
Links go to search results. Availability varies by region.
灼眼のシャナII –Second–
24
TV
Finished Airing
Oct 5, 2007 to Mar 28, 2008
Denizens from the Crimson Realm continue to infiltrate Misaki City and steal life energy from humans. To combat this threat, Flame Hazes are tasked with saving humans from losing their existences. But while it is a Flame Haze's duty to protect humans, Shana—the "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter"—seems to be focusing her attention on one human in particular: Yuuji Sakai, a teenage boy who was unwittingly dragged into the fight between Crimson Denizens and Flame Hazes. Since her first encounter with Yuuji, Shana has started to see him as more than just a friend. In fact, Yuuji wonders if Shana might have revealed her feelings to him once before, but it is difficult for him to confirm due to her hot-and-cold personality. Nonetheless, their days pass like any other, until a new transfer student arrives at their high school—one who bears a striking resemblance to an old enemy. Yuuji and Shana have no time to dance around their feelings for each other; while their adversaries from the Bal Masqué organization plan their next attack, the two must keep their guard up as they explore the origin behind the coveted magical object within Yuuji's body, the "Midnight Lost Child." [Written by MAL Rewrite]
7.5/10
Average Review Score
80%
Recommend It
20
Reviews Worldwide
*A wonderful sequel to a fabulous series.* It is highly recommended to complete the first season of Shakugan no Shana before watching this. This is a DIRECT sequel, so prior knowledge of the series is expected from you. Shakugan no Shana II is sometimes viewed as a "filler" season due to the plot trailing off from the light novels where it originates from. It also received numerous "bashing" from fans of the previous season who complained that the first half of Shakugan no Shana II lacked actions. Personally, I really liked how they began Shakugan no Shana II so I have nothing to complain about. But manywho prefer actions over character developments would be rather disappointed in this season, but a real Shakugan no Shana fan should actually be happy that the anime is spending time explaining the mysteries and/or unclear relations between certain people or things. Story: Continuing from where the first season left off, Shakugan no Shana Second as it is officially called start us off in a very noglistic way. Summing up most of the main events in season one in half an episode (not to mention a battle is going on at the same time) is quite innovative. Shana II, unlike its predecessor, does not have a lot of flashy battles. Instead, it focuses much more on bringing out each character's unique characteristics and their relationship with one another (more about the characters later). Art: Those who are familiar with the first season should be able to jump right into Shana II as the production crew practically used the same graphical engines to animate the show. This means 2 things: 1. the animation crew got lazy and presented us a 2005 quality anime 2. it is still animated on par (if not above) most of the 2008 animations Sound: The same singers were asked to perform the OP and ED for Shana II so fans shouldn't have much to complain. As stated from my previous review on Shakugan no Shana, it is packed with many bright and talented seiyus. Excluding Shana and Kazumi who were already covered in the past review, we also have Mamiko Noto (Kotomi Ichinose in Clannad, Yuka in Elfen Lied, Anna Liebert in Monster) performing the role of Hecate and Fumina Konoe Hitomi Nabatame (Unchou Kan-u in Ikkitousen, Mikoto Suou in School Rumble ) voicing for Margery Daw Shizuka Itou (Himawari Kunogi in xxxHOLiC, Lenalee Lee in D.Gray-man) performing the role of Wilhelmina Carmel Last but not least, we have Marina Inoue (Tsukiumi in Sekirei, Yoko in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Tsukasa Kiryu in Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka) voicing for Pheles Character: This show is flawless when it comes to characters. The production crew did an amazing job at creating the characters in such a way that makes them believable and in many ways demonstrated that they are not much different from us (ie. make them real.. not like some fantasy characters). I was simply dazed by how fabulously constructed the characters (both main and supporting) are in Shana II. Although the first season of Shakugan no Shana was already extremely well made, this successor is no doubt a level above (11/10?). Final Impression: Shakugan no Shana II expanded on what was lacking in the previous season (namely some explanation on certain issues and character mental growth for some minor supporting roles). However, because the crew had to cover these, they had to take out some attractive actions that the fans wanted to see in the beginning. Overall I would not say this is inferior or superior to the first season, but if I have to choose I will say I like this one slightly more (excluding the flashy actions).
Click an episode to read its synopsis.
