Forum - View topicREVIEW: Shakugan no Shana III (Final)
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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JC Staff "screwed up" the first two seasons. This season was rather faitful, all things considered. The methods of adapting Light Novels has changed since Shana first aired, adaptions are now much more faithful (for better or worse...) |
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3012 |
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As I understand it, a lot of the "new" characters in season 3 were introduced much earlier in the novels, and given more development and backstory. Which kind of put J.C. Staff in a bind with the 3rd season, where characters that were largely or entirely ignored in their adaption were suddenly taking on a big role in the conclusion. With the way they did the first 2 seasons, perhaps it would have been better for them to be less faithful to the light novels for the 3rd season as well, rather than trying to still include so many characters and sub-plots that wouldn't make much sense to anime-only viewers. Either that, or they should have adapted Volume 10 and Volume 15 as OVA series before the 3rd season aired. |
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Fencedude5609
Posts: 5088 |
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They should have done Shana III instead of Index 2, then done a final season. While Shana Final has all sorts of issues, I did enjoy it way more than I enjoyed Index 2, so there's that. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I'm pretty sure JC Staff wanted the 17k units/vol that Index 2 sold over the 4k units/vol that Shana III sold. So I'm guessing they made a right decision with which to animate first. |
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Fencedude5609
Posts: 5088 |
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Well yeah. Though if they really wanted to rake it in, they'd have done Railgun 2 |
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RyanSaotome
 Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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Well, I think Shana 3 would have done better if they did it early on. I believe that the Shana series just isn't really as relevant as it used to be... the 1st and 2nd seasons both sold about 10-12k a volume. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5912 Location: Virginia, United States |
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They butchered Yuji's character. The Yuji of season one and two, would not have done the things he did in the final season. He basically went from a character you could sympathize with to one you hated.
The final season taken by itself at face value still fails. Yuji is not held accountable for his actions at the end of the final season. |
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Ermat_46
Posts: 738 Location: Philippines |
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Sorry. I was on the assumption that everyone who reads the posts here have already watched the whole series as the review deals with the whole of Season 3, anyway. Anyway, all of my posts are from the anime and not on the novels. |
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1798 |
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If its index vs . shana, then index wins it for me. period.
@ tarstakas Yes I have to admit, the fact that yuji recived pretty much no repercussions for his actions somewhat irked me. yeah he said being away from shana would be his punishment, but their love is strong and all that shit, but for craps sakes he pretty much achived his goal, got shana and even spoiler[ turned back into a friggin human] however, if it was the case that J.C. staff f***ed up the series by not being faithful to the novels to at least the point of introducing its characters at the correct time then all I have to say is this: first shonen manga and now this shit. granted I know LNs seem to have a MUCH better deal than manga, but still it irks me when I watch something and then find out that it was complete BS and the real better story is somewhere else, ESPECIALLY if its a lightnovel. shana isn't at all my favorite series by a long shot, but sure as hell desrves better than that. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5912 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I loved the first two seasons of Shana. Though, I like Railgun more than Index. I haven't read the light novels, so don't really care what is in them. One shouldn't have to run to the source material, because the anime is broken. You are right, Yuji achieved most of his goals to some degree. But the resolutions are unrealistic, and thus they fail. spoiler[Shana is still a Flame Haze, and will still be fighting Denizens in the new world. Yuji's homeworld, while free from the overarching threat, still can be plagued by rogue Denizens. All Yuji really accomplished was to make a new world for the Denizens to play in. All that death, betrayal, and destruction for really nothing. That is not Yuji.] Shakugan no Shana III (final) is the Highlander 2 of anime. Though I do agree with the reviewer, that there is a conclusion is better than nothing at all. Even if I don't like what they did. Least it is not as bad as El-Hazard 2. |
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Draconarius
 Posts: 11 Location: Australia |
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I believe the Yuji from seasons one and two could have done these things, his desire to protect everyone would be so easy to exploit, but not in such a sudden fashion. He turns tratior within minutes of season two's ending. I was looking forward to a nice, calculated fall to the dark side but instead all we gets is Yuji deciding "I love you, Shana, therefore I shall side with your archenemy, kill your friends, and now beat you to within an inch of her life instead of even trying to convince you to join me."
