Review of Fire Force Season 2
Damn, I'm gonna jump straight in here and say that this anime is so unbelievably gorgeous. Like, the character designs, while their style is specific to this anime, aren't something you won't find a similar match to elsewhere, but everything else about this anime is stunning. The lighting effects (fire, neon, sunlight through glass, etc.) is unparalleled in any other anime I've ever seen, but the architecture and background work in Fire Force is insanity. It has a style that *almost* borders on comic book, and the details and coloring of it all is to die for. The characters in Fire Force have always called tome because of the absolute crackhead energy they all exude, but this season did better at toning down the quirkiness of them into something digestible and less obnoxious. I wasn't really a lot by way of character development in this season as most of the plot came down to the story itself. Honestly, though, having the characters on screen with their unique brand of humor was enough character work for this anime. I didn't miss the character development all that much, though I acknowledge there are places it could've been improved.
The story itself was, in my opinion, paced better and told more efficiently than last season's story was. I will say that there were a few episodes that had downswings and that I wasn't interested in, and the transition between arcs this season was kind of abrupt. It wasn't as choppy as last season by any means, but it was still a bit choppy nonetheless. However, the actual content of the story was stellar. Is it the most original anime? No. But it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and it does remarkably well at shifting tone. The tonal changes don't bleed together; they're sharp and sudden, but one of my favorite parts of this season was watching something horrific happen because horrific events are used so sparingly and so ingeniously that, when they do pop up, they hit perfectly.
Anyway, I really hope we get to see a third season soon because this anime has only gotten better, and I'm confident that I love it even more the longer I watch.