Anime Analyze: Shakugan no Shana II

As I move on through more Anime, I went back to watch the second season of Shakugan no Shana entitled Shakugan no Shana II.  Released in 2008, it continues where Shakugan no Shana left off.  It has two opening sequences, the first being "Joint" by Mami Kawada, and the second being "Blaze" by KOTOKO, both being good, although I liked the first one better than the second.  So, here is my review of Shakugan no Shana II. 

 



















Containing the same basic cast as the first series, it covers more of Sakai Yuji and Shana getting stronger in their fight against the Guze no Tomogora.  As Sakai trains more, he is able to wield a giant sword, called Blutsauger that Shana got from a former enemy in the first series if you recall.  Sakai also eventually learns how to cast spells like the fuzetsu, the spell used to stop time in a certain area so that they can fight.  This leads them to an important discovery of a clue as to where the Silver is, the Guze that caused Margery Daw to become a Flame Haze in the first place.  Apart from the fighting against the Guze, the series also goes more in depth with Sakai's relationship with Shana and Kazumi and how the girls learn more about how to read their feelings and understand how they really feel about Yuji.  In many cases other people that they interact with help teach them things and they learn throughout the series.

Like with the first series, we also follow the two boys who helped Margery Daw with her various jobs as a Flame Haze, however, one has second doubts after the girl that he has feelings for gets hurt because of a fight against the Guze, and it covers his struggle to want to help but not wanting to be involved so that no one else he knows gets hurt.  This at the same time as the other boy wanting to go farther and help the Flame Haze out more with the work to fight against the Guze.



While the story line having to do with everything holds up well and never really veers off course on tangents too much, it seemed like the series was made for more informational and character development purposes, and not having too many major events happen save for a few, the biggest ones involving the creator of the reiji maigo and at the end of the series involving the silver.  This involved fewer enemies, however, and I kinda liked that part better than the first series because it wasn't one enemy after the other with the enemies having their back stories and final fights within three episodes.  It gave some time to give reasons behind why the enemies were attacking.
   










The series was, just like the first one very good, and from what I heard about the third series, the second series, one, needs to be seen in order for it to make sense, and two, is very good so seeing the second series is a must, even though it seems like it is more of a connector series.  I recommend it strongly once again and my final rating is an 8.3/10 since the series was good, but not as good as the first one.  I am excited to watch the third series,  and a review coming soon of what I have heard is a classic series.


Final Rating: 8.3/10
Total Episodes: 24
RWF: Japanese Dub w/ English sub
MRS: www.nwanime.com