Overview |
Recca Hanabishi (花菱 烈火 Hanabishi Rekka) is a super-powered teen who is obsessed with ninjas, not knowing he is one himself. Being a descendant of the leading line of the Hokage, Recca has the ability to create Fire. The adopted son of a fireworks manufacturer, he sometimes employs small incendiary devices or smoke bombs in combination with his elemental power to distract his enemies. He is the biological son of Oka and Kagero.
Appearance
Recca has black hair which is always seen in its characteristic forward curls. He is fairly tall and toned for a teenage boy. He initially wore his school uniform along with an orange baseball cap pulled backwards. At the Ura Butou Satsujin, he wore a sleeveless dark blue shirt with a black mesh undershirt, along with white pants and tennis shoes and an orange sash around his waist. He wears casual clothes, even in battle for the rest of the series.
Recca's most distinguishing feature is the band-aid he wears on his left cheek which covers a scar wound that goes right into his cheek. Recca also has a strong resemblance to his biological father, Oka. On his right arm he wears a tekkou, or a fire seal that protects him from his own flames.
Personality
Recca appears to be, at first, a teenager who is obsessed with anything related to ninjas. He has promised that to anyone who defeats hm in battle, he will become their personal ninja. He regularly gets into street fights, and is well known for doing so in school and in his neighborhood. After promising to become the ninja of Yanagi Sakoshita, he becomes completely devoted to her, and is sometimes even over protective, however his intentions are always in the right place.
Recca is however at times very cocky and overconfident, believing he can defeat any opponent, especially when it involves Yanagi, which has caused some friction between him and his friends, most often Tokiya. However, this was solved when he learned not to be overly reliant on the power of his fire dragons.
Despite his hotheaded demeanor, Recca is not above showing compassion, even to his enemies. This especially holds true for those who he sees have encountered similar hardships as he has, such as Neon and Rasen. This trait has also lead to him befriending former opponents who have in turn become his allies and friends, most notably, Team Ku.
Birth
Born as the second son of Ohka, Recca was declared as the successor of the Hokage clan, whereas his half brother, Kurei, was deemed a cursed child. One year after his birth, in a fit of jealousy, Kurei attacked Recca, causing a scar on his cheek. As a result, Kurei was thrown into prison. Some time after the attack that same year, Oda Nobunaga attacked the Hokage village in order to obtain the clan's set of mystical weapons, Madogu. Ohka died fighting to defend the village, and in the midst of battle, Recca's mother Kagerou took him to the woods. She used the forbidden spell Jikuryuuri to create a time portal. After she gave him the Tekkou to protect him from his flames, she threw Recca to the portal, hoping that he'll grow up in a peaceful era. However, Kurei, who broke away from the prison in the midst of chaos, also jumped into the portal. As a result of using the forbidden spell, Kagerou was granted a curse of immortality.
Part in Story
Present Day
Recca was thrown into the present day, and was found by a fireworks manufacturer Shigeo Hanabishi, who incidentally had the similar hothead attitude of Oka. Shigeo adopted Recca as his own son. From that day forward, Recca lived like the usual boy of his age, going to school and such. But he enjoyed fighting, and wasn't really a good student despite of being able to graduate every year. Due to his birth origin as a ninja, he adores ninja in the present day and dreams to be one, to the point that people refer to him as a 'Ninja Maniac'. His record of fighting can be called impressive, as he never suffered any loss at all, using his agility, fireworks borrowed from Shigeo and ninja knowledge to surprise his opponents. He has two friends as well as bitter rivals, Fuuko Kirisawa and Domon Ishijima. However, they never defeat Recca, even though he always gives an incentive to anyone who fights him, saying: "If you defeat me, I will be your personal ninja."
