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, also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The story focuses on Yuji Sakai, a high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in an age-old conflict between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends a fighter for the balancing force and names her "Shana". The series incorporates fantasy and slice of life elements into its tale. Two manga adaptations were published by ASCII Media Works in ''Dengeki Daioh'' and ''Dengeki Maoh''. Between 2005 and 2012, the series was adapted by J.C.Staff into three 24-episode anime television series, a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series, an animated film and an additional stand alone OVA episode. A PlayStation 2 video game was released in March 2006, and it was ported to the Nintendo DS in March 2007. Viz Media licensed the novels and the first manga series for release in North America, but stopped publishing both prematurely. Geneon originally licensed the first television series for release in North America, but the license later transferred to Funimation, who also licensed the remaining anime properties. Critics praised the series for its execution of typical story elements and how it continuously becomes better over time. However, the series is described as having issues with pacing. ==Plot and characters== ''Shakugan no Shana'' details an age-old conflict between those who inhabit the , a parallel universe to the human world. The Crimson Realm is populated by who are able to manipulate the , a fundamental power within any biological entity and functions as "fuel" for one's existence. Denizens whose power stands out among their peers are known as , and Lords that are even more powerful are known as . Denizens who do not care about the balance between the Crimson Realm and the human world collect Power of Existence from humans to use for their own purposes. Some Lords contract with humans to become a , whose duty is to maintain the two worlds' balance by destroying any Denizens disrupting it. Denizens and Flame Haze fight with the use of powerful magic spells called , which are also known as Unrestricted Spells or Unrestricted Methods. One such spell is the , which creates a space where the Crimson Realm and the human world intermingle and all sorts of causalities, including time, are stopped for ordinary living beings. The story largely takes place in Misaki City in Japan and begins when high school student Yuji Sakai is thrown into the middle of this conflict and encounters a Flame Haze girl with flaming red eyes and hair dressed in all black wielding a katana. The girl informs him that he died some time ago, and that he is a , a human with greatly diminished Power of Existence, and whose remaining Power of Existence will slowly run out. In addition, Yuji is a , a special kind of Torch who contains a , a magical object created by Denizens that can provide special abilities or even Powers of Unrestraint; additionally, Mystes can move within Seals. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. They later discover that the Treasure Tool within Yuji is the , which restores his Power of Existence every night at midnight. As time goes on, Shana and Yuji encounter several more Flame Haze, such as Margery Daw and Wilhelmina Carmel, and Denizens in Misaki City. An organization of Denizens called Bal Masqué discovers that Yuji possesses the Reiji Maigo and attempt to use the Treasure Tool on two separate occasions. Bal Masqué is led by three Lords called the Trinity: Hecate, Sydonay, and Bel Peol. They serve under a Crimson God known as the , who resides within Reiji Maigo. When the Snake of the Festival emerges, it merges its consciousness with Yuji's, assuming command over Bal Masqué, and together they formulate an elaborate plan to create a parallel world called Xanadu, which will serve as a paradise for Denizens with unlimited Power of Existence. Shana, and all of the other Flame Haze around the world, oppose the creation of Xanadu, which would eventually cause a large-scale disruption in the human world, the Crimson Realm and Xanadu itself. Shana formulates a countermeasure and is ultimately successful in adding a single law to Xanadu where the Denizens are not allowed to eat humans anymore. With Xanadu created, the Denizens depart to the new world, soon followed by hundreds of Flame Haze determined to help enforce order on it. Yuji intends to go to Xanadu alone and make sure humans and Denizens can eventually learn to coexist, but Shana refuses to be left behind. In the end, Yuji accepts Shana's feelings and the two kiss, which activates a spell left to Yuji by Crimson Lord Lamia that restores his existence, so Yuji is no longer a Torch. With the help of another spell from Lamia, Yuji successfully restores all humans in Misaki City whose existence was absorbed by the Denizens before he and Shana depart for Xanadu together. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shakugan no Shana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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