First Impressions / Shakugan no Shana

Summary:

Everyone, including Yuuji himself, is shocked at the sight of the armored arm that’s sticking out of him and into Pheles. It starts to suck up her power, so Yuuji cries for her to get away, but she refuses because of Johan. When the hand finally pulls out of Pheles, Wilhelmina grabs her with ribbons and drags her down while Shana and Margery fly up to Yuuji. Margery activates an unrestricted method around him, and, unlike last time, she’s calm and collected. More of the armor then emerges from the dark hole, including a head and torso, and unbeknownst to everyone, Konoe and her butler are walking through the school towards the rooftop, unaffected by the fuuzetsu. Meanwhile, at the Bal Masqué base of Seireiden, the mad scientist Dantalion, the winged Fecor, Bel Peol, and Hecate are gathered in front of a silver armor that’s missing its head and left arm. Hecate thinks that the original owner of the Reiji Maigo has shown up, and Fecor worries that their plan has been discovered. Bel Peol, however, suggests that the Itsuwari no Utsuwa (lit. False Vessel) has already served its purpose.

Back in Misaki City, Margery succeeds in wrapping up the armor with an unrestricted method, but before she can do anything else, Konoe and her butler appear on the rooftop. Both of their bracelets suddenly disappear, causing the butler to explode and Konoe to power up. She then flies up to Yuuji, brings out Hecate’s staff, dispels Margery’s unrestricted method with it, attacks Shana to keep her at bay, touches the armor with the staff to make it disappear, and finally stabs Yuuji with the staff to seal it. Shana tries to rush back towards Yuuji, but she has a hard time doing so because huge cubes suddenly appear from nowhere and nearly crush her. This is followed by a hail of smaller pieces, and Alastor recognizes the ability as Magnesia. Shortly after the hail stops, a bright light appears near where Yuuji and Fumina are, and Hecate emerges from it along with Fecor. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Shana again tries to head for Yuuji, but Fecor’s ability stops her once again. Hecate meanwhile refers to Konoe as the Itsuwari no Utsuwa and has her open her vessel and transfer everything over. What Konoe gives to Hecate are her memories of Yuuji and friends, and Hecate then proceeds to absorb Konoe too.

With all this over, Fecor notes that they’ve succeeded in safely recovering the Itsuwari no Utsuwa, suppressing the materialization of the tyrant, and sealing the Reiji Maigo. All that’s left for them is to break down the container, referring to Yuuji. It is at this point that Shana springs into action, and before Fecor can respond, he gets double-teamed by Wilhelmina and Margery. Shana goes head to head with Hecate, but Hecate is able to hold her ground, and Yuuji suddenly feels something happening inside of him. He loses consciousness and starts to fall out of the sky, but Shana doesn’t notice until she’s been blasted by Hecate and is falling downward too. She watches in shock as Yuuji turns into Johan, and Johan then floats down towards Pheles. Reunited, two lovers become surrounded by powerful winds that even Fecor’s Magnesia and a blast from Hecate’s staff aren’t able to break through. As they float up above the fuuzetsu bubble, Wilhelmina hears Johan apologize to her. Shana flies out of the fuuzetsu in pursuit, and she cries out because she’s worried about Yuuji disappearing when she sees Johan kiss Pheles and start to give her his power of existence.

A bright flash of light coming from the two causes Shana to lose consciousness and fall out of the sky, but she wakes back up before hitting the ground. When Pheles loses her grip on the unconscious Johan, he too falls, changing back into Yuuji in the process. Shana rushes to catch and hug him, and, seeing her in tears, Yuuji reassures her that he’s okay. Watching from the rooftop, Kazumi wishes that she could go up to the same place as Shana and Yuuji, and she’s surprised when Pheles comes down to talk with her. By now, Hecate and Fecor have also left the scene because they accomplished what they set out to do. Everyone then regroups on the rooftop, and Pheles is happy that she was able to reach Johan. She won’t be going after Yuuji again and has somewhere she has to go, though she doesn’t reveal where. Wilhelmina seems to want to go with her, but Pheles says that she’s no longer qualified for that and disappears. In the aftermath, everything returns to normal, and Shana is bent on protecting Yuuji. When Keisaku wonders if things are over, Margery suggests that they’re probably just beginning.