One day, while walking in the park after going home from school, He saw a girl named Yanagi Sakoshita being harrases by seven punks and rescued her but his fireworks was confiscated by Shigeo. As a result, Recca was knocked unconscious. He dreamt about a princess looking like Yanagi thanking him. When he woke up, they finally introduced themselves to each other and Yanagi revealed her healing power. However in the anime Recca saves her from falling metal poles when she was with some school children at a building site and she heals him and then she reveals the truth to him about her healing powers. Soon, Recca made up his mind and suddenly made Yanagi his 'master', calling her 'hime' (princess). He took her into an abandoned building and revealed his secret power: creating flames (which he got from his birth as the son of the Hokage Flame Master). However in the anime he did not know about the flame power and only used it for the first time in his fight with Kage Houshi.
Soon, Kagerou appeared in front of them, taking a new name as 'Kage Houshi'. She pretended to be hostile with Recca and caused harm to both him and Yanagi, saying that only Recca's flame can kill her. After seeing that Recca was so devoted to Yanagi, Kage Houshi let them go.
Recca would later have to deal with his former rivals, Domon and especially Fuko, who was quite surprised that he easily made Yanagi his master without her even putting up a fight. Fuko went a bit extreme and attempted to attack Yanagi. However, Recca defeated her and said that he chose Yanagi as his master because 'she fits my imagination as a princess'. Later Fuko went missing, but suddenly she called him to come at night to school. It turned out that Kage Houshi manipulated her with a Madogu, Fujin, which she easily mastered. Domon later came to help and Recca managed to snap Fuko back to her senses, after tearing her clothes and afterwards being punched by Domon and Fuko and being called a 'dirty rat' by Yanagi. But just when he was about to vent his anger on Kage Houshi, she purposely cut her own neck. But she survived, revealing that she's immortal. She also gave hint about her relation with Recca, that she's his family member. However, at the moment, Recca dismissed it.
Soon, Recca's friendship with Yanagi, Fuko and Domon started to develop, and the latter two acknowledged that Yanagi is Recca's rightful master. Recca also found out that Yanagi works part time as a comic artist to entertain kindergarten children. However, he soon met his senior Tokiya Mikagami, who told him to stay away from Yanagi. As they argued, Mikagami revealed his Madogu, the Water Sword Ensui. Recca was defeated and Mikagami stated that if he cared about Yanagi, he would stay away from her. Distraught, Recca did as Mikagami said and distanced himself from Yanagi, losing his usual spirit. Fuko and Domon later convinced Recca to apologize to Yanagi, and he got back to his senses. He confronted Mikagami in the Mirror House inside an amusement park. Using his battle instinct, he managed to trick and defeat Mikagami. He later made a vow to commit suicide in case he failed to protect Yanagi, but Mikagami dismissed it, saying that he'd kill Recca himself in case such a thing happened.
Kurei Mansion Saga
Recca later met Tatesako Fumio, a Japanese history teacher who's just as crazy about ninjas as Recca. Invited to his house, Recca learned a bit about the Hokage clan. However, they were attacked by Koganei Kaoru and Nagai Mokuren. Tatesako and Yanagi were kidnapped, and Tatesako's wife was injured. Waking up at the hospital, Recca learned what happened from Fuuko and Domon, swearing to save them. At first, he thought that Kage Houshi was behind it, but she revealed that the one behind it was Kurei.
Recca, Fuuko and Domon headed to Kurei mansion and fought their way to Kurei's chamber. Along the way, Mikagami returned and joined their fight. Recca showed his anger by easily dispatching Mokuren. However, the four of them couldn't hold a candle against Kurei and his flame, Kurenai. Kage Houshi arrived and advised Recca to remove his Tekkou. He did so and unleashed his flame within him : the 8 Karyu/Flame Dragons. He offered his arm for their help and their leader, Resshin, agreed with the offer, knocking Kurei out. Kurei later retreated, and the mansion crumbled. As a reward, Kurei gave Yanagi and Tatesako back.
Ura Butou Satsujin Saga
Later, Recca and the others (including Mikagami), were invited to Kage Houshi's hideout. It was there she revealed herself as Kagerou, and telling Recca's past and their relationship. Recca didn't believe it at first, however. After they were attacked by three minor underlings, he admitted that Kagerou was his mother. However, he became aware that one of the 8 Karyu (Nadare) was indirectly helping him.
