English Dub Review: Fire Force “Mind Blown”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The three way battle over obtaining Nataku happening between Company 8, the White Clad, and Haijima Industries continues, with Company 8 and Haijima ending up working together and Ritsu of the White Clad using her ability, Necro Pyro, to gather numerous corpses into a giant infernal, meaning she was the one who made that giant in the first episode of the season. This big guy absorbs Nataku into it, while Haumea messes with his head to make his worst issues bubble to the surface and make his Adolla Burst abilities go wild. This causes the radiation levels to spike, so Vulcan uses Arthur’s plasma to counteract Haumea’s abilities, though that’s not enough to stop Nataku’s rampage. Kurono finds himself overwhelmed, considering he usually only goes after the weak.

OUR TAKE

We’re back with the last Fire Force of 2020, though while we’re two thirds of the way through the season, this arc won’t resolve until next time. As such, things are really just continuing from last time and there isn’t much new to report. The main development is that the three way battle has now turned back into a two way one with the White Clad being the bigger priority to defeat. Haumea shows more of her abilities that go right into someone’s brain electricity, but naturally that’s counteracted with a plan involving Arthur’s plasma, even if it’s probably the lowest point of the action for Vulcan to try and convince him to stay put. Arthur’s idiocy is often a trait that is very unwieldy when it needs to be used, though the means used to do so end up relying on comedy more often than not, which is a lot easier to get wrong. And in this case, yeah I wouldn’t say the Vulcan and Arthur scenes were making me bust a gut all that much, or at all.

As for Nataku, it seems we’re getting a better idea of how messed up his treatment at Haijima is, which would certainly make it easier for us to by if he decided to go over to the White Clad. Whether or not he will is currently up in the air, though we could definitely see both sides of those options, or at least a bit better than with Inca, whose own specific brand of derangement really could not of been predicted. For Nataku, he seems to have a lot of pressure forced on him by the scientists to perform. How Rekka factored into that with his manic “encouragement” is hard to tell, or if he was involved at all. We know that the White Clad have people in Haijima, but the flashbacks make it difficult how much of this is in Nataku’s head. But even then, it’s clear that needing to live up to these expectations is driving Nataku to madness, much like it probably would for any kid to be dealing with this at that age. The preview hints that we’ll be learning more about that next time, but it at least tells us here that there is still plenty to learn about this Pillar. And while this time last year, we were wrapping up covering the first season, the remaining third will have to wait for probably the next couple months. Next time sees the climax of this arc, along with Nataku’s decision to pick a side to stay with.