Yuji Sakai, a high school student, expected his very normal life to last forever. However, this expectation is quickly shattered one day while on his way home.
The world suddenly freezes in time, leaving Yuji to watch in horror as blue flames engulf the people around him. Soon a monster resembling a large doll appears and begins sucking the flames into its mouth, until it notices Yuji. Surprised with Yuji's insusceptibility to the time-stop, it jumps with glee.
Just as the monster prepares to consume Yuji, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes and hair that burns like embers appears, swiftly and confidently destroys the monster, before noticing Yuji moving freely. The girl calls herself a "Flame Haze" who hunts the "Denizens of the Crimson Realm" and the "Rinne" they send to do their bidding. When Yuji notices a blue flame in his chest, the Flame Haze tells him that the "real" Yuji died some time ago, and that he is a "Torch", a temporary replacement for erased humans. Torches take on the forms of those erased persons, but after a period of time, they will vanish from existence and the memories of the living. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the strange girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. Expecting Yuji to slowly fade away like all other Torches do, Shana is surprised to find that Yuji is not a normal Torch, but instead a special kind called a "Mystes": he has a treasure inside him, known as a "Hougu", a device possessing special abilities of sorts, and an extremely powerful and valuable one at that. Shana resolves to protect Yuji from the Denizens, who would use the treasure to disrupt the balance of the world, and Yuji decides to join Shana in her fight.
Shana's fight is actually a long-standing struggle between the Lords and Denizens of the Crimson Realm. The Denizens steal Power of Existence, the energy that forms the basis of the world, from living people and utilize it for their own selfish ambitions. Lords are the mortal enemies of Denizens, and utilize Flame Hazes to attempt to retain balance. Thus, the Flame Hazes create Torches in the image of the dead in order to relieve the strain on reality resulting from the actions of the Denizens.
During their time together both Shana and Yuji begin to realize that their affection for each other is more than just friends. During Shana's numerous battles with the Flame Haze she has come to realize that whenever Yuji is close and cares about her, her powers increase, thus awakening the Flame inside her.
Manga
The first manga, by manga creator Ayato Sasakura, is currently serialized in the monthly Dengeki Daioh, which started on February 1, 2005, published by MediaWorks. The first bound volume hit shelves October 27, 2005. At Comic-Con 2006, it was announced that VIZ Media licensed the manga for the US market. VIZ released the first volume of the manga on April 17, 2007.
The second manga under the title Shakugan no Shana X Eternal song -Harukanaru Uta-, by Shii Kiya, is based on the events of the tenth novel and will begin serialization in Dengeki Kuro Maoh on September 19, 2007, published by MediaWorks.
ANime
An anime version of Shakugan no Shana, directed by Takashi Watanabe, was aired in Japan between October 6, 2005 and March 23, 2006 containing twenty-four episodes.The anime was produced by the Japanese animation studio J.C.Staff. The series has been licensed for North American distribution by Geneon, and the first DVD of the series was released on September 5, 2006.
In addition to the first season, two mini omake episodes depicting Shana super deformed were released on two separate limited edition DVDs that were bundled with the first and fifth Japanese region 2 DVDs that was on sale on January 25 and May 25, 2006. Both episodes will be included in the sixth English region 1 DVD that will be released on July 3, 2007.A similarly themed episode featuring Hecate was released on a DVD bundled with the "All About Shakugan no Shana" book.Lastly, an Original Video Animation was released on December 8, 2006. The events of the story takes place after the storyline of the first season's thirteenth episode.
A second season, under the title Shakugan no Shana Second (灼眼のシャナⅡ, Shakugan no Shana Second?) has been officially announced on May 30, 2007 to air in Japan starting on October 5, 2007.
