I have not read the manga so this review is limited in scope. Minor anime spoilers ahead
Fire Force has some real moments of audiovisual brilliance. I want to say that this anime has hands down the best sound design I've ever witnessed. However, audiovisual spectacle cannot carry the incredibly poor storytelling and writing.
Many other reviews have been more eloquent than I will be about this so I'll just toss a bulleted list of complaints about the story (3/10):
- Characters are 1-trick-pony tropes and it's painfully obvious every time they speak
- The "growth" that even the MC experiences is limited to "gained more power" and "learned to persevere". That is to say, blase and stereotypical lessons on the level of Barney's Club House.
- Some fights are incredible, and some fights have whiplash-inducing lack of visual continuity. (Especially egregious in Episode 21 where the villain is shown to have been thrown on the ground and deployed a helicopter contraption from his back, the scene cuts to our hero to say a quip, cuts back to the villain but somehow the villain is just standing facing away from the camera with no apparent damage and no helicopter contraption.)
- Every single female character is treated as a damsel in distress at one point or another in the show. It's really boring and there's never any sense of real danger because you know from the start Shinra will evolve some power to save them.
- Every single new companion added to our hero's party is tossed into a background role and their abilities and interesting characteristics are all but forgotten except for tiny moments in which they save themselves from certain death.
- The "big twist" of the story is the most predictable thing I've ever watched
Good points (and there are few because again, Fire Force does nothing countless other Shounen haven't done before)
- Sound design, visuals, animation (for the most part 10/10)
- Villains are not instantly redeemed before their defeat as many shounen do (makes some plot points enjoyable)
- Character designs are really unique and work well with their abilities (caveat: the second part does not apply to the female characters. Too many of them are just "this ability makes me able to strip them of clothing once an episode" or "its a woman so her power MUST be about flowers and I will not elaborate further")
That's it. I don't hate this show. I don't like it either though. The definition of middling. Average.
Overall: 5/10
_ _ _
Thoughts? Send me an email!
kagumail.uselessly535@passinbox.com
Feel free to remain anonymous and send it from a secure mailer!
