[Categories: OAVs, Movies and Full Series]
Shakugan no Shana movie: red eyes and tears
Excuse my ignorance concerning the second and first seasons - that’s pretty much the point of this review. The Shakugan no Shana movie is, I’m guessing, a worthy companion piece for the series but I’ll leave that judgment for when I’ve got that far (and judging by the state of my backlog, you’re in for a fair old wait). If it’s intended to promote the series it does the job well by highlighting characters and ideas, but is also very enjoyable as an action piece by shifting on apace and covering a fair bit of ground. As an introduction then, it provided for me at least a balanced taste of what the series promises without being overly confusing or insular; at a shade under an hour and a half, it wasn’t too demanding of my time either. On the downside it’s still set in a school and the characters are drawn to be of that age accordingly, but you can’t have everything. ^_^’
First off, Shana deserves kudos for killing off one of its main characters in the first few minutes. Granted, it’s altering his form of existence rather than lining him up for removal from the story in the traditional sense of killing off a character, but “You’re dead!” is a great way to grab the viewer’s attention. The ‘explain enough to entertain but leave the rest for the series’ approach which makes the better feature-length condensed adaptations work comes into play here: I’m still unsure of what, or who, Yuuji is that makes him special beyond being something called a ‘Mystes’, but it’s intriguing in the same way that, say, Darker than Black and Ergo Proxy were in their opening episodes. Insofar as not much is clear at that particular point but sure as hell makes you want to see more. Similarly the presence of Alastor locked inside the pendant, not to mention the idea of other Flame Hazes vying for the same jobs, makes me feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.
I’ve been a fan of Kou Otani ever since Haibane Renmei (one of my fave OSTs, which I really need to re-review) so the soundtrack was also a nice bonus. Production-wise, I was also impressed: because the movie is predominantly a supernatural action feature there are plenty of pretty lights and giant explosions but as a whole, the movie just…glows. I don’t know how to describe it any other way really - the high-res shimmer of EoE is the nearest I’ve seen to the way in which the frames practically shine when the action kicks off and Shana does her transformation thing from dark-haired everygirl to flame-haired supernatural assassin. If her character looked ten years older (or, indeed, if I were ten years younger!) I might have something less intellectual to say about her, but I think she deserves more credit than being deemed ‘hawt’…an issue I’ll be addressing sometime soon since the whole ‘tsundere’ thing deserves a post of its own.
One thing I really appreciated about Shana’s movie treatment though was how it brings a number of themes into the picture that I could imagine in my mind’s eye panning out into something much more in the episodic TV format. The concept of Torches for instance was fantastic - there’s something poetic and compelling about the idea of human lives ended and dwindling away but propping up the balance of nature in the form of blue flames that eventually and inexorably snuff out. The implications of this are immediately apparent when Yuuji tries to keep the memory of a Torch-ified Hirai alive, even though the logical course of action would be to accept the fact that she’s about to disappear and be forgotten. Similarly he’s willing to sacrifice himself for a half-dead classmate without hesitation - an important event that pushes him out of the wimpy archetype box and out into the territory of a lead character who is worthy of respect.
The mismatched double act is well used in anime and elsewhere but the aspect that grabbed me when Shana and Yuuji had to hang out together was how Shana reacted and interacted in scenes like those mentioned above. Perhaps due to her character design, she reminded me of Haruhi Suzumiya (that’s Noizi Ito’s art style for you, I suppose) but my concerns about another grating, obnoxious character were surprisingly unfounded - the similarity was mostly superficial after all. While Yuuji was getting used to the idea of being technically dead but experiencing self-awareness, a physical presence on the mortal plane of existence and everything else that goes along with being not dead at all, Shana was coming to terms with having to adjust to her new surroundings and coming up against one of those lifeless Torches that still thinks and behaves like a living human.
Their contrasting points of view effectively summed up the strange yet fascinating nature of the Torches and the natural laws that govern the Shana universe: Yuuji sees Torches from the human side, existences that are still people if not human and are therefore still worth the concern and sympathy he shows to them while Shana sees them from the opposite side so to speak as emptied shells that are for all intents and purposes already beyond help. Having both lead characters change their perspectives through interaction with one another was even more of a draw for me than those pretty lights and explosions.
Posted on February 2nd, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
‘[T]he idea of human lives ended and dwindling away but propping up the balance of nature in the form of blue flames that eventually and inexorably snuff out’ = ‘Great Concept’. Although I never had much time for the TV series’ execution of said concept, the first few episodes were extremely engaging because of that Torch thing. Then I dropped it.
Since I’m a bit of an action junky (I love The Song of Roland not because of poetic value, but because it has epic battles), maybe the movie’s worth a shot.
I look forward to reading your thoughts on the tsundere thing (dual-meaning terms hurt my head), if the hinted-at entry works out.
Posted on February 4th, 2008 @ 3:22 am
Ah, I had a feeling the movie would appeal more to you.
To be honest, if you’re not into that sort of thing the TV series is going to annoy you. Shana was 100% more subdued and sober when compared to her edgy, “Shut up shut up shut up!”-spamming TV self. The movie fleshes out a superior version of her in that case, with less pandering tsundere and more character.
Mind you, all that existential Torch stuff loses focus somewhere midway first season, and it doesn’t become the primary objective so much as blowing up stuff is. There are some pretty poignant and tear-filled moments in the first season (the second season appears to be headed towards that emotional upheaval shortly), but the movie doesn’t paint the bigger picture all that well, I’m afraid. Still, I’ll be looking forward to your coverage of Shana as and when.
Posted on February 4th, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
@IKnight: the tsundere post was actually part of this one, but since the format was looking too similar to Owen’s post on the movie and was a little overlong into the bargain, it’ll be posted as an entry all of its own. Soon. I hope. It’s in its first draft stage, at any rate.
@Owen S: I’ll be covering the series sooner or later but TBH with my backlog the way it is I’ll be following it on DVD, but not just yet (perhaps surprisingly, Play USA list the discs at the same price as what I’d expect to pay for UK equivalents so I might not even wait for the R2s). As much as I appreciated Shana as more character and less temper, I’m intrigued about that ‘bigger picture’ you mentioned - the pretty explosions are all well and good but it was the story and characters as always that drew me in.