Flicker and Blaze: Identity, Maturity, and Humanity in Shakugan no Shana

Neirai the Forgiven

Neirai the Forgiven

Christian Guilds List Manager
That's my working title. Every Tuesday (ish, maybe more) I will work on the essay and post it here. I'm going to try do so in a more-or-less "stream of consciousness" style so that perhaps interested people can follow along with my thoughts and conclusions. This will be the very rough version of the essay, so be prepared for it to change a lot.

Edit! Warning! The following essay will contain many, many, many spoilers concerning Yashichiro Takahashi's Shakugan no Shana. I will not be taking the time to put them in nice classy little spoiler tags. So if you do not want to spoil your enjoyment of the series, do not read on! This essay is intended for people who are familiar with Shakugan no Shana (1, not second) already. I make no apologies if you read on and find out that ##### ####s ##### ####. Thank you.
 
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Intro: Preamble and why am I doing this?

Starting out, I'd like to take some time as to establish intent. Up until now, all of my essay writing has been for a specific "point:" to get credit in college courses. This essay is completely different; it is not directly related to any classes. On the other hand, I'm not simply writing for the heck of it; I have an intention for this essay to accomplish two overall tasks, both related to proving the value of Anime (particularly, this one) as literature.

The first task that I am setting out to accomplish is to prove the value of Anime to Christians. It's something that has gnawed at me for a while: I remember having a Pastor who I regularly agree with, respect, and whose guidance I would normally highly value tell his congregates that they should avoid allowing their children and themselves to watch Anime because it is full of bad (non-Biblical) spirituality and contains messages that line up to a false view of the world, and contain no messages that are of any constructive value to Christians. I, frankly, disagree. So, my first intent is to prove that Shakugan no Shana actually contains messages that line up with, or at least are complementary to, the Christian world view. In doing so, I will attempt to show how Christians can work with Anime to "get past watchful dragons" (more on that later) and influence their culture.

My second task is to "sell" Shakugan no Shana to one of my professors, Dr. Martin Friedrich. In the year 2009, Dr. Friedrich is teaching a class on "The Literature of Popular Culture" at Taylor University College & Seminary in Edmonton. This will be the first time that such a class will be taught at Taylor, and so the ball is really in the air about what kind of "Literature of Popular Culture" -- Comic books, films, songs, you name it -- will be studied in that class. I think we should study Anime -- particularly Shakugan no Shana. Unfortunately, it's not feasible for me to do a 45 minute presentation on a 28-episode series of cartoons. So, I'm hoping, by studying some of the great themes of Literature -- Identity and What It Means To Be Human (Human Nature, Human Relationships, and the Human Condition) -- to pique Dr. Friedrich's interest enough to allow for us to somehow work out a way to get Shakugan no Shana into the classroom without having to assign everyone to watch 19 hours of Anime. Dr. Friedrich will be the first person to see the final draft of this essay, so I'm hoping it goes well. In short, my second intent is to show that an Anime -- Shakugan no Shana -- is worthy of being studied by college-level English students.
 
Introduction

I am now introducing the use of Dark Red text to be my narration, whereas black will be my essay. Sort of. Sorry to you color-blind folks.

This is my sample introduction. It is fairly formulaic and follows a pattern I have used nauseatingly predictably in college. It will probably change by the time I'm done. It is intended to give you a "heads up" for what's about to come.

Yashichiro Takahashi's Shakugan no Shana is an anime about identity, love, and redemption. By tracing the transformation of a soulless "tool of hunting" into Shana, a human being who sacrifices herself to save those who she loves, Shakugan no Shana explores what it means to be a human being. In like manner, the development of Sakai Yuji from a dead "torch" to the friend who stands with Shana in her final hour illustrates the power of relationships to redeem those who have lost themselves. In this way, Sakai Yuji can serve as an example of the power of God working within a person to impact and change the world around them. Through themes of identity, friendship, and ultimately, sacrifice, Yashichiro Takahashi's Shakugan no Shana explores the meaning of being human, illuminating the struggle between humanity and duty, and points to Christlike "agape" love as the source of redemption for lost souls.

