Art (7/10)
Despite airing two years after season one, the animation quality has not improved as much as I expected. The backgrounds still had that less-than-real feel to them and the lack of detail in the characters disappointed me the second time around. Still, like in the first season, the battle scenes stood out from the rest of the mediocre animation. A phrase that describes this season's animation could be: season one's animation in 720p.
Characters (8/10)
Last season, Yūji was totally useless, save for a few situations. Those who hope for the supposed "main protagonist" to play more of a role in the second season do get what they want. The development that Yūji undergoes in this series is astounding. However, most of it happens in such a short amount of time that many wonder about the sudden change in personality. Honestly, this was the first time where I questioned the benefits of character development. As for the other characters, I felt that the slow first half was necessary in order to give them the development needed to make the second half successful. As far as I can tell, Shana, Kazumi, Keisaku, Wilhelmina and Margery were greatly developed over the course of this series - some to a greater extent than others. One point of criticism I would like to make is that the lack of new characters disappointed me. True, one may argue that this may cause some unnecessary confusion, but I believe that adding more characters adds a sense of "freshness" to the season, allowing it to distinguish itself further from its predecessor (i.e. preventing the "this seems so familiar" thought from surfacing in the audience's minds).
Sound (7/10)
Understandably, the BGM and seiyūs of the first season are the same for the second season. With that being said, the only parts left to judge in this category are the OPs and EDs. Starting off with the OPs, I felt the first OP, "JOINT", was much better in terms of preparing one for the episode to come when compared to the second OP, "BLAZE." Like "Hishoku no Sora" (season one's OP), "JOINT" is also sung by Kawada Mami and it delivers the same sense of intensity that I enjoyed. Unfortunately, KOTOKO's "BLAZE" wasn't up to par with its season one counterpart, "being", and left me missing "JOINT." Moving on to the EDs, both were decent, just like in season one. Overall, this season's sounds were generally on par with last season's.
Story (8/10)
Honestly, I wanted to drop the series during the first half because of how slow the story was moving. When I first started to watch Shakugan no Shana, I expected a good dose of action with a pinch of romance/slice-of-life to spice things up; not the other way around. If I had wanted a romance or slice-of-life story, then I would obviously go watch a romance or slice-of-life anime. However, I am glad that I decided to stick with it and continue my way through the show. As the story started to pick up in the second half, I was instantly reminded of why I liked season one. The cliffhangers and twists really entertained me and it was good to know that there's a season three as I finished the last episode. It's surprising how a story can be this long and still be interesting.
Overall (8/10)
Two seasons down, one more to go. A generally successful second season leaves me with both doubts and hopes for the third. If given the choice between the first or second season, I would have to choose the first, simply because it entertained me throughout. This is not to say that season two was not good; it was just not as good as season one. Those who watched season one and enjoyed it will probably feel the same way about season two. Now it's now off to the third and final season of Shakugan no Shana!
