Review of Fire Force
Another new shonen has ended its first run thus making it's mark on the genre. Talk about a flashy finish with Shinra vs Sho being absolutely stunning to see animated. David Production I applaud them for how this show has looked. No matter what you say about the story you cannot in any way discount the art and animation. Every one of the many fights had your jaw on the floor with the fluidity and dynamism being put on display. A feast for the eyes if nothing else, and I'd say there's a good deal else. The characters I think made the show a lotof fun even when it was middling in the story. I know many people didn't like the whole situation with Tamaki especially when Rekka came around in like episodes seven through ten. Personally didn't find it awful or worse than the fan service in many other shows that people openly enjoy but whatever. Anyways the cast on whole is very enjoyable. Shinra as our lead doesn't get a ton of character development until the second cour but the whole first half with his single mindedness of wanting to find his brother and get revenge for his mom only amplifies the impact the events in the Nether have on him. The others of Obi, Maki, Benimaru, Arthur, Hibana, Vulcan, Tamaki are all character I liked spending time with in the story.
The story itself also kind of takes a while to get itself going with the first half being very small scope having Company 8 simply taking down Infernals and corrupt Fire Companies. Doesn't shine until we get to Asakusa and the White Clad are truly given center stage to battle with the Fire Soldiers. The story then only getting better imo with the Vulcan arc and the Nether arc. Each showing just how vile the White Clad can be, how many lives they've destroyed to appease this Evangelist. Of course we also got many badass fights along the way. Mad she so happy each time we saw a company member kick was against a White Clad.
This is a shonen that probably would've has more success and critical praise about ten years ago if I'm being honest. It very much feels like an early 2000's type anime. Which isn't a bad thing because many of those tropes and styles got is to where we are now with these newer shonen. All this to say that Fire Force might be taking a tired approach to shonen in this modern climate but it still has an immense amount of value to be seen.
The anime has taken a pretty good manga and made it look incredible with how it's animated and shot. The director has a very particular they're using in the cinematography that's being used which adds to the ethereal feel of this world. The power of the flame is vast as we've seen. Overall I probably enjoyed this more than most. Has some problems and stumblings yes but a tour de force visually with a cast that's loads of fun. Could not be more excited that Season 2 is coming in just six months!
8/10