![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_05.15_[2012.01.08_11.30.12]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-wL9qiLuthR8/Twn4jeE-YaI/AAAAAAAAorQ/00Mf6heY09A/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B14%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_05.15_[2012.01.08_11.30.12]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.19_[2012.01.08_11.45.45]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-m9FQq9bk0Yc/Twn4kIwkiEI/AAAAAAAAorg/A3HEnikdndw/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B2%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.19_[2012.01.08_11.45.45]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_21.30_[2012.01.08_11.47.24]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-C5FPlvvzwm8/Twn4laaythI/AAAAAAAAorw/lqU5hAoDd8w/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B20%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_21.30_[2012.01.08_11.47.24]") |
I think JC Staff, realizing that too much time has passed for “Shana” to ever return to its glory days as a commercial success, has pretty well decided to stop worrying and love the bomb. At this point they don’t seem too concerned with anything except throwing as much Shana-porn at the fans as possible per episode, with lots of GAR Shana speeches, epic battles and Shana-Yuji moments.
It’s all pretty entertaining in a breezy sort of way, so I have no major issues with this approach. But I’m sort of getting tired of some elements of the formula, starting with the systematic destruction of one major Crimson Lord after another. This time we we were treated to a battle of supreme badasses between Sabrac and Khamsin, and Sabrac seemed to be dominating even with Wilhelmina and Rebecca helping Khamsin, but as far as I can tell when the SotF appeared he had a sort of orgasm seeing how powerful it was (“It’s so big. It’s sooo big…”) and let himself be vaporized. I have a couple issues with this trend, the first of which is that these Crimson Lords are generally more interesting than their Flame Haze counterparts. As well, there’s an air of predictability and inevitability to events now. The ending of the series is pretty well telegraphed even for an anime-only viewer like me, and it’s just a question of how we’re going to get there.
I guess there’s enough miles on the tires and enough nostalgic affection for me that those problems are irritants rather than insurmountable problems. I do like “Shana” and I do have enough time invested in this enterprise to appreciate the thematic fanservice, and to care about how Shana defeats The SotF and liberates Yuji even if I know it’s coming. There’s a sameness to the way this conflict is going though, and as pumped-up as the last few eps have been that can get monotonous. I hope now that The Snake has fully awakened and entered our world the course of battle will change a little – heck, we’re running out of Crimson Lords to kill off and don’t have enough to allocate one per ep through the finale, even with Bal Masque included. Would it kill them to kill off a Flame Haze or two, just for variety?
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_09.47_[2012.01.08_11.34.44]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fY1uieu9Q7E/Twn4muytgAI/AAAAAAAAosA/jaSf_fxqFz4/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B7%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_09.47_[2012.01.08_11.34.44]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_12.25_[2012.01.08_11.37.33]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iiGexOtqNnI/Twn4nUROLlI/AAAAAAAAosQ/TZDkdTVluHg/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B18%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_12.25_[2012.01.08_11.37.33]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_13.36_[2012.01.08_11.39.02]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-x72lHe0ekA4/Twn4oDM3t_I/AAAAAAAAosg/8zrOYOJMkxg/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B16%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_13.36_[2012.01.08_11.39.02]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_16.08_[2012.01.08_11.41.34]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6CxicodhdQQ/Twn4pNC_BHI/AAAAAAAAosw/id_C8q3dyVE/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B23%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_16.08_[2012.01.08_11.41.34]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.10_[2012.01.08_11.45.36]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kyDzle7rl8Y/Twn4p49PJwI/AAAAAAAAotA/XcsTuXp4oEA/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B10%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.10_[2012.01.08_11.45.36]") |
![[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.53_[2012.01.08_11.46.47]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-vdHYLSmn2vk/Twn4q1t2pcI/AAAAAAAAotQ/s5G1NTAL_n0/s1600-h/Commie-Shakugan-no-Shana-III---13-CA%25255B3%25255D.jpg "[Commie] Shakugan no Shana III - 13 [CA37799C].mkv_snapshot_20.53_[2012.01.08_11.46.47]") |
Karmafan
January 9, 2012 at 12:34 amIsn't the way he died fairly close to how it happened in the original source materials? Also as this is the end of the series I see lots of folks from both sides ending up perished before we get to the end. I see death flags on the horizon for Sophie and some of her closest advisors as well.
Anonymous
January 9, 2012 at 3:10 am"The ending of the series is pretty well telegraphed even for an anime-only viewer like me, and it’s just a question of how we’re going to get there."
Man, that made my day. I don't want to spoiler, but let's just say that I very much doubt you can predict what's going to happen.
admin
January 9, 2012 at 5:14 amWe'll see…
elior
January 9, 2012 at 7:58 amenzo if by crismon denizen death you mean to sabrac in this episode then i have to say you somthing about his death. Sabrac was not defeated.Long ago there was a woman he fell in love with but she went away from him because of envy, something that he couldn't understand as he never felt it.
When Sabrac saw the Snake of the festival he felt these emotion for the very first time. He understood fear and he also understood jealously.
He knows the reason why his beloved went away from him and he aknowledge it. This jealously make him unable to stay with and serve the Snake of the festival the same way the woman he loved was unable of staying with him.
Sabrac is a very old denizen, the sole reason he was still living was to get answer to his most important question: Why did she leave me?
To him living is torture, the only reason he was bearing with it was to get the answer to his question.
At the moment Sabrac wasn't thinking about killing anyone, to him the whole meaning of his life was fullfiled and doing anything else would be meaningless to him.Once he understood why, he chosed to end his life.hope this helped you enzo
admin
January 9, 2012 at 8:25 amThanks elior. I pretty much knew that, but it still amounts to a fairly tepid way for a character like that to go out, IMO.
I stand by my views in these respects… The crimson denizens are generally more interesting than the flame haze. And every episode for the last month has pretty much amounted to one major C.D. getting waxed, in increasing order of the C.D.'s strength. It's getting a bit monotonous, that's all – I'm totally ready for some major characters on the other side to meet the same fate.
elior
January 9, 2012 at 11:57 pmdont worry enzo some of the flame hazes will meet the same fate now that the snake of the festival is finally outside
deafvader
January 10, 2012 at 1:41 amAnyone care to explain why Yuuji's hair changed back after getting a wound on his forehead?
Sophie having death flags: i agree. she tried to shoot down the gate with Shana in it. Definitely a death flag.
elior
January 10, 2012 at 12:41 pmi wish the snake of the festival will kill her but it probably wont happen and other flame hazes will die by him