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Shakugan no Shana Novel #1
灼眼のシャナ [Shakugan no Shana]
Invaders from the Crimson Realm have come to Earth looking for something called the Power of Existence. Whoever possesses this profound power will control the very quintessence of reality. To the rescue comes an enigmatic young girl with fire in her eyes. She may be cute and petite, but she's endowed with enough preternatural strength to save the entire universe. Plus, she's got a really big sword!.
293 pages, Paperback Bunko
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 26, 2021
As many light novels do, Shakugan no Shana started out promisingly. While walking along on his habitual route to or from school, Yuji Sakai witnesses a magical battle between some monsters and a girl with flame-red hair. Unfortunately, he is killed as a side effect of the conflict, and becomes a revenant with a glow that marks him as a "Torch."* He's also the receptacle for a magical object called a "treasure tool."*
The flame-haired girl--later called Shana--ends up taking up the identity of a girl in Yuji's school whose torchlight burned out, in order to protect Yuji and the artifact within him. Friagne, a powerful sorcerer, is seeking artifacts like the one Yuji possesses, so he can attain the Power of Existence.* (I think. I never was able to figure out exactly what purpose these people were aiming toward by fighting each other.) Let the magical battles commence!
In the first half of the book, questions of mortality gave Yuji's situation a tinge of pathos. As a Torch, the light within him will burn out eventually, and the world will forget he ever existed. Shana's situation has some pathos as well. She was a living girl until she became a "Flame Haze,"* and until Yuji gives her a name (more on this in a bit), she doesn't even have one. Who was she before she became "Shana"? How did her existence become one of unrelenting battle?
* there's a lot of this kind of terminology in the book, much of it Capitalized. this scaffolding can safely be ignored, imo.
Unfortunately, none of these questions are addressed in this book. As happens with many light novels, an intriguing premise gives way to the most tiresome tropes imaginable, especially when it comes to the relationship between Yuji and Shana. Prepare yourself for:
The male lead busting in on the heroine, totally by accident, really, while she's changing!™
"It isn't like you're my type!"™
(Dear heavens I hate this one so much.)
"How'd she get in my bed? Oh, she's so warm ♥"™
And then there's this whole thing towards the end of the book where Yuji ponders how he's changed Shana and how that might affect her ability to fight. At first he seemed like a sympathetic character, and I was excited about reading a light novel for boys that wasn't full of sexist garbage like tallying girls' breast sizes.
But in the end, it added up to sexism anyway. Yuji is the sole driver of the story, and Shana objectified, and gradually stripped of autonomy or change--or anything, really--that comes from within herself and not solely from her story role or her interactions with Yuji. She doesn't even get to choose her own name.
Less than twenty pages from the end, we get this from Alastor, the Lord who Shana is contracted to (part of the lore, don't worry about it): This is fascinating. But also too little, too late, in my opinion. And then Yuji turns out to be a Torch , and... good grief... way to nullify one of the more interesting aspects of the book!
This is probably just my current mentality speaking, since I've had a rocky relationship with other media recently, but this book was discouraging to read. There were great opportunities here that, in my opinion, were squandered in favor of the same old, same old. Shakugan no Shana was so disappointing that I was tempted to give up on reading light novels entirely, for a moment there.
Nah. Giving up is for chumps. I'll find the elusive four- or five-star light novel eventually. Maybe. Or maybe not, but it won't be for lack of trying. My Next Life as a Villainess came really close, actually. It's too bad its translation wasn't up to scratch.
I bought the second one of these in the enthusiasm I felt during its first half, but suspect that this series will be "one and done" like the other two-star light novels I've read. Since nothing beyond the second volume was officially translated into English, my time with it will be short either way.
The flame-haired girl--later called Shana--ends up taking up the identity of a girl in Yuji's school whose torchlight burned out, in order to protect Yuji and the artifact within him. Friagne, a powerful sorcerer, is seeking artifacts like the one Yuji possesses, so he can attain the Power of Existence.* (I think. I never was able to figure out exactly what purpose these people were aiming toward by fighting each other.) Let the magical battles commence!
In the first half of the book, questions of mortality gave Yuji's situation a tinge of pathos. As a Torch, the light within him will burn out eventually, and the world will forget he ever existed. Shana's situation has some pathos as well. She was a living girl until she became a "Flame Haze,"* and until Yuji gives her a name (more on this in a bit), she doesn't even have one. Who was she before she became "Shana"? How did her existence become one of unrelenting battle?
* there's a lot of this kind of terminology in the book, much of it Capitalized. this scaffolding can safely be ignored, imo.
Unfortunately, none of these questions are addressed in this book. As happens with many light novels, an intriguing premise gives way to the most tiresome tropes imaginable, especially when it comes to the relationship between Yuji and Shana. Prepare yourself for:
The male lead busting in on the heroine, totally by accident, really, while she's changing!™
"It isn't like you're my type!"™
(Dear heavens I hate this one so much.)
