6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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
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
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The final season of Shakugan no Shana gets off to a visceral start with a literal bang. The huge battle that
brought the second
season to a close is recapped, and we are smack dab in the middle of what almost looks like trench warfare from World
War I, albeit with
huge mutant dinosaurs and a number of other elements that are distinctly out of this world. But then this long running
franchise, with which
I’ve some celebrated issues, does something quite remarkable: it retreats from the trenches (so to speak) and gets
back to the one
singular element that it has too often forgotten in its manic adventures through the years: its emotional core, one that
is built around the
feelings of friendship, loyalty and family (whether or not that family is defined as blood relations). One of the reasons I
vastly preferred Shakugan no Shana the
Movie’s
redacted story line to the actual series’ more drawn out depiction of the same events is that it pared things down to
their absolute minimum
(at least for the most part). And one of the things the feature film did so very well was to give Yuji’s shock at seeing a
friend simply
disappear before his very eyes some quite affecting emotional heft, something that quite frequently got buried
underneath the nonsense of
the series’ more tangent filled approach. Ironically, that’s the very element that gives the start up to the third
season its own brand
of emotionalism, and in this case it may even be more affecting, for the one doing the disappearing this time around is
none other than Yuji
himself. Suddenly Shana is partnerless, and rather amazingly, she becomes an at least relatively vulnerable
character rather than
the epithet spouting tsundere which has been her calling card for the previous seasons. The opening arc of this
third season of
Shakugan no Shana is in some ways the best thing this series has ever done, finally (some would emphasize
that as finally)
investing the characters and story with some real feeling and depth.
ADR Director Alyssa Galindo makes no bones about being extremely confused by Shakugan no Shana’s third
season, since she hadn’t been associated with the show before. For those of you curious about some of the backstory
and other elements in this franchise, you might want to glance over our previous coverage of the many Shakugan
no Shana releases:
Shakugan no
Shana: Season 1 Blu-ray review
Shakugan no
Shana: Season 2 Part 1 Blu-ray review
Shakugan no
Shana: Season 2 Part 2 Blu-ray review
Shakugan no Shana
the Movie Blu-ray review
Shakugan no
Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray review
Shakugan no Shana: Season 3 Part 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This continues to be one of the more maddeningly disappointing looking anime on Blu-ray, which is even more odd since this last season is of more current vintage. But this outing is plagued with many of the same problems as the previous seasons, including a kind of lackluster overall image quality. While colors are at least decent (and often more than that), everything is very soft, line detail often has stair stepping and banding is also quite prevalent. It really is a shame, for say what you will about the series itself, Shakugan no Shana often features some very winning animation.
As with Blu-ray releases of previous seasons of Shakugan no Shana, Season 3 Part 1 again offers Dolby TrueHD mixes in English (5.1) and Japanese (2.0). Without trying to sound like a broken record, this third season pretty much continues in the tradition of the first two seasons. The English dub offers some surprisingly effective surround activity and this season is awash in LFE in several key sequences. Dialogue remains well prioritized and cleanly presented. The Japanese mix is obviously narrower and shallower, but it also offers excellent fidelity and quite wide dynamic range.
Fans of Shakugan no Shana know a lot of the series is given over to battles, but the most salient conflict I've experienced is the slow war of attrition I've gone through with this sometimes frustrating show. And guess what? I think the show is winning. I found myself drawn into this third season with unexpected ease. While the series still has an annoying tendency to traverse the same rut it's been in before, this third season gets off to a fantastic start with Shana and Yuji being separated. If things don't quite sustain that level of interest, there is still plenty going on in the background that longtime fans will enjoy. Unfortunately this new Blu-ray continues with the underwhelming visual quality. Fans will no doubt easily overlook that shortcoming (or, if not easily, at least with a certain degree of tolerance), but I still recommend that newcomers get to know this franchise through the movie, which distills a lot of information into a readily digestible form.
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
2008
2009-2010
Essentials
2009-2010
2011
2012
(Still not reliable for this title)
2007
2008-2009
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
Suzumiya Haruhi no shôshitsu / 涼宮ハルヒの消失
2010
2006
1992-1993
2005
2007-2008
Anime Classics
2011-2012
Essentials
2008
Anime Classics / フルメタル·パニック!
2002
2007