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Year: 2019-2020
Genre: Action, Supernatural, Shounen
Episodes: 48
Rating: 4 out of 5
Besides drowning, one of the most feared ways to die is by fire. Just thinking about it gives my body chills. First is the sense of seeing the fire that would scare the s**t out of me. The next is the feeling of your lungs feeling up with smoke, unable to breathe. Fire has no sympathy for anyone and will rage across the field or place with great force and intensity. Fire is no joke and a powerful force to deal with, yet it has become an essential part of everyday life.
Have you ever heard the term Spontaneous human combustion? The first time I ever heard it was from a South Park episode. Pretty much it is the concept where out of nowhere, a human body just explodes into flames. Scary stuff right there. What if the world all of a sudden became engulfed in flame and people started to spontaneously combust out of nowhere and became raging fire demons? How would the world react to this?
Fire Force is an AWESOME anime. After the world had plunged into darkness or fire and 150 years have passed, an elite fire fighting team saves the citizens from people who spontaneously combust.
Overview:
Two hundred and fifty years before the Year 198, the world was consumed by the Great Disaster. The world became engulfed in flame that left many nations destroyed and most of the planet uninhabitable. As the world comes to grips with the new way of life, survivors take refuge in the Tokyo Empire, which remained mostly stable during the period despite losing some of its landmasses. With a new empire comes new ways of establishing religions and industries. The Tokyo Emperor Raffles I establishes the faith of the Holy Sol Temple as it and Haijima Industries developed the perpetual thermal energy plant Amaterasu to power the country.
In Year 198 of Tokyo’s Solar Era, special fire brigades called the Fire Force fight increasing spontaneous human combustion incidents where human beings are turned into living infernos called “Infernals.” Infernals are considered first-generation spontaneous human combustion cases, while more powerful horned variations called Demons possess pyrokinesis while retaining human form. The Fire Force is composed of eight independent companies that were formed by combining people with powers from the Holy Sol Temple, The Tokyo Armed Forces, and the Fire Defense Agency.
Fire Force tells the story of Shinra Kusakabe. Shinra is a third-generation pyrokinetic youth who gained the nickname “Devil’s Footprints” for his ability to ignite his feet at will. His life changed when he thought he saw his mother becoming an infernal that took her life and his younger brother’s life. Shinra joins the Special Fire Force Company 8, which features other pyrokinetics who dedicated themselves to ending the Infernal attacks for a good while investigating Companies 1 through 7 for potential corruption in their ranks. One of Shinra’s unique characteristics is his suffering from a condition known as nervous laughter, which caused him to grin during tense or fearful situations, which makes him look menacing. As the flames around the Empire rises, Shinra and Company 8 soon becomes entangled in a conspiracy that will shake the known world to its foundations.
Review:
Fire Force is by far one of the best anime out there right now. It is a great anime to watch for the concept, story, characters, atmosphere, and animation. I enjoyed watching this anime because of the main character. It has a brand new story and concept that I haven’t seen in anime for a while.
The story of Fire Force is actually outstanding and exciting. It will draw you in because the situation is quite different. What happens in a world where people just spontaneously combust? Not only that, the world around burns because people really have no idea what to do and how to prevent it. One day, you could be chilling with your friends, and then BOOM, one of them explodes into fire and becomes a fire demon. The anime does a great job presenting a world where people struggled and then became somewhat used to the environment as Japan has become an empire and the last place for people to live. The anime also does a great job of setting up a world that is somewhat in the future but also has elements of the past. The world uses fire departments to stop all the infernal- people who turn into fire demons, but what is great is that it literally takes the concept, “Fight fire with fire.”
Season 2 keeps up the literal intensity! Now I will say that the first few episodes of season 2 were meh. I really didn’t like the whole trying to figure out a pose for the calendar episode. After that, things get real as Shinra continues to look for his brother but the whole fight scene with the kid who is getting experimented on is AMAZING!!
Some areas are very proud of being a city, and then some places look like a village in Japan during the Feudal Age. Almost everyone in the anime has some type of ability where they can either use fire for their own benefit. This is told by generations. The higher the generation a person has, the more they can use fire. Leonard Burns is a freakin beast with fire. His power up almost looks like a Dragonball Z character. Even with this being season one, it does a great job setting up characters and explaining why the main character wanted to join the fire company. This was a great first season and did a really great job.
The animation is SUPERB and strong point of this anime. The anime sets the tone and portrays what this anime should be and what it is all about. The animators made this anime dark sometimes and other times bright as hell. It switches between the elements of fire and how it is portrayed in the real world. I am going to be honest and say the animation in anime gave me Hellsing Ultimate vibes. That is how good it was to me. When you make me remember that anime, then you are top-notch in my book. The elements of where a character can be blacked out, but the only thing shown is the colors of their eyes illuminate in the darkness. Another scene mostly revolves around the main character when he is fighting, and all you can see is his bright white demon smile. Gives you chills. The characters are beautifully drawn, with each having their own personality show. Princess Hibana, for example, has purple eyes and will always be seen in purple. Her color scheme changes. When she is happy, you see light purple colors around her, but the purple darkens when she is angry. The anime also does a great job of adding in funny scenes to lighten the mood. This is represented with bright colors and a change in animation. The animation is fantastic in this anime—a definite highlight.
The anime drawing when it comes to the fight scenes is done so well that they actually draw you in. They don’t look clunky or out of place like someone else drew them. They are smooth, crisp, and well time. Watching Shinra fly through the air with fire coming through his feet is one thing but watching him kick the shit out of people is another thing. When he fought against Rekka, that was an incredible fight because Shinra literally exploded through the sky to the ground in slow motion, but you knew the force was going to be powerful. Watching everyone fight in this anime is excellent and drawn so well.
The characters are flawless in this anime. Each character’s personality shines brightly in this anime. Shinra’s personality is unique. He wants to find out what happened to his family on the day they died. He is extremely nice and tells people that if they ever need him, he will be there. It seems like every time he says this, a bond forms around his ankles, and he flies out. What is crazy about him is he has a certain condition. He suffers from a condition known as nervous laughter, which caused him to grin during tense or fearful situations, which in turn makes him look menacing. This is why this character is so great because you watch him and completely forget about his condition. He is always smiling and looks like a demon, but he is scared out of his mind and can’t hide it.
I could talk about all the other characters, but there are so many, and it would be a waste because I really want you to watch this anime and pick out the character you like the most. Some of you might like Akitaru Ōbi, who is the righteous leader of company 8 and always working out. Some might like Takehisa Hinawa and his use of bullets. Others might like the great and valent Arthur Boyle, who believes he is a mighty knight.
Fire Force is one of the best anime to come out in a while. It has excellent pace, characters, animation, and fighting. The story will make you think because stated in the anime, death by fire is the most feared way to die, and there is a lot of people bursting into flames in this anime. Shinra is one of the best new characters to watch and a new hero. Definitely watch this anime!
