I've watched about up to episode 15. There are currently 19 episodes and the whole thing should be about 26 episodes. Here's a summary provided by animenewsnetwork.com:



Sakai Yuuji, a high school student whose normal life was thought to last forever is going end. When he was on his way home he witnessed a shocking view as the world suddenly froze: People were engulfed into blue flames and a monster which resembled a large doll "swallowed" them. It was almost the end of Yuuji until a girl in black attire and a sword with flaming red eyes and hair that burns like ember saved him from the monster. The girl calls herself a "Flame Haze" who hunts the "Guze no Tomogara" , creatures from another world. As Yuuji saw a blue flame in his chest, she tells him: "You don't exist anymore". Thus starts Yuuji and the girl, whom he called her "Shana", fight against Tomogara and other Flame Hazes began.

Plot~
The story has a very smooth flow to it. It has romance, action, fantasy, and comedy elements mixed into it. The story starts of fast and slows down a bit to retell the past of a few, but the whole idea of Flame Haze and and Guze no Tomogara is somewhat a new concept that I've seen. Bleach has some similar qualities to that idea.

Characters~
Shana~ She's a Flame Haze, one who hunts down Guze no Tomogara that causes imbalance in spirit power in the world. She's at first very cold to the Yuuji, the other main character, but it seems she's that way because of her past and her limited amount of contact with humans. In some ways she's naiveish.

Sakai Yuuji~ The main character of the story as well. A very reserved personality at timesf. However, gives confidence to Shana as the story progresses. In the very beginning, I nearly thought he was going to die, but I guess he didn't. He now is a special "torch" that doesn't die out after a few days. You'll understand when you watch it.

Animation~
The animation is smooth, and appeals the eye. The character design is rather simple at times, but iti works for me. (Most times the eye's don't seem to be drawn with much detail). However, the fight animations are handled quite well.

Music/Soundtrack~
The soundtrack isn't too noticible, but the OP and ED songs are good. The first OP has a nice rhythm to it while the first ED song is just sung quite well. The second ED, I'm not so sure of since I've only listened to it once. But over it's decent.

Overall~
If you're into animes that encompases several genres, then you most likely will like Shakugan no Shana. The story is what's holding me in at the moment. The fights are quite spectacular as well. Over I'd say I'd give this one a 8.5/10

This post has been edited by Rasengandragon on 2006-02-18, 09:23 PM

I never actually watched it... kinda sad seeing how I almost worship Shana. =O
Sounds good.

I only just started watching this I'm up to episode 5 and so far this Shakugan no Shana is awesome. I'll write a review when I finish watching the series. Nice review Rasengandragon.