, also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 27 novels from November 2002 to November 2023 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The story focuses on Yuji Sakai, a high school boy who becomes involved in an age-old conflict between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends a fighter for the balancing force and names her "Shana". The series also incorporates fantasy and slice of life elements.
Two manga adaptations were published by ASCII Media Works in Dengeki Daioh and Dengeki Maoh. Between 2005 and 2012, the series was adapted by J.C.Staff into three 24-episode anime television series, a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series, an animated film, and a standalone OVA episode. A PlayStation 2 video game was released in March 2006, which was ported to the Nintendo DS in March 2007. Viz Media licensed the novels and the first manga series for release in North America, but stopped publishing both prematurely. Critics praised the series for its execution of typical story elements.
Setting and plot
Shakugan no Shana follows an age-old conflict between the human world and the , which is its parallel universe. The inhabitants of the Crimson Realm, the , can manipulate the , which serves as the "fuel" for a being's existence. Denizens with exceptional power among their peers are known as , while more powerful Lords are known as . Denizens who do not care about the balance between the two realms aim to gather the Power of Existence from humans to use for their own purposes. It is the duty of , humans who have contracted with a Crimson Lord, to maintain this balance by killing Denizens who disrupt it. Denizens and Flame Hazes fight using magic spells called , which are also known as Unrestricted Spells or Unrestricted Methods. One such spell is the , which creates a space where the Crimson Realm and the human world intersect and causalities, including time, are stopped.
The story mainly takes place in Misaki City in Japan. It begins when high school student Yuji Sakai enters the conflict after a Flame Haze tells him that he died some time ago and that he is a , a human with greatly diminished Power of Existence which will eventually run out. Yuji is also a , a special kind of Torch who can move within Seals and contains a , a magical object that the Denizens created which can provide special abilities or Powers of Unrestraint. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. They later discover that the Treasure Tool within Yuji is the , which restores his Power of Existence every midnight.
Over time, Shana and Yuji encounter other Flame Hazes, such as Margery Daw and Wilhelmina Carmel, and an organization of Denizens called Bal Masqué discovers that Yuji possesses the Reiji Maigo and seek to use it for their own ends. The organization is led by Hecate, Sydonay, and Bel Peol, three Lords collectively known as the Trinity who serve under the , a God who resides within the Reiji Maigo. When the Snake emerges, it merges its consciousness with Yuji's, taking command of Bal Masqué and plans to create a parallel world called Xanadu, which will serve as a paradise for Denizens with unlimited Power of Existence. Shana and the other Flame Hazes oppose the creation of Xanadu, as it would eventually cause large-scale disruptions in the human world, the Crimson Realm, and Xanadu itself.
Shana formulates a countermeasure and adds a law to Xanadu that forbids the Denizens from eating humans. With Xanadu created, the Denizens depart along with other Flame Hazes who are determined to help enforce order on it. Yuji intends to go to Xanadu alone and ensure that humans and Denizens can learn to coexist, but Shana refuses to be left behind. Yuji ultimately accepts Shana's feelings and the two kiss, activating a spell that Crimson Lord Lamia left for Yuji, which restores his existence and his humanity, meaning that he is no longer a Torch. With the help of another spell from Lamia, Yuji restores all humans in Misaki City whose existence the Denizens absorbed before he and Shana depart for Xanadu together.
Production In an early draft of what would later become Shakugan no Shana, Yashichiro Takahashi set the story in a different dimension and described the main character as having the initial personality of Shana, but the appearance of an older woman similar to Margery Daw. However, after talking with an editor, Takahashi rewrote the character to have the appearance of a young girl. In doing so, he used Shana's small build to symbolize a story of growth and to emphasize the physical conflict between her and her opponents. Noizi Ito was contacted in early August 2002 to be the illustrator for the series, and she was very excited to work on the project after she read the manuscript for the first novel; this was the first time Ito drew illustrations for a book.
Shortly before writing Shakugan no Shana, Takahashi made his debut as an author with A/B Extreme, which was awarded an honorable mention in the eighth Dengeki Novel Prize by MediaWorks (now ASCII Media Works) in 2001. By his own admission, A/B Extreme was too difficult for readers to understand, so for his next work, he set out to write something easier to grasp. As such, the initial premise of Shakugan no Shana was to write a boy meets girl story in a school setting, though initially love was not one of the themes included. He was given the freedom to write as he pleased based on this premise after showing it to his editor.
Media Light novels and books
Shakugan no Shana began as a light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi, with illustrations drawn by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 27 volumes between November 9, 2002, and November 10, 2023, under their Dengeki Bunko imprint; 22 comprise the main story, while the other five are short story collections. Some short stories were initially published in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Magazine. Viz Media licensed the novels for English distribution in North America, but they only released two volumes in 2007. The novels are also licensed in South Korea by Daewon C.I., and in Taiwan and Hong Kong by Kadokawa Media.
