English Dub Review: Fire Force “At the Center of the World”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Shinra, Sho, and the other Pillars suddenly disappear for the White Clad’s final preparations. This includes Amaterasu, the power source for the city, leading to a mass blackout, so Company 8 and some of their allies head to the power plant, with the White Clad and an army of Infernals not far behind.

OUR TAKE

Okay, I am getting a bit frustrated by the trend of the past few episodes feeling like it’s building up to something when it’s actually building up to more build up, but I’m still mostly enjoying the build up anyway so I suppose it’s a wash? This is once more a transition point between finishing fighting all of the Pillar Titans and the actual Great Cataclysm ritual, along with everyone in Company 8 finally becoming aware that Iris is the final Pillar. With all of the stone Pillars having raised and the accompanying Titans defeated, the next and possibly final phase of the preparations for the Second Great Cataclysm begin, starting with all of the rogue Pillars (Shinra, Sho, Nataku, Amaterasu, and Iris) just vanishing, followed by the White Clad aligned ones (Haumea, Inca, and Sumire) going willingly to join them. Apparently we won’t be seeing them for a little while, maybe a couple episodes, so now we have a chance for the rest of our main and supporting cast to each get one more big fight before the spotlight moves back to Shinra for the show’s endgame. Benimaru got his big last fight out of the way already, and this episode ends with Ogun, Ogi, Hinawa, Tamaki, Maki, and Sho’s guardian Arrow against Ritsu, Charon, and a full battalion of Infernals.

But out of all of them, Ogun really ends up being the star of the episode, as he ends up joining the group on their way to Amaterasu, gets some flashbacks thinking back to his time with Shinra in Company 4, even talks about his ancestor during the last Cataclysm who saved people on cruise boat, and goes toe to toe with Charon, who has been proven to be a real obstacle for our heroes in the past. And as cool as Ogun is as a character, I honestly did not expect him to get this much focus compared to the main cast. I suppose there is time to do that, with still eight episodes remaining, but it is definitely a surprise. And it’s an excellent fight that ratchets of the tension, so I’m sure as hell not complaining, especially when it ends on an excellent kill shot by Hinawa. I do see a few people worried that we won’t have time to get to some of the bigger fights later on, but I’m confident they’ll fit in all that’s necessary. We’re not even halfway through these remaining episodes, and it feels like so much has happened already, so who knows what’s gonna come out next! Next week isn’t even the halfway point, though it might as well be, so I’m still on the edge of my seat waiting to see every next installment!