Enen no Shouboutai
Fire Force

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story, 9: this is quite possibly the most batshit insane thing ive ever read and i loved every part of it, i legitimately cant even describe the last 60 or so chapters, it was like a rollercoaster that had me genuinely smiling like shinra the whole time, there were some chapters where i realized i was holding my breath for most of it. im not even going to try to explain how insane, as in abstract, the story is, you just have to read it, but at the same time it delivers a GRAND but concise and easy to follow plot with twists thatll have ... you falling out of your chair. but the best part is, THE ENDING ACTUALLY HITS, i was so sick of reading manga and having them fall short at the ending, but the ending works SO WELL and leads straight into soul eater, it was incredible, the only reason it falls short to a 9 for me is because the beginning is a little slow compared to the rest and there were a few moments i was questioning the reason of showing at all but it picks up fast and it doesnt stop

art, 10: ohkubo just went mental on this, the spreads on this are the best ive ever seen in any manga, and theres just so many "moments" that i have a whole folder of just insane plot moments, fight scenes, or all around just crazy panels from this manga, i do that with all series i read and i usually get like 4-7 saved panels, but for fire force alone i had TWENTY. SEVEN. saved spreads and panels, the way ohkubo draws some of these fights actually makes me stand up and scream in hype like i have autism or something

characters, 10: i quite literally loved every character, every character with screen time was fun to watch in some way or another, there wasnt a SINGLE character that was written in a way where i was like "ugh i cant wait for the focus to be on someone else", almost every single character introduced got their "moment", their awesome moment, and i was there for it every time

enjoyment, 9: well i binged all 300 chapters in just a few short days, i really shouldnt need to say anything else, the previous paragraphs should explain enough

overall, 10: just pick this up, PICK THIS UP. its a must read. idgaf if you dont like tamaki stop crying and focus on the actual story, because its fantastic

Fire Force… The second big hit of Atsushi Ookubo. To tell the whole story, when I started to read this manga, I did not know it was the same author as for ‘Soul Eater’. Which is important, because I was literally traumatized by the ‘fist of friendship defeating the biggest evil of the whole universe’ of the Anime… So I have never read the manga, (even if I know it is different in many ways than the Anime), and after I realized it I was a bit shocked, because it was really good! However, I soon experienced my fear was not unfounded!

Short version
- Overall (6/10):
This ... manga has big epic moments just as often as total trash ones. The mangaka said several times that this will/is his last work. It definitely felt just like it. He took all his positive as well as negative thoughts and puked it in this work… To put it very simply: Completely meta and fourth wall breaking themes, total crazy action, epic art these were the perfectly chosen ingredients to create a great manga, but Ookubo (not so) accidentally added a massive stupidity in it… BOOM! And so was ‘Fire Force’ born!

Long version
- Story (3/10):
To go into the details, let us begin with the most controversial part, the story. Just as usual in a shounen manga, we follow the life of our main hero, Shinra, who literally calls himself a hero. But everybody else says he is a devil because of his evil smile instead of other emotions (for example crying). His ability is to blaze flames from his feet and fights fire demonic creatures. For this purpose he joins the name giving ‘Fire Force’, which is no more than a fire department who fights fire with fire. Soon we get our first antagonists and build-ups for the further story.
Until yet, nothing special, literally very generic and a bit stupid… I mean who tries to extinguish fire with fire?! But as we go deeper and deeper into the building, we see that the author tries to ignite the house… To heat up the story he throws a lot of crazy (e.g. time travel, the number Pi, space fights etc.) and meta (e.g. chapters long discussions about the necessity of ecchi in the world, fourth wall breaking talks with the reader, REAL life pictures etc.) stuff in! This not just creates a bunch of plot holes and unlogical story parts, it scares off (casual) readers, especially with the sheer amount of these. If you know ‘Soul Eater’, which was already partly crazy, then imagine the 3 or 5 times of that. You will totally lose the focus of the story, and it doesn’t even matter, because it just has to be wild and stupid at the same time!
So we get a hard to follow story, full of craziness, stupidness and plot holes. If you like Ookubo’s style or what you read ‘till yet, you may enjoy it, especially the Soul Eater references, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

- Art (8/10):
But gratefully, a manga is not just about a good story, or at least it is not indispensable. How the author infuses his craziness into this work is really artistic. For example, when he throws real life images in the manga, it follows a clear (but crazy) art concept. These make this work partly really artistic. On top of that, we get hell of good character designs, especially the fire demonic creatures, powerful action scenes, dynamic paneling and amazing creative settings. With such joyful visual enjoyment it is hard not to stay until the end, even if the story often lacks logic.
On the other hand, shades were almost non-existent so missed the depth in the images. Backgrounds were a bit too often just empty. The unnecessary ecchi scenes disturbed me too. And sometimes it felt like the author had a hangover so he just did half hearted work.

- Characters (5/10):
To the characters there is not much to say. Most of the female characters are there to be saved or to show some boobs. Or if they have some kind of use, their part concludes too fast. The male characters are all strong, but somehow stupid. The villains never felt like a real threat and missed substance for their stories. So, they are all very generic. And yes, they all get their backstories and developments, but even if they wouldn’t, nothing would change, except for the mc.
But there are 2 highlights: Arthur, the kind of rival of our protagonist Shinra, and Benimaru. Due to Arthur’s silliness he brings extremely hilarious moments, while his backstory is way too dramatic and funny at the same time. And at the same time his chemistry with Shinra works very well. So every time he successfully refreshed the tensions in a good way. A really excellent character for Ookubo’s crazy manga. But a warning! He could be sometimes too stupid to bear.
Meanwhile Benimaru is the character for totally epic fight scenes and to give us the insight for the power-levels and system. The kind of teacher for this shonen manga. But while in other manga the senseis/masters are somehow restricted, this one is full power and still balanced! The author used this character very well for his story.

- Enjoyment (6/10):
Altogether I have to say, it is hard not to enjoy and not to hate it at the same time. For the epic and hilarious moments it is definitely worth a try. And including the great art and action it seems to be the logical decision to read this. It is a truly crazy and enjoyable manga. However, as I said, the story is way too weak, way too stupid and sometimes it could be down to trash, especially with the fanservice scenes/chapters. What I can say, if you liked ‘Soul Eater’ you will like this one too, and if not then you should miss it. And if ‘Fire Force’ would be the first manga you read of Ookubo and you like a wild, crazy action story, then you may enjoy it, but be aware of the high amount of stupidness.

A very promising premise, a world of "fire," human combustion, mysterious events, and a growth worthy of a good Shonen. However, shortly after the halfway point of the story, it loses the essence that envelops you and invites you to keep reading. It becomes boring at times and too lengthy towards the end.

There are moments that attempt to be comedic, but within the series' context of sadness and seriousness, these moments feel out of place and are not amusing; they can even be cringe-inducing.

Certain characters have nonsensical moments that are used for their growth, but because these moments lack coherence, their development loses strength.

Despite the ... flaws in the conclusion of the work, there are very positive elements throughout. For example, the inventions and the communication among the different squads, each specialized in something useful for the plot (such as investigation, proximity to power, training, etc.).