The third season jumped right into it, though it moved so quickly it nearly got out of control at points. So many new 'in universe' terms, so many new characters and so little time to flesh it out.
Having said that I love the Shana franchise, and I still really liked this season. The balls to the wall fight scenes escalated in a very satisfying way and Otani's music really shone for me. Aika's very pronounced and somewhat deep vocals were a noticable and welcome addition, though I'm sure they aren't for everyone.
Moving from the school drama of season 2 right back into the lore and magic of the world at a breakneak pace was hard to follow if not jarring. The actual end also seemed amazingly short given how much time faithful viewers have invested - it would have been nice to have an episode to straighten things out. Most anime shows don't do this and I think they should - especially when they're this long. I can understand budget constraints and such though so I'm not totally ignorant as to why this rarely happens (Toradora! has a great example of another episode or so after the major plot ended).
I'll be importing all of Shana from FUNimation soon enough (though I own the first season's box set from Madman) as I have a problem with the Universal/Sony bootleg-style box art with katakana down the side. Well that and the fact that the Japanese content owners are attempting to directly sell to a market they don't fully understand...but I digress...(I'm aware companies that own content can do whatever they want with it, but things are looking bad with this situation)
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I picked up the Shakugan no Shana III BD/DVD set. Finished watching the first 7 episodes.
After the watching, I still believe it reinforces the reviewer's opinion that Yuji is evil.
First off, Yuji made the classic 'Deal with the Devil', with his pact with the Snake of the Festival. Sure he got power to effect change, but nothing ever good comes out of deals with the devil. Yuji joined the evil cabal of Bal Masque and leads them. So Yuji joins the bad guys, not because they are misunderstood good guys, but simply because he was offered the power to effect change, while also going along with the Snake of the Festival's plan. When you join the forces of evil, that tends to make you evil too. Along with betraying everyone who stood with you before your conversion to the dark side.
Along with being evil, this Yuji is cruel also. The truth he had about Margery Daw should have been told in a much better setting, and not used as a tool to eliminate Margery as a threat to his kidnapping of Shana.
To this evil Yuji, the only thing that matters is Shana. Everything about his past (Season 1 and 2) life, is meaningless and disposable. Even with Shana, he acts like she is a prize he won and now owns. He is oblivious of the trauma he has caused to Shana, because of his defection to the bad guys, and what he has done to their friends.
Yes, Yuji is doing all this for Shana, but as the saying goes, The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Season III Yuji is evil and cruel. So we might as well bury season I and season II Yuji, and say a prayer.
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