New characters! Who doesn’t love new characters – and a high school student as well! Actually, how old is the rest of the 8th supposed to be? 20s, right? Anyways, let’s meet our newest antihero and her short lived gang!
One interesting point is the new white-clad…who happens to be black. Guess those KKK implications were a little too strong, so they need to reassure the censors (before anyone jumps on me, just look at Arrow’s outfit. Come on. That plus the Teutonic motifs being used throughout…dangerous territory there Fire Force. Better bring that back around). Although, speaking of the censors – that was a pretty gruesome scene. I realized there hasn’t been much carnage – mostly cinders – so that was pretty shocking.
Another point that’s starting to bother me about Fire Force are the power levels. From last episode, Shinra has an Adollah Burst, can burn hot enough to mess with the expansion rate of the universe (breaking the ole Hubble Constant for any astrophysicists out there) – but gets beaten by Arthur who cannot recall if he’s right or left handed. Same thing with the newest white clad – strong enough to put a giant hole through someone but too dumb to be certain he’s found the right target. I guess intelligence isn’t strength in this show, but even so, the disparity is becoming annoying.
Finally, I like the Fire Thief. Following the recent antihero trend, Fire Force lays it on pretty thick here with Shinra blatantly asking if she’s good or bad. That said, I don’t dislike her adrenaline junky status – surprisingly, everyone else so far has had (ig)noble reasons for lighting things on fire. Inca has a bit of survivor trauma, which weirdly manifests itself in her super power of fire prediction and her warped personality of high stakes Robin Hooding. Still that’s an original motivation, which leads to (hopefully) an original character.
Not too much nuance this week – battle lines are nice and clear. Not the most exciting of episodes, but a necessary one to set the stage for the rest of the season’s conflict.
Inca gets even better later on.