Shakugan no Shana is an anime series including three television series, original video animation (OVA) episodes, and bonus shorts. The episodes are based on the light novel series of the same name written by Yashichiro Takahashi, with illustrations drawn by Noizi Ito. Produced by the animation studio J.C.Staff, the episodes are directed by Takashi Watanabe, written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and feature character design by Mai Otsuka who based the designs on Ito's original concept. The sound director is Jin Aketagawa, and the soundtrack is composed by Kow Otani. The story follows 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".
A 24-episode TV series aired in Japan between October 6, 2005 and March 23, 2006 on TV Kanagawa, and aired at later dates than TV Kanagawa on TVS, Chiba TV, MBS TV, TV Aichi, and Animax. A DVD titled Shakugan no Shana: Prelude to Shana containing promotional material for the anime was released in September 2005. The series was later released by Geneon to eight DVD compilation volumes from January to August 2006. Two DVD box sets containing 12 episode each were released in January and February 2011. A Blu-ray Disc (BD) box set was released in June 2011. Later, an OVA episode titled Shakugan no Shana SP, which takes place after the events of episode 13, was released on December 8, 2006.