Shinra's Feet

Let’s talk about some heat! I dunno what kept y’all warm during the previous holiday season, but Fire Force was definitely the furnace that kept me and my squish-gang warm during these chilly months. Like c’mon. If you haven’t heard of Fire Force, where have you been? Have you been living in the catacombs of the Nether? I think so.

Since you're here reading this I’m sure you’ve watched all of season one or at least heard about it. While I’ll admit Season One was...a bit lackluster. Believe me when I say I was all hype about it because of this concept as a whole; pyrokinetics, civilians combusting at random, and art by Atsushi Okubo--the creator of Soul Eater :3--was fire! (Ha! See what I did there?) Only it never felt like it lived up to its full potential, but this season did and more!

In the finale of season one we left things on a nostalgic sense after a heated battle between Shrina & Sho and we find Shrina returning to Company 8. Aside from the usual sibling showdown Company 8 will get its wish in forming an alliance with the other 7 companies, as they are willing to cooperate in expediting the White Clad and its leader, the Evangelist. In this season the plot thickens in uncovering more about individual characters than just Shrina, we learn that not everyone is unjustly evil, we meet more power bending pyrokinetics, and fan service isn’t nearly as bad as the first season.

THE PLOT & DIALOGUE: Okay, guys so I must admit I am hella proud of Kenichiro & Yoriko who simultaneously wrote each episode! As we journey onward from the first episode we unpack a new goal as Company 8 race against the clock with the White Clad to capture the remaining pillars in an effort to get one up on the other. There’s the continuation of Company 8 sending a team of troops off to uncover the mystery behind the White Clad’s hunt on the Pillars. As a result of such we learn more about the Adolla Burst and Amaterasu too ‘causing everyone to look at Hol Sol Temple sideways and puts everything to a halt...or so they think. And that is just to say the least about Fire Force’s enduring plot, it kinda reminds me of the passionate Adolla; hot, relentless, and extreme.

I think Okubo knew what he was up to in creating this anime. Its outline is carefully constructed and while it may allow us to give birth to our own conspiracy theories and assumptions. It’s not all over the place or kiddy in its choice of words, but the characters speak plainly about any given matter, sharing their own thoughts and perspective that reflect who and how they are as a character individually. Not every anime/manga can do that, sometimes characters sound redundant of one another or the maker themselves. And as a result they lack a sense of self which hurts the story or even the animation; it’s one thing to have good art and fun concepts, it's another to tie that in with bad writing: plot wise and dialogue included. So I have to pay everyone on the back for this aspect being a 10/10, as Shinra is no longer going around parading about being a hero and Tamkai isn’t...as useless in her speech either, towards the end at least. Having said all that, this anime still knows how to pack a punch in rolling out new characters' powers and showcasing current ones development.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: This is the fun part for me. I get to fangirl and critique powers >D< I love it! Let’s talk about the hot boy on the scene; OGUN! We should have seen some super strength coming from somewhere, what anime doesn’t have a superman like character in there somewhere? I’ll admit his design reminds me of Sid and Mira from Soul eater; Sid’s tough physique and Mira’s soft features. His ability is known to form flames into weapons or a nefty board to shred the air with a heat wave. And of course his Flamy Ink in which he’s able to harness massive firepower that gives him the strength and the speed to spare with a demon infernal!

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Do y’all have any idea how serious that is? Sucks, it's only for a short burst of time, I’m looking forward to seeing him perfect it in the future and the creativity he comes up with in those shape shifting powers.

So I have a thing for the catty characters (you guys know who we’re going to be discussing) While I was excited to see what Tamaki’s powers had in store at the sight of her from Season 1’s intro, I was truly let down by her excessive fan service and role as the damsel in distress. (Thankfully, I also took to Maki in the beginning so she made up for that), yet this is something I cannot fault the character for only the writers for making her this way. However, I can gladly say that she gets a redemption arc towards the end there, awakening her Nekomata and we did learn about her treacherous past of being bullied and slut shamed for her pigtails and clumsiness. To say the least I’m glad she got some function about herself and decided that for those last few seconds she wouldn't run away from a fight.

