The Manga Shelf: Flame of Recca

May is an important month for me, my birthday is in May, my father’s birthday is in May, Anime North happens in May. So to celebrate the month of May I am going to review 4 complete manga series by one of my favourite Mangakas Anzai Nobuyuki. To continue the month we are reviewing his longest work, The Flame of Recca.

The Facts are These:

Recca Hanabishi is a ninja, when he is almost killed in an accident he is healed by a girl named Yanagi. He vows to protect her for she is his princess. When they are later attacked by a mysterious woman we find that Recca is from the ancient clan known as the Hokage clan, allowing him to produce flames. As the new leader of the Hokage clan he must defeat his half brother Kurei, who is trying to kidnap Yanagi.

Discoveries:

It is interesting reading this manga because we actually see the progress from the artist’s old art style to the art style that we all know and love. This is by far the author’s longest work by far, even if you combine the number of chapters for MAR, MiXiM 11 and Rocket Princess together you are still 9 chapters short at 329 chapters. The story is interesting and fun to read, after a while I find the story to drag at some parts, but the interesting characters and the interesting concept make it a great manga.

The Main Fighters

Behind the Scenes:

Flame of Recca is an original series created by author and artist Nobuyuki Anzai, his other works include Rocket Princess, Marchen Awaken Romance, and MiXiM 11. The series was published by Shogakukan in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday between April 1995 to February 2002, into 33 volumes. The series is licensed in North America by VIZ Media and in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga. The series was adapted into an anime in 1997 that ran for 42 episodes, this series ends at the end of the tournament arc with a different ending.

The Final Cover

A Brief View of the World:

In the world of Flame of Recca the reader can see Tokyo, Japan at the time of the creation of this manga. What makes this Japan different is during the time of Oda Nobunaga there was a ninja clan called the Hokage. They were known for making magical items called Madogu, weapons that call upon the elements to attack, their leader is always a person that is able to control fire without the help of a Madogu.

The Flame Dragons

Enjoyment:

This series is enjoyable, it is long making for moments of tiring reading, but overall it is a great manga. With a great concept, look and storyline this is an easy recommendation.

Rereadability:

This series does not hold up to rereadability because of the length. This series is 329 chapters which means it will take some time to read through it once let alone twice. I would say reread this if you enjoyed the story, it is a good series and if you liked it, it will deserve a reread.

Rating:

7/10

Recommendations:

Psyren – For an interesting series that needs some love like this series.

Rurouni Kenshin – For a great samurai manga that is fun to read.

 

I do not own any of the above used pictures and/or video they belong to their original creators, Nobuyuki Anzai and Shogakukan.