I'm glad somebody said this. I have read up on the light novels, not read them, so I at least had a general understanding of what was to come, but I believe any adaptation -- be it manga to anime, novel to anime, novel to movie, etc -- should be able to stand on its own without people needing to be familiar with the source material. If it encourages people to go back to the source material, great, but if you have to go back to the source material then what was the point of the adaptation? J.C. Staff maybe should have maybe played a little loser with the adapting process here, with an eye towards how different seasons one and two had turned out compared to the LN's. Given a choice between missing a couple lesser characters or plot points later on and having a properly motivated and characterised main character, I know which I'd rather. |
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Ferian
 Posts: 162 |
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They butchered Yuji's character in season 2. They cut out most of his musings on how unfair Shana's situation is, and all of his dialogues with the Snake before their merging. The problem is not with the third season but with the previous failings.
Here's the difference: spoiler[in this world, the fight would go on forever, since there was no solution to the Denizens' dilemma. In Xanadu, however, they have a chance to come to an understanding, and that is the end Yuji is working towards. Furthermore, hostilities are mostly layed down in Xanadu, with only lasting animosity left to be taken care of. Also, now both factions are working towards a single goal of peaceful co-existence instead of trying to annihilate the other side to no end.] I still don't understand how you can say that his actions have accomplished nothing. @ Thatguy3331: Yuji did NOT spoiler[go back to being human. He's a unique existence unlike humans, denizens, or contractors.] |
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Draconarius
Posts: 11 Location: Australia |
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No, the problem is still with season 3. They had Yuji as a character they had developed during the last two seasons -- for better or worse -- and should have worked within that, light novels be damned. Instead they threw out 50 episodes of characterisation in a last-ditch and poorly executed attempt to fall in line with the novels. It's like the Star Wars New Jedi Order books, where the authors decided the long-established characterisation of one character was inconvenient and thus threw it out the window in favour of what suited their plans. SnS3 did exactly the same thing; Yuji's previous anime characterisation was inconvenient, so it all got thrown away so they could just follow the novels step-by-step. |
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Ferian
Posts: 162 |
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^ No, that is a different situation altogether. Here, we just saw a different side of Yuji that wasn't shown before in the anime. Nothing from the third season contradicted the previous two. Yuji was the kind of guy to fall into extremism, but the second season focused largely on his everyday life, thus the different impression. No characterization was thrown away here. It had been left out in the previous installment, and only briefly elaborated upon. That is why his "sudden" decision didn't work well - not because they suddenly shifted gears but because they switched to a gear that hadn't been even installed.
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Melanchthon
 Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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You people make me angry! Arg!
Everyone complains about infodumps and show-don't-tell, and the first show to incorporate that attitude gets dumped on. If you think about the show for a bit, you'd realize that this show has a very strong internal consistency. The character of Yuji was brilliant. One of the best pieces of writing out there. It's not like he suddenly turned to the dark side, this is something that he had been brooding and planning for a while. We just don't see in the second season. However, his actions and conversations allow a careful viewer to infer this. And in the first two seasons, his character is basically generic seinen hero anyway. Its hard to say it goes against his character when he didn't really have a character in the first place. Now, his motivation. Yuji wants to save Shana. He is willing to sacrifice everything to save her. And he does--this is the kicker. He sacrifices his family and friends, he murders and destroys, he even betrays Shana and everything she stands for, all to save her. The dedication is impressive. I read a line once, that said "There is a difference between a man just saying 'I would burn the world to save my beloved' and a man saying that while standing over an ocean of oil with a lit match in his hand." That is what Yuji did. He was willing to burn everything, even himself, to save her. If you can't appreciate that, then there is no hope for you. And sure, there are lots of new characters that have never been introduced before, but the show does a good job and show who they they are. I might not remember names or titles, but I know their motivations and personalities, and that is the important part anyway. I've never read the novels, but I had no problem following the story. And yes, the art is bad, but I'd rather have bad art and great action, then great art with the latest moeblob 'comedy'. Shana III is a series that you have to pay attention to and really think about to enjoy. I understand there are people that like to turn of their brains when watching entertainment (And for you people, I have good news: Michael Bay is making another movie!) but if you are willing to spend time absorbing the show, you would find quite the experience. |
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