Shakugan no Shana

"Take this! The flame of retribution!"

Sakai Yuji thought he was an Ordinary High School Student... until time stopped one day and everyone around him was turned into light and consumed by a huge monster, right before his eyes. He was saved by a girl with long red hair who drove the monster off with sword and flame. "You don't exist anymore", she told him.

The Denizens of the Crimson World are monsters from another world who consume the "power of existence" of humans. The power of a human that is leftover becomes a Torch, a shell of their former self, destined to disappear without a trace -- physical or mental -- when their remaining power burns away. Flame Haze are independent humans who have allied themselves with the kings of the other world, gaining the power to fight back.

But Yuji is no ordinary Torch, and the minion fought that day is only the beginning of the troubles his city is about to face...

Shakugan no Shana is based on a series of novels by Takahashi Yashichirou. The anime has run for two seasons to date: the first aired in 2005, and the second in 2007. A movie re-adaptation of the first novel was released in Japan on April 21st, 2007. Starting on October 2009, OVAs have been released every four months or so under the name Shakugan no Shana S. The third and final season of the anime premiered in Fall of 2011.

An series of omake called Shana-tan and Hecate-tan have been released which parody the events of the series with Super-Deformed characters. The humour tends to run crude. There is already a Shana-tan episode paralleling the new series, called (appropriately enough) Shakugan no Shana-tan G.

Tropes used in Shakugan no Shana include:

• All Just a Dream - The second season starts with Yuji trapped inside a dream (created by the real first villain of the season). Yuji picks up on some deja vu, but when complete scenes and defeated villains from the first season start showing up, then he knows something's wrong. No one will listen to him or tell him anything he--the one the dream is based on--doesn't already know. The dream falls apart once he pieces everything together.
• Alternate Continuity - The movie provides a closer adaptation of the events of the first novel than the anime, thus differing in a few respects, such as using an important plot point that the anime reserves until the end of the first season.
• Anti-Hero - The Snake of the Festival is Type III.
• Artificial Riverbank - Where the Ominous Floating Castle first appears. Also where Shana gets Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
• Babies Make Everything Better - Yuji's upcoming sibling lifts the family's spirits.
• The Bad Guy Wins - A rare example that directly results in a happy ending; if you consider Snake of Festival to be the bad guy then this applies since he was able to create Xanadu. Shana and Yuuji still end up together on that world to do their best so that Flame Hazes and Citizens can get along. So the Big Bad gave everyone a happy ending. Weird.
  • Sort of, as his ultimate goal did not ultimately prevent humans from being devoured, which was the primary concern of Shana and Alastor. It was more of a situation that required compromise from both parties.
• Battle Couple - Shana (Action Girlfriend) and Yuuji (Mission Control).
• BFS - Sorath's (and later Yuuji's) Blutsauger.
• Beach Episode - Well, water park, anyway. Also qualifies as a Breather Episode considering the intensity of action in the previous episodes.
• Betty and Veronica - Yoshida is the Betty while Shana is the Veronica.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence - The war between Flame Hazes and Crimson Denizens in season 3.
• Big Good - The final light novel's resolution and ending reveals that Snake of the Festival Yuji is closer to this than the Big Bad.
• Blade Brake - Provided the page picture.
• Bland-Name Product - Buying CDs at HNV.
• Boss Subtitles - Pretty much every character with powers has a title, and everyone constantly addresses everyone else by full title and name.
  • Awesome McCoolname
• Chekhov's Gun - The anti-flame ring. After being forgotten for most of the first season it ends up saving Yuji when Shana summons Alastor.
• City of Adventure - The first villain started it, hanging around Misaki City as part of some sinister scheme and gaining Shana's notice. Shana and Yuji being who and what they are tends to attract the rest of the attention. Lampshaded in the second season by speculation that Misaki City has become some sort of naturally-occurring nexus of misfortune. Later gets turned into a warzone, though.
