Review: Flame of Recca/Rekka no Honou

Anime/Manga/Fandom

Reviewed by: Adamus Prime

Title rating: Mostly PG-13, some R for violence, nudity, some sexual situations, and plenty of Shinsen Gumi cursing

-42-episode anime series (1997-1998?), complete
-33-volume manga (Japanese comic) series (1996-2002), complete

Flame of Recca is definitely one of my favorite shounen (boys') stories of all time--it doesn't take itself too seriously, doesn't drag itself out too long, and is generally a lot of fun. Maybe this show isn't brain-flexing material. Maybe Recca does have a tendency to be the biggest, brashest fool on the face of the planet. Maybe Mikagami deserves a kick in the squish. Flame of Recca is far from being a work of art, but it's perfect for that quick hit of action and fun you just need every once in a while. Dragonball fans who can't stand 87-episode fights and Kenshin fans who want less talkie more fightie can find exactly what they're looking for in Recca and his buddies' wacky brawls.

Anime

Flame of Recca follows the exploits of Recca Hanabishi: high school student, ninja with the mysterious ability to shoot fire, and fireworks enthusiast. And where would our shounen hero be without the help of his cronies? First there's Domon, the nose-ringed, mohawked, token brute, who is by far the coolest. Then there's Fuuko, queen of the panty flash, she harnesses the power of wind ... think about it ... you've almost figured it out ... there you go. And then there's Mikagami, the angsty bishounen (pretty boy) asshole whom Domon should place between two comically large slices of bread and devour. There's also Recca's love interest, Yanagi, who has magical healing powers which (surprise surprise) lead to her being captured by a megalomaniacal madman with immortality on his mind and cookie monster eyes. Said abduction sets our intrepid young heroes out to save her, and thus our story begins. Ah, shounen plotlines ... an old concept, but I feel it works well. Like I said, Flame of Recca's not working to bust any brains here.

Enter Kurei, an evil sob with powers comparable to Recca; what powers, you ask? How about the power to summon even better fire, that do anything for ya? Despite the whole "saving the princess" kafluffle, Recca and pals are also cordially invited to participate in an unholy tournament of death. Of course they accept--they don't like the idea of being stabbed in the eyes by Kurei's henchmen as they slumber, you know. So they participate in rescuing and the tournament and whatnot, battles are fought, lives are lost, and everyone learns the true meaning of Guy Fox Day. Well, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. Flame of Recca's mostly just a lot of fights and character development strung together by a thin, though acceptable, plot-thread into a veritable beaded necklace of excitement. Yeah! Recca and his friends are suitably entertaining, the jokes are funny, and the fights are decently quick and full of unique pounding and weapons and the like. Recca is the shounen's shounen.

Recca, with a reliable stash of fireworks in his house, suddenly remembers he left the oven on.

Manga

Don't worry, Recca fans, there's more to life than just anime! Since the animation's conclusion is quite open-ended, you may want to pick at the plethora of manga volumes that continue where the animation studio left off. Recca first began in manga form, and of the 33 volumes of it (only 5 short of Ranma 1/2), Studio Pierrot only animated the exploits up through approximately volume 16. So much more Flame of Recca is available to you, so just visit your local library ... (Upon examination of this possibility I have discovered that there is little to no manga at the local library.) The manga is definitely something to check out if you dig the show. The mangaka (manga writer/artist) for Flame of Recca, Nobuyuki Anzai, is a pretty odd fellow and it definitely shows in his super deforms (midgeted versions of the characters). I've got five words for you: Domon In A Mouse Suit. The art's pretty solid except for the similarities between the characters--often you'll have to think a bit to distinguish them from one another, but aside from that I see no glaring faults.

Either Fuuko really doesn't want a kiss, or she's been hanging around too many shounen ai fangirls.

This is an older anime that has a lot of English-speaking fans not too keen on the htmling; as a result, a search through the Recca Internet fandom will reveal many broken links or small, outdated webpages. Recca's fandom is of a decent size, though, so you'll definitely find some great stuff if you look, but beware of spoilers (people seem to throw them around very cavalierly in the Recca fandom). The Flame of Recca Archive is a strong site and where I got the pics for this review, so give them your respect. Fuuko's Very Own Shrine is absolutely huge and features far more than just Fuuko stuff; Raging Fire and For the Love of Fire are also brimming with Recca goodness and are well worth a look. For manga translations, there are many on the Jahannam Network (which features a beautiful but rather confusing layout as of this writing; have patience, there's gold within) and on Quasi-Translations. Just the Facts, Ma'am is a great reviews site that did the review of Recca that spurred Lianne to grab the fansubs in the first place, so I credit them with introducing me to this show. Love to you! That site also has some manga translations for Recca as well, so don't miss out on those, either.

Overview

If you like goofy, action-packed shounen anime and manga, I urge you to give Flame of Recca a shot. The art may not be as beautiful as something the mangaka group CLAMP would do, but if it isn't hollow, dead, and with a cancerous soul like everything else that CLAMP does, what does it matter how it looks? Right? 4 stars out of 5.

Wait a second, "caught my eye?" Did I make a pun somewhere up there? Oh God, save my SOUL!

Domon plots how fast and how frequently he may kick Mikagami in the crotch before the police arrive. To help him, of course.