English Dub Review: Fire Force “The Hero and the Princess”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Despite the incident at the Rookie Games, the local news makes no mention of the mystery man known as Joker, giving Obi and Shinra reason to think there’s something to hide, though Shinra also hides the detail shared with him that his brother might still be alive. Additionally, the ashes Joker used for his explosives has been identified as Infernal ashes, meaning he’s using the dead former humans as a weapon against them, which seems like an intentional insult to them.

But mulling over that will come later, as the rookies have been tasked with rescuing a dog from a tree!…or rather, one of the mascots, who got thrown up there by a college prank. Seems this might be linked to a growing resentment for both Fire Force AND regular firefighters since a firefighter, Setsuo Miyamoto, was just arrested for several murders. However, luck seems to be in his favor, as the courts decide to deem him not guilty due to insanity and so they don’t have to further hurt the damaged reputation of other firefighters.

…that is, until Miyamoto bursts into flames and becomes an Infernal himself, but this time with a sense of self. Company 8 heads out, but Company 5, lead by Princess Hibana, is also on the pursuit so they can study him. 8 gets to him first, but his twisted logic for killing people leads him on a rampage through town, right on time for a rain forecast. Shinra corners Miyamoto, who uses every trick he can to buy time, but that’s when Hibana arrives to retrieve him. She also proves to be a bit of a sadist, having her minions hold him down, but when one makes a joke about harming civilians, he tries taking all of Company 5 himself until Obi arrives.

Companies 5 and 8 come to a begrudging truce, with Hibana taking Miyamoto for study but promising to share their research…or so they say.

OUR TAKE

Since the last episode started showing some of the cracks in the Tokyo Empire’s armor, it’s starting to look like every new detail makes it more obvious how much each group in this world is led by self-interest rather than protecting others. This week brought a few more notable examples of that, the first of which is the proper debut of Company 5, the one that’s under the thumb of Haijima Industries, but also serves as our first showing of a Company at odds with Company 8, particularly in finding out more about how Infernals are created and this latest development of one maintaining conscious thought. It looks like we’ll be getting more focus on this rivalry in coming episodes, so there will be plenty more to say about this going forward, but we’re already getting a sense of how different each group is in their priorities.

The other matter is what Miyamoto’s transformation means for the fight against Infernals going forward, both in how they’ll be stopped by Fire Force AND what their source might be. As mentioned, he was the first to maintain a sense of self. How much is hard to say, seeing as Miyamoto was already pretty messed up in the head prior to combustion, so it’s up in the air whether or not this was how he would normally act if given power or if the combustion warped his mind even more. But his trial and the atmosphere around it prior to that is noteworthy, as allowing him to avoid a conviction was transparently for bureaucrats to save face, which would be a sign of how the system compromises to uphold its institutions. With that in mind, his sudden transformation seems almost like it was meant to send a message regarding the flaws in this world’s justice system, though what exactly that message is would be unclear at the moment.

It might end up being linked to Joker and his use of Infernal ashes. Joker seems obsessed with uncovering the hidden truths about things, using the remains of Infernals (who all used to be human beings) as almost a symbolic weapon as much as a physical one. While it is plenty destructive in its own right, it also literally throws the increasing failings of Fire Force Companies to end this threat back in their faces, possibly to show them how futile their efforts have been up until now. Add that with everything else we’ve learned this and last episode, and we have a bunch of mystery threads that are making this show as much a compelling unraveling plot as it is a fun action romp.