Manga Review: Flame of Recca

“Flame of Recca follows the story of a teenage boy named Recca Hanabishi, who is interested in ninja[s] and claims to be one himself. He often gets into fights because he made it publicly known that the person who manages to defeat him will earn his services as a loyal ninja. Despite this, he eventually pledges his loyalty and services as a ninja to Yanagi Sakoshita, a girl with the innate ability to heal any wound/injury, because of her kindness and compassion. Recca soon discovers that he possesses the innate ability to control/manipulate flames, and eventually learns that he is actually the son of the sixth generation leader of the Hokage, a ninja clan that was wiped out by Oda Nobunaga in 1576, roughly 400 years before the series’ present day.” - Wikipedia

Flame of Recca is a manga full of nostalgia. I remember reading it years back when I was still relatively new to the manga world. It was one of my favorites when it ended in 2002 and it still is. I loved everything about this manga - the characters, the drawing, the plot, everything! The plot of this manga revolves around Recca and his group of friends. Recca and his friends discover ninja tools called madōgu and the people who try to use these tool for evil. Together they try to stop the evil people in their tracks. Sound like a repeat of every action/adventure story you have read? Well it is not, it is far from it. The manga’s plot has twists and turns and is very unique. I mean, in how many mangas is the main character’s mother immortal and can hold her own in a fight? I can tell you of one, this one. But the far more interesting part is how she became immortal, and as much as I would like to tell you it would spoil too much. You will just have to read it yourself.

But what finalized this manga’s place on my list of favorite mangas is something even more abstract than the things I mentioned before. What made me fall in love with this manga is the feelings it gave me as I read. I read mangas for the feelings I feel as I read the manga. I love feeling the tension, excitement, happiness and sadness of the characters. This manga gave me that in quality and quantity that few other mangas can hope to compare. The tension and excitement I felt during the major battles was priceless, the ending of this manga left me on the verge of tears and the happiness I felt when the characters smiled and meant it, wonderful. I highly recommend this manga to any who wish to read a great manga.