Recca later went into a training session, attempting to fight the dragons himself and have them acknowledge his strength and accept him as their master. He gained the trust of Saiha and Nadare, and later he competed in the Ura Butou Satsujin, invited by Kurei. Recca's first battle was against Saichou from Team Kuu, master of the paper Madogu, Shikigami. Saichou lost due to heart failures, but Recca challenged the team captain Kuukai anyway, dissatisfied with his victory. Kuukai went berserk after being hit 3 times on the head, nearly killing Recca. Eventually, Recca came out victorious, also gaining the trust of the third Karyu, Homura.
In the next round, Koganei defected from the Uruha and joined Recca's team. Recca himself fought Sakura Menou, an innocent girl who became victim to genetic experiment, her body being planted with the Hair Madogu Shikigami by one of Kurei's Uruha Jyuushinshu, Genjuro. Recca managed to win his match and solved Menou's problem. He later challenged Genjuro and almost got his dragons stolen. However, Genjuro accidentally angered one of the dragons, Setsuna. The dragon mercilessly burned Genjuro and allied itself with Recca.
Before the following round, Recca was caught into an argument with Mikagami, thinking that he got too close on Yanagi, sparking a tension. The tension remained until the day of fight. Their opponent, Neon of Uruha Jyuushinshu, managed to get Recca to agree to fight on a double bout against her and her sister, Miki. The tension between him and Mikagami hindered their performance and almost got them killed, but Domon reminded them the importance of teamwork at cost of losing one winning point. Recca started fighting as a team and was gaining the upper hand. In a desperate moment, Neon activated her ultimate technique, Requiem, to blow up the whole stadium. Mikagami stopped the attack, but risked to kill Neon. In a desperation and unable to withstand having to see Neon's sisters lament on her loss, Recca managed to invoke the fifth Karyu, Madoka. With his barrier, he saved Neon's life.
Later, a fellow calling himself Joker invited him to watch a battle in the other round, in which another Jyuushinshu called Jishou was participating. Out of his and Neon's prediction, Jishou ended up being killed by his opponent Magensha, who will later lead his team to fight Recca's in the semifinals. Receiving Madogu Kotodama from Aki (Neon's other sister), Recca attempted to break Kagerou's curse, but failed and broke the Kotodama.
In the semifinal, Recca fought against copy ninja Kashamaru, who surprised him with his ability to copy the Karyu. But with the help of the new Karyu, Rui, he defeated Kashamaru. After Magensha threw Fuuko into another dimension, Recca went off searching for her, only to find that there was another Magensha attacking Yanagi. Recca experimented the usage of two dragons at once and saved Yanagi. However, he found out that the Magensha he was fighting was another person, and the real Magensha was somewhere else. Indirectly, by doing this, Recca helped Domon win his match against Magensha. He later had a brief fight with Kurei, but they both walked away.
During the break before the finals, Recca heard of an old man giving advices to his allies. The old man revealed that Recca would lose and he would need to seek him in order to win. In the next day, the old man and Neon forced him to listen to the past of Kurei, learning the origin of Kurenai and how it was simply wrong to label him as 'monster'. After Kagerou told him that giving him mercy would just bring death, Recca was rather confused, although he still took Neon's words in heart. However, he later heard of a commotion. He found out that Joker was one of the Jyuushinshu and betrayed them by injuring Saichou.
Luckily, Saichou was still alive. However, after Domon won his initial match against Noroi, the old man forced Recca to come with him by disabling his dragons. Recca was taken to 'the world within himself' and learned that he must kept on living as a ninja. He later fought against his dragons in their human forms in order to get their trust back (except Setsuna, who he had to force to get into his body again). The old man revealed that he's the seventh dragon, Kokuu. Recca fought and managed to 'tame' him.
Recca came just in time to fight his official battle against Kurei. They were both quite equal on terms of strength and power, however, in the end, after a very harsh fight, Recca came out victorious. He admitted that he carried the big burden to cure his mother's immortality, and if he died failing to protect Yanagi, he'll be doomed to be the 9th dragon. However, during the fight, Recca caught a glimpse of a more human Kurei.
