne appears and starts feasting on random souls, Shana has to face italone, much as she always has done, but all of a sudden there is an empty spaceat her side. She and Yuji barely have time to sort out this development, beforetwo new Denizens arrive in town, brother and sister Sorath and Tiriel, twinswith a rather odd relationship. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203607.jpg|0000106633] <newline> 11. Yuji, Shana, and KissesSorath and Tiriel are accompanied by a third DenizenSydonay, who acts as their servant. They’re after something in particular, andare a cut above the other Denizens that have afflicted the town before. Thefirst thing is that they have a device that allows them to feed withoutalerting the Flame Hazes, the second is that their reputation is such that itstops someone like Margery Daw in her tracks. And where is Shana during allthis? Learning about kissing. She dismisses it as just another human activity,until she happens to watch some TV with Yuji, and a romantic drama comes on.All of a sudden she has to reconsider how she feels about him, and thedistraction is something that Alastor finds most worrying. 12. Flowers Bloom In The CradleThings are getting awkward in the classroom. Yoshida haslong had a thing for Yuji, but then she keeps seeing him with Shana, and hekeeps denying that they are together in that way. It comes to a head when Ikegets involved. He’s been trying to set Yuji and Yoshida up, not realising thathe has feelings for Yoshida himself, and the added frustration makes him blurtout the wrong thing at the wrong moment. Yoshida finally challenges Shana,stating that she won’t just sit idly by, and wait for Yuji anymore, and that ifShana has a problem with it, maybe she should examine her own feelings. Shanais just about to retort, when the world freezes. Sorath and Tiriel havearrived, and have found what they are looking for. Shana prepares to battle thetwo, but the twins are actually waiting for the moment that she draws hersword. <newline>[imgmc=0000203605.jpg|0000106631] <newline> <newline>[heading]Picture[/heading] <newline>Shana gets a nice 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is clear and sharp, andthe transfer is impressive, showing just a few of the typical NTSC-PALtelltales. There is the slight judder during pans that is evident, but that’sit. The character designs are simple but memorable, and the animation isvibrant and effective, blending CG and traditional 2D animation with what hascome to be typical anime style. <newline>[imgmc=0000203601.jpg|0000106627] <newline> <newline>[heading]Sound[/heading] <newline>You have a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with optional translatedsubtitles and signs. It’s a surprise to see an action show forgoing the chanceto show off its surround goodness, but the stereo tracks are effective enoughwith discrete placement of effects. The English dub is Ok if you like that sortof thing, although I didn’t find it to be the best dub in the world. Theopening theme is a toe-tapper, and that Eurobeat end theme is finally growingon me. [/page1][page2] <newline> <newline>[heading]Extras[/heading] <newline>We have extras! Although the same pattern of the previous volumes is repeatedin terms of the menu, jacket picture and trailers for Black Lagoon, and theforthcoming Starship Operators, we also get a Production Art Gallery that is a3-minute slideshow with character designs and line art. You’ll also find the Naze nani Shana video, which lasts 4minutes. In it, chibi-Friagne and Marianne answer questions and look at therules of the Shana universe with regards to Denizens and Rinne. It’s a usefulreminder, although Friagne does his creepy doll infatuation thing again. <newline>[imgmc=0000203608.jpg|0000106634] <newline> <newline>[heading]Conclusion[/heading] <newline>I’m really enjoying Shakugan no Shana, and this third volume maintains thestandard set by the first two, but I’m a little hard pressed to figure out justwhy exactly I like it, which isn’t the best thing to write as a reviewer. Shanaisn’t exactly the most original of anime, indeed as I have mentionedpreviously, it’s as middle of the road as you can get, it plays to a broadaudience, and is yet another in a long line of supernatural, monster of theweek shows. At the same time, it throws in a bit of teen relationship angst, alittle high school romance, which again has been a staple of anime shows sincethe year dot. But dash it all if it isn’t addictive and entertaining stuff. Isuppose it just goes to show that it isn’t just the story that’s important;it’s how you tell it. Shana tells it very well, making us care about thecharacters, and striking a fun balance between drama and comedy, action andromance. