Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 24: What Must Be Protected ]

Like the first season’s finale, this one was pretty exciting. All of the action was a pleasure to the eyes and then some. Still, I felt some things could have been done better. The pacing seemed to be slightly rushed in various areas of the episode, particularly in the fights involving Wilhelmina, Shana, Hecate and Sydonay. If this scheme had taken place in, say, episode 21 or 22, I think things would have flowed much better. Even Margery was screwed in terms of battle time and spent most of the finale unable to move because she was getting healed. At least she was able to contribute by casting a Fuzetsu to help slow down Bal Masque’s plans.

Speaking of which even though the plans failed, Bel Peol doesn’t seem to be bothered at all. She’s one awesome woman to be able to keep so cool under those circumstances but I feel that she has a much larger plan on her finger tips and this was something that doesn’t even come close to messing those up. I found it funny though that the Silver went down because of Konoe’s memories of bird-watching. Poor Hecate. She didn’t understand what happened and even cried unexpectedly. Tracking back a bit, I really loved seeing Wilhelmina fight. I particularly loved when she revealed her flaming bandage sword. That looked so awesome! Also, she looked pretty sexy when she was charging up her bandage drill.

Anyway, at the end of the day…er…night, Yuuji manages to reclaim the Reiji Maigo and everything goes back to normal. Everyone is enjoying their night and we get to see Shana, Kazumi, and Yuuji continuing the ‘battle’ they were conducting prior to Bal Masque crashing the party. Given Shana’s reaction at the very end of the episode, I’m pretty sure Yuuji chose her. What a pity.

[ Final Thoughts ]

The second season of Shana was yet another enjoyable ride for me. While I could have done without some of the earlier episodes, in the end they served their purpose of setting up emotional problems between Shana, Kazumi, and Yuuji and forced each of them to reevaluate their views on their feelings and each other. Konoe also played a small role in the final episodes of being the “mind” of Bal Masque’s super Tomogara. This season is able to do what it did though thanks to having solid groundwork from the first season to build on. So to get the maximum enjoyment out of Shana Second, watching the first is a must.

If you were to ask me when this season really started to shine I will instantly reply that it began at the start of Margery’s flashback arc. There was some awesome stuff in there and also provided much needed background on her character that was practically begging for since the first season. Though I still feel bummed that she didn’t do much aside from getting drunk and doing stealth and recon roles.

Yuuji’s improvement was also a major highlight of the season. Seeing him finally stand up from behind Shana and take the initiative in fighting was admirable and really added some respect points to his overall character. Pheles’ character was one I instantly fell for and she was integrated into the plot rather well. I must say though that I was hoping she’d make an appearance in the final episodes. I think it goes without saying that Wilhelmina is officially the MVP of the second season. She kicked ass through and through, especially in the Sabrac fight and really upped her sexy appeal in various scenes and snapshots throughout the series.

Overall, Shana Second has been a great series and an even better sequel. The ending wasn’t anything spectacular but it was quite satisfying. The production values were high throughout the series as well and, according to my memory, didn’t dip to low levels even once. The soundtrack was wonderfully composed and it great to hear some of the old tunes again. The OPs/EDs this season were really good as I had expected but I found myself liking KOTOKO’s being in the first season more than this season’s BLAZE. Despite its flaws, Shana is one of the few shows that I can sit back and enjoy without having to worry about story progress because no matter how slow it starts up, once things get into gear the real ride begins and my favorite characters are all given the exposure and development that they need. I’m definitely looking forward to a third season and having more of the lovely Wilhelmina, Margery, Pheles, and Hecate (I’ll throw in Shana and Yuuji just so they won’t be left out :P).

[Overall series review: 90/100]