Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series

 (TV) (2009)

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
Yuji Sakai is about to learn that there is more to the world than going to school and finding a girlfriend when he meets a sword-wielding girl with fiery red eyes and flame colored hair. Denizens of the Crimson Realm are invading our world and it's up to the Flame Haze, Shana to slay them. However, when Yuji gets in the way of her sword, he learns that death is much more different than he imagined it would be. 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. 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.

For more about Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series and the Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray release, see the Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on January 22, 2013 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

Starring: Josh Grelle, Kristian Ayre, Tabitha St. Germain, Cherami Leigh

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Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 22, 2013

Shakugan no Shana fans are awash in a glut of recent (and continuing) releases, with the first and second seasons as well as Shakugan no Shana the Movie already on tap and Shakugan no Shana: Season 3 Part 1 and Shakugan no Shana: Season 3 Part 2 due out in another couple of months. Regular readers of my anime reviews will already know that I'm not an especially big fan of the original anime series, though the feature film, which telescoped a lot of the action from the first arc of the first season, actually won me over with its "Reader's Digest" approach to the material. Now comes Shakugan no Shana S a series of four OVAs that appeared between the second and third seasons of the series and which offer what might be termed "very special episodes" of sorts that don't necessarily require a firm grounding in the Shakugan no Shana universe, but which tangentially touch upon some of the ideas and (obviously) characters that those who have been watching the series will be well acquainted with. My general hunch is those who love Shakugan no Shana will probably enjoy these, perhaps mostly the third and fourth ones, as those two evince a kind of unexpectedly bittersweet quality that helps to give the overall tone of the series a bit more emotional impact than it typically has. But those who haven't developed an overwhelming love for Shakugan no Shana will probably continue to wonder what the fuss is all about. These four OVAs do offer some very appealing animation, some decent humor and minor, if enjoyable, character beats, but for "very special" episodes they're not that special.



These four episodes run the gamut from outright comedy to relatively more serious fare where we get some back story on a flame haze, Shana, and a Crimson Denizen. For those of you new to the Shakugan no Shana franchise, this is a series positively awash in what I've termed "special verbiage", to the point that the show has a kind of built in "explainer", Alastor, who dwells within a crystal hung around Shana's neck. Alastor often serves as a sort of acerbic commentator at times as well, a function he (it?) serves here more than usual. The bottom line here is if you have an issue with wading through terms like "Flame Haze", "Torch", "Crimson Denizen" and everything else Shakugan no Shana throws around with abandon, it's probably best to begin with Shakugan no Shana the Movie, where things are given explicit explanations.

The first episode is played more or less entirely for laughs and is a variation on that old Freaky Friday premise where two people trade bodies. In this case a "magical telescope" (for want of a better term) manages to put Yuji in Shana's body and vice versa, supposedly leading to hilarity. For those who have been longtime Shakugan no Shana fans, there is a certain humor to seeing Yuji shouting out Shana's tagline, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!", and there's a kind of funny moment where Yuji (as Shana) screams out an unexpected expression of love at Wilhelmina, leading to much consternation, but otherwise this is a fairly standard episode that finds the two battling characters attempting to work together to solve their predicament.

The second episode is probably the weakest of the four and finds Yuji and Wilhelmina trying to figure out why Shana has been so mysteriously absent lately. This is a pretty trifling episode that's cute enough, at least as far as it goes, but really seems like little more than filler. The real drawing power of this set for most fans will be the much better third and fourth episode, which finds Shana being the detective, searching out a kind of twisted history involving a former Torch's memories to figure out the motives of a Crimson Denizen. This episode recalls some of the better elements of the first season and the film redaction, where Yuji attempts to come to terms with his realization of his state of being (or non-being, as it were), as well as watching at least one major character disappear into thin air before his very eyes. There's some really nicely done content in this two episode arc that brings out the best in the often bratty Shana.

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Those of you who have read my reviews of the series and the film (linked above in the main body of the review) know that their Blu-ray presentations are at the very least problematic. Those high definition presentations are often quite soft and at times look little better than standard definition upconversions (the film looks at least marginally better than the series in that regard). The good news is that this OVA series, perhaps due to its more recent genesis, is by far the best looking Shakugan no Shana release yet. While this isn't reference quality imagery by any standard, it's a good deal sharper than either the series or the film and boasts nicely saturated color as well. Line detail is decently sharp and overall fans should be well pleased with this release.

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series features an English dub presented via a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix and the original Japanese language track presented via Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The difference in amplitude and aggression in these mixes is really pretty astounding, with the Japanese track sounding frankly pretty anemic when compared to the much more boisterous English version. The English version does boast some considerable surround activity as well as well presented dialogue. Special mention should be made of an especially nice closing theme, which sounds great in the 5.1 mix.

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Shakugan no Shana-tan G (1080p; 4:05)


• Shakugan no Shana-tan Dos (1080p; 7:12)


• Shakugan no Shana-tan tri- (1080p; 6:45)


• Shakugan no Shana-tan Frontier (1080p; 5:35)


• Textless Opening Song "Prophecy" (1080p; 1:38)


• Textless Closing Song "All in Good Time" (1080p; 1:35)


• Trailers for other FUNimation Entertainment Releases

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Shakugan no Shana S: OVA Series is an agreeable enough time filler, but it's obviously a set that is going to be of most interest to longtime Shakugan no Shana fans. While you don't really need to have an exceptional knowledge of this franchise to understand most of what's going on in these OVAs, my hunch iz few introducing themselves to Shakugan no Shana via these four episodes will care much about the charactgers, even if they do understand what's happening. But for fans, there's quite a bit to enjoy here, including some typically over the top comedy and, in the final two episodes, some nice character beats for Shana. This Blu-ray offers good looking video and very good audio, and comes with some okay supplements. For fans at least, this collection comes Recommended.

To celebrate the upcoming release of Shakugan no Shana: The Movie, FUNimation Entertainment has decided to give fans a first look at the full English dub of the film for one weekend only. The embedded video can be found in our news post. Both Shakugan no Shana: ...