• Clingy MacGuffin - The Reiji Maigo. Yuji needs it to live, and removing such treasures in general is supposed to be dangerous.
• Clothing Damage - To varying degrees.
• Critical Existence Failure - Not existing any more is not as debilitating as it sounds.
• Curb Stomp Battle - Snake of the Festival Yuji delivers one to Shana and the Hazes, the beatdown was so severe that Shana couldn't believe that Yuji hadn't had his mind taken over by Snake of The Festival, Yuji insists that there is only him in control and later tries to apologize for using force against her.
  • The Flame Haze army is decisively routed at the battle of the Sereiden. So many are killed or demoralized that, with the exception of a few renegade Flame Haze led by Shana, they are knocked out of the war.
• Dead to Begin With - As impatiently explained by Shana, the original Yuji's life was consumed before the anime started, and he is just a Torch--the remainder of that lifeforce, a placeholder to preserve the balance while quietly fading away.
• Demonic Invaders
• Did You Just Cut Cthulhu?: In episode 13 of season 3, Shana manages to cut Snake of the Festival Yuji and make him bleed. This is the first time anybody has managed to get in a decent hit on him, much less hurt him.
  • And in subsequent episodes, Shana manages to fight him on more equal footing.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? - Hecate and her interaction with Yuji at the end of the first season.
  • Which leaded into the Youtube-Nickname "Orgasm Girl".
  • The omake picks up on this interaction with a slew of impromptu H-scenes.
  • One scene begins with Margery Daw making sounds of pleasure while the camera pans up from her curled toes... she's actually getting a massage.
• Dueling Shows - With Kaze no Stigma.
• Enemy Mine - Shana and Kazumi form a quirky alliance in response to Konoe's perceived usurping of Yuji's affections, although they spend more time moping about it than doing anything constructive. Eventually their understanding of each other extends beyond the non-combative theatre of operations; whether the nascent friendship survives Yuji eventually choosing Shana remains to be seen.
• Eyes Always Shut - Yuji's Mom, she does open them once in a while.
  • Tanaka opens his eyes only under extreme stress.
• Face Heel Turn Yuji. To be fair, there wasn't any other choice, to fulfill its dream live on with Shana forever in peace
• Fan Service: Was there any reason logical reason to have Sorath neatly slice Shana's clothing while she is restrained?
  • Giving the class girls a shower scene during Season 2's school festival also counts. Groping is involved.
• First Episode Spoiler - The first episode reveals that Yuji is a Torch. Yuji being the hero, this is a big deal to the rest of the series. You can't describe this series to anyone without spoiling the plot twist of that first episode.
  • For some reason, they decided to put Yuji's apparent Face Heel Turn before Yuji's permanent death and reincarnation in the first few minutes of the final season.
• Flaming Sword - The titular artifact, Shana's name comes from the sword.
  • While its true that Shana got her name from her sword, the title of the series, which translates to "Burning-Eyed Shana", refers to Shana the girl, not Shana the sword.
  • Mathilde (Shana's predecessor) can make swords, axes and shields with her flames. Hell she can even summon an army of knights complete with armour, horses and rams made out of fire.
• Floating Continent - Bal Masque's headquarters, Seireiden, as well as the Tendokyuu, where Shana received her training.
• Forbidden Chekhov's Gun - A Flame Haze awakening/summoning their sponsoring Lord's full power into this world, killing them from inability to contain their Lord's massive power. As revealed by the movie, the first villain was using a gun that induced this to kill off the Flame Hazes who came after him--thus forcing their Lords to depart or else risk destroying the balance. Used as a suicide attack in the anime's Backstory by Alastor's previous vessel.
  • The cross pendant that Kazumi receives from Pheles will summon Pheles at the cost of the summoner's life.
• Foreshadowing: Didn't watch the S episodes and wondering what's up with Season 3? S are relevant, but the significant lines are few and rare. In order:
  • Episode 1 involves the relationship with Shana and Yuji, and how much they have progressed and understand each other. Notice anything strange about the length of time they've been together?
