Tokiya Mikagami

Infobox animanga character
color = #B7410E
color text = #FFF
name = Tokiya Mikagami
series = Flame of Recca


caption = Tokiya Mikagami on the cover of volume 31 of the Flame of Recca manga
first = Volume 2, Chapter 10
Episode 3
last =
creator =
voiced by = Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese)
Paul Hunter (English)
age = 16 (manga), 17 (anime)
gender = Male
born = November 13
death =
relatives =
divider = yes
aux1 = Ensui
aux1 name = Madōgu
aux2 = Water
aux2 name = Element
aux3 = Hokage
aux3 name = AffiliationsNihongo|Tokiya Mikagami|水鏡凍季也|Mikagami Tokiya is a fictional character from the anime/manga series "Flame of Recca". Despite the difference in his age in the anime and manga, [In the manga, Tokiya 16 years old (shown in Volume 12, Chapter 116); the same age as the series' main protagonist and their comrades. However, the booklet accompanying the anime series' second official soundtrack lists his age as 17.] he is consistently portrayed as Recca Hanabishi's senpai. [cite web | title="Official Flame of Recca FINAL BURNING website" | accessdate=2007-06-24 | url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/recca/chara/index.html] [cite book |last= Nobuyuki|first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 02|publisher= Shogakukan] [cite episode | title = Nihongo|The Maze of Mirrors and the Determined Flame!!|鏡の迷宮 決死の火炎|Kagami no meikyū kesshi no kaen!! | series = Flame of Recca | serieslink = Flame_of_recca | airdate = August 16 1997 | | number = 4 ] He is known for his coldness, intellect, and his thirst for revenge. Throughout most of the Flame of Recca series, he is driven to fight and to become stronger by his determination to avenge his murdered sister. He wields the madōgu Ensui, which utilizes the element of water. He is often referred to by his last name, though his companions have made up nicknames for him, such as "Mi-chan" or "Mī-bō". His Japanese voice was provided by Hikaru Midorikawa, while his English voice actor in Viz Media's dub is Paul Hunter. [cite web|url=http://animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=662|title=Anime News Network - Flame of Recca (TV)|publisher=Anime News Network|accessdate=2006-12-10]

Profile

Tokiya's parents died in a car accident when he was young, leaving him in the care of his older sister, Mifuyu. Eventually, two thugs raid their apartment with the intention to steal the Mikagami family heirloom: the madōgu Ensui. In an attempt to shield Tokiya from one of the thugs, Mifuyu gets stabbed in the back. The thugs run off, and the paramedics arrive to save Mifuyu, but she died as she handed Tokiya the Ensui.

Tokiya's mind became consumed with thoughts of avenging his sister. These vengeful thoughts led him to a renowned swordsman named Meguri Kyōza, whom he asked to teach him how to kill people. Meguri revealed the true nature of Ensui to Tokiya, and shows that it could form a blade out of water and could control all the forms of water (solid, liquid, and gas). He then agreed to teach Tokiya how to utilize Ensui using Hyōmon Ken; a fighting style attributed to Ensui's power.

It took Tokiya roughly seven years to master Hyōmon Ken. Afterward, he left Meguri's hermitage in the mountains and traveled to the city. He enrolled in Nashikiri High School, which is the same school that Recca Hanabishi, Fūko Kirisawa, Yanagi Sakoshita, and Domon Ishijima are enrolled in. Tokiya excels in academics, and a teacher went as far as to say that it would be no problem for him to get into a prestigious college such as Tokyo University. [cite book |last= Nobuyuki|first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 02|chapter= Chapter 011|publisher= Shogakukan]

Characteristics

Tokiya in both the anime and manga is initially portrayed as callous and aloof; often insulting his teammates' abilities and intelligence. He is protective of Yanagi, who closely resembles late sister, and he is shown to be interested in her romantically in the manga [cite book |last= Nobuyuki
first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 06|chapter= Chapter 056|publisher= Shogakukan] . It is primarily due to these feelings that he and Recca develop a sort of rivalry in the earlier part of both the anime and manga series, and why he decides to join Recca and the others when they attempt to rescue Yanagi the first time she is kidnapped by Mori Kōran. He joins Recca's team for the Ura Butō Satsujin with the intention find his sister's murderer, but when Yanagi ends up becoming the team's wager and would be given up to Kōran should their team lose, he says that he now has an additional reason to fight alongside them. [cite book |last= Nobuyuki |first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 05|chapter= Chapter 043|publisher= Shogakukan]

Other characters have often praise Tokiya for his intellect and composure during battle, with some going as far as to say that he might be the strongest Hokage member when it comes to normal battles [ cite book |last= Nobuyuki |first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 05|chapter= Chapter 049|publisher= Shogakukan] . Another characteristic of his that makes him stand out among his teammates is the fact that he is more ruthless and cruel than the rest, a fact recognized by both Kurei and Mikoto, [cite book |last= Nobuyuki
first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 19|chapter= Chapter 183|publisher= Shogakukan] who both act as antagonists throughout most of the manga.