Cramped. Full of wishywashyness, but it's my starting point and so I like it. Right now it's not supposed to guide you. It's supposed to guide me. So, tune in next time when I launch into my first section: Who is Shana? What is it that makes her inhuman at the start of the anime, and (here's the kicker) how can she be a good character when she has willing sold her soul to a demon? All those questions and some real insights will be addressed in the next installment.
 
Neirai the Forgiven said:
Who is Shana? What is it that makes her inhuman at the start of the anime, and (here's the kicker) how can she be a good character when she has willing sold her soul to a demon?[/COLOR]
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I'm guessing that you're going to discuss how Western and Eastern mythologies have vastly different perspectives on spiritual beings? My limited exposure to Japanese culture leads me to believe that Eastern cultures don't view demons as inherently evil. The Eastern take on the supernatural is nothing like that of the Judeo-Christian stance.
 
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No, not quite. If you look at the names of the "demons" in Shakugan no Shana, they're quite clearly the Western-type (Alastor, Marcosius, etc). However, as I will touch on in the essay, the choices of names and "demons" was clearly intentional, and not because Takahashi is an evil eastern servant of darkness. Rather, the motif of Faustus-style selling your soul to the devil was chosen for a specific reason, and one that adds to the "christian message" of Shakugan no Shana.

Two of the fundamental presuppositions I am taking to Shakugan no Shana are that a) Takahashi doesn't include any elements "by mistake," and that b) Takahashi is not bent on corrupting all his watchers/readers into mindless, possessed servants of evil. So when he chooses to have Shana, Margarey Daw, and the other Flame Haze contract themselves to "demons," he is doing so to illustrate a (good) point. But more on that tomorrow night unless I end up doing it tonight.

Unfortunately, I do realize that this motif is going to cause some Christians to be bent out of shape.
 
Okay, time to actually get down to the meat of the essay. Here, I'll spam you with my more or less random thoughts about the above. I admit I've been thinking about this a lot today, but not making too much headway, so I'll probably have to rework this paragraph at least once or twice.

Who is Shana? What is it that makes her inhuman at the start of the anime, and (here's the kicker) how can she be a good character when she has willing sold her soul to a demon? All those questions and some real insights will be addressed in the next installment.

Shana: a girl with a demon

When looking at Shakugan no Shana, an ideal point to start any conversation or discourse would be with the person of Shana. She is, after all, the titular subject of the anime. I would (and will) argue that Shakugan no Shana is the story of Shana's redemption. In order to understand where I am going with this, it is important to first understand Shana's character at the beginning of the anime, and then to understand her character at the end of the anime, and finally to contrast the two.
At the beginning of Shakugan no Shana, we are introduced to Shana as a nameless "Flame Haze," which is a person who has contracted themselves to an outside power in order to aid in the battle against the evil Tomogara. In particular, Shana has contracted herself to an entity know as "Alastor, the Flame of Heaven."
Alastor's name is an interesting one. "Alastor" is traditionally the name of a fictional character in Greek mythology and Christian demonology. Typically, he is seen as a demonic entity who possesses people and/or swords. This, taken into account with the fact that Shana refers to Alastor as the being that she is contracted to, leads us to the conclusion that Alastor is, in fact, a spirit or demon that Shana has, in essence, "sold her soul to."
If one were to take a second look at Shakugan no Shana, however, one would see that the anime makes no reference to souls at all, and so it would be rash to say that Shana has actually done so. The motif of Flame Hazes selling their souls to demons is universal in Shakugan no Shana, however -- the other "Kings of Guze" bear names with the same or similar connotations. So, it would be logical to state that the motif does in fact exist and is in fact intentional.

Souls in Shakugan no Shana: What are they?

Here I will unveil my big theory about why Takahashi uses the "Dr. Faustus" motif in Shakugan no Shana; Takahashi is trying to say that identity is the essence of the human soul. Your unique identity, its drives, its passions, and the things that make you you, are the things that will last eternally. Now, here's how it works in the show:
When Shana contracts herself to Alastor, two things happen. First and foremost, she abandons her name and becomes "Just a Flame Haze" (SnS 2.) Secondly, according to wikipedia's Shakugan no Shana page I will independently track down the source of this reference and give the real episode number so I'm not just quoting someone else's claims, Shana's "power of existence" is burned down to nothingness. As is seen in "Lit Flame" (Shakugan no Shana episode 2), power of existence is closely tied to one's humanity -- destroying it will result in a person losing their uniqueness, becoming irrelevant, and eventually disappearing. In short, Shana has sold her identity to Alastor, and has become inhuman, a girl without a name.

