Shakugan no Shana (灼眼のシャナ, Shakugan no Shana? lit. Shana of the Burning Eyes), also known simply as Shana, is a series of Japanese light novels and related media works written by Japanese novelist Yashichiro Takahashi and illustrated by Noizi Ito centering around Yuji Sakai, an ordinary Japanese high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in a perpetual war between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends the title character: a fighter for the balancing force, whom he takes to calling "Shana". The series incorporates science fiction, fantasy, and slice-of-life "school days" elements into its tale.
Shakugan no Shana began as a light novel series first serialized under the seinen label Dengeki Bunko published by MediaWorks with the first complete novel released on November 10, 2002 in Japan. In time, a manga series was created with art by Ayato Sasakura first serialized in the manga magazine Dengeki Daioh, in February 2005. Both the light novel and manga are currently being released in Japan. So far, there have been eighteen light novels and three manga volumes. The most recent light novel, book SII, was released in Japan on June 10, 2008. An anime version was adapted by the animation studio J.C.Staff and contained twenty-four episodes. A Playstation 2 video game released in March 2006 followed and a second video game for the Nintendo DS was released in March 2007. Additional anime adaptations include a thirty-minute Original Video Animation and a movie that was shown in theaters in April 2007. A second anime series was announced with the title Shakugan no Shana Second, which started airing in Japan on October 5, 2007.
Viz Media announced at Comic-Con 2006 that they have licensed the right to release the English translations of both the Shakugan no Shana light novels and the manga series. Additionally, Geneon has licensed the first anime TV series in America and the first DVD was released on September 5, 2006. The DVDs were out of print indefinitely until July 3, 2008, as Geneon withdrew from the American market. On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon will still retain the license, Funimation will assume exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. Shakugan no Shana was one of several titles involved in the deal.
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