I can imagine that just by reading the overall scor you already hate me. But i can't give it any more than this, when i overlay the "4" it says "Decent", and this second season (not the firs, and certainly not the novel) is WAY below decent. So i'm sorry but it's what it is. A poor second season. I'm not arguiing that the animation and sound is as epic as ever. My main complain is "what the hell happened with the plot!?". Maybe the plot died at the explosion in the end of the first season. Maybe the people in charge of adapting the novelsaid "Adapt the novell as it is?, pff that's for NOOBS, we are pro, we got mad skillz yo. We gonna get high and come up with a plot of our own, using the same characters as the first season". You could give this piece of crap a higher score out of love / respect for the first season. Or maybe out of love for some of the characters. Yes you could, but please don't. If you give this abomination an 8, how could you give the first season a 10?, you would have to give it a 20 or else the scores won't make sense anymore. Character "Development" More like character involution. During season one, the characters meet, they live a lot of things together, wich makes their relationship / feelings (not just romantic) evolve, change, as it happens in real life as you get to know someone better you like / dislike him / her more. There is no way you could say the relationship between Shana - Yuji - Yoshida is the same at the beg of the first season, than at the end. Great!, so why trun back the clock in season 2?. Why GOD WHY!?. Why start again with the whole "should i teel him?, shouldn't i tell him?, what does he think of me?, what does he thinks of her?. Im going to ramble like this for 24 episodes, maybe i'll figure out the answer in season 3 or something... Yes sounds like a plan". We were over this towards the end of season one, you had a frigging life /death experience, you can't get any closer than that.... But NO, let's just go back like we just met. AWESOME!. The last thing im going to say about character development in this show is abou the end, but don't worry it's not a spoiler. The only thing im going to say is that you will get three things: * The feeling that NOTHING CHANGED IN 24 EPISODES. * The urge to rewatch the first season, to remind yourself why you tortured your brains until the very end of season 2. * The wish that you could just "unsee" everything you just saw. Characters Oh yes, this is a whole new section. With the exception of Shana, and A BIT Yuji, all the characters become as intresting as a grapefruit. Yoshida, who already was as intresting as watching the grass grow, becomes even more ANNOYING. Whenever she went on with her monologues about yearning Yuji's attention i felt like skipping the whole thing. She had so much appearence time, and what did she do? NOTHING, and you can't deny it. "Ane-San" who had the job of providing comic relief in season one, and was a really intresting character. Suddenly gets all dark and boring. The guy with glasses: ZOMG why didn't he die on the second episode of season one?, seriously. Ane-San's lackeys: Who gives a flying fuck about them?. Plot You know a plot is poorly developed when you can't clearly define what the hell is a show about. Take for instance season 1 "It's about a tsundere loli that hunts spirits and artifacts, finds a guy with a super powerful artifact inside who decides to help her fight the bad guys". Ok so it's a show about action, hunting things and killing demons spirits whatever. Ok i can get into that. Now let's take a look at season 2 plot: It's about a love triangle between a tsundere DFC and a big breasted wife-kind of girl. No it's about a silver armor that's gonna destroy the world. No wait, it's about a sandwoman who lost her husband. No wait it's about the curious things that happen in the everyday life. Wait i think that they fight some kind of "things" from time to time, so is it about fighting?". Hey guys you had an objective rememeber?, i mean there was a whole first season about "FIGHTING THE TOMOGARAS", so why did you just decided to say "fuck that, let's all behave like this is a shitty harem / love triangle slice of life". The episodes go by and they talk, and talk, and talk... And the worst thing is that they aren't really saying anything!!!. Overall If you liked season 1, don't watch this. This is a scam. The only thing in common with the first season is the characters.
