when reviewing the anime, martin thought the first "shakugan no shana" always manages to slightly exceed expectations, and while its story elements may be typical, its execution is not. martin noted that shana's flame haze transformation is a visual highlight of the series, and other details are shown equal care. reviewer chris beveridge of mania.com felt uncomfortable about the morbid nature of the series. while beveridge did not think the series is "groundbreaking", it proves to be a "solid title" that continuously gets better. the pacing in the middle of the first season was criticized for quickly ending an arc before "going into a storyline that feels out of character for the show." martin's review of "shakugan no shana final" was less positive; he described yuji as having been made into a different character (though his complexity was praised), criticized the addition of a large number of prominent characters without sufficient development, and described some things as not making sense, although he praised shana's development over the course of the third series.