Flame of Recca/Headscratchers


 * Why is it that, in the Tournament Arc, neither Ganko nor Kage Hoshi ever fought? The first one managed to fight the others to a standstill when she was working for Kurei, and the other is a freaking immortal ninja wizard! How can they have suddenly become so useless?
 * Dunno about Ganko, but Kage Hoshi is easily explained by the fact that Recca is the de facto leader of Team Hokage, and there is no freaking way a hot blooded violent youth such as he would resort to asking his mom to bail him out in front of the most powerful people he knows, the most powerful people he doesn't, and the entire criminal underworld.
 * Keep in mind that Kage Hoshi is immortal, but not as strong as other Hokage. Imagine if she was in the middle of a fight and suffered great damage that should either kill or knock her out, yet she's still standing there. Next thing you know Kouran looks at it and realizes he was chasing the wrong person all along.
 * Let's not forget that Ganko is a little girl. The only reason she was able to battle against Recca and the others is because they thought the real opponent was that doll of her's. And since Kurei knew all about her gimmick, he could've easily told his minions to go for the little girl. Most (if not all) of the Uruha are more than skilled enough to avoid getting caught like Fuuko did, and could probably kill Ganko herself in an instant. There's no way that Fuuko would allow Ganko to fight in the tournament, even if the little girl wished to battle.
 * Originally in the manga, Ganko was never at the tournament. Fuuko had left for the tournament without Ganko knowing that she left until it was too late, so Ganko remained staying at Fuuko's home during that entire arc. For the anime, although they added Ganko on the sidelines, it would have been too much work for the animators to add her as another battler for Team Hokage. It also would have messed up some of the battles to have fitted her in as a fighter, such as  having her there as a fighter would have completely ruined the justification of why they had needed another member at that time.
 * It really just bugs me how Koran didn't go after Kagehoshi instead of Yanagi. I mean, he has the resources to gain such detailed info on Yanagi and all... Even more stupid is the fact that he realized this in the final chapters of the manga: "HOLY SHIT Recca's mom is immortal!? Why didn't I realize this sooner!?"
 * Kage Hoshi was "off the radar" and not even Kurei (in the manga version not as familiar with the anime) knew the extent of the cost of the time space technique. As a result Mori was headed in the "wrong" direction with the healing girl but kept at it... mainly because he's a self-absorbed dick.
 * Not to mention Kagerou can't make someone immortal. The time rift she created is what made her that way, and it's less than likely Koran would have been able to learn such a thing.
 * In the final episodes of the anime, they touch on a few things that never really got cleared up:
 * Fujin told Fuko she needed to find the main crystal of her madogu, but she ends up using all four of the smaller crystals anyway, which, presumably, renders her trinket useless.
 * The old man (who turned out to be the 7th dragon) told Kaoru he needed to master his weapon's secret configuration to win his bout. But Joker drops out of the match before we even get to see what he can do, and Kaoru never needs to use anything to fight him beyond the first and most basic configuration.
 * After suicide-bombing Mori, does Kurei die too, or what? We technically don't see him after that.
 * Raiha said he was destined to fight Fuko, but we never see this happen. A plot thread from the manga that got dropped like a hot potato?
 * A lot of what you mentioned are revisions done in the anime as a result of having Overtook the Manga. The problem was that the scene with the old man meeting with the Hokage didn't jive with the revised finale. In the manga:
 * Fuuko IIRC didn't end up using all the minor crystals until much later in the manga, at which point she got the main crystal back from Raiha. The pair do have their destined fight.
 * Joker did have a proper battle with Koganei, and forfeited the match after Koganei used the 6th for, but only because he had his fun (or so he says)
 * Kurei and Mori's fate in the end of the tournament was different.
 * First of all, the anime is non canon to the manga, which explains everything that the anime didn't bother to change.
 * It really bugs me REAL HARD to see someone so ruthlessly efficient like Mikagami gets turned into some sort of James Bondage twice, after dropping his Revenge tendencies. Is it an example of Good Is Dumb? Do you think Mikagami would've fared better if he still keeps his cruel methods (but not as suicidal as he was before)?
 * When it came to meeting that domme Marie, yes, most likely his cruel methods would have gotten him out of it. Instead of him being so stupid as to, with his cruel methods he would of just threaten the woman at blade point, making her reveal her BDSM nature a whole lot sooner, allowing him to take out her and Poochie with minimal effort. However, in the case of Aoi...considering it's never shown or stated what   had done to Mikigami, and he was caught off guard at the time too, it's difficult to speculate how different that would have went.
 * And what really bugs me was... why? WHY? Why make Mikagami into a James Bondage a lot when he was kind of like one of the more powerful good guys!? WHY!?
 * Because if Mikagami keeps his awesomeness and coolness after he joins Hokage, they'd only need to have Mikagami handles all the enemies for them and we won't have a Flame of Recca but Ice of Tokiya.Well, except Kurei maybe...
 * Recca is pretty overpowered on his own. There are ways to make Tokiya still look Badass despite not being overpowered, making him a James Bondage does not do him justice.
 * Recca taking the The Dulcinea Effect way out to the far side. Every other interaction he has with all of the characters is well-fleshed out and well written. Stuff like Kage Hoshi being who she is, the complex relationship Recca has with Domon and Fuuko, all of it was superb. It just felt incredibly lazy for the story to be so cliche.
 * Actually, it makes sense if you know the ending.
 * General Fridge Logic regarding the whole Tournament Arc. Why do the characters complain about being wounded when Yanagi is RIGHT THERE? One hug would make them ready for action and yet being wounded is still treated like a suspense-enhancing device. It bugs me!
 * Because one, they have to make Yanagi's power a secret. If Yanagi's power is used off-handedly in front of all the audience, not only Yanagi's safety is threatened, it might be considered as a help from outside of the team, disqualifying the fighters. Two, her power is at the expense of her own stamina, which means there's a limit to her healing power.