6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Shana and Alastor, Lord of the Crimson Realm, continue to do battle with the Denizens, who are trying to steal the Power of Existence from mortals. In the last battle, Yuji is revealed to be a mystes, a "torch" of nearly unlimited Power of Existence. Since the Denizens want to capture Yuji and use him to upset the balance of the Realm, Shana resolves to protect Yuji. Yuji then vows to join Shana in her fight.
Starring: Satoshi Hino, Rie Kugimiya, Shizuka ItôAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 93% |
Comedy | 23% |
Action | 18% |
Adventure | 3% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p (upconverted)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It’s December 20, 2012 as this review is being written and my typically snarky 16 year old son who is keeping track of the so-called Mayan prophecy with some sense of glee has just informed me that “the Apocalypse will be coming to a time zone near you soon” (it has evidently already hit Australia, causing widespread panic among the Mayan population on that island). If that dreaded occurrence comes to pass, it means that two releases that were at one point scheduled for this month, Shakugan no Shana: Movie and Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series, won’t have to be watched, let alone reviewed, but alas there’s no escaping either my watching or my reviewing duties for this second half of the second season of Shakugan no Shana: Season 2 Part 2. There’s obviously no point in hiding my disappointment not only with this anime’s content, which is so repetitive and derivative as to provoke actual disbelief at times, but also with this release’s really problematic video presentation. Now there are boatloads of Shakugan no Shana fans out there, as evidenced by the long-livedness of this franchise, something also evidenced by the glut of releases we’ve been seeing lately and which are obviously slated to continue on into 2013 (if we make it that far), so I am perhaps in the minority in finding this an underwhelming series at best. And to be fair (something that I really do try to be, even when I’m not particularly in love with any given release), the end of the second season has a few redeeming characteristics about it that make it at the very least not the worst arc of the previous two releases (one for Season 1, and Part 1 of Season 2).
If there's any unexpected good news to be had with regard to Shakugan no Shana: Season 2 Part 2, it's that this FUNimation Entertainment release's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 actually manages to look halfway decent (at least for an upconversion) quite a bit of the time. This set of episodes does not suffer from the omnipresent banding that really hobbled Part 1 of the second season, for whatever reason. The general image here is still really soft looking, and line detail can vary from looking at least adequate to having a bad case of the "jaggies" in some quick motion sequences. Colors are generally pretty well saturated and robust looking. As much as I've disliked the overall series, I have grown to really like JC Staff's animation with regard to this outing, and it really is a shame that it couldn't have received a genuine HD master and a decent high definition presentation, and a lot of the series is quite lovely to look at, even if the content is just as often middling at best.
As with Shakugan no Shana: Season 2 Part 1, this second part of Season 2 also features an English dub delivered via a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix as well as the original Japanese language track delivered via a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 mix. This is pretty much "more of the same" in terms of both languages, with very good fidelity and some excellent surround activity in the 5.1 mix, at least insofar as the requisite battle sequences go (an opening episode tornado—something following the kind of homage to The Wizard of Oz that finished up Part 1 of this season—has a nice, swirling panning effect that's very effective). Dialogue is always clean and clear, and some of the English language voice work is exceptionally well done. Dynamic range is also very wide throughout this arc of episodes.
- Why? What? Shana! Ask Anything Question Box: Colorful Wind Pheles and Chakra of Wind
- Why? What? Shana! Ask Anything Question Box: Giralda
- Why? What? Shana! Ask Anything Question Box: Destruction Blade Sabrae
- Why? What? Shana! Ask Anything Question Box: Effigy of Pride
Maybe Shakugan no Shana simply wore me down over the course of the two previous releases, because truth be told, I didn't outright hate this final arc of episodes, and in fact I grew to rather like some of the supporting characters like Margery Daw. But there's simply no denying how repetitive and derivative this series is, something that obviously doesn't bother its hordes of fans but which really grated on my nerves quite a bit of the time. This final arc of episodes has at least relatively sharper looking video than the first half of Season 2 did, and it isn't nearly as prone to the banding issue that was so noticeable in that first volume. The audio continues to be quite well done, and there is about the same amount of supplements as on previous releases. Fans may be marginally more pleased with this second volume due to the slightly better video quality.
2005-2006
灼眼のシャナ / S.A.V.E.
2005-2006
Essentials
2005-2006
灼眼のシャナS / S.A.V.E.
2006
2007
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2009-2010
Limited Edition
2011
2011
2012
2007
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2006
ソウルイーター
2008-2009
2010
デート・ア・ライブIV / Season Four
2022
Limited Edition
2013
2011-2012
2008
2010
2005
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2010
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1992-1993
2005
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2011-2012
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2008
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2002
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