It is a performances centric movie

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

One fateful day protagonist Yuji Sakai's life changes in a way he couldn't imagine: as he walks through town everybody around him suddenly freezes and monsters attack! Just as it looks as though one will kill him a girl with flame-red hair appears and slays the creature with a sword. Everything then unfreezes but nothing is the same. Yuki sees blue flames burning inside those around him and himself… the girl explains that this is because they are all dead and once the flame burns out they will die and be forgotten! Yuji isn't like the others though; unbeknownst to him or the girl he possesses the treasure known as the "Midnight Lost Child" which resets his flame at midnight. The girl tells him that she is a 'flame haze' it is her job to defeat those from another dimension who's activities destabilise Earth; she has no name so Yuji dubs her Shana after the name of her sword.Over the course of the series they grow closer together and battle several foes; each story taking a few episodes. As well as introducing more villains more Flame Hazes arrive and not all of them think Yuji should be allowed to continue to live! This was an enjoyable series; with likable characters and plenty of exciting moments… even if the knowledge that there are further series made it unlikely that either of our two protagonists would die. Yuji and Shana's relationship develops nicely over the course of the series and new characters are introduced gradually so one doesn't have to spend the opening episodes trying to remember who is who! There is a fair amount of action although none of it is overly gory. The only thing likely to offend some viewers is a pair of villainous young siblings whose relationship is a bit too close for a brother and sister! The characters are nicely designed and the animation is pretty good.If you are watching the series on DVD be sure to watch the 'Naze nani Shana' and 'Shana Tan' shorts; the first explains some details of the story and the latter just provides a few laughs.These comments are based on watching the series in English with Japanese subtitles.

Shakugan no shana, also called Shana of the burning eyes, is basically the story of Sakai Yuuji, a normal high school boy who discovers he is dead and that he is in fact a torch after being attacked by a monster and saved by Shana, a young girl of red hear and burning eyes who calls herself as Flame Haze.(you will be explained what a torch and flame haze is when you watch it). Shana and yuuji become.. how should I say it??.. companions/friends/lovers, and fight these monsters to save the city.It is a really light series, no gore or anything like that. I found the openings superb but I have seen better animations and I got bored during a couple of chapters. HOWEVER, Its just so fulfilling and you feel so so so great when you watch it that it deserves a 9! There a very few series that have made me feel so happy.. I really don't know how to explain it, it has this romantic feeling(like kanon 2006) that makes you very fond of Shana. You just end up loving her.In my opinion: one of the best pieces of animation I've seenI really recommend this to everyone, It is very good!! In fact, it is so good that I don't know if I should watch Shakugan no Shana Second (I'm afraid I could get disappointed because it is really hard to beat the first one). Update: I finished the second one, ITS JUST AS GOOD