Fire Force is a show with an amazing concept that is held back to an embarrassing degree due to many factors. As a huge fan of Atsushi Ohkubo's previous work, Soul Eater, I came into this expecting something of similar quality, but at the end, I was left with a sense of mediocrity. While the show has some cool concepts and fantastic fight scenes, this show has mediocre to terrible characters, strange directing decisions, and a unimpressive story, all of which I will cover,
Story: 6/10
The overarching plot of the story revolves around the mysterious nature and nature of the Infernals, as well as those who
...
aid them. The antagonists of the show range from rival companies, to cultists who directly support the Infernals in mysterious ways. While mysteries can be very entertaining, Fire Force's approach to its mysteries is lacking. Fire Force sets up interesting mysteries but fails to give the audience many pieces to put things together. Instead, most of the mysteries just tell the audience the answer after a long wait, without giving the audience any reasonable ways to put things together. Furthermore, much of the plot revolves around the lives of the main characters being threatened, but most of this has no weight, as Fire Force's characters are... bad.
Characters 4/10
I have never felt so much apathy or hatred to an anime series until I watched Fire Force. Most of the characters have one-note personalities or are just aggravating to stand. I will go through the characters who stood out the most:
Shinra, the protagonist, is likeable enough to not be annoying, but his character conflict of "Am I a hero or a devil?" feels generic and uninspired. Thankfully, he does manage to be a somewhat likeable character in the second half, and I did like his nervous smile tic andfire abilities
Arthur Boyle is Shinra's friendly rival, as well as one of the "comic relief" characters. Arthur's gimmick is that he believes himself to be a knight of the round table, and the more he is in his delusions, the more powerful he becomes. An interesting and humorous concept, but most of the gags involving Arthur just aren't that funny. However, he does have a likeable personality because of how much of an idiot he is, his relationship with Shinra is also decently entertaining.
Oubi is the commander of the Fire Force company of the cast, and, due to not having any fire-related abilities, he has to rely on clever tactics and gadgets to win. As the leader, he's one of the few smart characters in the show, and his backstory is actually quite compelling. Furthermore, his fights are almost always entertaining due to the variety of gadgets he uses. Overall, he's probably my favorite character in season 1.
TAMAKI. Oh how I HATE THIS CHARACTER. She's such a bad character that she's probably THE primary reason most people stop watching the show from what I've seen. Besides conventional fire powers, Tamaki has a special "gimmick", Lucky Lechre Lure, an ability which causes her to to get naked in some form and usually end up in a compromising position. None of the instances of this happening were ever funny, and its even more absurd when this ability happens in situations that the audience should be taking seriously. Definitely the worst character in the show and one of the worst characters I've ever seen, period.
ART: 8/10
Fire Force's arstyle is pretty good. The buildings and locations have a unique realistic look to them that makes them feel more realistic. The character's have pretty decent character designs, and overall the individual frames of the show are pretty good to look at. However, Fire Force's biggest flaw in terms of art would definitely have to be its bipolar animation. Most of the fights in the show are pure eyecandy, with extremely fluid animation and dynamic camerawork. However, during the inbetween moments, there are multiple prolonged instances without any animation. While I understand that animation is not cheap and most of the budget went into the fights, having frequent, undetailed still shots kills the shows pacing whenever it happens. Overall, the show's art has some high peaks, but low lows.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, Fire Force is a mediocre show that is carried mainly by its cool concepts and flashy fight scenes. Its extremely disappointing, really, as the show has so many cool and flashy ideas, such as the infernals and the various pyrokinetic techniques. However, the lackluster excecution of these concepts and ideas makes this show hard to recommend. If you can stand all the shows various flaws or just want something to turn your brain off to, then go ahead and give it a watch. Thankfully, so far as of writing this, the show's second season is shaping up to be much better than the first season, so if you do decide to finish season 1, you will definitely like season 2.
Thank you for reading.
Mar 9, 2025
Enen no Shouboutai
(Anime)
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Fire Force is a show with an amazing concept that is held back to an embarrassing degree due to many factors. As a huge fan of Atsushi Ohkubo's previous work, Soul Eater, I came into this expecting something of similar quality, but at the end, I was left with a sense of mediocrity. While the show has some cool concepts and fantastic fight scenes, this show has mediocre to terrible characters, strange directing decisions, and a unimpressive story, all of which I will cover,
Story: 6/10 The overarching plot of the story revolves around the mysterious nature and nature of the Infernals, as well as those who ... |
