Well, I’m a few days behind on my planned post, but I plead celebration, food, and the construction of several bookshelves. I am, however, here at last, and the delay has allowed me to watch nine episodes of Shakugan no Shana. I realize that, once again, I’m quite behind, as the second series is airing right now, but cut me some slack here. I wasn’t really watching anime when this series aired, so I’ve gotten around to it in good time, I think.

Anyway, if you don’t recall, the ninth episode features a mind-cleansing trip to the newly-opened pool for all the main characters introduced so far. It’s actually quite a good spot to have stopped before making a post, as we’ve gotten through the growing pains of the show — not in the sense of a show figuring itself out, but rather that Sakai and Shana had to figure things out, in the new situation the show has created. Shana doesn’t even appear to be a monster-of-the-week show, but it could have done. The first episode has that seed (Jewel Seed! Get it, damn you?), in that the monster is basically nameless — but, of course, it’s being controlled by the crazy doll lady. I’m afraid I have only one screencap for you, as I’m not precisely sure what I would do with them. It’s easier for me to examine comedy in a visual manner, and while Shana has a good deal of humor, few places in most of the episodes struck me as needing capping.

This fellow is not Hitler, despite what you might think. He is, in fact, one of the schoolteachers. Shana goes on a rampage once she enters the school, taking all the teachers to task for different problems she sees. One wonders if the animators knew this teacher looked like Hitler. There are two options here: they did or did not know. Each carries with it a strange sort of worry.

Also, we must all wonder how long it will be until I shout “urusai urusai urusai” at an unsuspecting friend. Not long, I ween.

In all seriousness, Shana seems well-plotted, tightly reined, and even the filler episode worked perfectly in the scheme of things (we won’t discuss the convenience of nothing happening to interrupt their pool adventure, in the manner of an episodic Sailor Moon type of show — admit it, Shana seems to be happening in the same sort of city, where everything goes wrong for everyone all the time).

Actually, I think I’ll focus more on the pool episode here. Not only will it guarantee I don’t flail about, but it will also illustrate something important about character development.

I’ve always put it this way in discussion: if you want to see if you’ve crafted a good character, ask yourself how s/he would act out on a night of drinking (substitute something else if the character, like Margary, typically goes out drinking). We can, I think, all imagine things about the cast of characters in Shana concerning inebriety, and they would probably be fairly similar. Episodes like this one, where the characters do something out of the ordinary (in terms of plot, not setting), are some of the best ways to push characterization in a serial adventure. My favorite X-Men comics have always been the Christmas and summer issues, which often feature no big action arc (maybe the seeds or remnants of one, but never the fights themselves); instead, the characters usually have a party, often playing baseball in the summer — the only activity that many friendly mutants can do together, though I think the “no mutant powers! Damn it, Bobby!” joke comes up every year. Invariably the last panel is a group photo, rather like the traditional “characters separate at a crossroads” shot anime uses so often, including this episode of Shana.

So, obviously, I’m enjoying this show. In fact, I watched seven episodes in a day, which is pretty impressive for me — I watched Haruhi and Ouran that quickly, but I’ve since calmed down a little, preferring to stage things so I don’t feel too let-down that a series is over. But that’s about all I’ve got for now.

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Listening to: Tenchi cast – Oujo-Sama to Oyobe
via FoxyTunes