  • Episode 2 looks at Wilhelmina's side, and she wonders about Yuji's personality.
  • Episodes 3 and 4 acts as foils to the main series, as they focus on the past of Shana on another Tomogara from a different time. That ending... is rather open.
• Freaky Friday Flip - In the first Shakugan no Shana S OVA, Yuji accidentally uses the artifact Reshuffle to bodyswap with Shana. Naturally, Yuji-as-Shana is endearingly deredere, while Shana's usual Tsundere antics come across as mildly repulsive. They spend the entire episode trying to keep the swap a secret under Alastor's orders, because Reshuffle only works if there are no barriers between the users' hearts and he doesn't want their relationship to go public.
• Freak-Out - Invoked by Yuji when he is apprehended by Zarovee. This may fall into Narm, depending on your viewpoint.
  • One character plays this horrifically straight: Tanaka, when he sees Ogata lose an arm and a leg after being blasted by Margery Daw in her blind rage.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus - In the third episode of season 1 when Shana trashes various teachers, one of them looks like Adolf Hitler.
• Friend to All Living Things - Konoe
• Furo Scene - Episode 7
• Geodesic Cast - Every Flame Haze has a weapon, a Crimson Lord, and a magical object through which the Lord speaks. And in Season Three, there are a whole damn lot of Flame Hazes.
• Giant Food: Season 2 filler episode. All of the student characters met and ate at a restaurant that super sized everything. The bowls looked like they were meant for real giants and not puny humans.
• Grey and Gray Morality: The final arc which featured the final war between the Flame Haze as led by Shana on one side and Bal Masqué as led by Snake of the Festival Yuji on the other. Bal Masqué wants to create a paradise called Xanadu with limitless Power of Existence, allowing Crimson Denizens to coexist peacefully with humans in that world. With the unlimited Power of Existence and the humans not being devoured, the distortions that threaten Earth and the Crimson World's existence will cease. The Flame Haze, however, believe that the Crimson Denizens lack the self-restraint to not eat humans even with limitless Power of Existence, and feel that Xanadu will only exacerbate the distortions. Both sides oftentimes show little regard for humanity, with Flame Haze just as willing to use humans' Power of Existence as Crimson Denizens if it suits their purposes. In short, Shana and company view Yuji and the Snake of the Festival as too naïve, while Yuji and the Snake view the Flame Haze as too cynical. Ultimately, the Crimson Denizens win the war, but having come to admire humanity, allow the Flame Haze to input a code into Xanadu's blueprints preventing them from eating humans.
• Happily Married - The Sakai parents.
• Hero Antagonist - Yuji Sakai.
• Heroic BSOD - Wilhelmina has this in the last episode of season one when she thinks Shana died summoning Alastor. She literally can't stand up without Margery's support.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Yuji offers up part of his own Power of Existence early in the series so Shana can repair the classroom and students damaged by Friagne, rather than let Shana use a human's Power of Existence, which would have erased them from existence. At the time, neither Yuji or Shana knew that he had the Reiji Maigo, which replenishes his Power of Existence, and assumed that this would hasten his death. This is a critical first step in challenging Shana's protect-the-balance-over-humanity worldview, as well as an important step in Shana's evolving crush on Yuji.
  • Later in the series, Kazumi utilizes a Treasure Tool that, while calling Pheles for aid, will use up all of her Power of Existence. She still does it.
  • Also, the Bal Masqué general Decarabia. While Decarabia doesn't deliberately die, he is willing to risk, and ultimately lose, his life to hold off the Flame Haze long enough for a Bal Masqué army to come to defend Seireiden, Bal Masqué's headquarters.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum - In the form of Alastor, because he's used as a MacGuffin or weapon as opposed to a person in this instance.
• I Have the High Ground - Most non-humans with the necessary jumping ability exhibit this.
