Shakugan No Shana Second 22
Christmas Eve
[and my xmas present to you, the Shana Info Page]
My foray into Extreme Work Travel as a contact sport threw me off a lot of shows; but there’s not much to say for Shana 21, basically the gang defeated Sabrac. However…
Puberty really sneaks up on you.
Recap
The beginning of episode 22 drops the bad news — Sabrac’s still around. However, Bel Peol seems to think that he accomplished what she hired him to do, so she’s releasing him from service for now.
Satou’s trying to work up the nerve to call his pappy, I guess to tell him he’s going to go do research for Outlaw, by the way pops, I’ve been working for a supernatural lush and she’s living in the house.
Poor Ike-kun (remember him?) is pining after Kazumi again, dear lord can’t he just have her so they can live anemically ever after?
The big news, though: Yuji’s dad is back again, and reveals that our favorite mystes is going to be a big brother! Not only that, apparently he’s already a younger brother — unfortunately the first boy that the old man and Chigusa had, before they were married, didn’t make it.
No, son. The capybaras don’t rest, so neither can a capybara wrangler. Seriously though, what the hell does he DO for a living?
All this talk about babies has got Shana interested. Unfortunately, out of all the real-world things she’s learned over two seasons, she somehow managed to get through a year of high school without figuring out how babies are made. Good thing she wasn’t dropped into School Days instead or someone would’ve been gutted by now. Kazumi has to explain to her in a roundabout way that it’s just not something you ask.
Like Pat Boone’s version of Holy Diver, Kazumi hears the words of her dreams from the wrong mouth.
Rather than explain to Shana how to make babies, Kazumi agrees to another lukewarm battle of love: this time it’s love letters, specifying a meeting place for each of them. Whichever meeting place Yuji chooses, that’s the girl he’s picked. Voiceovers give us the gist of each letter, and Shana’s is actually pretty amusing. “Yuji, Follow these orders as written.”
Also, while they didn’t suddenly put glasses on Kazumi, we do get giant pigtails on Shana. What a season this is shaping up to be.
Wilhelmina is initially furious about Shana’s desire to confess to Yuji, but she warms up after stabbing her toast and yelling for a while.
It is tough, I know. Maybe you should just KILL YOURSE– I’ll stop. I’m sorry.
The climactic convergence of Ike, Kazumi, Shana, and Yuji can only end with at least one person’s heart broken, but all of a sudden, terrible terrible perspective pays a visit in the form of Hecate, who promptly rips the Reiji Maigo right out of Yuji’s chest.
Uh oh.
What We’ve Learned
Sabrac apparently loosened that gewgaw inside Yuji during the fight, so Yuji now stands pretty much defenseless in the face of Bal Masque.
We’re probably going to get another season. I’ll continue watching. I’ve put far too much time into it now. And the whole tepid love-triangle (whose central figure seems to care very little about) is probably not going to be solved anytime soon.
Let’s see, Kazumi north, Shana south… which way for ‘pretend you’re gay to get out of this?’
Thoughts
This should be where it gets really good. I’ve been disappointed with this season’s pacing, although some people disagree with me. But the appearance of Bal Masque in person should be the harbinger of ass-kicking.
- otou-san out!