== Shakugan no Shana II Review == (Updated) By: ChaoticHoshi Ah yes, what better to have a second season with so many things left to answer from the first. STORY: In the anime Shakugan no Shana II we learn more about the Reiji Maigo (The treasure inside Yuji Sakai) and its real purpose, but in the process a powerful tomogara as well as former enemies have their eyes set on the this treasure which will put Yuji in harms way once again. The story does tend to start off at first slow which is in-fact a great let down. The usual tension continues between Shana and Kazumi still existswhich pretty much threw a lot of people off from this anime; fans were pretty much in a state where it felt like they were watching the first season again... I know that because that how I felt, but if you do survive the first 5~6 episodes you will find some things starting to be answered that was left opened from season one which will keep you in this anime as well as other things. ART: Flashy opening, but pretty much the same style as the first season. SOUND: Same battle music as the first season, but as the anime goes on and fights emerges the music becomes perfect suspense maker which will keep you in your seats. CHARACTER: Let me tell you this... The characters DO mature! OMG Finally!!!! Which is why I gave this section a perfect 10. I could not stand how Shana and Kazumi were acting like little kids in the first season; their rivalry got old pretty quick. The character development does start out like the first season, but "everyone" in this anime matures someway to how real people should be acting. ENJOYMENT: Enjoyment? Hmm... well like stated the story does start off slow, but then the story pretty much picks up and becomes interesting to watch. Fight scenes are awesome but not long enough... =/ OVERALL: A great anime indeed. If you watched the first season then you must definitely watch this one. Like stated before, this season will answer some of the questions you had left over from the first. *hopes for a season 3* :D
Love Triangles / Rectangles + Flashy but Predictable Fight scenes = Shakugan no Shana II Maybe it has been too long since I watched the first season but when did this series become so long-winded, predictable and love drenched. Another Honest Review Animation This is definitely where this series has always shone. When it comes to action scenes this series can deliver some beautiful colours and some memorable attacks. Unfortunately they use cute-ish type character designs which often makes it hard to take some battles seriously, yes blood is included but its always left to the most brutal attacks which is often few and far between. Still animation ona whole is impressive for a cute-ish style. Sound Sound is pretty good no bad points here. Opening & Ending credits have decent songs not much to say really. Story One thing you will find consistent with all the reviews so far regarding this anime is the story has the lowest rating of all, why..because instead of bringing the story together and adding more pieces for understanding we get the exact opposite, MORE questions MORE lovey-duvey love rectangles and the icing on the cake NO resolution to any of these what-so-ever! The First quarter of this anime was like a totally different love shojo anime. The second quarter threw in some new twists/questions/random battles The third quarter was a mixture of the first and second The Last was a pointless built up bad guy which seemed like filler for Shana 3? Finally you have what seems like a rushed and unresolved ending…seesh! Character Characters are somewhat interesting and do have potential. I liked the fact that you found out more about some of the other characters in this series which gave them more depth. I felt that most of the characters got more development and gained a little smudge of depth but a lot of it was tied up with love problems and figuring out their feelings for each other which made this series go off-balance genre wise. Enjoyment Enjoyment…..honestly……..very little Value If you enjoyed the flashy fighting scenes that made shana lovable the first time around you will get more of the same but i personally feel that this second series was a big drag-on with an extra added layer of love shojo theme which brought the potential shana had down quite a few notches, I mean there was many times I hit the fast-forward button just to see if my predictions of how things would turn out where true and on a episode by episode basis i was unpleasantly NOT surprised. Planet Tyro Rating: Low Watchable planettyro.com
Shakugan no Shana II for those not in the know, is the second season of the Shakugan no Shana series based off of the novels of the same name. The general plot of the series follows Sakai Yuji, a torch (a replacement spirit of sorts for those who have already died) who possesses the rare Reiji Maigo (an item that replenishes Yuji's existence everyday so he doesn't burn out), and Shana, a Flame Haze (whose job is to keep the balance of existence from being blown out of proportions) as they discover evil plots devised by otherworldly invaders called Guze no Tomogara along with theirhuman and Flame Haze allies. Story: The second season of Shakugan no Shana focuses on what the Reiji Maigo really is and its origins as well as the mysterious Silver that Margery Daw (a Flame Haze ally of Shana's) is searching for. The villains of the first season, Bal Masque, return again in more devious plots to steal the Reiji Maigo. The plot starts off extremely slow for the first 10 episodes or so. It focused more on useless fillers and character development until it hits around episode 12 or so, where the plot finally starts revealing some information that everybody has been asking. I was tempted to give this a lower score but seeing as how epic the story turned out in the second half, it stays high. Art: The character designs are as expected from J.C. Staff and the effects are just simply amazing. From the revamped Fuzetsu to the spell insignias that Margery draws out, everything just looks superb in HD. Sound: The soundtrack pretty much remains the same as the first season but it does include several new pieces. It fits the mood of each scenario very well as well a few insert songs here and there. The OP/ED are superb works from Mami Kawada and Kotoko. Although personally, I didn't like the OP/ED that Kotoko has provided for this season. Character: Character development is most likely the show's strongest point here. From the main protagonist Yuji to the nearly non-existant Ike, everybody has their fair share of development, even if it's only a little. The love triangle of Yuji/Shana/Yoshida remains ever present and strong and they finally mature enough to get past their little squabbles. Keisaku and Eita also matures which also leads to confessions to other certain characters. Plenty of change going around so to speak. Enjoyment/Overall: The first half of the show was just plain slow and boring. It definitely redeems itself for the second half when we finally get to see the motives of the villains and shocking revelations and twists. Excellent show for action and romance. Although the ending seemed a tad bit rushed, it is still worthy of a nice looking 9. Looks awesome on HD too.