Everything about Fire Force screams, “this should be good.”
And yet, I find myself losing interest with each episode.
There are few anime that I’ve wanted to like as much as I want to with Fire Force.
I either like a show or I don’t, and I can figure it out pretty quickly.
When you’ve got the likes of Soul Eater on your resume as a writer, it’s hard to
imagine throwing up a brick with Fire Force.
And to be fair, by most peoples’ standards, Atsushi Ohkubo has another classic on his
hands with this title.
For me, however, Fire Force feels like a tragically missed opportunity.
It started off with so much promise.
The characters were in place.
The mystery of the Infernals was intriguing enough.
The animation is some of the best around right now.
So, with everything there…
What happened?
Well, in a word…execution.
As great as some of the animation sequences are, they can’t cover up a story that doesn’t
really know what it wants to be, which is a huge shame for such a good-looking anime
with such a solid premise.
And I think the first crack in the foundation is the characters.
They seemed well established, but there was no real expounding on them in any real meaningful
way.
Arthur is trash, Shinra is okay, I guess.
The rest are inconsequential, but I think they dropped the ball most especially the
girls.
Maki and Tamaki are a flat-out waste.
And I honestly don’t know which is the bigger waste.
We saw Maki manhandle Shinra and Arthur during their little sparring session, but she’s
been either absent or ineffective when the fighting matters.
People were slapping her with the waifu label early on, and she’s turned out to be relatively
useless.
It’s sad, really.
And Tamaki, they really spoiled a chance to grow her character.
I know she’s there for fan service, but she could have been so much more.
The whole time she’s been this scrappy loud mouth who thinks she’s a badass, but during
episode 9 when she realizes Rekka has betrayed her trust and after he’s beaten the shit
out of her, we see her in a moment where her facade could not protect her anymore.
And that gave us what I think is Fire Force’s most powerful scene thus far.
Shinra asks Tamaki if she’s okay, and tears stream down her face, and in her moment of
brokenness she has to admit she’s very not okay.
It was a brilliantly animated scene as Tamaki gives us the most tangible moment in the series
without uttering a single word.
And then they bail.
Moments later, Shinra’s hand is back on her tits.
This was a potential turning point, a defining moment for the show, and they bailed.
Which brings me to my next biggest issue.
This show flirts with fan service in the most forced way possible, and it distracts from
the weight of those huge moments.
Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve seen my channel, you know I love the fan service shit
as much as the next guy.
Anime tiddies are part of what make the medium great, but only when it makes sense.
When we watch ecchi anime, we know what we’re getting ourselves into.
It’s why we’re here.
But when you try sprinkle it in like this lucky lecher lure bullshit, into an action
shonen, and in a way that makes no sense and is so out of place, it just comes off as cheap.
Should Toonami have censored those ass-grab moments?
No.
But they shouldn’t have been in the show to begin with.
And without those characters to attach yourself to, who cares about the story?
I was intrigued about the Infernals and who was behind their creation at one point, but
not anymore.
I don’t even care about Shinra or his family.
I couldn’t care less what happens to Neo-Neo-Neo Tokyo.
This could very well be the most disappointing anime of 2019 for me personally.
But I want to know what you think.
Have you been able to stay excited for Fire Force?
Or did you end up dropping it?
Either way, let me know why in the comments below.
Be sure to check out my Patreon to see how you can be involved in my videos in the future.
I’ll be back again soon.
But until then…sayonara, suckas!