"How'd she get in my bed? Oh, she's so warm ♥"™
And then there's this whole thing towards the end of the book where Yuji ponders how he's changed Shana and how that might affect her ability to fight. At first he seemed like a sympathetic character, and I was excited about reading a light novel for boys that wasn't full of sexist garbage like tallying girls' breast sizes.
But in the end, it added up to sexism anyway. Yuji is the sole driver of the story, and Shana objectified, and gradually stripped of autonomy or change--or anything, really--that comes from within herself and not solely from her story role or her interactions with Yuji. She doesn't even get to choose her own name.
Less than twenty pages from the end, we get this from Alastor, the Lord who Shana is contracted to (part of the lore, don't worry about it): This is fascinating. But also too little, too late, in my opinion. And then Yuji turns out to be a Torch , and... good grief... way to nullify one of the more interesting aspects of the book!
This is probably just my current mentality speaking, since I've had a rocky relationship with other media recently, but this book was discouraging to read. There were great opportunities here that, in my opinion, were squandered in favor of the same old, same old. Shakugan no Shana was so disappointing that I was tempted to give up on reading light novels entirely, for a moment there.
Nah. Giving up is for chumps. I'll find the elusive four- or five-star light novel eventually. Maybe. Or maybe not, but it won't be for lack of trying. My Next Life as a Villainess came really close, actually. It's too bad its translation wasn't up to scratch.
I bought the second one of these in the enthusiasm I felt during its first half, but suspect that this series will be "one and done" like the other two-star light novels I've read. Since nothing beyond the second volume was officially translated into English, my time with it will be short either way.
July 13, 2012
This is an amazing book. I seriously want the whole series if it wasn't that expensive. This isn't just any novel. Its a sensation in Japan. The plot is thick, the characters are wonderful, there are sad, happy, funny, angry moments in this book. All of these genres mixed together makes a perfect anime, manga, or even novel. Romance, Comedy, Supernatural/Fantasy/Magic. If there are amazing illustrations then its the best anime with all those. This is my favorite Novel series, Anime, Or Manga. Im sure every gender should enjoy this.
~Sidenote: I got this for my Bday as well! Just yesterday!
~Sidenote: I got this for my Bday as well! Just yesterday!
July 11, 2021
I have fond memories of the anime adaptation, which came out around the time I started watching anime in general.
I never really understood exactly how the supernatural/magic element in the series works, though, and this translation of the light novel doesn't make it any easier. There's a lot of Key Phrases With Capital Letters (like Flame Haze), and sometimes one sentence will have multiple capitalised phrases in a row and I'm like?? How am I supposed to understand a sentence like: "This Weaver of Coffin put a device called the Thread of Key into the Torch that replaced a human he had recently devoured". I still have no clue what this means. So I just started skipping over these "explanations" and focusing on other parts of the story.
I do like the relationship between Yuji and Shana. Sure, she can be a walking tsundere cliché and he's kind of a wet blanket/Gary Stu - and we all knew from the start that they were going to end up liking each other; but I enjoyed reading their inner thoughts and watching their first love blossom.
I'm glad I watched the anime before reading the book, because I would have been completely lost without some audio/visual context.
I never really understood exactly how the supernatural/magic element in the series works, though, and this translation of the light novel doesn't make it any easier. There's a lot of Key Phrases With Capital Letters (like Flame Haze), and sometimes one sentence will have multiple capitalised phrases in a row and I'm like?? How am I supposed to understand a sentence like: "This Weaver of Coffin put a device called the Thread of Key into the Torch that replaced a human he had recently devoured". I still have no clue what this means. So I just started skipping over these "explanations" and focusing on other parts of the story.
I do like the relationship between Yuji and Shana. Sure, she can be a walking tsundere cliché and he's kind of a wet blanket/Gary Stu - and we all knew from the start that they were going to end up liking each other; but I enjoyed reading their inner thoughts and watching their first love blossom.
I'm glad I watched the anime before reading the book, because I would have been completely lost without some audio/visual context.
December 13, 2024
3.7⭐️ It was hard to understand the world-building and monsters, but I couldn't put it down for some reason. I'm glad it's a book; if it were an anime, I don't think I would have liked it because there would have been too much action scenes. It's sad that only the first two books were published in English, so I won't get to see the romance progress.
February 12, 2008
As the first book in the series, The Girl With Fire In Her Eyes introduces us to the important details we need to remember from here on in. Fortunately, this book is a lot more than just an introduction. It presents us with a solid story that stands just as well on its own as it does as the beginning of a series.
The title character is a Flame Haze, a hunter of Tomogara. Tomogara, beings who cross into our dimension from another and consume peoples' Power of Existence, causing them to disappear from existence entirely, disrupt the balance of the world through their actions. Flame Haze seek to keep the world in balance. Every Flazme Haze is contracted by a King of Guze, who inhabits the Flame Haze's body and communicates with them through a specific item of the Flame Haze's choosing. Our Flame Haze is the contractor of Alastor, Flame of Heaven, who speaks through a pendant she wears around her neck. Because she has no name, she is given the name "Shana" after her special sword, the Nietono No Shana.
