4.0 out of 5 stars
The princess and her ninja, November 15, 2008
This review is from: Flame of Recca - A Ninja's Test (Vol. 1) (DVD)
Recca Hanabishi is a massive ninjaphile -- which isn't surprising, since he seems to be from a past era himself.
And while there are a few hiccups in the first volume of "Flame of Recca," this solid little anime series gets off to a surprisingly solid start. While the animation gets sketchy at times, the storyline and writing are pretty well-done, and it's not hard to warm-up to the flame-spewing hero.
After barely saving classmate Yanagi from falling lead pipes, Recca is badly hurt. But he's miraculously healed when his pretty "princess" touches him.
Impressed by her kindness and special power, Recca pledges to be her personal ninja. But then a shadowy woman named Kagehoshi appears, and attacks them both in an effort to make Recca show his "fire." Recca has no idea what she's talking about -- until flames appear on his hand. Kagehoshi further enrages Recca when she gives his rival/friend Fuko a magical bracelet, Fuujin, which allows her to harness the wind -- but also starts twisting the girl's mind, and might drive her to ehr death.
Then upperclassman Tokiya Mikagami (who has a magical water sword, Ensui) incorrectly deduces that Recca had something to do with his beloved older sister's murder. To make matters worse, Yanagi is the spitting image of his sister. Tokiya is smarter and stronger than Recca, and his Ensui seems able to extinguish the younger boy's flame -- but Recca won't give up.
The first volume of "Flame of Recca" is really just warming up -- introduce the characters, a villain, and have some preliminary fights amidst goofy comic relief ("Aagh! Caltrops!"). The first few episodes are also quite faithful to Anzai's original manga -- there are a few changes, such as Tokiya's motives in fighting Recca, but overall it maintains the original's flavour nicely.
And it does a solid job mingling kinetic action scenes with comic relief (Recca's very public adoration of Yanagi), and a bit of stock romantic tension, although the first two episodes are a little slow at first. But the dangerous ninja artifacts and the question of Recca's flames -- as well as mysterious men searching for Yanagi -- add a fantasy edge to a straightforward action story
The plot really picks up in third and fourth episodes, when the intense battle with Fuko segues into a clash with Tokiyo. It also introduces a darker edge to the story -- Recca nearly gets sliced to ribbons in a hall of mirrors, flashbacks of Tokiya's bloody past, and Kagehoshi even stabs herself in the heart.
It's worth noting that the animation is not that great -- characters' hair and faces often shift between scenes, and some of the hand-to-hand fights are merely decent.
What keeps this interesting is Recca himself -- he's a likable kid, who plugs after his weird goals wholeheartedly. Yanagi is a suitably sweet-natured love interest, but feisty Fuko and the big-ugly-punk-with-a-heart-of-gold Doman are good, quirky counterpoints to Recca. And haughty, beautiful Tokiya is Recca's complete opposite in every way, but his tragic past and fondness for Yanagi keep him from being too unlikeable.
"Flame of Recca - A Ninja's Test" is the springboard for this underrated anima series and while the artwork gets a bit sketchy, the elemental magic and wild action keep things interesting.
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