• I Just Want to Be Normal - Tanaka goes through a period of this after he starts going out with Ogata because he doesn't want to see her maimed again. In the end, he goes through with it.
• Ignored Confession: Overlaps with Love Confession.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Shana, Taking the Bullet for Yuji
• Instant Runes - Often in the form of growing, encircling ribbons of blue runes.
  • By Final, rune circles have become most common display, and with much more variety than the standard circle from season one.
• Infant Immortality - Subverted in the very first episode, but never done to the same extent again.
• It Got Worse - Snake of the Festival. Long story short, Yuji betrays the Flame Hazes soon after confessing to Shana and became the final, ultimate antagonist.
• Just A Torch - quite a few Flame Hazes and Denizens share this view, in particular, Shana to Yuji at the start, and Yuji to Yuji later on as well.
• Nodachis Are Just Better - Shana wields a nodachi (Japanese longsword).
• Kiai - Margery Daw's howl in her werewolf form (it looks more like a bear though)
  • Shana's battle cry right before she 'finished off' Sabrac sounded a lot like a high-pitched version of the "Punch" of "Falcon Punch"
• Last-Name Basis - Strangely, Ike and Sakai. They're supposedly best friends, but only ever refer to each other by last name.
• Lethal Chef - Wilhelmina. CABBAGE ROLL OF DOOM.
  • Shana as well, but she learns better.
• Lie to the Beholder - Shana either does something like this or rewrites everyone's memories of Yuji's classmate to fit her appearance; it's unclear which.
• Life Energy - Called Power/Flames of Existence
• Love Triangle - Shana-Yuji-Kazumi.
• Long Runners - Barely.
• Matchmaker Crush - Ike tries to help Kazumi to have time and hook up with Yuji. When he chastises Yuji for leading her on, Yuji confronts Ike about his own feelings for her. It isn't until the second season that Ike tries to do anything for himself, though. But even so, Kazumi still hold her heart for Yuji.
• Meido - Wilhelmina ~de arimasu.
• Mission Control: Tanaka, Satou, and sometimes Yuji. The former two use the Haridan when the frontline requires a sitrep.
• Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: Yuuji is in this scenario with Shana (magical) and Kazumi (normal).
• No Export for You - The novels. Viz owns the rights to release them in english. Viz released the first two novels in english, then lost interest (even though they're still releasing the manga). No-one else can release the novels while Viz own the english rights, whether they use them or not. Damn.
• Omake - DVD specials: two mini-episodes of "Shakugan no Shana-tan" and one of "Itadaki no Hecate-tan", featuring a pocket-sized version of the titular character that spoofed events in the main series.
• Opening Narration - By Alastor in the first season: "Infinite time stopped beating its heart, and humans burnt away without making any noise. Not one person notices as the world becomes dislocated and is covered in the flames of The Crimson World."
  • In the dub; "A heartbeat that lasts for eternity, lives consumed in soundless balls of fire. No one is aware as the world is displaced, and the flames of the Crimson World sweep over all."
• Opt Out - Eita Tanaka in season 2.
  • He's back in Season 3.
• Ordinary High School Student - Yuji, or so he thought.
• Panty Shot - 3 in quick succession during the final battle in the first season. And a quick shot during the first OP. Also a couple slips during season 2's battle penultimate battle. You know the show is almost over when they start upskirting Shana.
  • Don't forget the one in episode six of the first season
  • They also do it somewhat less discreetly and more often during the Shana S ova. Blue with white stripes
  • Again in the first episode of the third season. We actually see her strip down to her panties, which have a rather childish anime character on their seat.
• Pettanko - Shana is pretty and very flat.
  • Amplified by the fact that almost every other female character is most certainly not flat.
• Phantom Zone - Fuzetsu barriers. Everything inside the barrier is frozen in place, while everyone outside the barrier temporarily forgets about and subconsciously avoids the enclosed area. This only applies to normal people, of course. Also, any environmental damage done inside a fuzetsu can be undone, given sufficient energy.
