Fire Force - Season 1

The original review is from 12/28/2019 - Fire Force is really a hodgepodge throwing all the possible concepts and storylines the shonen genre has to offer into quite a surprisingly well-rounded show. My first impressions after a few episodes were summed up thusly: “The manga author behind Soul Eater clearly wanted to create his own Blue Exorcist”. The resemblance to that show, with all the references to "The Devil", the fact that one of the female characters looks an awful lot like Rin Okumura when she is using her powers (apart from the fact her tails, ears, and claws are red), the battles with a multitude of Infernals, plus a deeper backstory storyline is apparent. The fact that it is by the manga author behind Soul Eater is also quite obvious. This is clear when you see the character design - for example, the main male protagonist has sharp pointy teeth, and of course there is the obligatory reference to Arthurian legend with Excalibur... As you start getting into it, you slowly realize there are more and more similarities with other shonen anime series. There are (fire) forces with very charismatic commanders which is something we saw in Bleach. Then it is immediately revealed that the main protagonist has two main motivations: On the one hand to become the greatest hero (a typical shonen trope - The Hokage, the King of the Pirates, etc.), and on the other hand to save his family, a classic storyline which can be done in a reasonably respectable and logical way (like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba did). So while this show is nothing we have not seen before, what makes this anime stand out from the rest? Unfortunately, there is not much except a bunch of peculiarities and strange things that got me thinking as it went on. The biggest mystery is the simple fact that everything the manga author threw in holds together. You can see, for example, that in producing this work he took a lot of liberties with world-building and the rules of that world. An intriguing and mysterious history is subtly unpacked through religious quotes, revealing that something very bad must have happened to this Earth of ours. There is also a strange and malevolent organization, unnatural phenomena, suspicion about the origin of all their powers, and even doubts about everything their scriptures tell them. In other words, the lore is really brilliantly crafted and the anime series keeps wringing more and more surprises out of it all the way throughout the season. As for the characters, they are at least interesting even if they are not that original. For example, erotica is incorporated into the narrative as a curse on one of the girls - well that sounds pretty crazy, right? It looks pretty freaky too! Other peculiarities I found include, for example, the protagonist’s main "competition" who provides the most comic relief (the legendary King Arthur meets the hapless Don Quixote). What about the others? Some characters, such as the commanders and some of Shinra's colleagues are quite endearing, and the rest are either forgettable or boring... What else? Fire Force is first and foremost a classic shonen anime series with pretty good fight scenes that have a good vibe and are dynamic, plus they go for a certain cool aesthetic (sometimes the main protagonist’s style almost looks like he is breakdancing or practicing Capoeira). The animation is sometimes very good, and sometimes not so good. It has an excellent soundtrack and both the two openings and even the music underscoring the fight scenes are very good. All in all, this anime series is not going to set the world on fire, yet the world it is set in is quite sophisticated, and I found that and its mysteries and potential intriguing enough. So, because some episodes are quite entertaining, I ended up awarding it 6.66/10 after finishing the first season (because of The Devil). (12/07/2020) (less) (more)