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203617.jpg|0000106643] <newline> Speaking of anime clichés, we begin with a doozy, the swimsuitepisode. It’s practically a law that if a show has some cute girls in, and evena slightest inclination towards comedy, then swimsuits will figure in at leastone episode, with the subsequent nosebleeds and awkward fumbling that implies.It’s comedy pure and simple, and in an action show like this, offers a nicechange of pace, especially after a run of more intense episodes. Girlsinevitably wind up comparing breast sizes, and collision between male teen andcleavage is inevitable. There is a point to this episode, further developingthe Yoshida, Yuji and Shana triangle, but the story remains resolutely angstfree here. Not so in the subsequent episodes, which see Shana exploring how shefeels about Yuji, and not quite understanding the answers she comes up with.Since the confrontation with Margery, where Shana revealed the new powers thatbeing in Yuji’s proximity gives her, the two have been training intensively toget Yuji up to an acceptable level. It isn’t going so well, and frustrated,Shana pushes him even harder. It gets to the point where Yuji wants to quit,and Shana has to ask herself why she is treating him that way. The answer comeswhen she next has to face a Rinne alone, as she has always done before, andfinds it hard without Yuji at her side. She’s coming to depend on him, whichcertainly has a bearing on the second half of the disc. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203610.jpg|0000106636] <newline> Things get awkward all around, as Shana finds that she wantsto be around Yuji, but not in that way, as suddenly she finds solitude to bedaunting. Yet, on one hand she refuses to be close to him, but the minute he’sout of her sight, or more importantly with Yoshida, she’s utterly jealous. Thehot and cold treatment doesn’t help Yuji any, as one minute he’s tellingYoshida that there’s nothing going on, and then he and Shana are stargazingtogether. He’s wavering between the two, unable to commit to either, andYoshida’s shy nature makes it hard for her to complain at his treatment. ThenIke realises that he has feelings for Yoshida, the triangle becomes a squareand it looks as if all hell will break loose. It does, but because of the newDenizens in town who pick the worst possible moment to put their plans inmotion. If Shana is having trouble coming to terms with her nascent feelingsfor Yuji, and the unaccustomed feelings of affection, Sorath and Tiriel areoverdoing the affection to an uncomfortable degree. This brother and sister’scloseness is crossing a few lines and heading into taboo territory. It’s arather crass way to give the two a creepy atmosphere, but it does work. It maynot be to all tastes though. As per the convention in these shows, eachsubsequent villain is more formidable than the last, a fact made obvious whenthe last villain, Margery Daw, quails at the appearance of the twins. It’sconfirmed when they draw the whole city into another realm, as they search forthe Nietono no Shana. Shana is their target, and the disc leaves us at atantalising cliffhanger when she falls into their clutches. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203614.jpg|0000106640] <newline> It’s a combination of all things that make Shana work. Thewriting, the characters, the artwork and the animation, the pace and the mix ofstyles, and the multi-faceted story, take a rather run of the mill premise andresult in an anime that is a cut above the rest. Shana is a thoroughly enjoyablediversion for 90 odd minutes, and it’s well worth taking a look at. <newline> <newline>[heading][heading]Introduction[/heading][/heading] <newline>I began my Shana reviews with a brief explanation of the term ‘tsundere’, a descriptive applied to certain female anime characters, and Shana in particular, indicating a spiky combative personality that conceals a warm affectionate centre. In the first two volumes, we have seen plenty of the spiky combativeness, but we’re overdue for the warm affectionate stuff. That should all change with the third volume, which begins with the obligatory anime swimsuit episode… <newline> <newline>Shakugan no Shana tells the story of high school student Yuji Sakai, and what happens when Shana enters his life. Shana is a Flame Haze, whose purpose is to fight the Denizens of the Crimson World and the Rinne they send to do their bidding, and stop them eating the lives of the people in the real world, who remain blissfully unaware. She isn’t always successful, which is where the Torches come in. The balance of the world would be destroyed if people suddenly started vanishing, so Shana creates Torches to take the place of the dead, short lived replacements who eventually vanish from the world, along with any memory of their or the original’s existence. When Yuji walks into the wrong place at the wrong time and dies, it’s the start of a really bad day for him. <newline> <newline>In the last volume, Shana and Yuji had a tough time of it when Friagne put his plans to destroy the town into action, and then Margery Daw went off the deep end chasing after a Denizen named Lamies. You’d think with the hot summer would come a chance to relax, a change of pace and after the shared peril of a battle between two Flame Hazes, a better understanding between Shana and Yuji… The next four episodes of Shana are presented on this MVM disc. