Shakugan no Shana

, also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The story focuses on Yuji Sakai, a high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in an age-old conflict between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends a fighter for the balancing force and names her "Shana". The series incorporates fantasy and slice of life elements into its tale. Two manga adaptations were published by ASCII Media Works in Dengeki Daioh and Dengeki Maoh. Between 2005 and 2012, the series was adapted by J.C.Staff into three 24-episode anime television series, a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series, an animated film and an additional stand alone OVA episode. A PlayStation 2 video game was released in March 2006, and it was ported to the Nintendo DS in March 2007. Viz Media licensed the novels and the first manga series for release in North America, but stopped publishing both prematurely. Geneon originally licensed the first television series for release in North America, but the license later transferred to Funimation (now Crunchyroll), who also licensed the remaining anime properties. Critics praised the series for its execution of typical story elements. Plot and characters Shakugan no Shana details an age-old conflict between those who inhabit the , a parallel universe to the human world. The Crimson Realm is populated by who are able to manipulate the , a fundamental power within any biological entity and functions as "fuel" for one's existence. Denizens whose power stands out among their peers are known as , and Lords that are even more powerful are known as . Denizens who do not care about the balance between the Crimson Realm and the human world collect Power of Existence from humans to use for their own purposes. It is the duty of , humans who have formed contracts with a Crimson Lord, to maintain the two worlds' balance by killing any Denizens disrupting it. Denizens and Flame Haze fight with the use of powerful magic spells called , which are also known as Unrestricted Spells or Unrestricted Methods. One such spell is the , which creates a space where the Crimson Realm and the human world intermingle and all sorts of causalities, including time, are stopped for ordinary living beings.