Shana (Shakugan no Shana)

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

- Shana's notable quote when angry, upset or annoyed.

Shana is the main female protagonist of the light novel and anime series Shakugan no Shana and, for a time, the sole main protagonist. She is a Flame Haze, usually referred to as her title: "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter". She has bound a contract with the Crimson Lord Alastor. One day, she meets a boy named Yuuji Sakai, and the two of them change each other's lives and their views of the world forever.

She is voiced by Rie Kugimiya in the Japanese version of the anime, while in the English version she is voiced by Tabitha St. Germain in season 1 and Cherami Leigh in seasons 2 & 3.

Appearance
Shana is a young-looking girl with jet black hair which is almost as long as her entire body height. She also has dark brown pupils and a fair complexion. Because of the effects of being a Flame Haze, Shana's body age remains like a girl of 13 to 14 years old. Upon invoking her powers as a Flame Haze, her hair and eyes change color to a fiery crimson, with embers fluttering from her head down.

In her first few years as a Flame Haze, she wears an all-black attire consisting of a shirt, pants and her Treasure Tool Yogasa in the form of a trenchcoat. However, after she decided to stay in Misaki City, she is most usually seen with the Misaki City Municipal High School uniform and when in combat, wears the Yogasa as a cape over her clothes.

She is later seen wearing a red-and-black frilly dress on her stay inside the Seireiden.

Personality
"I want to understand Yuuji because of the way I feel. But even more than that. I want to know how he really feels about me. So I'm going to stick close to him until I finally find out."

- Shana to herself

Initially, Shana came off as very cold and uncaring, being concentrated solely on her duties as a Flame Haze. Although she protected humanity from the Crimson Denizens, she did not care for them and was only truly concerned with preserving the balance of the world, even being willing to sacrifice human lives in order to do so. She was shown to be a nihilist, as she saw little to no meaning in even the most basic of things, not even having a name until Yuji gave her one. She insisted that Yūji was only a Torch, albeit an interesting one due to his status as a Mystes, and referred to him as only an object. She also referred to herself as only a Flame Haze. However, her low opinion of Torches was justified due to the fact that all the ones she had met before Yūji were uncompromisingly selfish and desperate to hold on to what little existence they had left. Therefore, she was very surprised and confused when Yuji decided to give up his existence to restore the damage to a classroom, when she had been planning to use the existence of one of his classmates. Her opinion of him changed once and for all when he helped her in the battle against Friagne, in which he lost nearly all of his existence to the point that he would have faded were it not for the Midnight Lost Child. This act of bravery convinced Shana to finally accept Yuji as a person, which was the beginning of her slowly opening up to him and eventually falling in love with him.

When she started training Yuji, Shana was shown to be a very strict teacher, constantly criticizing him for his lack of progress and treating every training session like an actual battle. When Yuji chose to postpone training to help out the school committee, she became convinced that he wasn't taking his training seriously. Soon after, while fighting a Rinne by herself, she grew to realise how much she hated being alone, something she had never realised before due to spending years with only the bodiless Alastor for company, as well as believing that a true Flame Haze doesn't rely on anybody. Once Yuji starts to show signs of progress, her attitude changes and she begins to complement his steady increase in strength.

Even as a child, Shana was very fond of melon bread, and Alastor noted that the times she was eating it was one of the rare times she was in a good mood. She can be borderline fanatical about melon bread at times, often giving Yūji lectures on the best way to eat it and even got disappointed when she found that a shop had added a spice to it, going so far as to say they had no respect for its natural taste. She is described as having a "transcendent sweet tooth" and it soon becomes clear she has a fondness for anything sweet; melon bread is just her favourite. She has also been seen joyfully eating other foods such as ice cream, taiyaki, and berries.

Shana has a funny habit of saying "Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!" ("Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!") whenever Yuji asks her questions or makes remarks that disturb her original worldview or embarrass her, or simply to avoid talking about something. Shana is shown to be highly intelligent as she has gotten a perfect score on every exam without ever having to study and is talented in Physical Education. However, this intelligence initially doesn't apply to her combat, with her preferred method being to just charge in blindly, forcing Yuji to do the strategizing for her. Overtime, she outgrows this style of combat and becomes more careful and strategic about how she approaches things.

