Shana is a stereotypical loli tsundere that has no real reason to be in love with Yuji.
She is the loli (flat-chested, strictly) tsundere upon whom the others are based on. Also, she develops out of it, though I think that's mostly in later seasons
Hekate, who probably isn't even 10 years old
She's actually really old and that should be obvious if you're paying attention at all. Physically, she's young looking, yes, but you didn't specify that
The villains are one-dimensional and have no ulterior motive other than For the Evulz.
One-dimensional, maybe, but they all have at least passable motives. Continued existence, mostly
Almost nothing is explained - what's a 'Mystes'? What's a 'Crimson Denizen'? What's an 'Unrestricted Method' supposed to do exactly? The anime has refused to give definitions.
Unless the English dub is much worse than I'd expect, that should all have been outright explained or pretty obvious
Loli fanservice. Need I say more?
...I admit, it's been a while, but I don't recall much fanservice at all
The season finale was the most ridiculous bullshit I have seen in a very long time. We were never given a hint as to why or how they survived Alastor's summoning; we were only told, "Oh, it turns out we could survive it after all" right after it all happened.
It was a bit bullshit, but it was explained: Yuuji had the anti-fire ring and Shana had an abnormally high capacity
So, overall, I get the impression you weren't paying attention at all. And over-react to anything that could possibly be construed as loli
Just because other terrible Tsunderes are based off Shana doesn't mean she wasn't terrible herself, just saying.
This anime embodies all the problems of novel to anime converting. And it has a bad structuring to start with. It is mediocre, but it is made for 12 year olds. If this is the worst you have ever seen, you are lucky. Some things are far far worse than Shana.
It's a fact..
@Hylarn:
Thing is, like with Shana, they never explicitly state how old Hekate is. Even if she is old, the fact that she looks so young is inexcusable.
"Continued existence"? Where in the first season has this been stated?
No, it has not. If it has, I would've picked up on it. I like to think I'm quite good at picking out the obvious. If it was so obvious, then how could I miss it?
I'd prefer it if there was no loli fanservice in the first place. Never mind how much there is, I refuse to enjoy seeing any.
In Yuji's case, he proves my point that he's stupid - he completely forgot about the ring, where if he was smarter, he'd remember it. When you set up the idea that no Flame Haze preceding Shana has survived Alastor's summoning, as the audience, you would expect Shana to not survive regardless of how good she is. If it was stated that at least one Flame Haze has survived, that'd be a bit more believable. But it didn't.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But it's only then can we see things from a different perspective.
@thEpirate:
Shana was a massive disappointment of a character. I was hoping for characterisation reminiscent of C.C. from Code Geass, but the show refused to give me that as well - it seems to me like the show doesn't want me to enjoy it.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But it's only then can we see things from a different perspective.
Oops, that last comment was meant for kay4today.
This is addressed to thEpirate:
I doubt 12-year-olds would find loli fanservice appealing in the same sense as lolicons do. Well, I'm pretty sure Boku No Pico would be even worse, but I'm never going to watch it in my lifetime, so I can't say it's the worst anime I've "seen", per se.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But it's only then can we see things from a different perspective.
"Continued existence"? Where in the first season has this been stated?
It's the entire point? Everyone needs power of existence to, you know, keep existing
No, it has not. If it has, I would've picked up on it. I like to think I'm quite good at picking out the obvious. If it was so obvious, then how could I miss it?
No, I'm pretty certain that you just weren't paying attention, probably because you were too busy being angry. The concept of a Mystes was fairly central and well explained. Crimson Denizens were less well explained, but the relevant parts were. Unrestricted Methods weren't formally introduced from what I recall, but it's just a fancy name for spells
Shana was a massive disappointment of a character. I was hoping for characterisation reminiscent of C.C. from Code Geass, but the show refused to give me that as well - it seems to me like the show doesn't want me to enjoy it.
So you're irritated at Shana because she wasn't a very specific character type?
The villains themselves never stated this during the first season, so forgive me for missing that oh so important aspect.
Well your certainty comes off as arrogance to me. If the show itself does not outright explain something properly, that's the show's fault, not mine.
Not exactly - I'm irritated because she starts off as one thing, but then is characterised as something completely different from what would've suited her best. She could've been something much better than what she is right now.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. But it's only then can we see things from a different perspective.
Errr... Why would the villains specifically need to explain that they needed Power of Existence for, well, existing? Isn't that quite obvious?
I also have to side with Hylarn here because I do remember all those things explained in the series, so the problem has to be in your system.
