Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「オーバーチュア 後編」
“Overture Part 2”
Picking up right where we left off, Shana is continuing her search for the rouge Tomogara that attacked Junko. We got another brief showcasing of Shana using her powers as a Flame Haze to go through Junko’s memories, which still looks as cool and fresh as it did in the previous episode. I’m still a little bullish on the fact that we never saw this kind of sequence in the series before, but better late than never I suppose. As a result of that search, we were teased by a few glimpses of Junko and Yukio’s time together, from the beginning of their relationship when Yukio asked Junko out on a bridge right up to when Junko was turned into a Torch by the mysterious Tomogara. The sweet little date between Yukio and Junko was a delight to watch, and seeing them sit on a bench together planning out their next date made it even cuter. Of course, all this nice chemistry culminated into their first kiss, which Junko’s mother witnessed and promptly went nuclear over. To be honest, I find it a bit strange that it’s the MOM who is worrying over a boy talking up her daughter and not the dad, who is the usual cockblock master when it comes to these sort of things. That’s just speaking out of my own personal experience of course, but it seems damn strange that the dad was pretty relaxed about Junko having a boyfriend last episode while the mom was freaking out, telling Junko to break up with Yukio. I suppose it worked out for a daughter/mother bonding theme, but still an odd choice of context to use. That said, after getting over her boy fear, the mother’s imagination started moving a bit too fast when she imagined the day Junko would be walking down the isle. Well, at least she has mood swings like a mother.
After getting past all of the fluff, we finally get to the meat of Shana’s search, when Yukio meets a disturbing man who calls himself a professional photographer. The shady man asks Yukio if he could spare a bit of time to take a photo-shoot, as he’s been searching for a “beautiful young boy” such as Yukio (his words, not mine) to model for him. Using the rationale that as long as Junko isn’t back yet he can spare some time for the seemingly legit photographer, he accepts the request. Now, I don’t know about you, but the last thing I would do is accept some request from a guy in a trench coat in the middle of the night, especially if that request is to model for him in the middle of a park. Forget that he has a supposedly certified card(after all, anyone can get one forged for the right price) the fact that he’s asking for me to model for him at night in the middle of a deserted park because I’m a beautiful boy should set off alarms. Whatever was coming to him, Yukio was begging for it. Even so, it appears he got off easy, with the mysteriously creepy man asking Yukio to pose for him one more time in a different outfit to better bring out the “beauty” in him. Yes, raging fire alarms should have been going off.
So, following up on this bit of retrieved info, Shana embarks on her set date with Yukio to meet the “photographer”. Naturally, she has her mind so set on the mission that she ignores Yukio, who notices that she is acting weird and suggests she’s not happy to be there with him. I found it amusing that in her effort to not seem strange, Shana thought of something that would make her seem happy and like she was having fun, and the first thing that immediately came to her her mind was holding hands with Wilhelmina, which prompts her to grab Yukio’s hand on impulse. I’m sure the ShanaxYuuji fans were raging at this, but I found it more of an expression of Shana’s naive character than anything. Her grabbing his hand was meant to be completely platonic on her side, with the thought that him and Junko were going out probably never even crossing her mind. It makes me chuckle to think of how the Shana at the end of season two would react to grabbing Yuuji’s hand, in comparison to this one.
Finally, after arriving at the park and losing Yukio when she took her eyes off of him for three seconds, Shana gets her first physical lead on the rouge Tomogara, going into her Flame Haze mode and giving chase. Almost immediately, she comes across a run away truck in which a Fuzetsu activates. Admittedly, my estimation that we wouldn’t be getting any action scenes in this OVA was slightly off, with Shana fighting back the nasty Tomogara who turned out to be the mysterious photographer (surprise). As it turns out, this Tomogara feeds off of the existence of “beautiful boys” and is always in search of them, thus his alias as a photographer. Despite it being a rather weak Tomogara, as stated brilliantly by Shana, it was definitely creepy enough to compete with the best of them, almost slobbering over itself while talking about it’s fascination with beautiful men. Of course, it’s understandable why he’d be so obsessed with beautiful people, considering his own form is hideously disfigured and as a human he was most likely not the best looking guy on the street. It surprised me a bit that the antagonist who caused so much trouble for Shana turned out to be nothing more than a deranged pseudo-pedophile who couldn’t even hold his own in a fight for three seconds, but as I said before, the purpose of this OVA is not to show an epic battle between Shana and an uber-powerful Tomogara, but to show a day in the life of Shana before she met Yuuji. In that context the episode certainly served it’s purpose, with Shana solving the case and continuing onto her next job, but not before reflecting on the “lessons” she learned from inhabiting Junko’s existence.
