Kaze no Stigma

Reviewed by Sean McDonald
September 10, 2007

Director: Jun'ichi Sakata Genre: Action Age Rating: Teen

The Kannagi Clan is an ancient family of exorcists who are able to manipulate fire to their own cause. Showing no talent for being able to control the flame and after losing in a dual against his cousin Ayano, Kazama is banished from his household by his father. Four years later, Kazama returns but has mastered the power to control wind. Upon his return, however, many of the Kannagi Clan members are being murdered, leaving Kazama as the most likely suspect. With the Kannagi Clan in panic, they send Ayano to deal with Kazama, only to be defeated by his superior power. Ayano soon discovers that Kazama is not responsible for the murders of her clan members and is then forced to work with him to discover the true culprit behind the murders.

For those of you who have enjoyed the series Shakugan no Shana, you will find a lot of similarities in this series as well. I really enjoyed the storyline in this anime, even though I could kind of see what was going to happen next through most of the series. Mai Otsuka, Noizi Itothe both did an outstanding job with the character design. The only minor thing that I didn’t like about the characters was how much they reminded me of the ones in Shakugan no Shana, but I guess that can’t be helped. The character relations in this anime are hilarious. One thing that I really enjoyed about this anime is how halfway through the series I forgot it was an action series and not a comedy. The music in this series is kind of lame but the fight scenes totally make up for it.

I gave this series a med-high Evolution Factor because even though this anime included everything I would expect in an action anime, the plot seem a little predicable but was still a good action series. The series runs for a good twenty-four episodes and you could expect to spend at least a good forty or fifty dollars when the series comes out on DVD.