Preview:

This episode had a lot of great action scenes and appears to conclude everything with Konoe and maybe Pheles too, but not with Hecate or the rest of the Bal Masqué. I’m really just glad that the Bal Masqué is playing a part in the story again because its been so long since we last saw them, and I had been wondering if they wouldn’t show up again until the end of the series. The revelation of what Konoe is was interesting (I had originally thought that it was Hecate in disguise), but it makes sense since this kept her from being detected by the Flame Haze. Regardless, Hecate got what she wanted, and she even showed off that she can go head-to-head with Shana and stand her ground.

Speaking of Shana, I thought she missed a good opportunity to say she loved Yuuji right after he turned back to himself and she was hugging him. Kazumi technically still has a chance, though I’m more interested in what the hougu that Pheles left with her does. That looks like it’ll be explained next week, though the preview doesn’t appear to be terribly exciting overall. This past arc has been pretty good, so my expectations for the series are a little higher, and I’m more curious than ever now about how it’ll end.

48 Comments

  3. Ep 17 if I remember, patience (moreover I like the current OP/ED. And I guess I won’t like the second set. Why? Cause it was the same for the 1st season lol).
    This looks very interesting, a lot is revealed and the enemy finaly reveals itself.
    Looking forward to the summary~

    mutio
    Reply

  22. From the screenshots, it seems like there really isn’t anything more to the Konoe character, which basically makes around 3-4 episodes at the beginning of the anime pretty much pointless. Hopefully I’m wrong, because I had hoped that this anime-only character would actually add to the whole story.

    Meh
    Reply

  27. I hope Kazumi doesn’t get any powers.

    That would suck.

    Her character is pretty pointless in the first place, she neither contributes to the plot nor does she serve any purpose other than aggravating Shana. And I for one, have had it with the Shana angst.

    Makall
    Reply

  36. This show may have dragged for a couple of episodes, but ever since Pheles arrived it more than makes up for those. Next week will probably be a bit slower because they have to explain the shit that went on the last few weeks, but I only hope it continues with the kick-ass action as soon as possible and Yuuji does more than scream, although in his defense I have to say he had ample reason to scream this week.

    bearzerger
    Reply

  37. Hmm…looking at how Pheles looked at Kasumi,I think the hougu that she gave her might be the same as something that could make her a Mystes or something that would grant her equal footing with Shana.After all, her greatest disadvantage is that she’s human, seeing that Yuuji will not age.

    tabs05
    Reply

  43. In response to the questions about a possible 3rd season, there would almost have to be one if they want to complete the story based on the light novel. The novel is up to 16(the anime’s currently at 13, IIRC, which is the end of the Pheles arc), which seems to be heading to the climax. The anime’s closer to the novel than this indicates, though, because book 15 was a flashback novel.

    That said, I think we’re headed towards another another anime-original ending here. The current novel arc, which should be coming up next, is unfinished. So unless they actually want to end season 2 with a cliffhanger, they’ll have to make up stuff.

    Oh, and I strongly suggest people who are simply following the anime to not read anything regarding the light novels. The spoilers are huge, and would REALLY hinder your enjoyment of the anime.

    Meh
    Reply

  44. I found myself really hoping that yuuji would disappear this episode and Johan would take over, at least for a little while. His character is really annoying me this season, even more so than last season. It is really annoying how they are focusing so much on the triangle this season, and Yuuji with his complete lack of personality is acting exactly like the male hero in one of those harem animes.

    lalala
    Reply

  45. OMG i cried in this episode, shana was so sad and it was the first time i see her like that( to that extent) I also believe that it would have been more exciting if she would have said that she loved him when hugging him but than again that means that something more interesting in the future will happen… will have to see.:)

    KureriannXanimeXgirl
    Reply

  46. For some odd reason, when I watch that moment where Konoe first flies up and shows herself in the middle of combat, it sounded like Shana mispronounced her name (sounded like she said “Kotoe Fumina” rather than “Konoe”).

    DeadMonkeys
    Reply

  47. Ooh…ending it with a cliffhanger? I hope not…that would suck ass.

    Maybe when Margery-San goes I bet…everything has just started. Is a hint there will be a third season. Plus, it’s too confusing the way it is now, I mean the Bal Masque is planning something big, Pheles is off to somewhere.
    and what did Hecate exactly do to Yujii?

    See if they did end it with a cliffhanger this would really render mostly all the events totally meaningless…
    So it’s likely there will be a third season. ^^(Or so I hope)

    FluriKuri
    Reply

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