English Dub Review: Fire Force “The Rookie Fire Soldier Games”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

We learn from a shadowy figure about the show’s world, particularly how the world has drastically changed since the combustion began and all of Japan has been more or less destroyed by Infernal incidents, leaving only the Tokyo Empire, made up of 8 districts and powered by Amaterasu, “the perpetual thermal energy plant”, a joint invention of the Holy Sol Empire and Haijima Industries. The figure is talking to the odd-looking man from the last episode about Akitaru Obi being the moral center of Company 8, which sets them apart from the other companies.

Company 8, meanwhile, is ready to participate in the Rookie Fire Soldier Games. There, Shinra meets Tamaki Kotatsu of Company 1 and her captain, Leonard Burns, who he remembers being the one who put out the fire that burned down Shinra’s house twelve years ago, though Burns doesn’t seem to bother recalling it.

The big test of the Rookie Games is a dummy rescue from an obstacle course. Shinra gains a quick lead with his rocket feet, but is eager to finish to he can ask Burns questions…but he soon runs into the man from the last episode, who claims that he knows things about that fire. With other people’s lives on the line, however, Shinra finds it hard to concentrate on inquiring anything, especially when the man brings out some odd dust that enhances his explosions, as well as fiery playing cards. But he does drop one piece of info: Shinra’s brother is still alive.

That gets Shinra’s interest, which the man uses to poke doubts in his belief in the Fire Force, but Shinra won’t have it and continues fighting. Arthur and Tamaki soon arrive and also join the battle, but the man retreats and uses an explosion as a diversion. The three rookies barely make it out with their lives.

In the aftermath, Shinra asks if the Fire Force is hiding things, so Obi explains about the different companies and how their benefactors impact their priorities. The organization was put together by the Holy Sol Temple, Tokyo Armed Forces, and Fire Defense Agency. Company 1 answers to the Temple, 2 to the TAF, and 5 are controlled by Haijima Industries, who supply the entire group’s equipment. But Company 8 was made to be above all that and investigate the others to see if someone has found the source of the Infernals.

OUR TAKE

After a one week delay in observance of the recent Kyoto Animation fire, Fire Force returns to its regular schedule. I guess a one week delay is preferable to taking the show off entirely. Definitely, a bad time to be a popular show about people being killed by fire, but while the attack on KyoAni and the tragic loss of life is a massive one to the anime community, hopefully, this series won’t have to suffer for that. And despite my worries about censorship, the most noticeable (and likely only) thing censored ended up being a shot of the Ending Credits, which is pretty understandable if you’ve seen it.

As for the episode itself, it’s telling that the first major glimpse we have at the world outside the story’s immediate area seems to be coming from a villain group. Up until this point, it seemed like the world was relatively normal (other than the random fire monster attacks), but this unveils far graver implications on the state of the world and the major powers in play, which sound like influential religious groups and businesses helping under the guise of public safety but possibly perpetuating the conflict for the sake of maintaining stable influx of followers and profits. Based on what we’ve seen of the antagonists so far, their goal seems to be uncovering the truth of this to those with abilities who have reason to question the system like Shinra, whose mother’s death and brother’s apparent disappearance are becoming more suspect the more he learns.

Fittingly, the episode ends how it began, with a major dose of exposition, but this time from Obi, someone who is willingly fighting on behalf of the system, not against it. More and more I’m noticing shows prioritize getting exposition out just to inform the audience (if they choose to inform them at all) and not bothering with attaching a specific lens to it, not knowing that the specific choice of which character says certain things can inform even more. Through Obi’s elaboration on who controls each of the Companies, both Shinra and us in the audience learn more about the corruption within this industry, but also why Company 8 is significant enough to be the main focus of attention: they are the ones tasked with finding the pieces of the puzzle which the other groups might be holding for themselves and use them to end the fight with the Infernals. Slowly, the grander mission of the series is coming into full view.

Oh yeah, and I guess I should also bring up Tamaki, who debuted in this episode and looks like she’ll be joining Company 8 soon if the Opening Credits are any indication. I initially thought I just miscounted the lineup and she was just Maki (who looks just like her and has most of her name, so can you blame me?). It looks like she will be our designated default fanservice generator since she always has her chest out and is constantly accidentally groped for (ostensibly) comedic purposes. Like with the gimmicky character-specific jokes, the Accidental Pervert gags are something I wish modern Shonen would phase out, but I think I can let it slide given the rest of the episode has greatly increased my interest.