Review of Fire Force Season 3

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW Fire Force is an anime that i have changed my opinion on multiple times: Season One had an interesting concept, wonderful animation and probably the best sound-design i have ever heard in an anime. But it was weighed down through it´s inconsequential storytelling, choppy directing and an overabundance of unnecessary fan service. But season two changed everything: complex and strategic fights, a more focussed narrative and better directing made that season a real treat to eye and ear. Now the first part of season 3 is here. Will Fire Force change directions again? Story – 7/10 This season can very clearly be dividedinto two halves: The first half is a classic, shounen arc with a lot of action and exciting fights. The one against Golden stood out the most, because it contains everything i liked about season two: really interesting powers, strategy and a fantastic climax. These fights can´t be won by simply overpowering your opponent, the formula is always (1) Observe (2) Analyse (3) Understand (4) Adapt. I absolutely love when shounen do this!
I saw a lot of hate online because people complained about the pacing of this battle was too slow, however, i didn´t have any issues with it personally, it felt tight enough to me.
Shinra get´s one of his most brutal fights so far and Arthur finally did something cool (I waited since episode one for that idiot to move).
The second part of the show took a whole other approach. In the final stretch before the finale, the show crammed a LOT of world building into just a few episodes. People called it boring, but i think that, while not as exciting as the battles, it is absolutely necessary to solve the lingering questions and mysteries that have been continuously build up since the start of the series. I really liked the Hibana mini-arc and the horror vibes it gave the viewer.
The final episode is….very experimental. I think the build-up was not as strong, but the final climatic reveal is one of the most fascinating things i have seen in an anime in a while.
However there are some downsides to this category: I think the pacing is all over the place. This season managed to feel both incredibly rushed as well as stretched out at the same time. Some of the lore does not get explained as well as i would have wanted, so some reveals did not hit me the way they were supposed to. Nevertheless, the show interrupts highly important events with random cuts of side characters! Why? I also think that the final episode cut-off a liiiitle bit to early. The way it ended left some important questions open, but I guess we will see the answers in the finale.

Art – 7/10

Between this and season two, apparently David Production lost some of the shows main animators, so people were expecting this to heavily decline in quality. After the first few episodes, people rushed online and complained about horrible CG, power-point animation and an overall falloff.
Personally, i definitely felt that the animation in this season was weaker. The fights lack a lot of the dynamic movement, the fire effects looked less exciting and there were some still frames used. However, calling this season a total falloff is, in my opinion, an over exaggeration. This show still looks super solid, and you can clearly see the animators giving it their all with limited resources. I also think they reserved some of the big budget scenes for part 2. Saying all that, this season brought a lot of new stuff to the table.
We have to talk about the final episode here: I really can´t get into it that much because even touching on what happens here would be a HEAVY spoiler, but let me say that the studio poured a lot of creativity in this insane depiction. Stunning backgrounds, fantastic switch in character-designs and great use of real-world footage.

Sound – 7/10

Well, this used to be the shows best aspect, so what happened? First, sound design. Why do they hold back so much? The first seasons were absolutely amazing in their sound directions. Brutal use of bass, effects and distortions in fights, flashbacks, backstories and everything. This season still does kind of a similar job but everything feels lighter, toned down and overall less endearing.
I also think the OP did not really fit the tone of the season. They tried to go for something more somber, which can work beautifully (Black Clover and My Hero Academia did this beautifully), but I think they should have reserved something like that for the final season. ED slaps though.

Characters – 8/10

The best category this season. You know, this used to be the shows weakest category, but how the tables have turned! Shinra was great this season. He used to be just a static, likeable hero, but in this season, especially towards the end, he really changes and questions a lot of his goals and ambitions. Hibana had an absolutely thrilling mini-arc and remains the only truly well written female character in this show. Arthur finally became cool! (Well, at least for an episode, his own arc sucked ass). The show shines with a lot of little character moments: The flashback with Obi and Hinawa, the Raffles Monastery reveal and the relationship between Charon and Haumea. These little scenes are the groundwork for a lot of the big emotions, everyone has at least a little moment to themselves.
I think the villains are a little bit underutilized this season, and some of them need a little bit more backstory. Tamaki had a little moment, but she is still the victim of annoying fanservice that interrupts the flow of the action. There is also a moment with Sister Iris in the final episode that i am eager to see explained in the finale!

Enjoyment – 7/10

This season is somewhere in between the first two. It lacks a bit of the overall production quality and has heavy pacing problems, but the story remains cohesive, characters develop in interesting ways and contrary to popular belief, i think the fights still slap!
The final season will be airing this summer, and i will be there no matter what.

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 7/10