Honoo no Mirage

Takaya Ougi is just a typical high school guy who wants nothing more than to protect his best friend and live a normal life. Enter Nobutsuna Naoe, an older man who informs Takaya that he is in fact the reincarnation of Lord Kagetora. Naoe, himself a possessor, awakens Takaya's abilities to exorcise evil spirits and fight the Fuedal Underworld. While most possessors remember their former lives before being reincarnated, Takaya does not. Naoe is thankful for this, considering his passionate and abusive past with his Lord Kagetora. As Takaya improves his abilities, he also begins to remember what Naoe did because of his love for him. Meanwhile the dark forces of the Hojo and Fuma clans begin their attack as the Fuedal Underworld descends upon the living world.

(Source: ANN)

Naoe, Nobutsuna Main

Hayami, Show Japanese

Ougi, Takaya Main

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Narita, Yuzuru Main

Matsuno, Taiki Japanese

Kakizaki, Haruie Main

Tamagawa, Sakiko Japanese

Chiaki, Shuuhei Main

Matsumoto, Yasunori Japanese

Kousaka, Danjo Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Mori, Ranmaru Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Katakura, Kojuurou Supporting

Tachiki, Fumihiko Japanese

Date, Kojirou Supporting

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Ougi, Miya Supporting

Miura, Tomoko Japanese

Kudou, Susumu Director

Tsuruoka, Youta Sound Director

Kimura, Hiroshi Episode Director

Okumura, Yoshiaki Episode Director, Animation Director

Reviews

Feb 21, 2007

Rie

Recommended

Want to watch some cool bishounen? Check out this story about Takaya Oogi, a regular high school student trying to lead a normal life. I looked at this series with curiosity of how shounen-ai would be used. But, I found the story more interesting beyond what I imagined.

Although everything, in the story, at first seemed peaceful, a major turn in events surprised me. But, once the story unveiled itself after time, the fear of freaky spirits disappeared from my system. I grew interested in finding out what happened with Takaya.

First of all, I want to say that I found the artwork incredibly impressive. I think ... the animation could have been just slightly better in certain scenes, but the art style was well-designed. Itsuko Takeda's character design has always made, especially in Mirage of Blaze, anime, as a whole, much more interesting to watch. From such amazing art, I immediately grew to love each character. Not only was the art style very appealing but also the character development. I found that each protagonist had complex and almost "realistic" personalities. Sometimes, there were a few forced and cheesy moments that made the main character act somewhat unnormally. But, for the most part, each character had several intriguing characteristics.

Second, the sound added to the effects in a helpful and colorful way. "Suspense" and "horror" were mostly detectable by the sounds used in the anime. Each background music section blended well with each scene and circumstance. As for the opening theme song, I would say it could have been better in ways, but I found that the shot sequence followed reasonably well with the music. The song itself was quite nice. I thought that the lack of an Ending theme song did not take away from the show.

Third, the graphics were not entirely adequate to my tastes, but they were effective and appropriate. The special effects during certain scenes lacked well-timed and flawless animation. But, altogether I found all of the effects unique and useful.

Fourth and finally, the story definitely had a rather wacky concept behind it. But, I found the absurdity of the plot quite entertaining to watch for development. This anime ended up being more than a rather "twisted" love story. There were many moments of drama and action mixed in with some adventure. Really, I found it hard to stop watching because it was so thrilling and interesting to continue watching till the end. The storyline really brought me to enjoy this series very thoroughly. Although a few things were a bit predictable and funky, I loved to watch the story unfold. The finish of the anime left a rather unsettling impression, though, in my opinion. Even so, I recommend this story to all slash/shounen-ai fans. It's a romance story that you cannot miss!

(Meh, I might be a bit biased with my review because I love shounen-ai... But, I still think my ratings were rather valid (inspite of the fact that many people do not agree with such high ratings)).

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Rie (5)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Aug 24, 2023

build-a-buta

Mixed Feelings

MoB was an anime I've always wanted to watch since my childhood, but never had the opportunity to do so. Frankly, the taste of this anime might have been a bit sweeter with nostalgia, but not by much.

