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shakugan no Shana

 Review

Shakugan no Shana: The Movie is about a boy, Yuji Sakai, after he “dies” when he has his existence eaten by Crimson Denizens - members of a parallel universe. At the same time, one of his classmates, Yukari, who has a crush on Yuji’s best friend Ike, “dies” as well. However, both of their existences are replaced by Shana, a Flame Haze, and they both become Torches.

After the ordeal, Yukari clearly isn’t herself, and Yuji demands to know what happened. Shana informs him that he has died and has been turned into a Torch so that their disappearance won’t disrupt the world as much. However, since they are only replacements, torches eventually run out and then really will completely disappear.

However, Yuji appears to be different in that he’s realized what’s happened and Shana, and the Crimson Lord to whom she is bound, Alastor, deduce that he must be a Mystes - a special type of torch with a “treasure” in mind. With this in mind, Shana decides to use Yuji as bait to catch the Crimson Denizen who ate his existence, since Crimson Denizens have a penchant for collecting such treasures.

Shakugan no Shana is effectively a retelling of the first story arc of the first season of the TV series, though some things are notably different, such as the climax of the movie. As a result, while the movie does a good job getting one familiar with the franchise if one is going to go ahead and watch the TV series, it doesn’t do as good of a job as a stand-alone movie.

Even so, it still tells a rather interesting story competently. The animation is excellent and the music is also pretty good as well.

If you’re looking for a quick intro to the Shakugan no Shana universe, or just want a fun movie to watch, then you might want to check this one out.

First Watched: October 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes, if you want the quick review of the Shana universe