The one who gives her this name is Sakai Yuji. Yuji began his school day as if it were any other, but a fateful encounter with a Rinne (a servant of a Tomogara) and Shana herself opened his eyes to what happens in the world around us, without any of us even being aware of it.
He then learns he is actually dead.
What follows is a charming story of Yuji's attempts to cope with the reality of his existence as a Torch (a being put in place of a person whose existence was consumed) and his attempts to make friends with Shana, who is not used to interacting with other people. Shana initially elects to stay close to Yuji because of a special item concealed inside his form that is the target of a very powerful Tomogara named Friagne the Hunter, who has a plan to turn an animated doll in his service, Marian, into a fully existing, living entity. However, the more time she spends with Yuji, the more Shana comes to find herself warming up to him and treating him less like a mere Torch and more like a person.
The English translation of this story is well-handled (there are a couple of minor punctuation errors, but nothing more), and the book is pleasant to read and easy to follow. Illustrator Noizi Ito (also responsible for the illustrations in the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels) provides attractive, well-drawn characters to accompany the text (most are in black and white, though a few color illustrations are presented in the front of the book). Character development is mostly reserved for the main characters, but enough is provided to keep us from wondering who in the world is speaking during busier segments.
Fans of light novels and manga will find a lot to appreciate here.
The title character is a Flame Haze, a hunter of Tomogara. Tomogara, beings who cross into our dimension from another and consume peoples' Power of Existence, causing them to disappear from existence entirely, disrupt the balance of the world through their actions. Flame Haze seek to keep the world in balance. Every Flazme Haze is contracted by a King of Guze, who inhabits the Flame Haze's body and communicates with them through a specific item of the Flame Haze's choosing. Our Flame Haze is the contractor of Alastor, Flame of Heaven, who speaks through a pendant she wears around her neck. Because she has no name, she is given the name "Shana" after her special sword, the Nietono No Shana.
The one who gives her this name is Sakai Yuji. Yuji began his school day as if it were any other, but a fateful encounter with a Rinne (a servant of a Tomogara) and Shana herself opened his eyes to what happens in the world around us, without any of us even being aware of it.
He then learns he is actually dead.
What follows is a charming story of Yuji's attempts to cope with the reality of his existence as a Torch (a being put in place of a person whose existence was consumed) and his attempts to make friends with Shana, who is not used to interacting with other people. Shana initially elects to stay close to Yuji because of a special item concealed inside his form that is the target of a very powerful Tomogara named Friagne the Hunter, who has a plan to turn an animated doll in his service, Marian, into a fully existing, living entity. However, the more time she spends with Yuji, the more Shana comes to find herself warming up to him and treating him less like a mere Torch and more like a person.
The English translation of this story is well-handled (there are a couple of minor punctuation errors, but nothing more), and the book is pleasant to read and easy to follow. Illustrator Noizi Ito (also responsible for the illustrations in the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels) provides attractive, well-drawn characters to accompany the text (most are in black and white, though a few color illustrations are presented in the front of the book). Character development is mostly reserved for the main characters, but enough is provided to keep us from wondering who in the world is speaking during busier segments.
Fans of light novels and manga will find a lot to appreciate here.
November 29, 2008
Invaders from the Crimson Realm have come to Earth looking for something called the Power of Existence. Whoever possesses this profound power will control the very quintessence of reality. To the rescue comes an enigmatic young girl with fire in her eyes. She may be cute and petite, but she's endowed with enough preternatural strength to save the entire universe. Plus, she's got a really big sword!
Basically, in this volume, it explains to you everything you need to know before it gets onto the actual story. Like, 'What is the Torch inside Yuji' and 'What is a Crimson Denizen.' In this volume since it's just beginning, Yuji and Shana hate each other. But, as time goes by, the warm up to each other.
Meanwhile, Friagne shows up, with his precious Marianne. At the end, he just gets killed by Shana, the flame haze.
Basically, in this volume, it explains to you everything you need to know before it gets onto the actual story. Like, 'What is the Torch inside Yuji' and 'What is a Crimson Denizen.' In this volume since it's just beginning, Yuji and Shana hate each other. But, as time goes by, the warm up to each other.
Meanwhile, Friagne shows up, with his precious Marianne. At the end, he just gets killed by Shana, the flame haze.
July 24, 2013
Yuji Sakai was just your normal, everyday boy in high school and thought he always would go about life peacefully and quietly, until one fateful day in the end of April, when two invaders from the Crimson Realm come to Earth looking for the Power of Existence, a power that whomever possesses it may control the world and reality. Followed by these invaders comes the girl with fire in her eyes, a Flame Haze sent from the very same realm to hunt down these invaders when they wreak havoc. Yuji's entire reality has been shattered and the only real thing he can hold onto now is the fact that nothing will ever be the same, and Shana's cold, straightforward personality.
Want to read
April 16, 2013This is a good book, and I would love to read it again, and so on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2013
Honestly, there are translations on Baka Tsuki made by Singaporeans working from Chinese fan translations that are better than this.
Want to read
July 23, 2018The book totally incredible ,I really have an impression when I read it in the first time and there are also anime movies to watch .
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews