Hokage

Hokage

The Hokage is a fictional clan of ninja in the anime/manga series Flame of Recca. They are renowned for their production and use of mad?gu, which are mystical weapons that have various powers ranging from the manipulation of elements to increasing its user’s strength. The Hokage clan was exterminated during an attack made by Oda Nobunaga on the clan’s village in 1567.

The Hokage leaders are known as Flame Masters because of their innate ability to control the element of fire. Each Flame Master is born with this ability, and are traditionally succeeded by one who is also born with this ability. In the case of the eighth Flame Master ?ka, his two sons (Recca Hanabishi and Kurei) are born with this ability. In the Hokage tradition, this meant that the one of the children was born with a cursed flame, and should be terminated. The Hokage elders assumed that Kurei was the cursed child since they thought that he had an evil soul and attempted to kill him, but Kager?, Recca’s mother, stopped them from doing so.

Flame Dragons

The Flame Dragons are entities that manifest themselves in selected Hokage leaders, each dragon possessing its own unique flame abilities/techniques. Each dragon is an embodiment of the soul of a previous Hokage leader who died without being able to fulfill his/her mission.

There are eight flame dragons in the Flame of Recca series, namely:

• Nadare  produces balls of fire which may be used for attacks
• Saiha  produces a blade made out of fire which may be used for attacks
• Homura  produces a whip made out of fire which may be used for attacks and enhances the strength of his punches when wrapped around his arm
• Setsuna  burns anyone who looks into his single eye once he opens it
• Madoka  produces an unbreakable barrier
• Rui creates illusions and can be used when the user answer her questions correctly
• Kok?  shoots a powerful energy beam
• Resshin  absorbs souls and makes them a part of his user’s flame.

Mad?gu

The mad?gu are mystical objects created by the Hokage that grant their users special abilities, such as allowing their users to manipulate certain elements (as in the case of the F?jin, which allows its wielder to manipulate the element of wind) and enhancing their user’s strength/skills (as in the case of the Dosei no Wa, which increases its user’s physical strength and the Idaten, which increases its user’s running speed). Two mad?gu creators were mentioned in the manga: Kok?, who creates mad?gu to protect the clan and their loved ones, and Kaima, who creates mad?gu solely for killing.

Team Hokage

Recca and his companions enter the Ura But? Satsujin as a team called “Hokage”. The team is initially composed of F?ko Kirisawa, Tokiya Mikagami, Domon Ishijima with Recca as team captain. Kaoru Koganei, formerly a member of the Uruha, joins the team as a replacement for F?ko during their match against Uruha Maboroshii, and becomes a permanent addition to the team.