Mirage of Blaze

Imagine having to share your body with a historical figure and particiapting in a war that's been going on for 400 hundred years. That's what Takaya Ohgi has to go through the day he found out he's the reincarnation of Kagetora, adopted son of Kenshin Uesugi.

This 13-episode series has a mix of history, supernatural and romance. The spirits of the warlords and samurai of 16th century Japan have been fighting all along as 'possessors'. Kagetora was given the task by his father Kenshin to fight and exorcise the spirits who are siding with the Feudal Underworld. He was reluctant to acknowledge these revelations at first and in fact could not remember anything from his previous reincarnations. This locking away of memories would later prove to be vital in understanding his relationship with Yoshiaki Tachibana, Nobutsuna Naoe's reincarnation, the man who swore to protect him and who revealed Takaya's identity.

Takaya's power is tested during a battle with his bestfriend Yuzuru Narita, who is possessed by Shingen Takeda. Soon thereafter he began to improve his abilities and slowly recovered parts of his lost memories. He also remembered that Naoe was in love with him and the terrible act that made him want to forget the past.

Later in the series, the other forces which made up the 4 major powers during the Warring states also started moving. The lesser force Oda was also mentioned. Soon they had to confront the Hojo and Fuma clans who had been trying to increase their power.

I would not recommend this to anyone who is not familiar with the events and people that comprised the age of Warring states, particularly the time between the Ashikaga and Tokugawa period. There were places, events, artifacts and people mentioned that will easily confuse the viewer. The characters will not explain everything. One must also pay close attention to the conversations or else they'd get lost in the story. Names will be mentioned and so it's important to know beforehand the roles those people played during the wars.

It also has yaoi hints so it isn't for everyone who is not into this kind of anime. I did not actually expect it from this series but that little surprise surely made me happy.

I liked the parts where they dealt with the supernatural - and there's plenty of such scenes. Instead of sword fights as expected of the former samurai, possessors fight using magic. They use it to exorcise and block attacks. It was also fun to see a different twist in these historical characters.

The animation is good although some of the characters almost look the same to me. I wasn't very fond of the opening theme though.

It's a pretty decent series. I wish Naoe and Kagetora had more moments together but I guess I'll just leave it to my imagination. I'm giving it a 7 out of 10 rating.

Note: This series also has a 3-part OVA.