DVD Review: Kaze no Stigma Part 1 (Wind)

Kaze no Stigma: Volume 1, from Funimation, has enough personality to make you want to watch this elemental series in marathon mode.

The story follows the adventures of the cool-spirited Kazuma and his fiery-tempered younger female cousin, Ayano. Kazuma was born into the leading fire-wielding family without the ability to use fire magic. When he loses in a duel to Ayano, Kazuma’s father banishes him from the fire family never to return. Now, several years have passed and Kazuma has returned with the power to use Wind magic. When a series of wind magic related deaths occur within the fire families, all fingers point to Kazuma as the vengeful culprit.

Volume 1 deals with the initial mystery behind the murders in the Fire families and explores the relationship between Kazuma and Ayano. Kazuma tends to be cool-headed like the Wind magic he wields, but Ayano’s hot-blooded spirit and subconscious feelings for Kazuma leads to more than one confrontation between the two. Despite the strange hints of inter-family relationships between Kazuma and Ayano, their interactions tend to be filled with humorous moments.

There’s nothing superbly original about this series. We’ve seen the tale of the failed student who returns to best his master and those who taunted him before. However, the characters in Kaze no Stigma will capture your heart from the moment you begin watching. Each character has a distinct personality, and is brilliantly depicted both in character voicing and animation. Even though you can often predict the outcome of each episode, Kazuma and Ayano will continuously have you glued to the screen to see what happens next.

Kaze no Stigma: Volume 1 is an entertaining watch and deserves a place in your Anime library. Long time Anime watchers will probably not be entertained as much as the casual Anime follower. Kaze no Stigma will appeal to fans of martial arts driven Anime and those who like the comedic antics of Anime series like Naruto.