STORY: 4/10. This anime suffers from Loveless syndrome in that it has a few deep plot points of note but spectacularly manages to complete--and barely even scratch--none of them. For the first six or so episodes, the anime paces its introduction of its characters at a consistent rate, where even if the plot is inundated with historical references, you can still keep up with it. At this ... point, the romantic relationship between the two male protagonists takes a backseat, but they dangle a few scenes and hints here and there so you don't forget it's there.

Then, after a certain incident, the anime does a complete 180 and introduces a bunch of characters in a short amount of time. Instead of maintaining its steady course towards the various powerplays between warring clans of the Feudal Underworld, it puts the rest of the eggs in a basket of what I can only describe to be a side-quest in an already ongoing mission in any generic JRPG ever. It takes something that was barely relevant to begin with and spins it into this whole mini-arc and at the same time abandons any hope of resolving any of its previous plot points.

Then, at the very end of the anime, it remembers that, oh yeah, there was a relationship between the two characters, wasn't there, and gives us this half-baked ending that honestly makes me want to wash my mouth out. So. The premise was really interesting, a nice spin on the whole demon/spirit possessing theme, but its execution couldn't be described as anything but a failure. If you go in expecting any resolution to anything, you'll be sorely disappointed.

ART: 6/10. I've seen some complain about the art, but I happen to like its style. Furthermore, it's consistent and doesn't lag or drag. I would say that reasonably so, that certain incident has possibly the best animated scene in the entire 13 episodes. I feel tempted to lower the rating because of its occasionally stale frames, but I'll give it a pass because of its age. Most of the characters (that matter) are pleasing to the eye.

MUSIC: 7/10. This is one of those series where the music is all or nothing. If it's a lighthearted moment (rare), you might have a simple tone, but it's usually pretty quiet. This is excellent in terms of mood-setting, although the soundtrack occasionally conflicts with the scenes, and sometimes stands out more. If I had to nitpick about anything, it'd be the OP and ED, but it's really just because they're not my cuppa.

CHARACTERS: 5/10. Nothing to write home to grandma about. A few highlights:

Takaya - I'd love to say that he developed a whole lot in these 13 episodes. He kinda didn't, but he sorta did. He remains the hot-blooded, recklessly impulsive teenager he was in the beginning, but he starts to become a little more receptive to the situation he was thrust in. He goes through a few changes and introduces a few philosophical conundrums that really makes me feel for him, but in the end, because of the abrupt stance the anime took, I can't tell how much of that is really growth and how much of that is Kagetora's personality blending with his. On a high note, his behavior towards Naoe, which was originally haughtier in nature, softened as their relationship deepened and reached its climax. Watching him made me cringe at times and sigh at others.

Chiaki - Because of his initially grey stance, I had really liked him. Unfortunately, this aloofness didn't last long, and it became increasingly clear where he stood. A shame, he would have made for a really nice wildcard.

Kousaka – He’s a bit more of what Chiaki wanted to be in that he does what he considers best for his clan rather for any particular situation. Kousaka does as he pleases and has no problem betraying others—sometimes even those he temporarily allied with—to do it. If it weren’t for the staunch tones this anime has, he might have been a more likeable character to watch. Unfortunately, he mainly serves as a mini-deus-ex-machina after the first part, only serving to provide key information.

Naoe – It’s been hinted throughout the anime that several scenes mirror events in the past. And unlike the Naoe of the past, this Naoe’s actions were informed by Takaya, who deeply influenced him. As a male lead, despite having so many scenes surrounding him, his role feels weak. He purposefully distances himself from Takaya, likely due to their past, opting to watch him from afar and see how things roll out. But even when they continue to stay with each other, their interactions feel stilted somehow. Only during that certain incident can the audience finally FEEL the weight of his burden, but of course, the anime takes a 180 after that, drawing a decision that needed to be made into a stalemate. There’s a few scenes of their past which serves to explain Noae’s sins, yet shamefully, the relationship between Naoe and Kagetora is spoken about by the other characters instead of shown to us, the audience.