A 160-page guide book titled was published on December 10, 2005, by ASCII Media Works. Two more guide books were published by ASCII Media Works for the anime adaptations: on October 27, 2006, with 176 pages, and on October 19, 2009, with 168 pages. Four 128-page art books illustrated by Ito were published by ASCII Media Works: on February 25, 2005, on August 9, 2007, on August 10, 2009, and on August 9, 2013.
Manga A manga adaptation, illustrated by Ayato Sasakura, was serialized in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine Dengeki Daioh between the April 2005 and October 2011 issues. The individual chapters were collected and published in ten volumes from October 27, 2005, and October 27, 2011. A special limited-edition version of volume two was bundled with a booklet titled Grimoire including contributions from guest artists and writers for various illustrations, manga, and short stories. Viz Media licensed the manga for English distribution in North America. Viz released six volumes between April 17, 2007, and September 21, 2010, but then cancelled the release of the final four volumes. The manga is also licensed in South Korea by Daewon C.I., in Taiwan and Hong Kong by Kadokawa Media, and in Germany by Egmont.
A second manga illustrated by Shii Kiya, titled , is based on the events of the tenth novel and began serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine Dengeki Black Maoh on September 19, 2007. The manga was later transferred to Dengeki Maoh and ran in that magazine between the December 2009 and September 2012 issues. Five volumes were released between January 27, 2009, and September 27, 2012. The manga is licensed in South Korea by Daewon C.I., and in Taiwan and Hong Kong by Kadokawa Media.
Anime
A 24-episode anime television series adaptation of Shakugan no Shana aired in Japan between October 6, 2005, and March 23, 2006, on TV Kanagawa. Produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Takashi Watanabe, the screenplay was written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and chief animator Mai Otsuka based the character design used in the anime on Noizi Ito's original designs. The sound director is Jin Aketagawa, and the soundtrack is composed by Kow Otani. The series was later released by Geneon in eight DVD compilation volumes from January to August 2006. Later, an original video animation (OVA) episode titled Shakugan no Shana SP, which takes place after the events of episode 13, was released on December 8, 2006.
An anime film based on the first novel that was released in Japanese theaters on April 21, 2007, as one of three films released at Dengeki Bunko's Movie Festival. The staff who produced the anime series returned to produce the film. The version shown in theaters was 65 minutes in length. Those who saw the film in theaters could buy a short book titled Shakugan no Shana M containing two short stories written by Takahashi published by ASCII Media Works under the imprint Dengeki Gekijō Bunko. The film was released on DVD in Japan on September 21, 2007, in regular and special editions, which featured the full length 90-minute director's cut version. It was later released on Blu-ray Disc (BD) in Japan on July 27, 2011.
Shana production staff would again return to produce two additional TV series and an OVA series. The 24-episode second season, titled , aired between October 5, 2007, and March 28, 2008, on MBS. The series was later released by Geneon to eight DVD compilation volumes from January to August 2008. A four-episode OVA series titled Shakugan no Shana S was released on BD/DVD from October 23, 2009, to September 29, 2010. The 24-episode third season, titled , aired between October 8, 2011, and March 24, 2012, on Tokyo MX. The series was released by Geneon on eight BD/DVD compilation volumes from December 2011 to July 2012.
Geneon licensed the first TV series for North American distribution, but after Geneon withdrew from the North American market, Funimation Entertainment took up the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution rights, though Geneon still retained the license. A DVD box set was released by Funimation in September 2008, and was re-released in September 2009 under Funimation's "Viridian Collection". Funimation later re-licensed the first series and re-released it in a BD/DVD combo pack on August 21, 2012. The series made its North American television debut on September 10, 2012, on the Funimation Channel. The first season and its accompanying OVA were also licensed by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand, and by MVM Films in the United Kingdom. Funimation later licensed the film, the second and third TV series, and the OVA series for release in North America, with a different English dub cast compared to the first anime season.
Audio CDs For the first Shakugan no Shana anime series, four theme song singles were released for two opening and two ending themes. The first opening theme by Mami Kawada was released in November 2005, and the second opening theme "Being" by Kotoko was released in March 2006. The first ending theme by Yoko Takahashi was released in October 2005, and the second ending theme by Yoko Ishida was released in February 2006. The original soundtrack for the first anime series was released in January 2006. For the Shakugan no Shana film, two theme song singles were released: the ending theme by Love Planet Five—made up of Kotoko, Kawada, Eiko Shimamiya, Mell, and Kaori Utatsuki—was released in April 2007; the insert song by Kawada was released in May 2007. The film's original soundtrack was released in September 2007.