Noticeable Character Mentions

I’d like to further show appreciation in this season for building on the noticeable characters in the show. Maki, (a personal favorite of mine) while we’ve seen her being strong physically, mentally, and in her leadership role on the team, but for also being soft enough in wanting to be a lady, being a daughter, and in her role a caring team member. I applaud them for showing us her family dynamic, the tension between her and Lt. Hinawa, and allowing her to put on her witching hat and use a little pit of Sputter & Flare to melt away those chains of doubt and conservation.

We can’t forget about Joker, every good villain has a backstory that makes you feel for them. I won’t go into detail about it but it does make him a lawfully evil in his own right and I’ll give him kudos for the way he takes down that pesky Holy Sun bastard. *Excuse my french.

POWER SYSTEMS: There has never been any real changes to the power system from what I noticed this season. 2nd Pyrokinetics still manipulate and control flames as they always have, 3rd Generation Pyrokinetics still summon and manipulate flames as they will, and Beni is still Beni lol. Buuuutttt since we’re here can we discuss some of the more clever powers in the show?

Noticeable Mentions

While I would love to talk about some more personal favorites like Arrow, (me being a sucker for good character design and having an infatuation with bows & arrows...thanks Kagome for all those years I ran around pretending to collect sacred jewel shards in my backyard as a kid.)

Remember the one who was choking out a kid in an effort to protect him? Well, his name’s Kurono and while he’s a total creepy abuser to those weaker than him his power rivals that of the great Benimaru believe it or not. (Hence his nickname “The Maddest” to Beni’s, “The Strongest”.) The smoke he unleashes from his left arm can reach a temperature of 266 degrees fahrenheit which he can force into people’s bodies and leave fatal blows behind. But I think what takes the cake is the fact that he was able to go blow to blow with Charon proving how skilled he is at hand to hand combat. None the less this pairs nicely with this capability to solidify the black smoke into various flaming weapons at will. Talk about hot right?

Enough about our beloved emo child, lets talk about our upbeat psych ward girl, Haumea. I’ve uncovered that since she was born Haumea has been able to hear the darkest thoughts of others, it’s no wonder she can be seen as quiet and nonchalant in the beginning. Until we learn that she’s actually very upbeat and playful and childlike at heart and with her temperament, this is probably due to having turned violet and to sadism as a coping method to combat these dark voices that won’t seem to turn off. Being an electric user she’s able to manipulate currents and send waves of communication to teammates in varying areas, as well as interrupt the electrical signals of another’s brain allowing her to hear their thoughts. Aside from the psyche side, Haumea is also able to swing using strings of electricity as well as attached herself to metal post and use her electric shocks to control the bodies of others. Talk about lethal, right?

FAN SERVICE: Season 1….Season 1 wouldn’t let us catch a break without throwing the tatts and buns our way...wellll more like at Shrina. I think what really made me upset with it was seeing it in the middle of a good fight. Never have I watched an anime that aimlessly threw fan service in the middle of a fight so horribly. BUT I can never blame it on the character because they don’t make themselves, writers do and having said that some writers just have a style not everyone likes and some just need improvements. Now by no means is it how black clover does theirs….

But this is Okubo’s style of fan service. Let’s go back to the Soul Eater pilot where we meet Blair...for that whole episode the interaction between Soul and our catty affectionate, oblivious maiden was anything short of fan service. I think it’s fair to say that maybe...just maybe we should have seen the Assault v. Tamkai coming at some point, I mean did we forget this is the same guy who did a remake of Tom & Jerry with Blair and Mizune (the mouse chic). So….honestly this was just an area of growth for our beloved creator.

Having said all that I can proudly state that this season of fan service was far better than its predecessor as it was well placed and didn’t trip over the pacing but in fact added to it for me. Being a personal fan of lewd characters I would like to say that I find one scene memorable as it was very...stimulating to say the least. And it was with one of my favorites...

I always knew Arrow was hiding some curves under that robe, talk about eye catching. Moving along. And to wrap this up in short. I think Fire Force has lived up to its potential and will continue itself in a fine way given this past season’s differences and build on the first. Like many of you all I can’t wait to see how Company 8 with approach their Endgame, Beni and Joker team up against Barnes, and Shrina comes one step closer to bringing restorations with his younger brother Sho.