Shakugan no Shana Movie 1

Japanese title: 劇場版 灼眼のシャナ

Some info:
1) ANN (not very much here)
2) Wiki (info about the series itself rather than the movie)
3) Official Site

One of the most highly anticipated Japanese Animated movies of the year, and it’s finally out!! It’s not really a standalone movie, but rather it’s some kind of “refresher” before viewers move on to Season 2 of Shakugan no Shana, which is currently airing.

But of course, it’s not just a summary of events of an arc in season 1. There are some additions and changes here and there, and to be honest, I can’t really recall all the details exactly. I think Margery (or however you spell it) did not team up with Shana at this stage, but the combination (fighting scenes. Woo…) is rather nice, though Shana still gets most of the action and screen time.

For those who haven’t watched season 1, you’ll probably be kinda lost, or getting a weird feeling about the movie since the latter doesn’t really go through things in gross details like the original series did. After all, the series had much more air time to allow for such things. But oh well, I think it’s still quite all right if people want to find out more about the “background” before moving on to Season 2 (not sure if it’s directly related, havent started watching).

Many parts of this 1.5 hour movie seem to have undergone some kind of touching up as compared to season 1, or at least I find it so this time round. The graphics appear to be clearer and more shiok, which I’m sure no one will complain about. Nothing much to say about the voice cast, probably the same group of people who did the original series, or at least I didn’t find something very out of place.

Overall, it’s quite nice as a “preparation” for Season 2. Even the timing of its DVD release is so timely (er, sounds weird, but oh well). Fans of Shana should take a look at this one, or rather I believe almost all of them have already done so (sorry for slow reviews =P). Those who want to start on the Shana stuff, I would recommend that you start from the original series if you have the time and resources to do so.