Anime DVD Review - Kaze no Stigma Volume 2: Fire

When you have an Anime series that only lasts for 24 episodes, you had best pack it with enough adrenaline and well-scripted-story lines to make each episode worth watching.

Kaze no Stigma Vol 1: Wind, which collected episodes 1-12, was filled with strong characters and engaging stories from episode 1. Unlike several 24-episode Anime series, the story began on action instead of origin. The first few episodes introduce viewers to Kazuma, an excommunicated member of the ruling fire family, who returns possessing the power of Wind magic. The introductory story arc was filled with action as Kazuma was reunited with his father, who had kicked him out of the family, while the Fire magic users hunted him down as the primary suspect in a series of Wind-magic related deaths in their family. The first Volume ended with a thrilling showdown, featuring Kazuma, the hot-blooded and temper driven Ayano, and Kazuma’s little brother Ren.

Kaze no Stigma Vol. 2: Fire, containing episodes 13-24, surprisingly starts off with a series of filler episodes. After episode 12, the leader of the fire families decides to send Kazuma and Ayano on a series of fake-missions in an attempt to play matchmaker. It isn’t until halfway through Volume 2, that any of the episodes begin to get even remotely interesting.

In the last seven episodes, the series begins to move further in the darker direction of the original Manga. Kazuma’s past is explored and he is said to have killed many people. However, he never really gets to this darker persona in the Anime. We still are privy to a darker Kazuma and the darker tone we felt in the first 12 episodes. During the final episodes, Kazuma goes up against Pandemonium, lead by Bernhardt, and an ex-lover from the past. Bernhardt has revived Kazuma’s first love in the form of a mindless-doll named Lapis, a ruthless killer seeking to feel emotions of her own.

Kazuma becomes overwhelmed by hatred at seeing his love turned into the killer Lapis and reverts back to an angrier less-tame Kazuma. It is left to Ayano, to use the blossoming relationship between the two to help Kazuma realize who he is. It’s a little on the melodramatic size, with a healthy overdose of “love conquers all.” However, finding out the truth about the years after Kazuma was kicked out of the fire-magic house is great to watch. If only viewers were given more of that sooner, and less amusement-park-hokey stories, this volume could have been as memorable as the first.

If you want to get into Kaze no Stigma, you had best watch Volume 1 first, because the first several episodes of Volume 2 are a complete turnoff. Honestly, you would be better served just watching Volume 1 and skipping to disc two of Volume 2 so that your memory of Kaze no Stigma survives untainted. Kaze no Stigma Volume 2 may be labeled “Fire,” but it clearly lacks the spark of the first volume.


source: buzzfocus.com