Fire Force Episode 5 Review: The Battle Begins

This week’s episode is an all out free-for-all and I LOVE IT!! This is the kind of mindless fighting I’ve been craving since Kekkai Sensen wrapped up… Episode 5, ‘The Battle Begins’, is literally one big fight scene!

Japanese Title: 開戦

Plot

After the encounter with Company 5’s Captain, Iris is noticeably shaken, which troubles Shinra, but when he questions her about it, she denies that anything is wrong and runs off somewhere more private.

Later that day, Obi and Takehisa put the rookies through even more training in preparation for their upcoming confrontation with Captain Princess Hibana and the rest of Company 5. He explains that even though second generation pyrokinetics can’t create fire, they are still just as dangerous (if not more so) than third gen users.

While the rest of the team is busy with their training, Iris visits Company 5 in order to smooth things over with Princess Hibana. But the Captain has other plans and kidnaps Iris in hopes of luring the rest of Company 8 into a trap. Shinra is the first to arrive on the scene and challenges Princess Hibana, while the rest of the team fights the various second generation pyrokinetic members of Company 5…

Episode Highlights

Iris Remembers the Past: So, let’s ignore the fact that Iris is scantily clad in a wet white robe for the first couple of minutes… The episode kicks off with a bit of a flashback to Iris’s past at the Holy Sol Temple. It’s brief, but we see a much younger Iris frolicking around with her fellow nuns, something that is also featured in the ending theme animation sequence.

Captain Obi’s Ridiculous Training: A running gag in the series is the Captain’s ridiculous training regime. Unlike the other members of Company 8 (excluding Iris) Cap’n Obi isn’t pyrokinetic, so he trains his body twice as hard as everyone else to perform his duties as a member of the special fire force. At the start of the episode he is seen standing one legged on a ball while balancing various weights on his head and hands… he’s also holding up a weight with his free leg…

Hinawa’s Training: Did I mention that I love Hinawa? He is awesome in this week’s episode. First, he trains Shinra and Arthur for their upcoming assault on Company 5. He literally shoots Shinra in the leg with a real gun just because he wasn’t paying attention to his speech.

Princess Hibana & Iris: It’s not the happy reunion Iris was hoping for… Hibana burns off Iris’s habit for a bit of unwarranted fanservice and then holds her hostage to lure in the rest of Company 8. Of course the episode delves into their history together at the Holy Sol Temple later on in the episode. However, their first few encounters are pretty hostile.

Siege of Company 5: When Iris is taken the entire squad rolls up to Company 5 HQ to get her back and they don’t hold back. They beat the hell out of the members of Company 5, with special mentions going to Hinawa who goes all beast mode on Hinaba’s men… He literally goes in guns blazing and I have never seen anything more sexy in my life! This was really his time to shine!

Themes and Trivia

Griffin: Arthur pretends that two birds on the roof are griffins and he attempts to ‘slay’ them with Excalibur… A griffin is a mythical creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

Dragon: When that fails, Arthur sets his sights on a lizard that he claims is a dragon. Dragons appear in various mythologies from around the world, but most agree that they are large serpent-like creatures that most often fly and breathe fire.

Comments

I didn’t think I could love Hinawa more, but then I saw Episode 5 and I gained a whole new respect for Company 5’s Lieutenant! He went ham on Company 5, rolling up to their front door guns blazing taking no prisoners as he took down Hibana’s goons one after the other in a dazzling display. I think I watched the last 15 minutes of the episode five times just so I could see Hinawa wreck half of Company 5 all on his own! Not to mention the animation was absolute perfection throughout the entire ‘battle’! There were all these great angles and close-ups, the whole thing was just visually stunning!

I know I’m gushing over Hinawa, but everyone did their part to make this mission a success, Maki was at her best and for once I didn’t find Arthur to be too annoying. Shinra had some pretty badass moments too and for a bit I actually believed he could be a hero (though he’s no Deku).

I really enjoyed the whole dynamic between Iris and Hibana. It gave both characters some much-needed depth and for the first time since the series started I actually cared about Iris…

Prepare Your Fighters!

I loved this episode so much! Fire Force is at its best when all the characters are working as a unit to take down an enemy and Episode 5 gives them the opportunity to show off their abilities in this non-stop free-for-all fight!

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 Spark of Promise (約束の火華)