Shana is a Tsundere, being deeply in love with Yuji but not being able to admit it and getting very jealous when she sees him with other girls, especially Kazumi and Fumina Konoe- ironically, her jealousy of the latter is what ultimately causes her to become friends with the former. She grew deeply hurt by all the time Yuji was spending with Konoe, to the point of avoiding him as much as possible and leaving his training to Wilhelmina. After getting some advice from Kazumi that she got from Margery, namely that things aren't always what they seem, Shana decides to stick with Yuji until she finds out how he feels about her. As a result, Shana learns to control her jealousy and from then on isn't nearly as bothered by Yuji spending time with other girls as before. She is also very considerate of Kazumi's feelings despite their mutual love for Yuji, which is shown when she chewed out Yūji for bluntly rejecting Kazumi's gift.

A defining trait of Shana's early on is her complete lack of social skills. Wilhelmina, Shiro and Alastor mostly focused on her physical and mental being, forgetting the importance of being socially adept. This was, as Alastor said, one of their mistakes, since they thought that they would just teach her these feelings when she grows up a little more, not realizing that these feelings should be developed, and could not be taught so hastily (Although, Shiro did teach her indirectly that love is the most powerful unrestricted spell of all). However, in Wilhelmina's case, she simply didn't bother, as she found such skills to be distracting and unnecessary for a Flame Haze. As a result, Shana is frequently shown to be very naive when it comes to social affairs, not knowing the meaning behind a kiss until Chigusa explains it to her and once even unabashedly asking Kazumi and the Sakais "how babies are made". This is also the reason behind her cold, ruthless personality when Yuji first met her, as she failed to see the importance of anything beyond her duties. Through interactions with Yuji, Chigusa and Kazumi, however, she gradually outgrows this problem, and overall becomes a much kinder, friendlier and more empathetic person as a result of their influence.

Background
She was rescued in Hong Kong by Wilhelmina Carmel and Shiro when she was an infant. She was then raised and trained in Tendoukyuu. Alastor stated that she is "The Great One", destined to be a very majestic figure when she grows up (if she didn't get involved with Crimson Realm beforehand). After the destruction of the Tendoukyuu, she and Wilhelmina went their seperate ways in Hong Kong, with the latter's intentions of allowing her to learn on her own as a Flame Haze.

The new "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter" proceeds to her solitary journey, eventually becoming a companion of Sophie Sawallisch, a veteran Flame Haze. Sophie notices her crudeness in combat and lack of femininity and decides to train her, while teaching her the ways of being a lady.

The Flame Haze later travels to Japan, where she is involved with affairs relating to a certain Denizen which dwells in Yosegi City before reaching Misaki City. She later meets Yuji by chance in one attack initiated by Friagne, the Crimson Lord who was staying at that city.

Yuji, in his need to humanize her, chose to name her "Shana" after her katana. Until she met Yuji, she was identified by only her Flame Haze title "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter," or her nodachi as, "Flame Haze of the Nietono no Shana" (Nietono no Shana no Flame Haze); or even abbreviated to "the Nietono" (Nietono no) by her fellow comrade, Rebecca Reed.

Powers and Abilities
Shana is a powerful and talented Flame Haze, and is said to be the most powerful, known and feared by most Crimson Denizens with her title alone. This has allowed her to defeat many powerful Denizens, and permits her many different abilities, including her proficiency with the Nietono no Shana, the ability to wield flames, manipulate the Power of Existence, harbor extrasensory traits, and fly with wings of flame. In the third volume of the manga, the first volume of the novel, and the movie, Alastor states that the reason why she did not explode after being shot by Friagne's Trigger Happy was because she held a capacity that existed in dimensional space, who was able to contain the Flame of Heaven's (and more); He has thus stated her as "The Great One".

However, she demonstrates a clear lack of experience in battle, as noted by Sophie Sawallisch, who has witnessed her fighting style first-hand. This is once held responsible for her defeat against a Flame Haze, Margery Daw, who is a specialist in Power of Unrestraint.

