Fire Force Season 2 Premier Review – Everything Missing from Season 1

S2 Ep1 Review – A Fire Soldier’s Fight

Otaku Voice Staff

I enjoyed the first season of Fire Force. Not necessarily loved it, but the shows premise kept me coming back through all of the heavy shounen arcs. A pseudo-religious fire-fighting service in a rebuilt post-apocalyptic society sounds very promising on paper. Overall, the first cour of Fire Force is very good, while the second cour of season 1 felt flat to me. Nothing wrong with the story, but rather the pacing and missing fun. Fire Force season 2 episode 1 on the other hand is starting with a banger.

Season 2 of Fire Force is right back into the action. The show succeeds best when the 8th is out on a mission to put an infernal to rest. Our first infernal of the season is quite the monster. It is a giant mass of flame belching hell.

It feels like season 2 thought long and hard about all of the pieces this show has to offer. Now it is starting off with its best foot forward. Season 1 took a lot of time to showoff and setup some interesting characters. Fire Force season 2 perfectly reintroduces everyone, reminding us of the fun quirks all of these characters have.

Opening With a Bang!

Something is sorely missing in the latter half of season 1. There is not enough times the 8th is out and about just fighting infernals. Admittedly a lot of plot is unloaded on that half, but it could be faster. Starting off with a fun and exciting infernal is exactly what I needed in episode 1. I love seeing what everyone has to offer in battle, and the show presents itself with a great simple foe that brings the show back to the fundamentals.

Everyone has an opportunity to shine in the first half of the episode. Shinra is still coming around to revelations from the last season, but there is no time for that. Dwelling on the past can be done later in the season. Now is the time for action and mischief.

Getting Shinra and the girls out of the station serves two great purposes.It is a great way to transition back into ordinary life as a member of the fire force for Shinra. His character has gone to a really dark place. Being out and about as a part of the gang shows how everyone is taking care of him. It also nicely resets the expectations of the viewer. The show isn’t going to focus on the adolla bursts/links. It is still all about frenetic pyrokinetic action.

The battle against the giant infernal is just fun. Everyone has a piece of the action where they all come together in spectacular fashion. Each member of the 8th shows off their powers and how they can work together to take down what appears to be quite the unusual infernal. It perfectly starts the second season of Fire Force off with a much needed catch-up and reintroduction to what makes the series great.

The Month of August

The second half of the season 2 premier is the absolutely funniest gag of the series. Shirtless firemen calendars are definitely a popular thing in the real world, and it only makes sense that in the world of Fire Force they continue to be a thing.

I don’t find shounen anime to be particularly funny because they either rely on humor that is too cerebral to translate or too low brow to get a chuckle. Not that I have never found anything in anime to be funny, but its a high bar to get me to admit that this episode almost broke me. Watching every part of the naked calendar gag escalate made it better. Start off with the idea that the captain and lieutenant posed for it only to find out that they are dead last in popularity.

The battle at the beginning of the episode really drives home the efficacy of the 8th. The nude calendar is a great way of reminding the viewer of the other major fire force companies and their relationship with the 8th. The episode takes us through some of the other members of the fire force that have been featured so far from the 1st, 5th, and 7th.

Final Thoughts

Starting off the season with a bang, Fire Force season 2 episode 1 is a master class in in getting viewers back up to speed after some time off. Maybe it isn’t the most necessary thing for this show. Its only been a few months since season 1 ended. There isn’t much plot development, but what matters is that from the getgo this new season of Fire Force is off to a great start.

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[Image via Official Site]
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