Sealed Lands Saga
After the tournament, Recca led a peaceful life for several weeks with Koganei living in his house. When he met Rasen and Kirin, he learned that Mori Kouran, Kurei's foster father, was plotting something regarding as Tendou Jigoku, and Kurei was confirmed dead. Kokuu later provided information on the most evil Madogu, Tendou Jigoku. Determined, Recca decided to pursue Mori Kouran and stop him from achieving Tendou Jigoku. Escorted by Joker, who knew the location of Tendou Jigoku, Recca and his team made their way to the Sealed Lands, learning further about the curse of Tendou Jigoku through some cursed bandits who were now immortal. The team later split up.
Recca managed to outwit Fumimaru in the Sealed Cavern, with the help from Kagerou. He almost lost hope after learning that Mikagami fell into the enemy captivity, Domon and Fūko rumored to be dead. However, Domon resurfaced, and this resulted the rescue of Mikagami. However, Recca was defeated by Kirin, and knocked unconscious. When he woke up, Domon already defeated Kirin. Moving on, Recca faced off Rasen and his Madōgu that was capable of erasing anything, Kokai Gyokuu, in which he lost his mother due to it. Fūko resurfaced with the help of another Jyuushinshu, Raiha. In the same time, Recca reminded Rasen on the value of mother. Eventually, Rasen gave in and forfeited.
Facing off against Kōran Mori and his "daughter" Renge, Recca was soon asked by Tendou Jigoku if he wanted power. He refused and attempted to destroy it. Out of his prediction, the Madōgu also refused him and chose Mori as his master. Recca fought the monstrosity for awhile, and told everyone to escape, except Fūko, who refused. After witnessing the murder of Fūko's friend, Hisui, Recca went into a fit of rage. It was at that time suddenly Kurei resurfaced and indirectly helped Recca, even though both were still uneasy about each other. Recca learnt that Tendou Jigoku was still after Yanagi, but he made sure that he would protect her. Along with Fūko and Kurei, he escaped the cavern. Upon resurfacing, Kurei left the entourage, fighting on his own way.
SODOM Saga
For several days, Recca enjoyed a moment of peace, until a transfer student named Kagura Aoi came along. At that time, Recca had a rather intimate moment with Yanagi, resulting her declaring her love and giving him a kiss. However, soon Mikagami came and informed his suspicion on Aoi, which they later concluded that Aoi was a spy from Mori Kouran. But on the way to save Yanagi, he, Mikagami and Koganei were stalled by Aoi's ally, Hiruko. In the end, Recca failed to save Yanagi.
Eventually, Kagerō located Mori's hideout in the city of SODOM. Kokū also revealed that he's a Madōgu maker, and told everyone that the battle will be the last and decide the fate of Hokage. He bore the message that Resshin would like to meet Recca. Recca told his friends to think about the decision to follow him or not.
Making his way, Recca met Resshin and learnt about Ōka's past, from his personal feelings on Kurei into how he failed to protect the one he considered important and was doomed to be one of the Karyū. Coincidentally, the person that Ōka sworn to protect was the ancestor of Yanagi. With a new determination, Recca returned to the real world and found all his friends waiting for him. He then proceeded to advance to the town of SODOM.
The team split up again. Recca fought Koganei's opponent in the Sealed Cavern, Kamui. He immediately continued to face Mokuren in a final showdown, although Kukai came to help. Helped by a repented Kamui, Recca managed to make his way out of the crumbling dome as Mokuren wailed in insanity. Recca later resurfaced in Marie's house, helping Domon in his battle. After winning the battle, he made fun of Mikagami who had been trapped inside by Marie.
The team reunited and split up again. Recca's path pitted him against Aoi, who turned out to be a male dressed like a girl, and was extremely jealous of Recca's flame. Learning on his origin, Recca defeated and lectured him to stop being so down on himself. Moving on to the final bout, Recca was advised by Kokuu to meet Resshin again and achieve his power: the power of resurrection. Recca also learned that he was supposedly the cursed one instead of Kurei, that he would bring the end of Hokage. If he dies, he'll be a useless dragon. At first, Recca refused to use Resshin's power.