Epilogue
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Final Impressions:
So the ending to this OVA was definitely bitter sweet, with Junko simply fading out of existence and Shana moving onto the next job like it was just another case closed. Judging this OVA purely off of content, it can be considered a let down. We didn’t get any new developments in terms of the story, nor did we get a super awesome finale with beautifully animated battle scenes and an epic conflict. However, judging it that way would be taking the purpose of this OVA out of context. As I continue to say, this OVA is first and foremost a venture meant to explore the characters’ relationships and interactions in the story, not to progress the plot itself nor to provide any amazing action service. Looking at the OVA from that point of view, I’d say it accomplished it’s goal fairly well, fleshing out the dynamic between Wilhelmina and Yuuji and showing us a glimpse of the Flame Haze Shana was before she met Yuuji.
Now, as for whether I enjoyed the OVA personally, I’d say it was a relaxing watch every few months just as a Shana fan, which is really what this is meant for. Watching the characters interact in their day to day lives within the OVA was certainly interesting for me, as usually we’re watching them fight against super powerful Tomogara or entangle themselves in love triangles. It felt as if I was catching a breath from all the drama that took place in the season prior to this OVA, which I can appreciate as a Shana fan. With that said, I would not recommend this OVA to anyone who knows nothing to very little about the Shana series, as you will be lost very quickly and miss many of the nuances between the characters that make their interactions in this OVA interesting in comparison to their usual roles in the seasonal anime. Likewise, I would not recommend this to anyone who cannot appreciate a simple, interval story and only wants pure plot progression and action. This OVA is simply not it. However, if you’re a fairly knowledgeable Shana fan and have no problem with watching a laid back, progression-lite OVA, then this is for you.
ED4 Sequence
 |
 |
 |
ED4: 「All in good time」 by 川田まみ (Kawada Mami)
Watch the 4th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼
*Note: The epilogue contained a slight teaser to a third season, showing Shana reflecting on the events that happened in the first two seasons of the anime and ending with Yuuji and Shana facing each other on opposite sides of a bridge, which is eerily reminiscent of a certain scene in the Shana novels.
after the mission of pretending to be Oogami Junko, Shana returns to Misaki city for the 3rd season of Shakugan no Shana
We need 3rd season Now!!!!
Nice write-up. Agree with pretty much everything. It really was bittersweet.
I’m still waiting for season 3…cheers~
season 3… season 3…. Season 3!… SEASON 3… SEASON3!… SEASON 3!!!!!!!!!!!
🙂
yeah season 3 season 3 season 3. anyway bittersweet ending
It just felt a bit morbid watching Junko’s happy memories, knowing they will never be remembered. The ED montage brought the same bittersweet feelings as well. Yukio crying at the end shows that even though the victims’ existence can be erased, the feelings will still remain in the subconscience of their loved ones.
I think I shat myself silly at seeing the final scene, that’s Yuji for sure, but also not quite him, after reading that mega-twist in the end of novel volume 14. STOP TEASING US AND GIVE US SEASON THREE ALREADY, JC STAFF, FOR CRIMSON LORD’S SAKE! lol
“As it turns out, this Tomogara feeds off of the existence of “beautiful boys” and is always in search of them, thus his alias as a photographer.”
Not entirely correct. For me to explain better, I will have to go into a brief history of Crimson Denizens.
Up till the medieval ages, Denizens manifest in our physical realm openly as non-humanoid monstrosities, and humans remember them as creatures of legends and myths today.
As human society progresses, Denizens find it more convenient to blend in amongst humans rather than cause a huge ruckus, and thus began adopting humanoid form, though their humanoid form would largely correspond to their personalities.
This Denizen probably reckon he looked too fugly if he manifests his own humanoid form by himself, which is why he’s been collecting pretty-looking men around the world for him to inhabit as hosts.
But he doesn’t really feed off their existence. Because the American Torch was only eaten because “he was aging and began to grow wrinkles”, suggesting his existence was kept intact all this time until he grew old.
Season 3!!!! C’mon!! Also use the Railgun staff for it!
Can’t wait for
Show Spoiler ▼
my guess is third season is gonna be most violent of the 3 seasons.
Guys, stay cool! If they release the third season RIGHT NOW, it would end before the novell does, so we would get some kind of anime original ending, do you really want that?
Really? I was thinking that the novels were way ahead of the anime/
That’s correct, but there are like 2 more novels to come, then it ends. The announcement for season 3 said, it will be the last season, so hopefully, the anime doesn’t end before the last novels are published, or else we will get an anime original ending, won’t we? If there is no novel ending, even J.C. Staff won’t know how it turns out…
Currently, 20 novel volumes for the main arc (not counting the side story volumes) are out, with volume 20 out this April.
Let’s say season 3 starts at April 2011, by which time volume 21-22 would be out by then, and then Takahashi Yashiro wraps it up by volume 24, perhaps there’ll just be enough time for JC Staff to do a simultaneous anime/novel ending, like they have done with Toradora.
