Review of Fire Force

Enen no Shouboutai, also known as Fire Force is a show with a slow burn for a start but quickly turns into a raging fire. You'll have to pardon the pun. Written by the same author as another favorite series of mine, Soul Eater, Enen no Shouboutai is an action shonen that carries over the same quirkyness yet lovable nature you'd expect from Ōkubo. Brought to you by the same studio that has revived and is adapting the JoJo's series, David Productions bring their A game to Enen no Shouboutai. The animation is kickass from episode 1, and never lets off the throttle. Every fight inthis series is a feast for the eyes. Something also has to be said for the sound design in this series as well. Everything sounds exactly as you'd think it would, but better. The opening for the series' first cour, Inferno by Mrs. Green Apple is also amazing. I'd also recommend you skip opening 2 for the first few episodes it's out as there is a spoiler in there.

The art style is as wonderful as ever, and looks great thanks to a dedicated and talented animation staff. All of the character designs are snappy and memorable.

If I may be honest for a moment, however, my love for this series was not immediate. My score for the series was around a 7 for a while. The first several episodes, while good, felt as if they had a few holes; things missing. A quick check of the manga tells me that it was actually a fault of the original material, and not the animation team. You can definitely feel that Okubo was finding his footing with the series at the start. Not all the humor lands, and again it feels like things we should have seen for context were not given, and the show is good but not great.

If you make it past the first 7 episodes the show ramps up and becomes an undeniably addictive story. Okubo does indeed find his footing and really gets into it with both the story and the characters. Suddenly ALL the jokes are hella funny, and many made me audibly laugh. The fights become more intense, and are always character driven. The final fight of the series is both wonderful in its dramatic tension and amazing in its technical skill. At the core of the series is a tale of finding family and people who you can share both your hardships and your laughs with.

Okubo and David productions bring a worthy successor to Soul Eater with Enen no Shouboutai and get my highest recommendation.