Returning to the real world, Recca faced off the embodiment of evil, the true form of Tendou Jigoku emerging from its cocoon. He did his best to hold the monster at bay, and managed to snap Yanagi back to her senses. But, he was too late to save her, as she was dying. In the midst of anguish, Kokuu urged Recca to summon Resshin. Kurei also came and held off Tendou Jigoku while talking to Recca about his disappointment on him. Eventually, Recca made up his mind and summoned Resshin. Using it, he turned Yanagi into his flame angel, in the same fashion like Kurenai, except with healing flames, which turned out to be the real weakness of Tendou Jigoku. Helped by Kurei, Recca dealt the finishing blow, destroying the evil.
As a result of Tendou Jigoku's destruction, all the Madōgu started to get destroyed, and the spirits of the Karyū would ascend to heaven. Recca was infuriated when he thought Yanagi would ascend as well, but fortunately that wasn't the case. Yanagi returned as a living human. Eventually, as Kurei prepared to return to the past, Recca bid farewell and made peace with his brother. However, Koganei also left him, following Kurei.
Finally, peace returned for real to Recca and he could enjoy peaceful life from that point on (Kagerou's immortality was cured beforehand). At one point, Yanagi stated that since the Hokage was no more, she'd prefer that Recca just to call her by name, not 'Hime'. As he prepared to light a firework to end his saga, Recca exclaimed, "Then let's do it, Yanagi !"
Powers And Abilities
Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Recca has been shown to be incredibly agile and cable and he uses these skills to combine them with his various ninja tools like the fireworks and smoke-screens along with various weapons such as a kusari-gama when fighting. He is also knowledgeable in some classic ninja techniques, such as substitution which he then can apply these skills too.
Enhanced Durability: Recca has been shown to be able to withstand many injuries. He has a durable, and enduring body, as shown when the entire Death Dome crashed down on top of him and Kurei, and they both got back up to fight.
Enhanced Strength: Recca possesses great physical strength. He has at times shown extreme strength, such as punching Kurei through a stone wall, after being mental, and physically exhausted.
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Recca is very cable at hand-to-hand combat, he is able to beat people with more experience and knowledge then him. Even without the use of his fire dragons, Recca is highly adept at fighting with nothing more than his hands. Combining this with his knowledge of the ninja he is an expert in ninja based combat.
Flame of Recca
Ever since he was young Recca had the ability to create fire. When he creates friction between his finger tips a flame would appear. The flame would then absorb the surrounding oxygen to burn stronger and larger. This is the flame of Recca.
Before his involvement with the madōgu and Kurei he could only surround his hand with flames. He would use this to light his fireworks. Once he started to become involved in fights with his flame his skill and strength with it grew.
With his stronger abilities he could surround his fists in flames to increase the strength of his punches. He was could also release the flame forward as a burst of flames. At his strongest his was able to release his flames forward continuously like a flamethrower.
Recca wears a tekkō on his arm that acts as a lock. It is used to control his flames from going wild, it suppresses the power of the user to the limitations of what he can control. The only time Recca takes it off is during his fight with Kurei which reveals that he has the power of the flame dragons.
Additionally, Recca has no actual form to his flame, meaning that the dragons are what gives him the powers which he weilds. If Recca dies with regret in his heart, then he will become the ninth dragon, a useless being with no power that will merely take up space in the arm of the next Flame Master.
Eight Flame Dragons
The Karyū (Flame Dragons) are the spirits of the past 8 Hokage clan leaders living that live in Recca's flame. Each Dragon has a special ability and power that Recca masters if that Dragon acknowledges him. When used they create unique forms of Recca's flame. Recca is also able to summon more than one dragon simultaneously, creating various combinations.
To summon a dragon Recca has to write the name of the dragon. He usually performs this by writing their names in the air with his hand, but he has shown that when his hands are unusable he can write their names in the ground by using his feet. Using the power of the dragons simultaneously over a long period of time exhausts Recca's physical as well as his mental strength.
