After watching Ikki Tousen last time, you'd think I was a glutton for punishment, sinking my teeth into another action show immediately afterward. (Granted, there's not always a lot of choice.) But thankfully, Kaze no Stigma - while no masterpiece - is much easier to stomach.

Based on an ongoing light novel series by Takahiro Yamato, Kaze no Stigma has achieved mainstream success in Japan, receiving a manga adaptation in 2007 for release alongside the anime, as well as a pen and paper role-playing game. Adapting the first several story arcs of the novel series, the anime breaks from its source material by taking on a lighter tone, so that the protagonist is less of a vicious killer.

Kaze no Stigma's story centers around the Kannagi family, a clan of fire magic-users with a thousand-year history. The series begins with its protagonist, Kazuma Yagami, returning to Japan from four years abroad following his banishment from the Kannagi. The family patriarchs had banished him after he was unable to use fire magic, the clan's hallmark power, and lost a duel with his second cousin, Ayano. Following his four year absence, Kazuma returns as a "Contractor," a powerful magician as a result of a contract with a Spirit King - in this case, the Spirit King of Wind, giving Kazuma's eyes the titular "Stigma of the Wind" tint when he goes all out in combat.

Suspiciously, murders begin shortly after his return at the Kannagi compound (situated on family land connected directly to a massive Tokyo or New York-like city). As such, Mr. "Hey I can't use fire so I'll use wind instead" quickly becomes the number one suspect. Additional branch family members turn up dead after confronting Kazuma, and while his younger brother Ren is convinced of his innocence, Ayano's feelings are quite the opposite.

It's this "Dynasty with murder and magic powers" setup that begins Kaze no Stigma's first story arc. A total of three arcs play out across the first half of the series in this first volume, following Kazuma's hot and cold relationship with the family that abandoned him and his developing relationships with Ayano and Ren. In spite of the suspicion, the family head becomes Kazuma's best client, for Kazuma's skill in resolving supernatural conflicts with the youma (Demons).

As an action series, Kaze no Stigma is more concerned with the advancement of an underlying central plot than it is developing a rich, complex cast. Compared to dramas, the character development leaves something to be desired, but by action standards, it's actually not bad. While none of the main characters are completely three-dimensional, they still manage to avoid being two-dimensional archetypes, each getting their own time to shine. Kazuma gets the least meaningful development in the first half of the series - his past still shrouded in mystery - but I'm under the impression that the second half of the show will be making up for that. In a somewhat cliched turn, Ayano faces conflicting feelings of attraction to her second cousin, and fixates on keeping up the appearance of despising him to counter that. She does, however, manage to avoid being a complete tsundere, and in many cases acts as a more well-rounded lead than Kazuma. Ren gets the least screen time of the main three, but gets the best story arc of the show so far, in growing beyond merely being a naive kid who idolizes his older brother. His character development in the third story arc shows the most promise in the show's writing.

As overly dense as the central story can be at times, it manages to be consistently compelling and entertaining throughout the first volume. The lack of clumsy slapstick humor is refreshing, and even at its darkest, the story avoids getting too heavy-handed, the show counterbalancing all of its melodrama with a refreshingly (Wind-like, even) light feel. There's only one episode in the first volume that feels filler-ish, and even that serves to lay some of the groundwork for a story arc, keeping the central story moving forward on some level at all times. All-in-all, while Kaze no Stigma's not shaping up to be anything deep or philosophical, in terms of story, it's still a solid enough action show with enough of a story to keep your attention and no pretension of being more than just what it is.

Of course, there's no reviewing an action show without talking about the combat itself. The direction and pacing of the fight scenes are well-handled, overall. In focusing on magicians rather than melee fighters, you get characters hurling waves of elemental energy at one another and finding creative ways of countering each other's assaults with - thankfully - nobody yelling attack names during the fights. (Fighting shows are NOT video games, after all.) There was some actual thought put into the fight scenes beyond Character A and Character B hit one another until one of them busts out a super move to end things, refreshingly. For example, you get a wind magician using his magic to deflect the impact of fire magicians' blasts, and in another case, you get a fire magic-user turning the sand at his feet into magma to take away an earth magician's advantage in a battle at the beach. And on top of all this, the story arcs so far have only been 3-5 episodes each, so the climactic battle scenes never drag on.

This is a more recent Gonzo show, as well. I reviewed one of their earlier works, Melty Lancer, years ago and was much nicer to it back then than I would be now. Fortunately, Kaze no Stigma doesn't suffer from Melty Lancer's drawbacks in actually having characters and a plot. But I bring Gonzo up in this particular case to note their praiseworthy job with the show's visuals. The show's setting tends to alternate between lovingly rendered scenes at the countryside and deep within the city. The show's use of color is an evocative feast for the eyes, and these settings - between the city lights at night and falling auburn leaves of autumn - in many ways make me wish Kaze no Stigma were instead a slower paced character drama so we viewers could spend more time lazily immersing ourselves in the setting rather than watching the magic-people try to kill each other. (And sometimes succeed - at least, whenever a minor character's involved.) The show's background music - while somewhat forgettable - further invites the viewer to linger in the show's atmosphere. In contrast, the opening's great, though the ending songs are a little more forgettable, oscillating between darker and more upbeat end credits themes.

Overall, going on this first part of the show, Kaze no Stigma is not bad. It's nothing spectacular or groundbreaking by any measure, but it succeeds in being entertaining and compelling enough to keep you hooked, between the interesting nature of its action, likable characters, and inviting atmosphere. It reminds me quite a bit of E's Otherwise in that regard. At the end of the day, it has enough positive elements to make for an above average experience, worth your time if you're keen on action shows and appreciate strong visual direction.