En`en no Shouboutai

[neflight86]

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"* Based on an action shounen manga drawn by Ookubo Atsushi.

Year 198 of the Solar Era in Tokyo, special fire brigades are fighting against a phenomenon called spontaneous human combustion where humans beings are turned into living infernos called "Infernals". While the Infernals are first generation cases of spontaneous human combustion, later generations possess the ability to manipulate flames while retaining human form. Shinra Kusakabe, a youth who gained the nickname Devil's Footprints for his ability to ignite his feet at will, joins the Special Fire Force Company 8 which is comprised of other flame users as they work to extinguish any Infernals they encounter. As a faction that is creating Infernals appears, Shinra begins to uncover the truth behind a mysterious fire that caused the death of his family twelve years ago.

Source: Wikipedia (edited)"

Backlog Research

S3 Research

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s3e1

One of the more welcome recaps I've seen, as I forgot just how much important stuff happened in season 2 (because I didn't like that season very much at the time). Surprising we don't seem to have a thread on this, as it is a pretty good shounen, and I'd give the first season a strong 9/10 for being exactly what I want out of a this kind of series.

As for season 3, well... that escalated quickly, and I think Burns will make a great villain/antagonist, especially since he was 'swayed' rather than being always evil or coerced. I forget how exactly that girl's power works other than its messes with your head, so I wonder if she subtly was able to 'change' his thinking while leading him to the conclusion that this great cataclysm needs to happen.

I really do worry for the 8th's Captain as he is in the perfect space, as a narrative device, to live or die in the upcoming rescue arc. It's great tension to not know or have a confident guess which way it'll play out.

[shinta|hikari]

Does this have any romance?

[neflight86]

...Not hardly. There are some romantic feelings between characters (typically one-sided), but none of it gets seriously explored amongst the other stakes at play. Plenty of fanservice, though.

Well... I guess some of what happens could be construed as a 'twisted' love...

[Ryllharu]

Does this have any romance?

S1 did in a sense...but it's a relatively minor point.

On the other hand...Maki Oze is the best of all shonen side characters. Ever. Her skills are earned. I'm still kind of shocked her VA hasn't been in anything else.

[neflight86]

E2

The rescue is afoot, and station 8 is teaming up with the edgelords. Hurry, before captain Obi gets got!

Seeing two consecutive episodes like this pretty much cements that the direction and vibes are going to remain as flat as they were in season 2. I shouldn't be surprised, as S1 was produced mostly by studio SHAFT refugees, and wasn't afraid to show it. That talent has likely moved on or been snuffed out now, years later. What we have is some pretty standard issue shounen at this point, and that's a shame. If you even go back and look at the very first episode or two, the series' texture was so much more compelling back then, even with the run of the mill setup and 'I wanna be a hero' Shinra motivation. Here, in season 3, when he breaks into the prison and finally gets to say that line in proper context "I'm a hero!", retorting against Joker, it kinda falls flat and gets lost in the shuffle of everything else going on, which is too bad.

I'm dialing my hopes back a bit now that I can confirm the creative energy look so fondly back upon is essentially gone, but at least I can expect a completed story by the time it's done...

[neflight86]

3

...Fireforce should be much better than this. Kinda hard to watch when its just shounen stand-offs presented in the dreariest way possible. Hopefully Arthur shows up with some great comedic timing to shake things up before I completely lose interest.