While based on an intriguing idea, Shakugan no Shana embodies all that is generic and unimaginative in anime. From the obvious love triangles to probably the most predictable and cheesy deus ex machina I’ve ever seen (topped only by the fact that it doesn’t even have the promised repercussions), it treads the same tired ground as a thousand other anime, and uses all the fantasy gubbins it can muster in place of having a decent plot.But despite that, Shakugan no Shana is fun. Clichés got to be clichés because they're enjoyable, after all, and there’s much enjoyment to be had in a run-of-the-mill anime series.
The story goes like this: every person in the world has a certain amount of ‘power of existence’, craved by demon-like entities known as Tomogara, who are served by subordinates called Rinne. In order to feast, these creatures freeze the world, suck the life out of humans, and then move on. So that no humans notice their friends and family disappear (though why the demons should care, I don’t know – perhaps it happens without their volition), the victims are replaced by ‘torches’, false replacements for humans that slowly vanish as the people around them forget they ever existed.
When one such ‘torch’, a high school student called Sakai Yuuji, finds himself able to move when the Tomogara freeze the rest of the world, it is clear that he is different from the rest. A huge doll-like Rinne comes after him (to eat him again, I suppose…), but he is rescued by a young girl with incredible strength. She is a ‘Flame Haze’, a hunter destroying the Tomogara to maintain balance in the world. Yuuji pursues the girl, managing to protect her, and although she at first sees him as nothing more than an object, they become friends, and he gives her the name ‘Shana’.
Based on a series of light novels, one of the series’ strengths is its playful use of words. Most of the characters have a second title, usually something wonderfully excessive like ‘Chanter of Elegies’ or ‘Judge of Paradoxes’. The pompous tone really suits the gleeful obviousness of the series, making it hard to take seriously, but easy to enjoy. The plots tend to be very weak, though, usually involving a baddie arriving with some contrived magical plan, and then a fight climaxing in an even more contrived magical solution, or just some old-fashioned arse-kicking. Better is the character development: the series was probably at its best when it was dealing with the uncertainties of love and two girls competing for the affection of one boy. The drama and angst was very typical of the genre, but also very cute, and all the characters were very likeable and sweet. The supporting cast was also fun, from the creepy Tomogara with a doll fetish to the huge-breasted, brazen, provocative Flame Haze Margery Daw, who chants iffy translations of British nursery rhymes before attacking. All very silly, but fun. There was also an extended flashback to Shana’s past, but it was mostly rather daft and I ended up wanting to get back to the main plot long before it reached its conclusion.
The art was rather lacking. I have a feeling that like MAR, Bleach or Naruto, a lot of the monsters looked good in the manga but when simplified for anime, ended up looking very childish. The novels were first made into a Deneki Daioh manga (though the novels featured illustrations), and the seinen audience is firmly targeted. As a result, most of the ‘high school’ characters look about 12, with eyes the size of jet engines. Shana (who unlike some of her classmates even has the figure of a small child) is naked or clad only in bandages countless times during the series. I think in the last fight, there were more shots of her knickers than of her face. It all just added an extra layer of cheesiness.
But as I say, despite the extreme cheese (perhaps in part thanks to it), Shakugan no Shana was good fun, and some of the soap opera moments in the main romantic story were genuinely very sweet.
(Originally written 31.3.06)
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