Shakugan no Shana III (Final) – Episode 3

So there’s not much to write for this episode. I don’t even have any pictures for it, since I usually use them to emphasize points, but there’s no specific moments I really need to comment on for this episode.

Though I am sorry for this coming out a day later than usual. I wasn’t near a computer pretty much all day yesterday, so I couldn’t write the post even if I wanted to.

As per usual, I looked around the blogosphere for opinions on the episode, as I do each week. I found that a good chunk of people are getting the wrong idea of what the point of this episode was. It’s kind of disappointing, but not much I can do about it.

Boy, this sure is turning into a “respond to other episodics” kind of deal rather than being an actual episodic post each week, huh?

The main meat of this episode was Yuji going around Misaki City and thinking back on major events of the series that happened in those places. Except for about two of them, pretty much all of them were moments from the first season. That’s to be expected, though. A lot of major stuff happened for him right out of the gate, before he could understand or get used to it.

However, don’t mistake this for a recap episode, because it definitely wasn’t. It could serve as one, sure, but that’s missing the entire point of what the episode was really for. It’s a decently common technique in storytelling, and Shana III utilized it quite effectively.

The whole point was to add more insight to Yuji’s character, and also to give himself and the viewer’s image of him closure. People may complain that it’s not needed, but for a moment, imagine if the show had skipped doing this and they were already fighting at this point? Sure, fighting is fun to watch, but it’s shallow if you don’t understand the characters doing it. Remember at the start of the second episode when Sydonay killed that one Flame Haze from Shanghai? I didn’t care when she got killed. Hell, I don’t even remember her name.

By giving more insight into the characters themselves and understanding their motivations and thought processes for why they’re doing what they’re doing, it makes the story more engaging. How people didn’t realize that the point of the episode was to see Yuji’s current thoughts on major points in his life so he could have closure kind of amazes me. It wasn’t too hard to figure out.

And I gotta admit, even though I’m also waiting patiently for the action and explosions as much as anyone else, I really, really liked this episode. I especially liked near the end when he reached the bridge, and remembered how he couldn’t reach the ladder on the side of it when he tried to climb it. Then he just calmly flew up to the first rung and started climbing. Yuji is finally at the point he’s always wanted to be at, and has come to terms with everything. It also helped that the episode had some great background music.

Oh, and there was Yuji finally admitting he was in love with Shana. So there’s that.

Though it wasn’t so much an admission as it was a realization he was able to. He’s always seen Shana as this higher being that he wold never be able to stand on the same level as, but now he’s realized that not only is he on the same ground as her, but that that was never the case to begin with anyways.

So yeah, I really liked this episode. And for everyone who didn’t, keep your pants on. You’re getting what you’ve wanted starting next episode. They’ve finished setting all the pieces of the game up now, so from here on out it’s going to be one wild ride.

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