Certain characteristics in Tokiya's personality and appearance are different in the anime series as opposed to the manga and games. His hair is light blue in the manga and games, and brown in the anime series. In the booklet accompanying the Flame of Recca Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 CD, his age is listed as 17, while the filler page in the manga states that he is 16 years of age [cite book |last= Nobuyuki|first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 12|chapter= Chapter 116|publisher= Shogakukan] . Apart from these differences, Tokiya's character development in the anime is not as obvious as it is in the manga, wherein he becomes more open to emotions other than his desire for vengeance towards the end of the series. Tokiya attributes this change to his encounter with Kai, a fellow Hyōmon Ken practitioner, and his friends [cite book |last= Nobuyuki|first= Anzai|title= Flame of Recca Volume 31|chapter= Chapter 301|publisher= Shogakukan] .

Ensui and Hyōmon Ken

Ensui

Tokiya's madōgu (elemental weapon) is called Ensui (Dark Water). It's basically a sword handle that can use water to form its blade, and has the power to use this water in its many forms. Its power is limited by the fact that it can and will run out of water. Tokiya often uses a relatively small amount of water for Ensui's blade, such as the amount of water in a small mineral water bottle, but has also used a large amount of water from a swimming pool.

Ensui is one of the "good" madōgu created by Kokū. Its "evil" counterpart is called Hyōma En, created by Kaima. The Hyōma En was utilized by both Meguri Kyōza and Kai. In the manga, Hyōma En can actually speak, and it always demands that it be allowed to drink the blood of its opponent. The sphere on Hyōma En has the kanji symbol for "Ice" written on it, and as such, it focuses more on the techniques that involve water in its solid form, but Meguri Kyōza uses one of Ensui's liquid techniques in the "Flame of Recca: FINAL BURNING" Playstation 2 game.

The particular fighting style used with Ensui is called "Hyōmon Ken", which is a technique that has to be passed on from master to student. Traditionally, there should only be one heir to the technique, but Meguri Kyōza trained both Mikagami Tokiya and Kai. In the manga, the main reason why Kai wanted to kill Tokiya at during the Ura Butō Satsujin is the fact that Meguri Kyōza would often compare him to Tokiya, calling him a "stone" and Tokiya "gold."

Hyōmon Ken techniques

The following is a list of various techniques that Tokiya has used in the anime, manga, and video games.

* Zettai Reido (Absolute Zero): This technique involves the Ensui's water blade turning into ice, and anything it cuts will be frozen. In the Playstation 2 game, this is Tokiya's most devastating attack which freezes his opponent (which would explain why the opponent's entire screen becomes covered with ice).

*Tsurara Mai (Dancing Icicles or Icicle Dance): This technique freezes water from below the ground and causes them to spring up to form icicles. In the anime, the icicles rise into the air and use the humidity above to form more icicles, which rain down, freezing the underground water and launching it skyward. The cycle continues until the enemy is destroyed.

*Hyappon Geki: This technique consists of hundreds of quick straight-froward stabbing blows, used to strikes from the bō wielded by Daikoku, one of his opponent in the Ura Butō Satsujin. This technique is also used in the GBA game under the name 'Ensui Ranbu'.

*Mizu Kugutsu (Water Puppet): This technique involves using Ensui's water to create a 'clone' of its wielder, thus giving him the opportunity to strike the opponent from an unknown direction.

* Blood Sword: Tokiya is the only Hyōmon Ken master known to use his blood as Ensui's blade. In his battle against Kai in the Ura Butō Satsujin, he tricked Kai into thinking that he could no longer fight because he used up all of Ensui's water, but in reality, he had used blood to create Ensui's blade and deliver his last attack.

* Mizunaru Hebi (Water-formed Snake): This technique draws four spheres of water (representing the four directions: North, South, East, and West) into a larger sphere, and a large snake made out of water emerges upon striking this sphere with Ensui's blade.

* Hyōnaru Hebi (Ice-formed Snake): This technique was used by Kai during the Ura Butō Satsujin, but is also used by Tokiya and Meguri Kyōza in the Playstation 2 game. This is similar to the Mizunaru Hebi, only the snake is formed out of ice.

* Tsuranaru Hebi (Icicle-formed Snake): This is another technique that Tokiya developed on his own. It involves using the icicles formed by Tsurara Mai to form a snake. Apart from being made of solid ice, this snake has icicles sticking out of its body. Tokiya is the only Hyōmon Ken master who actually manages to manipulate the snake's movement (the snake usually bursts out and heads straight to the opponent, but during the battle against Meguri Kyōza, Tokiya made the snake hold Meguri at bay).

References

ee also

*List of Flame of Recca characters