That's all for now. Feel free to comment, I will revisit this in a little while, fine tune it, and continue once I know where I am going.
 
Gah. Lost a day this week. It's due to wonky scheduling with my girlfriend's and my respective jobs. Also right now I'm kind of struggling with how to say what I want to say. Essentially I feel that Shakugan no Shana has two overall themes: the first is Sakai Yuji's development from a child into an adult during his teenage years; the second, Shana's redemption. The problem I have right now is how to communicate Shana's need for redemption in a way that does not repeat the phrase "identity" ad nauseum. Right now I'm stuck in a loop of trying to explain why Alastor is a demon and why that is relevant. It's relevant because I think Takahashi wants to show that giving up your identity to be part of a cause is in itself bad. Shana has in essence lost herself and is no longer human because of her involvement with Alastor. Alastor is not a bad character in and of himself, but he is a means to Shana's fall.

I should quickly defend the use of "demons" and the "demonic" in all form of literature and art. Before one jumps to the conclusion that Shakugan no Shana is an evil tool of satan just like other animes, one should consider the meaning of "demon" in the Bible and in literature. They are not the same thing. In the Bible, a demon is a spiritual being who is fundamentally opposed to God. Demons try their darnedest to stop God's will in any way that they can.

In Diablo II, for example, "demons" are denizens of another world (called Hell, but not scriptural Hell because trust me, scriptural demons do not want to be anywhere near scriptural hell) who are bent on killing off the human race and occupying earth. They're not opposed to God at all -- God doesn't come into the picture in Diablo II. In short, Diablo II demons, while perhaps modeled after a perception of scriptural demons, are not demons at all.

In Shakugan no Shana, the character of Alastor does not line up with scriptural demons, either. While Alastor is a spiritual being, he is not fundamentally opposed to God -- once again, God does not enter the picture. Rather, Alastor works to keep the world running just fine (balance.) No amount of deconstruction will remove Alastor from being the "good guy." Even if you say, wait, what if he's actually evil and the "villains" are actually good? Well, in that case, you're saying that the good guys survive by eating our souls. Doesn't sound very good at all. Basically, Alastor may be a "demon," but he is not a scriptural enemy of God, and therefore any statement that Alastor's position in Shakugan no Shana is a glorification of the demonic is fundamentally flawed.

Alastor is a "demon," therefore, primarily to facilitate the motif of "Shana has lost herself in becoming a Flame Haze." It's an essential idea in order to illustrate the inner workings of grace vs. law in her redemption.

That's right, it boils down to Grace versus Law, the age-old question of salvation. Is Shana saved by fulfilling her duty, or by grace? And what is grace? Join me next time as I unpack the beautiful metaphor of the final episodes. YES, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
 
Just a brain hash because I should be sleeping, but I'm not. At this point I've decided to put down brain hashes and then fix them into essays later. So here goes:

Basically throughout the second half of the anime, a lot of time is spent focusing on the conflict between duty and something else. I say "something else" because this something else is fairly hard to categorize. Here is what I'm talking about: Shana has a duty to perform as a Flame Haze. But she also has a desire to do other things as "Shana," the person. Really, she has a desire to become human, in the sense of exploring who she is and what that means.

This conflict comes out SPOILERS! in the way that she interacts with Yuji's identity as a Mystes. She knows that her duty as a Flame Haze requires her to destroy Yuji. He is a wild-card unknown that can (and does) cause a lot of harm if he falls into the wrong hands. But at the same time, she refuses to fulfill her duty because of this "other factor." Now, I realize that practically everyone who has read to this point and seen the anime is going to be saying: "well, duh, she's in love with him." Yes. But that's oversimplifying things. In episode .23, Yuji claims that the reason for this other factor is "because she's Shana" and because he named her.


Oh man, suddenly I'm getting really tired. I think I'll finish this thought after church tomorrow.
 
