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Episode 2: The Heart of a Fire Soldier

I’m not happy about Arthur showing up. He’s a boring but somehow also annoying character. I’m tired sick of the old shounen rivals dynamic/trope that Arthur and Shinra fell into. Then again, it was nice to see them bonding just a little at the end of the episode. I was hoping for some development or more information on Iris, but we learned nothing. Same with Hinawa. The characters are honestly getting on my nerves, except for Maki. She’s so cute and hot and bad-ass.

There was a nice fight/training scene with the rookie boys versus Maki. It was well-done and a lot of fun to watch. The flames that change shape and “sneer” at the Fire Force are strangely beautiful. Actually, almost all the fire is so. Now, the character design for Arthur looks pretty good, and the one for Joker looks bizarre, in a good way. Overall, I’m starting to appreciate the visuals more now that I got some perspective.

It’s sad when the Fire Force has to put that infernal to rest, but it needed to be done. Predictably, someone is responsible for the recent cases of people turning into infernals. It’s a shady character who controls black powder, flame, and smoke, and considers it a joke to turn an innocent husband and father into a demon infernal.

This villain is voiced by Tsuda Kenjirou and his name is Joker. Honestly, I’m getting really sick of his voice. Tsuda-san is a talented seiyuu, but for some reason his voice just grates on my nerves. Speaking of sound, I noticed some nice music here and there, but nothing amazing enough for me to want to learn the OST. I think personally, I like the ED a little better than the OP.

Episode 3: The Rookie Fire Soldier Games

The first part of the Rookie Games was mildly entertaining, but the characters continued to get on my nerves just like last episode. Shinra’s confrontation with Joker was interesting enough, though completely predictable. The movement and fight scenes are well-done, and the fire powers make it even more visually exciting. It was fascinating to learn about the three groups that created the Fire Force, as well as the real srecret mission of the 8th Division.

An episode like this would have normally won my favor without question. If it wasn’t for Shinra molesting that one girl. Once, I poked fun at people for being annoyed by the fanservice in Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary), when, to me, none of it was jarring or felt out of place. However, now I can at least understand the viewpoint of those people. There are certain conditions in certain anime where the fanservice is so blatant and shoved in my face that I lose respect for what might have been an otherwise serious and interesting story. Fire Force is one such case.

Ok so, it’s anime, and depictions of 2D characters being sexual harassed/ sexually assaulted don’t really mean much. Anime doesn’t have a moral responsiblity and all that. But I don’t have a responsibility to watch what I don’t like. I really don’t think I can keep stomaching an anime that made me lose 90% of my respect for it in the first five minutes of episode 3. I already wasn’t much of a fan of Fire Force. I was only watching because I like Maki, tbh. (And I would like her even if she didn’t have a nice ass and chest.)

Currently, it’s not remotely worth it to keep doing episode reviews of Fire Force, or even watching it. If I hear good things about the show down the road, I’ll try again to watch it once it’s all aired. It might be one of those shows like Demon Slayer where I hated the 3rd episode but then thoroughly enjoyed episodes 5 and onward. But it may alternatively be one of those anime like Shield Hero, where I keep trying to watch it, but my enjoyment level is so low I just cannot get through it.

All that to say, thank you very much for reading my reviews of episodes 1 through 3. That’s all there will be for this series. I recommend checking out my episode reviews for other summer 2019 series such as Dr. Stone, Granbelm, The Ones Within, Fruits Basket, Carole and Tuesday, and more. Well then, off you go. Be safe and well, and come back soon!

Click to see my Fire Force episode 1 Review

PATREON

(Images from: Fire Force. Dir Y Yase. David Production. 2019.)