Yuzuru – He’s the Joker, the Trump Card, the unyielding solution that Takaya couldn’t afford to be and Kagetora almost wasn’t. Even though Takaya is the main character, Yuzuru is the one drama spirals around. Yet despite his constantly reputable strength, he’s often a damsel in distress who needs to be saved by the main cast. This pattern holds up to the very end, calling into question how he could even be a trump card at all. Other than that, he’s the soft-spoken Yukito to the stern Touya, offering consolation and occasional insight but not much else. His potential is discussed throughout the series but is never brought into fruition.

Kagetora – The dark-horse struggle that Takaya fights with. He’s not really a steady character throughout the series, but he’s the lingering presence in the series that never goes away. His personality is in stark contrast with Takaya’s—where Takaya is abrasive, Kagetora is still. Where Takaya lashes out, Kagetora holds back. He’s serious and determined, carrying himself like the military general he is and manipulating any situation to his advantage. Unfortunately, he only shines in the last three episodes of the anime, and only serves to complicates matters between Takaya, Naoe, and himself. And because of the anime’s execution, we really can’t gleam much about him either.

…then there’s the riffraff who only serve to fulfill a role. Like Morino, Haruie, and even more shamefully, Ranmaru. Currently, he’s the anime’s antagonist, but I can’t bring myself to care much about him, especially knowing that he’s only a very evasive steppingstone at best.

OVERALL: 5/10. It would be insulting to rate it a 4, but with its incomplete execution, I don't dare give it anything higher than a 5. This is also taking into account the reason why I even remembered/was drawn to MoB in the first place: its music. I figured that if there wasn't even a single upbeat soundtrack out of what, eighteen to twenty tracks, it had to be at least worth one watch. Unfortunately, the music was its only redeeming quality. Perhaps if the series had been longer, it may have received a higher rating.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by build-a-buta (20)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jul 27, 2008

TrenchKamen

Not Recommended

Preliminary (2/13 eps)

So this was playing in the "yaoi" (not really) room at Fanime 2007, and I parked myself and my luggage in there since I did not yet have my badge or a hotel room in which to store my stuff. (Con advice: make sure at least one person from each travel party has a name on the hotel reservation so you can get a key upon arrival.)

Guh. GUH.

Admittedly I was interested in this anime upon seeing the previews. The character designs reminded me of "X" and "Tokyo Babylon" (the main character is a Seishirou ripoff liek whoa), and there was some nice scenery. I have ... a weakness for urban fantasy, and like every girl, I'm crazy for a sharp-dressed man.

That isn't enough to hold my attention more than ten seconds, unfortunately. And that is where this show's good aspects end.

The story sucks. The dialog sucks. The anime itself DRAGS with filler that fills in the gaps between a story that is boring enough in-of-itself to feel like filler. It's filler within filler. There are some gratuitous shounen-ai-esque touchy-touchy moments. Woo-hoo.

It was so boring I don't even really remember what happened, something about a war and the main character being reincarnated and zombies. Sounds like it has the potential to be interesting? It's not.

Just watch "X" and save yourself the grief.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by TrenchKamen (26)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Anime Not On Streaming Services 4

by eblf2013

49 Entries · 8 Restacks

anime archive: bl anime/donghua✮⠀

by shinlvrr

50 Entries · 113 Restacks

TV Boys Love Anime

by Fudanshi

34 Entries · 17 Restacks

	Poll: Mirage of Blaze Episode 13 Discussion stand - May 28, 2013	1 replies	by yveltalkyogre »» Aug 26, 2022 9:16 AM
	Poll: Mirage of Blaze Episode 9 Discussion stand - May 28, 2013	1 replies	by S-Lumiere »» Aug 25, 2021 12:11 PM
	Poll: Mirage of Blaze Episode 12 Discussion stand - May 28, 2013	4 replies	by hanyuhi16 »» Dec 26, 2020 7:17 AM
	Poll: Mirage of Blaze Episode 7 Discussion 25letters - May 27, 2007	7 replies	by hanyuhi16 »» Dec 18, 2020 6:36 AM
	Poll: Mirage of Blaze Episode 8 Discussion stand - May 28, 2013	2 replies	by Maou_heika »» Nov 6, 2019 6:59 AM