English Dub Season Review: Fire Force Season Two

A little later than last time, but the second of the two currently ordered Fire Force seasons has concluded, continuing the story of the holy ordained fire powered fire fighters as they fight spontaneous combustion and religious zealots. After all the bad luck the first season had, from the poor timing with Japan’s worst case of arson to being pre-empted by Japanese sporting events, the second ended up with much better success!…at least, in Japan, as America’s fumbling of coronavirus ended up significantly delaying its dub releases. Still, even with all that weirdness in the world, we still managed to get a season that was more or less as good as the first one! So, if you enjoyed last season like I did, you’re good to go! If not, well, you probably didn’t finish the first season so you’re probably not reading this.

Picking up where the first season left off, Shinra Kusakabe and Fire Force Company 8 continue their investigation into the origin of human combustion, which has led them to come across the White Clad, a radical group of pyrokinetics who plan to engulf the world in fire in the same manner as the Great Cataclysm centuries ago, under orders from the mysterious “Evangelist”. Among them is Shinra’s brother Sho, previously thought to be dead but was brainwashed to serve the group. Furthermore, Shinra learns that he and Sho are two of eight “Pillars”, individuals with remarkably powerful fire abilities who the White Clad are collecting for their plans. On top of that, other companies uncover how far the White Clad’s plans connect to the origin of their society, but will they be able to uncover enough in time to stop them?

As said, the second season of Fire Force is, on average, about as good as the first one, which is both worthy praise as well as damning. Part of this comes down to structure, as the first season had a steady incline of worldbuilding and power escalation to reach a big face off with the White Clad near the finale. The second season, meanwhile, starts with focus on several strong arcs in its first half, among them the debut of several new villains, major revelations about the show’s lore, and quite a few awesome character team ups, along with the series’ high bar for excellent fight animation. Then we hit the second half, which still has alright episodes, but they are a considerable downgrade from what we got before. There’s progression with the Pillar stuff and plenty of interesting fights, but that’s followed by pretty derivative and frankly reductive rehash of the finale arc from the last season, and capped off by a sufficient training arc that is not really fitting as a finale…and doesn’t really feel like one anyway.

Essentially, this is less a solid second season in and of itself and more just a middle installment of a trilogy, since it’s looking like the series has just enough material coming to make one more season of the anime. So, this season is just more of the same, and if you liked that, then you’ll like this. I know this is a weird assessment, and it’s by no means a complaint, but it feels like the most accurate way to describe things here. There is a lot to enjoy with Fire Force; fun and dynamic characters, stunning fight animation, and increasingly intriguing plot. Similarly, there is plenty to turn people away; the usual overabundance of gratuitous fanservice you’d expect for the Shonen genre, a distractingly inconsistent tone at inopportune times, and sometimes just off humor. In the end, Fire Force is just…Fire Force. I’m alright with that, others are not, and neither side is really wrong to feel either way. So, perhaps I’ll be here talking about the next season, but I doubt I’ll have much more to say than here.