Review of Fire Force Season 2
THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW After the rather lackluster first season i stood at a crossroad. Either i stop watching the series at all and leave it at that, or i continue with season two to see if the show improves. I did the latter and i have to say that it was a fantastic decision. Season 1 turned out to be just a stepping stone to what this series can develop towards. This was a major improvement in every single way. STORY - 7/10 This season started with one of the best arcs so far. The fights have improved wildly consisting of not just flashy animation andwillpower like season one. There are tactics, strategies and decisions being made. Fights change over the course of time and the show is not afraid to let one of our heroes lose. Generally it can be said that the stakes feel much higher than before. Gone are the mini-arcs with no meaning. Every arc pushes either the story or a character forward. The mystery is interesting and i am really eager to know where this is going. The only minor flaws are that the arcs are a little bit inconsistent in quality and the tone of the show seems to change every episode. There is funny and dumb humor in one episode and then heads getting ripped of in the next. I also think that while the mystery itself is very compelling, the way it unfolds seems a bit inconsequential. There are big reveals but they aren´t build up towards very well.
However, this season was consistently entertaining, written way better and a huge step up from the first. If this keeps going there is a good chance that Fire-Force will play in the same league as some of the genres best.
Art – 9/10
One of my biggest issue with the first season was the janky animation. It looked fantastic in some shots but the timing and the angles were just completely all over the place. But all that was fixed coming into season 2. The quality stayed the same and the fights truly keep up with it. Fantastic lighting, fluid fire animation, great choreography and an overall better flow during the fights than before. The character designs stayed the same with the introduction of some new highlights (I have to point out the third arc here). Thank god that these changes were made.
Sound – 9/10
This was the strongest category in the first season and it still is in the second. While none of the two openings reach the incredible first one, they are still fantastic openings in themselves, especially the last one. The endings are also great, opting for a very stylistic approach to their artstyle. The sounddesign is still incredible. There are multiple scenes that literally took my breath away. The timing and intensity of the different attacks are well crafted and fit every single time.
Characters – 8/10
Huge step up from season one. A lot of the characters that i found incredibly agitating back then,
have now received huge amount of development. I think Arthur is still a joke in most of his scenes, but atleast they gave his actions some amount of reasoning. Shinra, our main character, has been mostly static but still likeable and fun to root for. But the thing that impressed me the most was the handling of the side characters. Some of them got amazing episodes and story-arcs. Joker, who was just this mysterious figure in season one, is now one of my favorite anti-heroes ever. The different pillars are also interesting characters with insane powers.The female characters are written much better in this season. Maki received her own story-arc going into her relation with her family and sister Iris has to deal with the breaking of of her belives .The only standout here is still Tamaki, who is still just there for panty-shots and fanservice.
Enjoyment – 8/10
I was hesitant to start this season, believing that it would just spiral down in quality, but it proved me wrong. This was consistently entertaining. Season 3 ,which is going to be the last, has been announced and i am very eager to see all the storylines flow together in an epic finale. If season one dissapointed you, watch season 2.
-Marco_Yooo
FINAL SCORE - 8/10