As for Shana, I don't even understand your point. Just what the hell does "characterised as something completely different from what would've suited her best" even mean? She is characterized as herself, plain and simple. If you want CC, go watch Code Geass again or something.
I have to admit this is not the best show ever and as stated by someone else in review, it happens to the best of anime adapted from light novel and latest ones like Sword Art Online is arguably doing better in animating light novel. However I think your review is a little angry and hard to say you judged this series fairly.
"Yuji is stupid, bland, and to an obnoxious extent obviously a character you project yourself onto." Far from it Yuji is arguably one of the most intelligent character in this series, he is no Lelouch of Code Geass but well... I think you can't say he is stupid but he is oblivious to love. As for bland and obnoxious part, I don't agree with you either but I don't want to argue for this one as it's the matter of perspective and taste in character.
"Shana is a stereotypical loli tsundere that has no real reason to be in love with Yuji. Yoshida is boring, stupid, and useless. And very, very pointless."
Tsundere is a clasic type of character since forever... she is not exactly stereotopycal if she manage to have expies from other series. And C.C is a pretty far too different comparison, between her and Shana the only similar thing is their immortality. As for her reason to fall in love with Yuji... please watch her back story that explain how she is raised and how she look as herself as nothing more but a flame haze, Yuji acknowledge her as a human being and being all round nice guy to her. Just read their character sheet and you will get the whole reason they fall in love with each other. And Yoshida... what do you expect in a character the writer write to be hopeless love rival that bound to fail? She is not really pointless in season 3 though, and she is the very reason Sana noticed her feeling for Yuji.
"The love triangle is a pathetic mess that gives Stephanie Meyer's Twilight a run for its money for the worst love triangle in fiction." There are worse, but in the first place there's barely love triangle considering since season 1 Yuji is pretty much set his eyes on Shana.
"The English dub is not very good." Blame the studio that dub this anime then. But then again it happens to most dubbed anime.
"Hekate, who probably isn't even 10 years old, has what can only be classified pseudo-sex with Yuji, a 15-year-old - she was blushing and making orgasm noises fairly often. That's disgusting." Hekate is at least three thousands years old according to season 3 and more... beside physically if you see the art you can't say Hekate is considered ten in looks. She looks as old as Yuji and Shana. As for that synchronization scene...gotta agree it's disturbing but I have seen worse in Sekirei. " "The villains are one-dimensional and have no ulterior motive other than For the Evulz." Most Tomogara eat humans to live longer, that's a pretty straightforward motive. As for their one-dimensional I believe if you pay attention you'll see their ulterior motive is not for the evulz. Friagne wanted to make his beloved a permanent existence for example. Aizens sibling is one you have to see their character seat to get them. The brother is being plain selfish desiring a strong sword while the sister tag along and will do anything for him.
"Almost nothing is explained - what's a 'Mystes'? What's a 'Crimson Denizen'? What's an 'Unrestricted Method' supposed to do exactly? The anime has refused to give definitions." All of that terminology is explained in the very first episode, I see no reason for you to state the anime refuse definition on it. Crimson Denizen is basically intruder from another world, Mystes is unusual torch that double as treasure chest. And unrestricted method is just that... fancy term for magic.
"The season finale was the most ridiculous bullshit I have seen in a very long time. We were never given a hint as to why or how they survived Alastor's summoning; we were only told, "Oh, it turns out we could survive it after all" right after it all happened."
It's explained very clearly in the anime.
Um...I'm confused by your opinion of this anime. I just watched Season 1 and I already fully grasp the concepts of a Crimson Denizen and a Mystes. The series definitely isn't perfect don't get me wrong, but if this is the worst anime you've ever seen I consider you lucky. Maybe this just wasn't your thing?
Oh, and since nobody else mentioned it I thought the Geneon dub was pretty good for the most part. Tabitha St. Germain's delivery's just as spot on as Rie Kugimiya's, and I prefer Paul Dobson as Alastor. Kristian Ayre was good, but didn't have any standout moments. That's just my opinion, and I don't yet know how Funimation's dub is, so I won't comment on it.
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Quite honestly the worst anime I've ever seen.
I have only seen the first season for Shakugan no Shana, but I honestly do not want to see any more episodes from this show ever again. I hated the entire experience. Let me tell you why.
If you're reading this, thinking this show will be interesting, I ask you to reconsider that opinion, and to stay away from this anime. I found it to be an unsatisfying waste of time that left me as a bitter mess of an anime fan. If you enjoy the show anyway, fine. But there are better anime out there than this, not to mention ones that are actually worth your time.
(A more in-depth review on my opinion on the show can be found here
, if you want to read it.)