Imagine if you will a world like our own, and yet unlike it, a parallel world known as the Crimson World, peopled by the Crimson Denizens, who slip in and out of our earthly shadows in order to feed from us, drawing upon our Power of Existence – the essence of life itself.  A person who has been drained of his Power does not simply die, he no longer exists, and all memory of him is erased as if he never was, including anything that person ever did.  Such an act, especially if carried out on a large scale, produces distortions in the order of things.  The more people that are devoured, the greater the distortion.  In order to maintain some balance between the worlds,  and because it affects their world as well, the Crimson Lords – masters of that other world – monitor the depletion, and when the balance begins to shift, they take action, by hunting down and destroying those greedy Denizens who would cause an imbalance .   They do this by forming a contract with a human; this human attains superhuman abilities, but at a high price – the cost is that they must give up the life they know and become solely fixated on hunting down the Crimson Denizens.  These humans are known as Flame Hazes.

Yuji Sakai thought that he was a normal high school student, with a normal life – until the day the world froze around him and he found himself being accosted by a giant doll-shaped monster!  Just when he thought he was doomed, he was rescued by a strange girl with flaming hair and burning eyes and a large sword.  She explained to Yuji that he was a torch – a replacement human for one that had been devoured a long time ago, and that his time was limited to the strength of the torch – when it dies out, he will cease to exist.  The girl was surprised to discover that Yuji was no ordinary torch; in fact he is a mistes – which means that he possesses a special treasure inside of him, giving him some great ability, making him a valuable commodity, one which the Denizens would love to get their hands on.  The girl vows to protect him from the Denizens, and he decides to cast his fate with her, and fight with her, even though fighting is not exactly his forte.  He decides to call her Shana, after the sword that she carries.  And thus we begin Shakugan no Shana.

Highlights

As volume 5 of Shakugan no Shana begins, Shana is locked in a life or death battle with the new Flame Haze in town – a buxom blonde named Majorie Daw!  While Yuji is engaged in a most interesting conversation with a most unusual Scarlet Denizen – Lamies, the Corpse Collector.  Yuji is concerned that Shana is not giving the fight her all, as if something id distracting her, and he is concerned about her. Lamies asks Yuji who Shana's contractor is, and he is startled to learn that it is none other than Alastor, the Flame of Heavens (she wears him in a pendant about her neck). Lamies mulls this information over and gives Yuji a message for Shana and Alastor – he is going to stay in this city for a while.  A despondent Yuji is not sure if he will see Shana again – if she will want to even see him.  He feels as if he is useless.  Lamies offers the boy some advice, which sets him to thinking, giving him much food for thought. Before he goes, Lamies wakens Yoshida, who is blissfully unaware of what has happened.  Yuji escorts her home, and she thanks him for a lovely day – he asks if she would mind if he asks her out again, which makes her day, of course. In the meantime,  Shana's battle is not going well, and she barely escapes….

Yuji returns home, his thoughts filled with concern for Shana, and what has become of her.  When he hears Alastor's voice, he knows she has returned, and finds her in the backyard. Shana is in a bad way, and accuses Yuji of being the reason for her loss. Remembering Lamies' words – not to think of her as someone special – Yuji pulls her into his arms protectively, as he begins to realize just how much he does care about her, and how dear she is to him.  Sobbing against him, she pleads with him to become stronger, for her, and he vows to do just that!  And their relationship has just been kicked up another notch!  In the meantime, Marjorie Daw, and her grimoire Marco, have retreated to the house of Yuji's friend Saku – Saku and Tanaka having become her interested followers.  Availing herself of Saku's parents' liquor supply, the blonde gets sloppily drunk, and while she is passed out (first warning the boys not to try anything with her!), Marco reveals some of her past to the boys – to Marjorie's indignation. Yuji and Shana return to school the next day, and it is obvious that their relationship has not only healed, but grown stronger – to Yoshida's chagrin!  But she grits her teeth and determines to try harder.  While Marjorie Daw is determined to locate the Corpse Collector, using the unrestricted method, and she warns the boys that they shall not fail!

Overall

By this volume, I feel as if I am finally beginning to get a handle on the characters and their situations, and I learn more about them than in the previous four volumes.  This is helped by the inclusion of a light novelette, after the main manga – Shakugan no Shana: Zoetrope – which is told in both text and manga, the text reading right to left, as the manga does, which isn't that difficult to get used to.  It's a backstory about Shana that not only sheds a great deal of light on the girl, and her life prior to meeting with Yuji, but helped me gain an understanding of the Crimson World, the Power of Existence, and torches.  This volume has action, but it has depth too, as the characters come to grips with their changing feelings, especially Yuji.  He realizes that as a torch his time is limited, but he is at peace with that, and his only desire is to spend what remaining time he has helping Shana.  The only real complaint I have about this manga is that when you least expect it, you get fanservice, which just isn't my thing, not being prone to looking at pictures of naked babes.  But I suppose it's someone's, so I won't stop reading it just because of that.  This is for older teens, though, primarily for that reason, as well as some of the violence.  I find the basis of the manga unique, and I am curious to see how it works out for everyone – it is a combination of action/sci fi/teen romance which should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers.  I suggest you give it a try, and see if you don't get caught up in their battle as well.

Comicsonline gives Shakugan no Shana, volume 5, 3.5 out of 5 loaves of melon bread.

This volume is now available at Amazon!