Fire Force is really picking up here in the second half of the season. I’ve been a huge fan of this Oasis arc – the change of scenery and some newer characters really breathed life back into this show. Let’s go!
Lots of things happen in “The Core” but since this is shounen – we’re just going to talk about the fights. And really this is the Ogun show, who is absolutely fantastic. You can feel the comfort of the animation around a character who fights conventionally instead of Shinra’s kickbox/breakdancing. In this fight, everything was well done. The choreography was tidy, the environment was used well, onlookers even had good roles, the physics felt right. Even Ogun’s power level, which was maybe a tad high to be believed (and forcibly explained), still felt inadequate to the demon. Reminding us about overheating added some additional tension back into the fight – all in all, this was Fire Force at its best.
“Woman in Black” is really where I’m starting to get excited about FF’s direction. I’ve said before that Shinra’s fights feel clunky and poorly choreographed – this does NOT remotely apply to anything involving Adollah. The moment Shinra receives grace, everything changes and Fire Force animation just goes to the next level (okay, except his elongated foot – that’s, uh, because he was going so fast, and back in time, yeah). This level of animation (I guess I should call it block? Not sure the exact term), which we’ve seen before with Shinra fighting the White Clads, is usually reserved for high budget anime movies – I’m loving the trend of it coming out during regular anime seasons (MHA’s season finale had it as well).
I’m loving the world mysteries starting to be explained and the larger plot unfolding. I guess we’ve met 4 of the pillars who are outside the factories, and 2 who are inside – only two others left, right? Interesting developments on how overpowered the Evangelist is too.
New Adollah, Who dis?
I also received some complaints of me bashing on Tamaki last post. I think in this pair of episodes she was great, fit her role of Combat Sister perfectly. I definitely like her design and abilities when played straight – she’s plenty interesting in a fight without Lucky Lecher. Even her “peeking” moment with PotatoMan was perfectly fine – a short sequence to help on the return trip from the Oasis (same with laughing gas round 2). That kind of restraint gives the show flavor and fleshes out the characters without making you gag – so good on you Fire Force.
Interesting fact: season 1, there were several episodes directed by the same director. So far in season 2, no two episodes have been directed by the same director except Mamoru Kurosawa. Whatever the case is, I’m going to campaign for Yuya Horiuchi (who did “The Core”) to have a few more!
Overall, I am just overjoyed to see Fire Force moving from mediocre towards masterful. There’s no question that they have the firepower for it. Come on, let’s finish this cour strong! Latom!
