Jason sez: “Skip episode 7 of Shana, go straight to episode 8.”
Well, that’s not exactly what he said when he reviewed episode 7, but thats what I read. More slice-of-life angst. Ike tries to make a play for Yoshida by getting everyone to the park; Shana acts like a teen having fun, and somehow Ike’s plan goes south.
Ask me if I care? No, don’t, because I don’t care enough to answer. Why did I care enough to write this? I dunno. But I downloaded episode 8 the other night, skipping 6 and 7 entirely. Not sure I’m going to watch it; this show may not be redeemable, after such a promising start.
I just wonder if it’s 13 or 26 episodes…. because if it’s 13, we just wasted half the freaking series on angst.
UPDATE: Some pics from Episode 8 below the fold; one NSFW behind spoiler tags.
As Will says in the comments, episode 8 starts a flashback; at least a two-parter. First we get to see Yuiiji beat a Rinne conjured up by Willhelmina, who pulls a dirty trick — at Alastor’s suggestion, she makes it look like the very first one he ran into; the one that killed Mirai. (I think that was her name).
But then the kiddie wants to toughen up and join the war as something besides errand boy, and so Marjorie decides its time to give the boys the low-down on what it means to be involved. She starts off with a story, not about the nightmare she just had* but about her visit to New York, during the Great Depression. All I have to say is that Depression-era Marjorie Daw is even more of a babe.
*Part of her origin, perhaps? Silver Knight’s in it again.
No, really, she’s a foxy babe.
Who meets Sydonay for the first time here. Let’s just say it didn’t go nearly as well as her later meetings did.
What is it with these weird Tomogara? I mean, that’s just freaky-weird. Even the name is bizarre, and that’s saying something where Tomogara and Flame Haze are concerned.
Anyway, of course she ends up (very unwillingly and temporarily) with a kid sidekick. I’ve got a severe problem with his character. It’s not that he’s too young (he is, although he’s no younger than Shana and Yuiiji). It’s not that he is untrained. (He is.) It’s not that he’s an apologetic wuss. (He is that too.) It’s not even that he’s got a weird motivation that has even his Flame Haze doubting him. (He wants justice, not vengeance.)
No, it’s that he didn’t really earn the right to this. Warning: NSFW!! 
Yes, of course violence ensued. Child abuse! The kid’s gonna be warped for life now, wanting to get thrills from being hit by nekkid women.
So, the $64 question: Did this episode redeem the series?
No. Not close; not even naked Marjorie Daw could redeem the last five episodes of pure dreck. And especially not as part of at least two episodes worth of flashback that does zero to advance the plot, even if it fills in (some of) the background of a major character. At that, it still sucks, because it’s not the part we want to know, which is about her origin and Silver Knight (the Tomogara, no idea what his real name is). Her nightmare, if accurate, does give some food for speculation, but this nearly useless side story appears to be designed to kill time and introduce a relatively minor character.
The one plus of this episode is that Shana appears to be getting over her insane jealousy, and Yoshida wasn’t in it at all, past the opening sequence.
Finally, I’ll leave you with two more pics of Marjorie, albeit distressingly fully dressed.
Cute when she’s scruffy, isn’t she?
If you were to look at this picture and say, “Hey, that looks vaguely familiar…. wait, you said she was in New York City?” I would have to respond, “Yes” and “Yes.”
Yeah. It’s pretty safe to skip. The only new wrinkle introduced is Margery’s kohai deciding they want to start some real training (after watching Yuuichi put up a solid defense against Wilhelmina for once). That basically sets up the flashback in Episode 8+ (it’s at least a two-parter).
Yah, just saw episode 8, and will add an update.
I actually think the flashback may end up having more of a significance; from what I understand, it does actually come out of one of the light novels.
Yuri reminds me in many ways of Yuji, and with Yuji becoming increasingly capable, his similarities and differences from a Flame Haze became more marked. I also think the ep. helps explain the nature of Wilhelmina’s and Alastor’s training of Shana; for Flame Hazes, the options seem to be either be driven by rage and hate, or be completely dedicated to maintaining the balance impassively and without human emotion (the latter option being Shana’s). There seems to be no room for the situation Shana is in; actually caring deeply about a human. It makes me wonder if Yuri’s almost certain death next ep. foreshadows Yuji’s own demise (and Shana’s) at the final end of the series.
Anyhow, everything I’ve read on fan boards indicates that this is going to be 26 eps, which means I think the real plot should get enough space. I actually think this flashback will end up being more than just filler; Pheles after all was introduced in this episode, and I think it gives useful insight (which may be important) on the war between Tomogara and Flame Haze. So I’m optimistic that the series will continue to swing up, now we got the jealousy nonsense out of the way.
BTW, ep. 7 shouldn’t really be seen as part of the teen romance arc. It’s just a fun, not-so-serious stand alone ep, kinda like the Hot Springs OVA, which you may or may not have seen. Others have compared it to the Shanatan spoofs. I don’t think the ep. really makes any pretense at addressing seriously Ike’s affections, or anything really central to the story. It could even be seen as a satire of all the jealousy nonsense we’ve had. If the series continues to pick up, and you can tolerate it, it might be fun to see Ike’s mishaps, Shana kick ass in a video game, and a few other silly things. Unfortunately, although it had its moments, and I was reasonably amused, I didn’t think it was nearly as funny as the Hot Springs OVA (I actually find the Shana-tan spoofs somewhat over-rated).
I certainly hope that is speculation, and not the worst spoiler of all time.
Although I see Yuri as “doomed by plot,” I’m not sure that’s actually the case. I need to go back and review it; there were two references to “Outlaw”, the first being as source of the material Wilhelmina was reading, and the second seemed to be a reference to Yuri. If so, it’s telegraphing that he survives and becomes a sort of “bookworm” Flame Haze, who can fight, although he is more likely to research their opponents extensively and let someone else shoulder the burden of being a front-line warrior.
For the record, that’s *pure* speculation. The novels have yet to end (I haven’t read any–no Japanese language skills–but have seen plot summaries on fan boards), so that isn’t a spoiler. There is speculation, however, that the next and perhaps final volume (I won’t go into the reasoning for this, because that *would* involve major spoilers) of the series will come out around the time as the final ep. of this season of the anime. But again, that’s all just speculation. I do think a spectacular double-death is story’s logical conclusion (if I gave all the reasons, there would be spoilers), but that’s just my opinion. I’m conflicted on this, because in some ways I’d rather have a happy ending.
BTW, I have to see the ep. again, but wasn’t Yuri just working at the info place? And if Yuri’s just an employee, what would be the point of telling Satou the story, and Margery’s melodramatic “You’ll die” response?
You’re quite right, as I noted in the later message. (odd, I’d swear some of your replies are just now showing up, and I haven’t held or released anything lately. This reply wasn’t here last night but is dated the 30th?)