Yashichiro releases two volumes every year, one during the Spring and one during the fall. Taking that into consideration, volume 22 will be released in spring 2011 and volume 23 will be released in fall 2011. Shana anime always air during the fall season, same with Index, so if Yashichiro plans to end the series with volume 24, it would coincide perfectly with the ending of the Shana season in spring 2012.
the epilogue….shitting bricks all over
Milking milking milking as always.
@Divine-the 2nd link “Yuuji and Shana facing each other on opposite sides of a bridge” is not working.
sry,Suzuku actually.You write very well.
Fixed. And thanks, I tried my best to make the sentences as smooth and grammatically correct as possible.
Finnally!!! and with with this this epilogue the door opens for the final chapter of the the tale of Shana and Yuuji; I’m having my fingers cross for romantic happy ending betwen the two I now it won’t be that easy, but that is why this series is awsome.
When is Shakugan No Shana 3 coming out? I hope it will me soon ;P
Most likely Fall 2011.
I thought I read somewhere spring of 2011.
There is no set date for Shana III. It hasn’t even been officially announced, just an off hand comment.
I haven’t seen any subs for this yet. Did you watch this one raw, Suzuku?
Yes. I never said I couldn’t cover things raw, just that it wouldn’t be reliable all the time. It would be very hit and miss depending on what the dialog of an episode is. It just so happens that my vocab was adequate for this.
Junko looks like Yoshida Kazumi…a reincarnation of the torch or something? 😀
@Suzuku: Hey, I really like your writing style, but there is this little mistake that I seem to catch every time I read your posts. That is using “it’s” when you should have used “its” to signify possession.
e.g. “almost slobbering over itself while talking about it’s fascination with beautiful men”
“In that context the episode certainly served it’s purpose”
“I’d say it accomplished it’s goal fairly well”
So yeah, hopefully you won’t make the same mistake in your future posts. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Ah, thanks. I don’t do it all the time but it slips pass me a lot. That’s one of those things that you really have to squint to find, so at least I know you’re really reading. 🙂
“Well, at least she has mood swings like a mother.”
😀
Eagerly looking forward to Season 3. Shame my brother read wikipedia and told me a spoiler. So I guess I know what that last bridge scene was referring to.
well even though it’s laid-back, and even though we all love Shana, it’s always good to see some action. just… too little, in this case…
agreeing with shana, I would also wanna see her “fight against s stronger Guze no Ou” sometime soon? looking forward to more shana~
(Thanks Suzuku-san for posting more Shana! This place may just lack some Shakugan posts…)
Biri-biri?
https://randomc.net/image/Shakugan%20no%20Shana/Shakugan%20no%20Shana%20S%20-%2004%20-%2003.jpg
at the end of the last ova, what did she meant by “And on that day, we parted ways” after that, she said “we meet again.” Just what is going on??
I believe, that Fuuji became EVIL!!!! I think that something changed betwene Yuuji and Shana, maeby Yuuji found out his purpise and bacame an enemie to Shana and the athers! Maeby it will like “alternative” story/ending!
Just by seeing that Shana faces him on the TOP of bridges pillar (it is very high) and she has THAT expression on her face like she is facing her enemy!
https://randomc.net/image/Shakugan%20no%20Shana/Shakugan%20no%20Shana%20S%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2045.jpg
You all remember the words that Shana said aftel Alastor told her: “As we travel around, we may aventually find a person that will interact with you as you are.”…Shana anwered: “I think that would be only troublesome.” THE INTERESTING PHRASE WAS: “Next time,I hope I get to fight someone stronger, like a King of Guze.”!! (T,T)
That alone must mean something!!! And I hope that you will agree with me that Shana and athers still didn’t know why Yuuji had those powers and what is his potencial!
OMG OMG OMG…. I can’t wait till there will be a third season!(T,T)
I think that the Guze no Ou PROBABLY BE Yuuji Sakai!!! ’cause, wouldn’t it be a story twister-like thingie???!!!… It would make everything strange and get us all sucked-in in to the story line!???
But just by watching the expression of Shanas face when she landed on the bridges pillar… and on the oposite pillar ws standing Yuuji… So they realy became an enemies!? (T.T)
Ehhh… Maeby Yuuji will lose in the last second to Shana and say something like “I always loved you, Sha…na…” wheeeeepp… Mukatsukuuu~
That would be a quite an emotion roller coaster!? Wouldn’t it!? ;(
Ou… I just figured out, maeby Juji became vilan just to be able to see Shana again! Maeby there was some kind of sorcumstances that led them to parting away?!
But Yuji looked kinda cool standing on that pillar, hands put in pockets and how he got up there?! maeby like Shana!
Well…. It may be jusm my imagination playing tricks on me! For good or for bad, but i DO have quite good imagination! :p
like I usualy say “padzīvosim – redzēsim!” Aaaa aa~ Mata na~!
mhmmm dint yuugi pick shana on the last episode of season 2…then at the ending at the OVA said they got separated ://.. hahaha am confused need to watch it again i guess lolz..cant w8 for the season 3 :p..