• Phrase Catcher - Marcosius seems to refer to Margery as "My (adjective/verbing) (noun), Margery Daw" quite a lot.
• Pigeonholed Voice Actor - Recently, Kugimiya Rie (Shana's VA) has become known for her wrathful loli Tsundere roles, which also include Louise (Zero no Tsukaima), Nagi (Hayate the Combat Butler) and Taiga (Toradora!).
• Playing with Fire - This is a major part of Shana's motif. She can even use her powers to draw Torches together.
• POV Boy, Poster Girl - There are some scenes from Shana's POV, but it's still mostly from Yuji.
• Power Gives You Wings - Shana grows a pair in her rematch with Margery (first season).
• "Previously On..." - Oh god the second season. Every episode in the second season begins with Alastor summarizing everything, this is particularly grating when the episode itself replays the events that happened previously.
• Rank Inflation - During a trip to an amusement park, Shana uses her powers to cheat at a swordfighting virtual reality game, maxing out the score counter and earning a rank of SSS.
• Rapunzel Hair - Shana
  • Yuji's as Snake of the Festival is longer than hers, actually is as long as he wants to be.
• Redheaded Hero
• Retcon - Shana confessing to Yuji right before using the Forbidden Chekhov's Gun at the (anime-original) end of the first season. The second season has him turning out to have not heard it, thus maintaining status quo.
• Ret-Gone - The ultimate fate of a Torch.
• Shana Clone: The Trope Maker. Shana herself averts this, being the original.
• Sharing a Body - Sakai Yuji and Snake of the Festival, but when Yuji becomes SotF he is pretty much in control, but due his ruthless nature, Shana and the Hazes doubt this.
• Ship Sinking - Kazumi x Yuji didn't have much chance of happening anyway, but it was officially destroyed later in the novels when Yuji finally made his move on Shana, this happened shortly after he joined The Dark Side, now pretty much all "normal" characters have been pushed aside and the conflict between Balmasque and Flame Haze is now the main focus of the storyline; it's all about Love and War between those two.
• Shut up (you fool), Shut up (you fool), SHUT UP (YOU FOOL)!!
• Sitting on the Roof - Yuji and Shana, who at first is content to stay up there until Yuji invites her inside.
• Slice of Life - It has moments. The beginning of season 2 is largely without conflict and instead focuses on the whole group's antics during normal life.
• Spell My Name with an "S" - Wilhelmina's name is spelled and pronounced "Wirhelmina" in the dub.
• Sphere of Destruction: Robots that Dantalion deploys in the final battle can blow up and vaporize everything in a 30-meter radius.
• Split Personality Takeover - Averted, Snake of the Festival Yuji VS. some of the Flame Hazes, Yuji was the one delivering the beat down, but when he utterly destroyed Shana, she started to think Snake of The Festival took over Yuji's body as Shana just can't believe Yuji could be that violent, Yuji in response says he's totally in control.
• Story-Breaker Power - Alastor. To avoid breaking the story, he's only ever used one time at which point he pops out of his amulet, says hi and saves the world. He doesn't even do anything. Oh, and bringing him out is supposed to be fatal; that's how Shana's predecessor died.
  • The Snake of the Festival Yuji is the God of Creation, whose power equals Alastor's, and he seems to have no problems showing off: infinite power, immunity to flame, Prehensile Hair, and a sword that causes anyone who tries blocking it to sustain heavy injuries (Blutsager). Plus the whole "Creator" bit.
• Stock Sound Effects - Paying close attention will reveal the "de-rezzing" sound from Tron and the good ol' proton pack charge-up sound from Ghostbusters.
• Surprisingly Good English: I'll Believe by ALTIMA, the ending to the third season, has a 45-second intro and several lines sung in almost-perfect English. And then there's motsu. Check it out.
• Sweet Tooth - Shana, if her eating two super duper extra ginormous servings of ice cream sundae is any indication (One is almost as tall as she is!). Her thing for melon bread may also count. She also consumes a "couple dozen" ice cream bars during the Shana S ova and thinks that Yuji's body is weak for getting sick afterward.