Tenpa Jōsai is a secret technique inherited by Flame Haze of the title "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter". Shana is capable of using it to summon Alastor.

Unrestricted Spells

 * Wings of Crimson - A pair of fiery wings appear on her back, allowing flight. At first, Shana is not able to use this spell without Yuji in range. Later on, she manages to use Guren no Souyoku when she fought in later battles even against Yuji. These wings were fast enough to evade Hecate's powerful Aster spell.


 * Great Blade of Crimson: It coats Shana's sword with a flame which she can use to hurl at enemies from a distance, whether as a wave of fire or fireballs. She is also capable of creating fiery constructs to do her bidding. Additionally, she has learned to summon the spirit of Tenmoku Ikko, the entity that resides within Nietono no Shana when she was held as a captive in Seireiden.


 * Shinku: A unique Unrestricted Spell that forms a shape of a hand with flame. Its primary purpose seems to be to push back, and even defeat enemies.


 * Hien: A unique Unrestricted Spell that provides a radiating wave of flame.
 * Shinpan: A unique Unrestricted Spell that can be used to remotely observe areas from far away, broadcast speech over a wide area, determine the purpose of Unrestricted Spells, and sense Power of Existence in a large area.
 * Danzai: A unique Unrestricted Spell. Its primary purpose seems to be the destruction of obstacles, such as reinforced doors, structures, and destroying the enemy directly. Its continuous stream of flame is powerful enough to break through the flame shield provided by the Azure.
 * Kessen Ōgi: Named in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, Shana attacks using the four Unrestricted Spells Shinku, Hien, Shinpan and Danzai successively in that order. Shana performs Kessen Ōgi during her first use of those four Unrestricted Spells during her fight with Vual inSeireiden, leading to the destruction of the Crimson Lord.

Trivia

 * The name "Shana", which was given by Yuji to the Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter (from her main weapon, Nietono no Shana) actually refers to the buddha Vairocana. Coincidentally it also means "beautiful" in Hebrew.
 * Her title, "Flamed-Haired Burning-Eyed", is a play on the term "Blonde-Haired, Blue-Eyed", which described foreigners appeared in many anime and manga characters.
 * In American translation, the name 'Shana' means God is gracious.
 * In Episode 5 of Hayate the Combat Butler, Shana is parodied by Nagi Sanzen'in, who shares the same Japanese voice actress as her. Both also have very similar personalities.
 * In the Drama CD's, Shana is voiced by Yui Horie.
 * In the fourth episode of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Haruka Nogizaka wears the dark-green-and-yellow uniform of Misaki City Municipal High School and references her by saying "Urusai, urusai, urusai!" She also wears a coat much like Yogasa. Hishoku no Sora also plays in the background.
 * Mamiko Noto, the seiyu for Haruka, also voiced Hecate.
 * Hishoku no Sora is again played in the sixth episode, with official art of Shana seen in Comiket.
 * Tabitha St. Germain, who voiced Shana in season 1, also voiced Flay Allster from Gundam Seed. Shana and Kazumi Yoshida's English voice actresses, Tabitha St. Germain and Chantal Strand, play a similar love triangle relationship role with Flay Allster and Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed.
 * The names of Shana's Unrestricted Spells are all in Japanese.

Similar Heroes

 * Taiga Aisaka (Toradora!)
 * Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night)
 * Victorique de Blois (Gosick)
 * Mine (Akame Ga Kill!)
 * Clare (Claymore)
 * Ayano Kannagi (Kaze no Stigma)
 * Kotori Itsuka (Date A Live)
 * Aria H. Kanzaki (Aria the Scarlet Ammo)
 * Laura Bodewig (Infinite Stratos)
 * Jin Kisaragi (Blazblue series)
 * Nagi Sanzenin (Hayate the Combat Butler)
 * Louise de La Valliere (The Familiar of Zero)
 * Agnese Sanctis (A Certain Magical Index)
 * Lina Inverse (Slayers)
 * Shinku (Rozen Maiden)