We’re back with some hot bois, girls, and demons for another season of Fire Force! So strap in, turn your brainpower down, and enjoy some nice pyrotechnics and spotty plot as we try to uncover the mystery of people randomly combusting!
Season 2’s premiere was great (you can read my ravings in the Summer Preview). Episode 2…came back down to earth. It’s worth noting that Episode 2 was mostly covered in the manga that I read ahead in (I think Episode 1 was either out of order or an anime original – maybe a manga reader knows).
First thing to touch on is Arthur. He arrives halfway through this episode and steals the spotlight. Arthur is just a strange character to me – in some ways, I’m starting to think he’s a male Tamaki. Who I don’t like very much. What I mean by that is – Arthur’s power level is literally powered by his stupidity and delusions (who can forget Silver…) The flimsy “my parents left me” doesn’t serve to explain how messed up in the head this guy is. There’s also some oddities going on there (the TV show was talking about a restaurant poisoning people and then burning down. What?) I guess his rival/frienemy relationship with Shinra is something of a redeeming dynamic, but I don’t see “being abandoned by your parents” and “finding out your mother is a demon when you thought she was dead” as equivalent emotional traumas.
Looks like this season’s going to explore the Adollah realm quite a bit more. I just hope FF doesn’t start using that exclusively as the setting, since their varied backgrounds and environments are a big plus in my book. Also some new characters are introduced and a new main character alluded to – this season will be race to find the new Adollah Burst…Pillar?
Finally, my greatest fear is being revived in the Demon/Hero vs Knight/King duel: choreography and pace were….not quite perfect. Fire Force keeps doing this and it’s driving me nuts – instead of having a conventional showdown fight, they keep injecting weird humor or flashbacks. There’s no reason – the animation quality is obviously capable of delivering a great fight. Please don’t disrupt the flow of a scene for no reason. While this episode is certainly not as bad as last season’s moments, I’m concerned again, especially after episode 1 had put my fears to bed.
What do you guys think? With the new director at the helm, will the second season surpass the first, or will FF fall back into old ways?
I don’t the new director will change much to be honest. The show seems to have settled on its style and I think that’s a good thing (more because the show could easily end up badly directed since the style they’ve chosen, think shaft, can really go wrong). Also I think the less important fights will always be kind of jarring with flashbacks, jokes, fanservice (although I think we’ll see less of this) or other divergences. It’s seems to be the way the show likes to deliver some of its content. Its never been an issue for me and I think the only serious fight that they goofed was with Rekka. Nonetheless I tolerate more than like it but that really is a staple of standard shonen shows.
Yeah I agree the Rekka fight was goofed by Tamaki, but that fight (and many others) have odd choreography sometimes. It’s like the authors know the want a fight but get a little lost halfway through on what to do.
Honestly, Arthur aside since I hate him and think he is the 2nd worst thing in the show after Tamaki, I enjoyed this episode more than the 1st. Granted that isn’t a high bar, since I seem to be alone on the team on disliking Fire Force. But all in all I like this new director more than the old, since he doesn’t go near as hard on the Shaft-lite style I hated so much. It has issues, but they are manageable or ignorable issues, rather than ones ingrained in the core of the show like the 1st season.
Tamaki is nowhere near as an annoying as Arthur.