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203603.jpg|0000106629] <newline> 9. Poolside of Love and Desire <newline>On a sweltering hot day, Yuji’s training is going particularly badly. Fortunately in class, Ike is dishing out free tickets to the Misaki Waterland swim park. It looks like the ideal opportunity to relax, but Shana doesn’t see the thrill. Yoshida on the other hand does, and she spends all lunchtime trying to build up the confidence to ask Yuji out, before she is pre-empted by another girl Ogata, who decides the weekend will be the perfect time for a group outing. Only she’s disappointed when the class delinquents Tanaka and Sato beg prior commitments. For Yuji and Ike, it’s a chance to see the class cuties in their swimsuits, but when Yoshida learns that there is a ‘Couple Cavalry’ contest in the pool, with a date (with all you can eat) as the main prize, she’s determined to enter with Yuji. Shana’s determined to win the chance to eat all the melon bread she can get her hands on. Meanwhile, Tanaka and Sato are trying to cheer Margery up, who is drowning her sorrows in alcohol, but when she agrees and decides to spend the day at the swim park, they’ll have to explain themselves to Ogata. <newline> <newline>10. Entangled Feelings <newline>The fun is over, and it’s back to training for Yuji and Shana, only it’s not as much fun as it once was, with Shana regularly beating Yuji in an attempt to get him strong enough to fight, and poor Yuji starts taking it all personally. Shana’s taken aback when Yuji’s mother tells her that he’s acting oddly because he wants to impress her, and being regularly humiliated is probably putting him off. He’s put off so much that he’s actually keen for library duty at school to get out of the training sessions. But Yoshida will be there with him, and inexplicably, Shana’s getting jealous. Then when a Rinne appears and starts feasting on random souls, Shana has to face it alone, much as she always has done, but all of a sudden there is an empty space at her side. She and Yuji barely have time to sort out this development, before two new Denizens arrive in town, brother and sister Sorath and Tiriel, twins with a rather odd relationship. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203607.jpg|0000106633] <newline> 11. Yuji, Shana, and Kisses <newline>Sorath and Tiriel are accompanied by a third Denizen Sydonay, who acts as their servant. They’re after something in particular, and are a cut above the other Denizens that have afflicted the town before. The first thing is that they have a device that allows them to feed without alerting the Flame Hazes, the second is that their reputation is such that it stops someone like Margery Daw in her tracks. And where is Shana during all this? Learning about kissing. She dismisses it as just another human activity, until she happens to watch some TV with Yuji, and a romantic drama comes on. All of a sudden she has to reconsider how she feels about him, and the distraction is something that Alastor finds most worrying. <newline> <newline>12. Flowers Bloom In The Cradle <newline>Things are getting awkward in the classroom. Yoshida has long had a thing for Yuji, but then she keeps seeing him with Shana, and he keeps denying that they are together in that way. It comes to a head when Ike gets involved. He’s been trying to set Yuji and Yoshida up, not realising that he has feelings for Yoshida himself, and the added frustration makes him blurt out the wrong thing at the wrong moment. Yoshida finally challenges Shana, stating that she won’t just sit idly by, and wait for Yuji anymore, and that if Shana has a problem with it, maybe she should examine her own feelings. Shana is just about to retort, when the world freezes. Sorath and Tiriel have arrived, and have found what they are looking for. Shana prepares to battle the two, but the twins are actually waiting for the moment that she draws her sword. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203605.jpg|0000106631] <newline>[heading][heading]Picture[/heading][/heading] <newline>Shana gets a nice 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is clear and sharp, and the transfer is impressive, showing just a few of the typical NTSC-PAL telltales. There is the slight judder during pans that is evident, but that’s it. The character designs are simple but memorable, and the animation is vibrant and effective, blending CG and traditional 2D animation with what has come to be typical anime style. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203601.jpg|0000106627] <newline>[heading][heading]Sound[heading][/heading] <newline>You have a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles and signs. It’s a surprise to see an action show forgoing the chance to show off its surround goodness, but the stereo tracks are effective enough with discrete placement of effects. The English dub is Ok if you like that sort of thing, although I didn’t find it to be the best dub in the world. The opening theme is a toe-tapper, and that Eurobeat end theme is finally growing on me. <newline> <newline>[/page1] <newline>[page2] <newline> <newline>[heading][headingExtras[/heading][/heading] <newline>We have extras! Although the same pattern of the previous volumes is repeated in terms of the menu, jacket picture and trailers for Black Lagoon, and the forthcoming Starship Operators, we also get a Production Art Gallery that is a 3-minute slideshow with character designs and line art. <newline> <newline>You’ll also find the Naze nani Shana video, which lasts 4 minutes. In it, chibi-Friagne and Marianne answer questions and look at the rules of the Shana universe with regards to Denizens and Rinne. It’s a useful reminder, although Friagne does his creepy doll infatuation thing again. