Becoming a Ninja



The series' protagonists (From top, Clockwise): Yanagi Sakoshita, Kaoru Koganei, Tokiya Mikagami, Fuko Kirisawa, Domon Ishijima, Recca Hanabishi (Center)
[Source]

 Flame of Recca, a series that is now a bit old, is not as well known as it perhaps should be. It stars hothead troublemaker Recca Hanabishi, a high school kid with a skill in making fireworks, thanks to his father. He gets into a lot of trouble, usually fighting with another crazy student, Domon Ishijima. Recca has a strange dream; he wishes to become a ninja. He's been fascinated with the Hokage clan, and has researched them his entire life. When one day he meets a girl named Yanagi, he vows to protect her as his hime, or princess. From there he finds himself in a twisted mess of villains who are after Yanagi for her ability to heal, and at the top is a rather ugly man by the name of Koran Mori, as well as Recca's brother Kurei. Recca teams up with his friends (as well as a few rivals) to protect Yanagi and to stop Koran Mori.

Flame of Recca is a beautifully written series, chock-full of humor, action, and gore. An odd combination to be sure, but the art is spectacular, and allows for a much wider range of emotions to be shown. A short anime was released, spanning only the first part of the story, the Ura-butou Satsujin, a tournament put together by Mori yearly to appease his sadistic side, in which competitors are chosen and are pitted against each other until one opponent is dead. The anime was accurate but cannot do justice to the manga. At over 300 chapters, it goes far beyond the tournament, into some serious and action-packed... action. It was an absolute joy to read, and I encourage all of you to give it a shot!

Anzai, Nobuyuki. Flame of Recca. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1995. Print