- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese & English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: TV-14
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD)
- Digital Copies:
- Run Time: 90 Mins.
- Studio: FUNimation Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 22, 2013
- List Price: $34.98
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
The Shakugan no Shana movie is a 90-minute retelling of the original story arc, based on the first light novel by Yashichiro Takahashi, that reuses some of the footage from Season One of the anime adaptation and adds in a lot of new footage to tell a tightly-woven, action-fueled story.
Shana, “The Burning-Eyed, Flaming-Haired” Flame Haze fights Denizens from the Crimson Realm who steal the life essence of the living in our reality, leaving behind a mere shell or “Torch.” When the energy of a Torch withers away, the person and their entire existence is forgotten by everyone. She meets the unsuspecting Yuji during one of her battles against a Rinne (the servant of a Denizen) and discovers he is a Mystes, a Torch who can see and sense the existence of this parallel world. Yuji is no normal Mystes, however, he is a Mystes carrying the coveted “Midnight Lost Child.” His energy recharges every night at the stroke of midnight. As a result of this, many of the Denizens of the Crimson Realm covet what he holds within him. As does one such powerful Denzien, Friagne, who uses Yuji’s home town, Misaki City, to lure in more Flame Hazes to their demise as he plots to steal Yuji’s prized possession and suck the life force from the entire city.
More concise and to the point than Season One, but still conveying the same themes with the same cool animation and likeable characters, the Shakugan no Shana movie is a great supplement to the franchise’s universe. Funimation has thankfully released the full 90-minute “director’s cut” here as well, although it isn’t labelled as such.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
The image is no better here than in the previous releases for the individual seasons of Shakugan no Shana. The picture is soft, shows some slight stairstepping around the edges of the line art, has problems with color banding, and posterization. It comes with the usual AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement from Funimation.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) soundtracks are provided on the disc. This finally gives me the ability to hear Shakugan no Shana in the original Japanese with a proper surround mix. The mix itself is not as aggressive as some of the Hollywood blockbusters, or even other anime productions, but it works. It’s mildly ambient with slight discrete panning to the surrounds. The low frequencies have a decent amount of boost in the LFE, but nothing rattling. Dialogue is clean and clear at all times while the high frequencies are just a hair shy of being completely natural in sound.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
The supplements follow the same tradition as the anime series. More Shana-tan and question box animations plus promotional materials are included, which should please fans.
The supplements:
- Why? What? Shana! Ask anything Question Box: Review Lesson (1.78:1; SD; 00:05:44)
- Shakugan no Shana-tan, Theatrical Version (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:05:46)
- Shaukgan no Shana Movie Promo Videos (1.78:1; SD; 00:04:55)
- Shakugan no Shana Movie DVD Commercials (1.78:1; SD; 00:00:49)
- U.S. Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:01:02)
- Funimation Trailers
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Shakugan no Shana: Movie strips this story down to its bare essentials and it makes for an enjoyable adventure. If only the picture quality were up to snuff.
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B009B82F3M[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Shakugan no Shana: Movie on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B009B82F3M[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Shakugan no Shana: Movie on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
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