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203608.jpg|0000106634] <newline>[heading][heading]Conclusion[/heading][/heading] <newline>I’m really enjoying Shakugan no Shana, and this third volume maintains the standard set by the first two, but I’m a little hard pressed to figure out just why exactly I like it, which isn’t the best thing to write as a reviewer. Shana isn’t exactly the most original of anime, indeed as I have mentioned previously, it’s as middle of the road as you can get, it plays to a broad audience, and is yet another in a long line of supernatural, monster of the week shows. At the same time, it throws in a bit of teen relationship angst, a little high school romance, which again has been a staple of anime shows since the year dot. But dash it all if it isn’t addictive and entertaining stuff. I suppose it just goes to show that it isn’t just the story that’s important; it’s how you tell it. Shana tells it very well, making us care about the characters, and striking a fun balance between drama and comedy, action and romance. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203617.jpg|0000106643] <newline> Speaking of anime clichés, we begin with a doozy, the swimsuit episode. It’s practically a law that if a show has some cute girls in, and even a slightest inclination towards comedy, then swimsuits will figure in at least one episode, with the subsequent nosebleeds and awkward fumbling that implies. It’s comedy pure and simple, and in an action show like this, offers a nice change of pace, especially after a run of more intense episodes. Girls inevitably wind up comparing breast sizes, and collision between male teen and cleavage is inevitable. There is a point to this episode, further developing the Yoshida, Yuji and Shana triangle, but the story remains resolutely angst free here. Not so in the subsequent episodes, which see Shana exploring how she feels about Yuji, and not quite understanding the answers she comes up with. Since the confrontation with Margery, where Shana revealed the new powers that being in Yuji’s proximity gives her, the two have been training intensively to get Yuji up to an acceptable level. It isn’t going so well, and frustrated, Shana pushes him even harder. It gets to the point where Yuji wants to quit, and Shana has to ask herself why she is treating him that way. The answer comes when she next has to face a Rinne alone, as she has always done before, and finds it hard without Yuji at her side. She’s coming to depend on him, which certainly has a bearing on the second half of the disc. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203610.jpg|0000106636] <newline> Things get awkward all around, as Shana finds that she wants to be around Yuji, but not in that way, as suddenly she finds solitude to be daunting. Yet, on one hand she refuses to be close to him, but the minute he’s out of her sight, or more importantly with Yoshida, she’s utterly jealous. The hot and cold treatment doesn’t help Yuji any, as one minute he’s telling Yoshida that there’s nothing going on, and then he and Shana are stargazing together. He’s wavering between the two, unable to commit to either, and Yoshida’s shy nature makes it hard for her to complain at his treatment. Then Ike realises that he has feelings for Yoshida, the triangle becomes a square and it looks as if all hell will break loose. It does, but because of the new Denizens in town who pick the worst possible moment to put their plans in motion. If Shana is having trouble coming to terms with her nascent feelings for Yuji, and the unaccustomed feelings of affection, Sorath and Tiriel are overdoing the affection to an uncomfortable degree. This brother and sister’s closeness is crossing a few lines and heading into taboo territory. It’s a rather crass way to give the two a creepy atmosphere, but it does work. It may not be to all tastes though. As per the convention in these shows, each subsequent villain is more formidable than the last, a fact made obvious when the last villain, Margery Daw, quails at the appearance of the twins. It’s confirmed when they draw the whole city into another realm, as they search for the Nietono no Shana. Shana is their target, and the disc leaves us at a tantalising cliffhanger when she falls into their clutches. <newline> <newline>[imgmc=0000203614.jpg|0000106640] <newline> It’s a combination of all things that make Shana work. The writing, the characters, the artwork and the animation, the pace and the mix of styles, and the multi-faceted story, take a rather run of the mill premise and result in an anime that is a cut above the rest. Shana is a thoroughly enjoyable diversion for 90 odd minutes, and it’s well worth taking a look at. <newline> <newline>[/pa

Initial Version

Created on Thursday, 21st August 2008, 15:43
First Submitted by Jitendar Canth