Alright, so I think I actually am making some headway here, finally.

This has to do with a conversation my Dad, a computer programmer, and I had. It was a fairly technical conversation on the subject of "dehumanization" and how to stop it. Dehumanization is an industry term which basically refers to the tendency of computer systems to turn people into cogs in a machine while turning the computer into the controlling factor. Basically, a computer system is considered "dehumanizing" when the computer makes all the decisions and the human being does the legwork. On the other hand, a computer system which allows humans to make the decisions and accomplishes all their legwork for them is called "empowering" or "humanizing."

Why is this relevent? Well, I believe that what I've been struggling to say this last little bit is that Shakugan no Shana is about the "humanization" of Shana. It's also about her redemption. That's because, in Shakugan no Shana, humanization and redemption go hand in hand. Perhaps they go hand in hand because that is, possibly, how it works in the real world. If to be really human is to be truly redeemed, then wouldn't true humanization be true redemption?

I think I'm ready to go back to black text on my next post. Sorry for the abstraction and wait, everybody.
 
Neirai the Forgiven said:
This has to do with a conversation my Dad, a computer programmer, and I had. It was a fairly technical conversation on the subject of "dehumanization" and how to stop it. Dehumanization is an industry term which basically refers to the tendency of computer systems to turn people into cogs in a machine while turning the computer into the controlling factor. Basically, a computer system is considered "dehumanizing" when the computer makes all the decisions and the human being does the legwork. On the other hand, a computer system which allows humans to make the decisions and accomplishes all their legwork for them is called "empowering" or "humanizing."
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A very relevant topic in today's culture.

You might want to read Huxley's Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited (if you haven't already). He had more than a few interesting things to say on the topic.
 
i like the whole idea of bringing a christian perspective into a japanese style . the idea you have setup really works well and conveys alot of things most anime/manga dont bring with them.
 
Okay, so I am re-watching to original show because it has been a while, and I need to refresh my thoughts for a while. I'm going to scribe down some of my thoughts.

I've been taught to ask how literature and art interacts with three concepts that my professor calls "the Big Three." The Big Three are essentially the building blocks of worldviews and of the human quest for meaning and ultimately God. They are:
- Human Nature. In short, "what is a human?" What things make a person human and what things are essentially dehumanizing, detracting from our "humanness?" As a Christian, I believe that finding a solution to this question is essential because I believe that good solutions will line up with who we are in Christ.
- Human Relationships. "What does it mean for humans to live with each other?" Under this heading we could ask "What is Love?" "What is Hate?" "What is Racism?" and many other such questions. Human Relationships are essential to explore because relationships make up much of our existence. As a Christian, I also believe that Relationships are important because we were ultimately created to have a relationship with God. Once again, a good solution to the question of Human Relationships should point us towards living lives as God intended us to, in relation with Him.
- The Human Condition. This is a more complex concept, but it basically boils down to "what is it like to be a human being?" Under this heading one can address many questions which may pertain to such concepts as sin and salvation, aging, or a myriad of other topics.


Shakugan no Shana contains three overall themes which pertain to the Big Three. The first is found in the anime's two main characters, Sakai Yuji and Shana. Both characters are not human in the sense of being a living homo sapiens, having lost their lives to Tomogoras, both good and evil. Over the course of the anime, however, both Yuji and Shana become assured of their humanity, which asks the question "what makes Yuji, who is dead, and Shana, who has no soul, human?" In short, what is human nature?

The theme of human relationships can be seen both in Shana and Sakai Yuji's budding romance, but also in the enemies that Shana battles over the course of the season. Friagne, the Incestuous Twins, and Hecate all represent, to varying degrees, forms of human relationships that are fundamentally flawed. Through Shana's development and her triumphs we get to see how a real relationship should work. This poses an answer to the question of how humans are to live with one another.

The third and final theme is that of determination to have a meaningful life despite the transient and seemingly cruel nature of life. This idea can be seen in Sakai Yuji's development from a confused, "dislocated" torch to a person with ambitions who strives to make the world a better place even if he himself will never see the change. This theme functions as an arena in which one can explore several ideas about the role of human life despite its apparent shortness and the flawed nature of humanity.
 
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