Shakugan no Shana’s second season has finished up, and I’m going to assume there will be at least another sequel after this. With this assumption, I can say that I definitely enjoyed the second season more than the first. However, it should be noted that while Shakugan no Shana Second builds effectively on the first season, it is a series with a rather high barrier to entry. The jargon can be confusing at times, and it is a struggle to keep everyone’s titles and attacks straight. However, if you made it through the first season and can tell a Mystes from a Tomogara, Second delivered more of what you wanted.
Story
As expected, SnSS trudges through slice of life and romantic comedy setups for the first third before an excellent flashback signals that it’s time to get the party started. While I appreciated the lowered amounts of angst this season (and that the angst was more evenly distributed), I was one of the viewers who only made it through the Konoe arc because I trusted the series to get much better around the midway point. Even with all that time spent on vapid Konoe, however, the final twist still felt like Deus Ex Machina.
Characters
This season was much less episodic, and I appreciated the build-up surrounding Balle Masque’s complicated plan. The fights this season were more entertaining, although much of this was because of Wilhelmina’s MVP performance this season with some really creative toilet papering of the city. While I thought the Konoe development felt forced, I liked Yuuji’s gradual improvement throughout the season. I have to admit I was disappointed that Marjorie spent most of the season drinking and doing recon, but most of the characters capable of opening their eyes came out looking cooler this season.
Once Hecate went Borg on Konoe, SnSS really started to hit its stride, and Pheles and Johan were nicely integrated. I liked learning about all the Pokemon living in Reiji Maigo, and the Sabrac fight was excellent. It really felt like a Flame Haze team was out there, and the use of strategy was new and welcome. While the finale was open-ended, I got enough character development to feel satisfied. I also applaud the fact that no uber-leet moves like the Tempa Jyosai got abused this season.
Tilt and Verdict
The overall production values were high this season, and I don’t recall there being any bad dips. I actually found the art this season better than the art last season. The music was very good again, and I thought the OP/ED combos were above average. Although this season was an excellent sequel, I think I was willing to tolerate many of the flaws of SnSS because I was already used to how Shana always starts so slowly. In spite of Hecate’s cool stolen Nanoha moves, I really find her to be the most frustrating character in the series, and I had to knock off some points for how Konoe made the first few episodes drag.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 4.5/5
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5 Comments
Divine Aster SHOOOTOOO!!! I was ROTFLMAO at that tagline.
Now we know that Wilhelmina isn’t just a secret author of pulp novels, she’s also a Christo disciple!
And I eagerly anticipate the next Shana-tan special!
I knew I wasn’t crazy for liking this season…everyone else is just too busy being meanie heads.
I dunno, I still have a thing for the first season and how it drew me in. The second season was definitely a lot of fun, but I dunno if it had the same magic.
There wasn’t enough power of love for you this season?
The first Shana was when I really started watching fansubs obsessively in realtime as they came out, so I think I have a soft spot that hasn’t had time to callous over yet and lets me forgive some things that I would dump a new show for in a heartbeat. Regardless, I liked the end, whether compared to the filler or standing on its own. It satisfied.
But thankfully we still have a whole other season to wait for Kazumi to kill herself.
I thought that SnSS was truly awesome. It was even better than the first. The series only had one or two episodes out of the twenty-four that sort of dragged on, but the fight scenes were great, the music was awesome, and the final episode, while leaving things still open in the end, was epic. This may just be my opinion, but I don’t think it can end until Bal Masque is destroyed, now that Yuji picked Shana and she probably admitted her feelings for him due to the letters Kazumi and she wrote. Does anyone happen to know if there’ll be a third series?
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[...] appearance in the final episodes. I think it goes without saying that Wilhelmina is officially the MVP of the second season. She kicked ass through and through, especially in the Sabrac fight and really [...]