Shakugan no Shana III (Final)

Just finished Shakugan no Shana III.

The queen is back.

I give it a 7/10.  I finally got around to watching the third, and final, season of Shakugan no Shana, and while I don't think it was outstanding, I felt the conclusion for this long-running anime was pretty decent.  I say long-running because, even though it's only 3 seasons, the first season aired in 2005.

Yuji and Shana, this time around, are surprisingly pitted against one another.  Within the first few episodes, we find that Yuji has accepted the God of Creation into himself and joined the Tomogara leadership Bal Masque in a huge war against the Flame Haze.  Think of this God as the opposite to Shana's Alastor (the God of Destruction).  Almost every episode of the anime is dedicated to depicting the war.  The anime is action packed and at least a dozen new characters are added on each side, to compliment the ones we've already accrued over the past two seasons.  As the anime progresses, it's harder and harder to identify the bad guy, and toward the end I was personally cheering the Tomogara on.  The story is decent, but has "THE HEART" somewhere in there, which proves itself the cheesiest cliche this side of "running with toast in mouth."  Also, only the Japanese can be so hell-bent on pride that they are unable to come to a compromise with someone they love.  If you could sum up the plotline to this entire anime with one word, it'd be pride.  Bottom line is, say what you will about the show, but that kiss at the end made it totally worth it.  It's something that every Shana fan has been waiting for for the past seven years, and they really knocked that scene out of the park.

Shana never looked so good.

As usual, the show was animated by JC Staff, which is one of my least favorite studios.  This time around I think they did a really good job.  There's so much action in Final that you don't notice the shortcuts that JC is infamous for taking, and close up shots are admittedly pretty nice.  Special effect work was pretty damn good too.  Also of note is the way they've aged the characters.  Shana is noticably older than she was in the first season.  One of the things I approved of was the decision to leave fanservice largely out of the show.  Aside from one scene in the first episode, I can't remember any point during this show where there was blatant fanservice.  For such a serious ending, I'm glad they made this decision.

The OST is faithful to the other two seasons, which is nice.  There was a time when KOTOKO was the queen of anime songs (lol).  You couldn't watch a one-off OVA without hearing KOTOKO's electronic voice in the opening, and it really did work back then.  I can appreciate being faithful to the beginning (2005 mind you), and I liked the songs by KOTOKO and Kawada Mami in this anime.  I dare you to watch the anime in its entirety and not mutter a few words from "Light my Fire" as you watch it.  "Koubou" by Kawada Mami is also amazing, though you only get to hear it once during the show

The voice acting of Final should get some special notice.  Everyone really did a great job voicing their characters.  Kugimiya Rie brought Shana back for the last time (got a little choked up there.. haha), and it's a little nostalgic.  Granted, there's been a million cookie-cutter Rie tsunderes since Shana (Nagi, Taiga, Louise, etc), but Shana was the first, and I guess she still holds a special place in my heart.

I'd recommend Shakugan no Shana III Final to anyone who has seen the other two seasons.  If you haven't seen Shakugan no Shana, I'd recommend it if you like action anime with some romance.  Shana is anime's queen tsundere, so if you'd like to see the birth of a phenomenon, check it out. 

Also, the commercial cuts are still funny.