English Dub Review: Fire Force “The Ashen Reaper”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Licht admits to Company 8 (which now includes Lisa, I forgot if I mentioned that last time) about being a spy for Haijima, as well as that Haijima has been ramping up experiments on kids at their facilities since learning that they let a Shinra, someone with an Adolla Burst, through their fingers. Obi is wary of Licht’s motives but has him and Shinra head to a facility to find the next Pillar. There, they witness the “training” of Nataku, the boy that Rekka Hoshimiya gave an Infernal bug but didn’t die. Although the kid clearly hasn’t been faring well mentally, hallucinating Rekka cheering him on creepily as he is physically beaten six ways from Sunday by Kurono, another member of Haijima with burnt up arms who enjoys in tormenting the weak, namely children. These fights are to observe when Nataku’s Adolla Burst emerges, though there hasn’t been any luck on that front yet. Shinra has his own bad memories of being there, having been observed until he was twelve after his abilities manifested and then joining the Fire Force Academy at thirteen, so he’s not crazy about coming back, though he does get to go a round with Kurono, who uses his Tephrosis to his advantage to make a smoke screen.

OUR TAKE

First off, we have the last OP and ED of the season! Its song is a bit more upbeat than I expected, but it actually matches the first OP in that regard, so it kinda makes sense as being what they’d pick for this fourth one. And like with most Shonen OPs, we get some peeks at where the story will be headed for the remaining eleven episodes. A lot of it are things introduced in this episode, with this arc going a few more episodes, so anything they didn’t really go into big detail with will more than likely be covered in that time. That just leaves the remaining quarter of the season for the last arc, which we’ll discuss in due time. Though all in all, I think I prefer the previous OP to this one. The new ED is also fun, though a bit unremarkable. Much like the last one, it’s one of the characters in a sort of video game, though instead of Shinra and Arthur side-scrolling, it’s just Arthur on a 3D race against a Shinra-looking demon who kidnapped a lady. It’s still a fun concept, but this doesn’t seem to play around with as much as the last one did. So I guess both the new OP and ED are a bit of a step down from the last ones for me, though only by a little.

As for the episode itself, I’m glad they cut to the chase with Licht revealing himself and making his intentions and allegiances clear, which aren’t as cut and dry as being on one side or the other. His pursuit is of knowledge and truth, which working with Haijima helps him with, though it’s clear he’s come to like Company 8 as people who are also looking for the truth in their own way. Plus, it’s cool to finally see a Haijima facility and get a better sense of how they’re approaching everything that’s going on, which is unsurprisingly by doing inhumane experiments. Much like Inca in her arc earlier in the season, it’s clear that Nataku will be a central figure of this one as his Adolla Burst emerges, so we’ll once again get to see a Pillar form. Hopefully this time he won’t immediately choose the bad guys, though I honestly wouldn’t blame him based on having to fight Kurono, who makes use of that condition that Konro of Company 7 has but as a weapon of its own, which just goes to show how much of a madman he is. All things that I look forward to being expanded on in the coming weeks as we go more into this arc.