• Taking the Bullet - Shana intercepting Wilhelmina's spear after Yuji gets captured. She's a Flame Haze, though, so she's good to go again after a little time off to heal.
• The Talk - Averted hard.

Shana:What's wrong? Chigusa's having a baby, right? Teach me how to make one.
(camera pans across the shocked faces of the Sakai family)
Yuji (blushing): ...eh-heh...
Kantarou: ...we can't teach you without other people's consent... right Chigusa-san?
Chigusa: ...yes, we need to speak with Carmel-san and Arasu-Touru-san...

• The Trope Without a Title - Just about all Tomogara and Flame Hazes.
• Theme Naming - All of the beings from the Crimson World in Shakugan no Shana take names out of various mythologies. Just to name a few: there's the "Seeking Professor", Dantalion; Margery's battle-hungry lord, Marchosias; and Shana's lord, "God of Judgment" and "Flame of Heaven", Alastor.
• The Extremist Was Right- Snake of the Festival Yuji succeeds in his/their plan to create a duplicate world for Crimson Denizens to live without needing to feed on humans' Power of Existence. The Crimson Denizens go a step further and, admiring humanity and wishing to coexist with it, allow the Flame Haze to create a limiter preventing them from devouring humans. An uncountable number of people are saved from future harm. Since Crimson Denizens no longer feed on humans and threaten the balance of the world, the need for the Flame Haze to fight them are gone, allowing them to finally be people instead of walking weapons. Yuji is able to have a relationship with Shana that is not marred by endless conflict that would have probably resulted in her death one day, and the Forever War is ended.
• They Call Him "Sword" - 'Shana' comes from the name of her sword, Nietono no Shana.
• They Do: Shana and Yuji end up romantically involved by the end of the series.
• Third Option Love Interest - Fumina Konoe
• Through His Stomach - Kazumi to Yuji. Shana soon catches on.
• Time Stop - See Phantom Zone, above. Time doesn't really stop, but it's a convincing impression, with everything frozen in place and recast in gray.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth - Yuri, in Margery Daw's flashback. Unlike all other Flame Hazes, who are hellbent on vengeance and killing Tomogara, Yuri, a young boy, just wants to save people and seems to completely lack fighting spirit. I mean, really, what self-respecting Flame Haze actually cares about humans?
• Trademark Favorite Food - Melon bread, for Shana. Anything with alcohol for Margery.
• Tsundere - Shana.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend - Kazumi and by extension Ike.
• Unstoppable Rage: In one of the more recent Shana novels, Yuji goes completely insane, and brutally attacks and almost kills Wilhelmina with Blutsauger after the latter's attempt to make Shana give up on him by force.
• Verbal Tic - Wilhelmina ends nearly every sentence with "de arimasu", an archaic form of "desu" usually restricted to writing de arimasu. It gets a little annoying de arimasu.
  • This was changed to 'indeed' in the dub. And you thought Teal'c used the word a lot.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist - The Flame Haze and Yuji. The entire war is an example of Grey and Gray Morality.
• The Wiki Rule - Shakugan no Shana Wiki.
• Wham! Episode - Volume 16: Yuji is now the Big Bad. And another in Volume 22, the final light novel: Yuji wins, but the Crimson Denizens decide to compromise with the Flame Haze and allow their paradise, Xanadu, to have a built-in limit preventing them from devouring humans' Power of Existence.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy
• When the Clock Strikes Twelve - The Reiji Maigo refills the bearer's power of existence every midnight. It apparently makes its own time zone adjustment, since it was created in Europe...
• Yamato Nadeshiko - Kazumi. Also, Yuji's mom, Chigusa.
• Your Mind Makes It Real - See All Just a Dream, above. Also, if the dreamweaver dies, it's Nonstandard Game Over for everyone inside.