Well the third season certainly isn’t going to waste any time. If there was a complaint I had for the second season it was the pacing at the beginning was terribly slow. This time we are getting right into things with some pretty wild developments. An apparent flash-forward scene to a huge battlefield with Guze no Tomogara and Flame Haze all over the place. And who is apparently leading this dark army but Yuuji!? Ok I can fully admit not seeing that one coming. He had some rough moments in the past, but leading some crazy army isn’t what I expected from him.

The whole Yuuji situation really took over the first episode. Have questions about what Yuuji means by changing Shana’s fate. I’m not sure how leading some army on a rampage is going to change her fate. Assuming the fate being talked about is an endless battle, what does he plan on doing about it? Destroy the world so Flame Haze don’t have to exist at all? Suppose killing Shana would keep her from having to fight forever. The best solution is to just make it so the Earth can’t get any more visitors eager to devour essence of existence. But if it was that simple someone would have done it already. There is also the possibility that Yuuji is being manipulated by someone like Hecate or Silver. I can’t believe Johan is involved since it doesn’t appear to line up with his thoughts. Maybe he wants to just create some massive battle that will decimate the Tomogaras living on Earth so Shana will have little to do. More will still be able to cross over, but the numbers will be manageable. We heard Yuuji talking to some voice and thinking about the situation regarding Tomogara and Flame Hazes. So it does at least seem possible he’s being influenced. At any rate, it’s hard to really speculate until we get more looks inside his head.

Naturally this was a hard development for the love interests, Shana and Kazumi. Both suddenly had a night of “will I be picked” turn into “oh god Yuuji has vanished.” No shock that especially Shana had such an emotional reaction before that letter got back. Still she has to watch as Yuuji vanishes from the lives of people like Chigusa. Not sure why Chigusa thinks Shana is hanging around if Yuuji doesn’t exist. Anyways, I know they kind of had to change the ending from season 2 if they are going to move forward, but still sucks that the Shana expression was a tease. At least most people suspected as much after the first season did something similar.

Of course it’s not like Shana and Kazumi are the only characters dealing with issues. Satou is heading off to Outlaw and Tanaka still dealing with his inner conflict. He wants to leave that stuff behind and focus on being normal with Oga, but it’s not that simple. Not like someone can just erase the knowledge of what’s going on in the world from their memories. Think he does need to at least talk to Margery a bit before he can move forward. Satou on the other hand is just diving in deeper. Can’t say it sounds safe being Margery’s agent in Outlaw, but it’s what he decided to do. Have to wish Satou the best and like Margery hope he stays alive. This isn’t exactly a safe time to get involved with Outlaw with Tomogara attacking. On the other hand it’s not exactly an organization you can join during ‘safe’ periods.

Everyone is doing what they can during these uncertain times. Carmel is trying to work through the crazy information and support Shana as best she can. It is sad seeing her feeling like there isn’t anything she can do to comfort and having to leave it up to someone else that Shana can be open to. Margery is really getting into the teaching thing it seems. Sure there is the selfish motivation that if she stays around Silver is bound to appear, but it’s not just about that. She’s helping Shana dive deeper into her powers and get stronger. Obviously from that opening scene they are going to need as much power as they can get. On that note I thought the whole fire hand thing was pretty cool. Seems like we can expect some good and flashy battles as the series goes along.

Will say that the OP definitely was a nicely done one. The visuals definitely let you know that there will be some crazy battles. But the musical portion builds up nicely in the early going until it just goes full out at the end there. Seems like we’re going to see some familiar faces and some new ones. Really it just gives some good expectations as to what is coming.

Anyways this is one flashy way to start up season 3. Let’s hope the future episodes match up to that intensity. Though I wouldn’t mind some answers as well if they care to share them.
Score: A