The Heat is On
- Episodes : 24
- Genre : Action, Supernatural, Shounen
- Airing Date : July 2019 – December 2019
- Producers : David Production
Contains Spoilers
Enen no Shouboutai (Fire Force)
Shinra Kusakabe and the Special Fire Force Company Eight have discovered that there's a conspiracy hidden within the Fire Force itself, where some of their members are also double agents working for the White Clad, a cult-like group that seems to want to make sure that the whole world is engulfed in flames to start a new paradise devoid of "sinful" humans. After the shock of finding out that one of said moles was none other than one of the Commanders of the First Company, they decide to investigate further.
First, they have to go to Asakusa, the home of the Seventh Company, which is full of traditionalists who despise the more “westernized” ways of the rest of the city and win the trust of Benimaru, the captain of the company. And while dealing with White Clads who create more Infernals and can imitate others, they also need to find Vulcan, the greatest Blacksmith, to try to recruit him before the White Clads find the secret of his workshop.
1. The Plot Advances Quickly without Fillers
Unlike the first part of the season, which took time to introduce the whole Company and the world, now the series goes full-throttle with the plot and the conspiracy of the White Clads. We barely get a sense of the new characters' personalities before we know if they're evil or good, and what role they will play. Unlike the first part, you really don't want to miss any episodes of the finale, getting ready for the second season.
2. The Animation Gets Better Every Episode
From the very beginning, Fire Force’s animators gave us a taste of their talent with their incredible fire animations, making the dangerous element look cool and menacing. Now, with more powerful infernals and fire users, they get to show us even better animation as the powers become more complicated to show. There are also holograms and flashbacks and in general, we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the future.
3. Answers and New Questions are Provided for Us.
One of the problems that long-running shounen anime have is that they tend not to give us any answers for the original conflict for a long time, so we have to keep watching to try and figure out what is going on. But Enen no Shouboutai tries to give us a bit of balance by answering the first questions the protagonist have before introducing new questions for future episodes and seasons. This makes the pacing much better and keeps the series from becoming tedious.
1. If You Missed the First Part, the Second Part is Confusing.
While the anime is a lot shorter than the manga, and it doesn’t have any filler episodes, it still takes some time to show the real villains. Enen no Shouboutai has interesting world-building and most of the first half of the 2nd Cours is dedicated to it, so we don't really get to see the big bad villains until episode 9. If you are not a fan of slow-burn stories, Enen no Shouboutai my not be for you.
2. The Comic Relief Characters Are Still Very Annoying
While the "Lucky Lecher Lure" Tamaki has less time in the show than before, due to what happened in the first part, Arthur has gone from “slightly dumb” to “how does he remember he needs to breathe” and it can get really tiresome after a while. Sure, he gets an amazing moment around the middle of the second part, but he still has a horrible way of breaking the tension with his comments that can make him become the most hated character for some viewers.
3. It Falls into Some Tired Shounen Tropes
While the first part of the story shows us the Fire Force team as equals in the search for answers, now we start to realize that Shinra has a special connection to the Infernals and the Eternal Flame that the White Clads are looking for, which makes him closer to the typical Chosen One narrative where the one that matters is Shinra and only Shinra, and if you’re tired of that, Fire Force can become a bit too much.
Final Thoughts
As the series continues being incredibly faithful to the manga, if you are a fan of the manga, you are going to love the second part of the first season. While it starts following the path of more traditional shounen anime, it still retains enough originality to be intriguing so it’s a good place to jump in if you missed the first part. And, as always, we want to hear what you think of this series in the comments below!
Author: Adalisa Zarate
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