Blazing Copout

The ending to the Shakugan no Shana anime must have been the biggest copout ending since the Battle Royale novel. However, Battle Royale did not have magic or mysticism to fall back on, and the author could be forgiven for trying to create a happy ending to relieve the mad and gloomy premise that he had created. Since I’m talking about endings, this should obviously be a massive, scorching hot flag that this will be chock full of spoilers.

During the final scene, Shana’s patron Alastor the Heaven’s Flame manifests to drain out the overflow of Existence that the Ball Masque had created. In the transformation, Shana is supposed to irrevocably destroyed and Yuji annihilated with them. She accepts her duty and Yuji follows her willingly.

I admit that I forgot about his ability to defend against the Flame Haze’s ability through the magical ring Azure. So that explains how he survived, but Shana is suddenly able to contain Alastor’s full form and isn’t destroyed.

That ending was the easy way out after the author managed to paint the plot into a corner. I think that there was a plausible or better way to end it all. The key was Hecate, whose power was to link vessels.

Yuji’s contribution to the mess was his insight into the way devices worked. Since Hecate had joined with him, he might have been able to get a gist of how to do it as well. He didn’t need to gain the ability to forcibly invade others, but a little bit of the power would have been enough.

If he had been able to link up with Shana and then use Azure to expel some of the fire, then it would have been a less abrupt ending. Even better, it didn’t use any tools that weren’t available before. Why doesn’t someone write a fanfic of this?

Someone just might.

Complaint #2 is the pointlessness of the grand scheme of the Ball Masque. Megalomania is an old favorite. Maybe to fuse Crimson World to Earth or to fuel a war in the Crimson World so that the Judge of Paradox could conquer the other world.

Sigh, there was so much potential to blast past the sailor suit she-samurai, meido massacre, and the egregious Engrish. Despite all this, Shakugan no Shana still coulda been a contender to the Hardcore Hall of Fame, but copped out in the end. And despite these flaws, it is an enjoyable entry for most otaku.

P.S. After reading the 1st volume of the series again, I realized that this power was revealed after the battle with Friagne. From the perspective of a transfer, it was a delay revealing the power. However, taking the series as is, it looks like a clumsy Deus ex machina.