It’s no secret that I do absolutely zero research on the anime titles I pick each season, so it’s always a surprise when I sit down to watch the first episode of a new series. That said, Summer 2019’s Fire Force is by far the most bizarre anime choice I’ve made to date and I kinda like it. 

Japanese Title: 森羅 日下部、入隊

Plot

In the year 198 of Tokyo’s Solar Era there is an epidemic of people spontaneously combusting. This strange condition can affect any person at random. Those afflicted have their bodies engulfed in flames before they are transformed into demonic flaming monsters called Infernals. A special Fire Force is created to combat the new threats. Our protagonist, Shinra Kusakabe, joins Company 8 of the Fire Force to become a hero and avenge the deaths of his mother and younger brother at the hands of a mysterious Infernal. 

In Episode 1, Shinra and the members of Company 8 are dispatched to deal with the wife of a local factory owner who has recently turned into an Infernal. During the mission, Shinra has flashbacks about the incident with his family, but with the help of his team he is able to overcome his past and take down the Infernal.

Episode Highlights

Spontaneous Combustion: People burst into flames for no apparent reason! The episode kicks off with a guy spontaneously combusting on a train and turning into a giant flame monster called an Infernal. Apparently some time in the past people started spontaneously combusting and turning into Infernals. Anyone can become one at any time and with no warning. 

Fire Force: To combat the Infernals there is a special fire fighter force… a fire force… that is tasked with cleansing the Infernals and keeping the populous safe from their rampages. Most of these teams will have unpowered individuals and powered individuals. Powered members have some sort of fire ability (that seems counterproductive). They wear black and grey firefighter uniforms with luminescent blue accents. 

Super Powered Hero: Shinra is a third generation pyrokinetic, which allows him to manifest flames, unlike the second generation pyrokinetics who manipulate it. Think ‘Avatar the Last Airbender’ Fire Benders vs ‘M. Night Shyamalan Last Airbender’ Fire Benders.  Shinra’s ability is called the Devil’s Footprint and allows him to enhance the power of his legs with fire. In addition to Shinra, Takehisa manipulates his fire through his firearms and Maki creates sentient fireballs. 

Opening Theme: The opening theme is ‘Inferno’ (インフェルノ) by Mrs. Green Apple and it is actually pretty catchy! Not only is the name of the song appropriate, but the animation of the opening and the lyrics capture the high energy of the series. 

Ending Theme: The ending theme is ‘veil’ by Keina Suda, and while I like the song, I am not really a fan of the fanservice heavy animation sequence. It’s a lot of cut nuns looking longingly at the camera or showering… 

Comments

I’ve said this before, but I think it begs repeating… I don’t particularly like shounen anime. That said, I find Fire Force to be mildly entertaining. It has all the usual shounen anime tropes: a main character that wants to be the best of the best, a tragic backstory, a protagonist with a special power, pep talks, internal monologuing, and flashbacks… just to name a few. But, given all the music anime I’ve been watching lately, I welcome the change of pace of Fire Force. It kind of reminds me a bit of Kekkai Sensen with just a dash of Revisions. The premise is pretty out there: people spontaneously combusting and a group of special fire fighters are tasked with taking them down. So, lots of explosions and fire fights… and of course some healthy amounts of yelling. 

I really like the characters. Takehisa Hinawa is my favorite so far (mostly because he’s a megane) because he gives no f**ks, taking on the role of the straight-laced stoic character. I especially love how he straight up tosses Shinra to the side at the start of the episode when he gets in the way of the team during their encounter with the train Infernal. 

Shinra is a bit so-so for me. I know he’s the main character, so there are some attributes to his personality that are shounen protagonist staples… so I’ll overlook them for now. However, his constantly stating that he wants to be a hero gives me flashbacks to Daisuke from Revisions and I absolutely LOATHED him. But Shinra is toned down just enough that I don’t find him too annoying. I quite like his fire leg powers, and the animation sequences when he uses his powers are absolutely AMAZING!! Also, is it me or are Shinra and Rin from Free! related? Because, shark teeth much?

There are two female members of the team and the series is already establishing them as fanservice fodder. IT’S EPISODE GODDAMN ONE AND THERE IS ALREADY A FANSERVICE SHOWER SCENE… If there was a legit plot relevant reason for a shower scene I might have been more forgiving of it, but you could literally cut the whole scene and nothing would be changed in the episode. Thankfully, it’s short and the rest of the story continues on business as usual. 

The animation is pretty great, especially during the action scenes, they’re fast paced and pretty clean looking. I can make out what’s happening during the fights and there aren’t any wonky liberties taken with logic (or physics). The only thing that confused me was the nun… Why do they need a nun in battle? Do her prayers actually do anything? Cus it doesn’t look like they do… 

Fighting Fire with… FIRE! 

The first episode of Fire Force definitely kept me entertained. The cold open drops you right into the action going with the show don’t tell narrative approach early on which works in a shounen series like this. But, it’s still early and there is plenty of time to drop in some info dumps. The animation is absolutely spot on, especially during the action sequences! The characters are definitely memorable, though I will admit that Shinra steals most of the limelight. All in all, this was a solid opening episode. 

I’ll be back next week with another Fire Force review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Summer 2019 reviews!!

NEXT TIME: The Heart of a Fire Soldier (消防官の心)

Fire Force

Summer 2019 | Anime Info | Simulcast