Eight Flame Dragons (Karyū) | ||||||
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Saiha | Fire Blade (En Jin), Flame Foundation: Falcon | |||||
With Saiha, the flames are shaped into a blade-shaped flame. It emerges as a curved blade from the tekkō on his wrist. Since flame masters can control the temperature of their flame at will Recca can control the strength of his blade by regulating its temperature. | ||||||
Nadare | Fireball (Dan En) | |||||
Nadare shapes the flames into numerous fireballs that Recca can shoot out at once. The amount and size of the fireballs can vary based in the situation. He can skillfully manipulate them such as remotely controlling them, manipulating their size, and divide one into multiple smaller ones. | ||||||
Homura | Fire Whip / Strength (Ben En), Flame Foundation: Snake | |||||
Homura shapes the flames into the form of a whip. With this flame Recca uses it in two distinct and unique ways. First, he can wrap it around his arm so that his punches can have increased strength. The flame can also be used in its natural intended form, as a whip. When using the whip it is controlled by the will of the user. | ||||||
Setsuna | Fire Flash / Fire Spray (Shun En) | |||||
Setsuna shapes the flame into the form of an instantaneous flare. At the moment it opens its eye in the middle of its face all those who stare into it are burnt with an instantaneous flare at their location. Recca can control the temperature of the flames to help control the amount of damage the ones that look into the eye receive. As a blind flame dragon Setsuna has the ability to sense heat and thus can ignore illusions. | ||||||
Madoka | Fire Barrier (Kekkai En), Flame Foundation: Turtle | |||||
Madoka shapes the flames into impenetrable barriers. The nature of the flame is planar because to create a barrier he has to connect between multiple fireballs. Four fireballs could produce a square barrier, three fireballs a triangular barrier, but two fireballs can't form a barrier because two points can't form a plane. Even though the surface is invincible the fireballs are still vulnerable. By eliminating a fireball from the barrier the space of the barrier is reduced. | ||||||
Rui | Fire Illusion (Gen En) | |||||
Rui has the ability of the flame of illusion which is a formless flame. With this she is able to shape Recca's flame into anything. Whatever Recca can imagine, whether human or object, the flame can take its shape and form. In the end, these are still objects made of flame and once the illusionary forms are released the flames they were made out of can be directed at the enemy. | ||||||
Kokū | Fire Beam (Hadö En) | |||||
Kokū shapes the form of the flames into that of a beam of fire. First flames are concentrated into a fireball to gather the power needed. Then from that fireball the flames are released in the form of a beam. The power of this attack is so immense that it could completely vaporize the target. | ||||||
Resshin | Transform the dead into living flames, Flame Foundation: Phoenix | |||||
This Dragon can engulf his opponent and either turn their soul as part of Recca's flame or completely disintegrate the soul. This is Recca's strongest move. He uses this on Yanagi when she dies and makes her apart of his flame. Resshin was in fact Ouka, the father of Recca and Kurei |
Souls absorbed into Flame
When using Resshin Recca is capable of absorbing souls into his flame and then manifesting them as flame angels.
Absorbed Souls | ||||||
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Yanagi | Healing Flames | |||||
Using Resshin's powers of the phoenix flame, Recca absorbed Yanagi's soul in order to prevent her from being eaten by the Tendou Jigoku and thus became part of his flame (similar to Kurenai). As a flame angel, her flames were the golden flames of immortality and healing, which can heal any wound, while also in this state she has the ability of immortality, which Recca receives since she is his flame. Possessing the power of immortality, she can also take it away, as she 'healed' the souls absorbed by the Tendō Jigoku thereby setting them free and allowing the Tendō Jigoku to be defeated. Therefore, one can consider this Recca's strongest attack, as it can allow him to defeat or kill an immortal being. However, upon the defeat of Tendou Jigoku, Yanagi was released as a regular human being. |
Fire Dragon Combinations
Recca has the ability to use multiple dragons to create new attacks, however in order to do so without any consequences he must follow certain rules.
- 1: He must summon the dragons in the same order he received them
- 2: He must avoid using them too much, as they take a lot of energy and may backfire.
- 3: Some dragons may refuse to work with another. Setsuna will not work with anyone.
- 4: The user has to rely on luck.