Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou

It’s been my view for a long time now that Fire Force is the best new gen shonen. Even without D. Pro’s amazing work on the anime, the story, characters, mystery and world are all very rich and well done.

The second season builds on an already outstanding first season and turns everything up a notch. As we’ve come to expect from David Production, the animation, fights, sound production and OST are amazing. Every fight is not only choreographed well, but also features eargasmic sound production. Pacing is just great as well.

Story wise, this season is really where Fire Force gets going in terms of unravelling ... the mystery of human combustion, the white clads and the Evangelist. Many of the questions you may have had after watching season 1 will be explained in this season. Side characters like Maki and Tamaki get sorely needed development arcs as well as introducing new faces.

Overall, Fire Force S2 takes an already impressive anime to the next level, giving characters much needed layers of development, answering important lore questions, fleshing out a rich world and incredible action sequences.

Season 2 of FF gets 10 Adolla Links, out of 10.

We all know the timeless adage of "the sequel is <fill your expectations> in every way", right? Unfortunately for such run-of-the-mill Shounen series a.k.a Fire Force, Season 1 provided mangaka Astushi Oobuko's signature touches from Soul Eater, and it's more cliche boringness with pacing that hurts the first impressions of both anime and manga fans. Fast forward a year later, and with this sequel season, David Production has improved a lot of the shoddy practices with Season 1 by taking them out and replacing them with better pacing and storytelling, How? Let's pursue and SPARK-AGAIN once more.

Continuing where Season 1 left off with Shinra finding ... out the real truth of the dealings of the Evangelist and White-Clads', and as such with the tragic tale of his family and brother Sho (who's pretty much a puppet of the spokesman figure), the hero boy of Company 8 continues to dive deep into the world of Infernals and Adolla Links, and figure out a plan with the other suspicious Companies (not covered yet in Season 1) before the plan of the Evangelist ultimately takes precedence: being to gather the "8 Pillars" of Adolla Bursts to repeat the events of the Great Cataclysm once again, all while clearing out nuisances and stubs along the way.

And right here, where Season 2 has a more grounded back-to-form storyline, is thanks to fellow David Production director Tatsuma Minamikawa who's replacing Season 1 director Yuki Yase, and pulling double-duty with doing both director and series composition duties. Though much-needed slower pacing than Season 1, you can tell that it's following the mangaka's storyline quite well, and although some areas were not quite as succinct as I would hope, at least it's a much better effort that while isn't helping fans both old and new click with and away from the overly-Shounen tropes, it is what it is, and paired together with David Production's stellar quality, makes for a much more enjoyable watch IMO.

New to Season 2 is of course, more characters that may have varying levels of screentime in Season 1, but their character developments are fleshed out for the better. The stories and characters as follows:
- The innocent schoolgirl-turned White-Clad Inka, to the Chinese Peninsula arc of Company 2's Takeru Noto a.k.a Juggernaut's home country and the weird case of talking animals with more Amaterasus/Tabernacles popping in their original case of creepiness.
- More of the elusive and controversial practices of the Holy Sol Temple with Joker and Benimaru's investigations, to the reveal of Victor Licht's spy role that sends Company 8 off to the Haijima Industries arc of child experimentations gone awry with fire wielder Nutaku Son (under the influence of Rekka) and trainer Kurono (dubbed the Uncle Reaper).
- Going deep into the personal stuff with Sister Iris's intentions of the recent happenings and her affiliation with the Church, THAT ONE hilarious but stupid short chapter on Assault and Tamaki's "battle" of fanservice, and Maki's family upbringings that caused a huge family rift of over-protection for such a valuable comrade in Company 8.
- To end things up, Companies 2 and 8 again collaborating in the Nether and facing off the creepy Dr. Giovanni and White-Clads, to more training sessions, along with Juggernaut's and Tamaki's breakthrough of "my character is stupidly weak, so I wanna surpass my limits here and now!" (You can count on the former, but definitely not the latter, unless you want her to thank you in her "Lucky Lecher" syndrome.)
Personally, I found it easier to stomach this season's same 2-cour offering that's densely packed into a fine package that only gets better in its progression. Still not great, but at least everything this time around is refined.

And of course, how can I talk about the sequel season without the animation and OST to back things up. If you know David Production by now, their recent works (and YES, including Season 1, no matter how much love-hate relationship this show gets) have been pretty good and not having the studio commit to more than 2 shows simultaneously airing (plus Fire Force, duh) is a good predicament of the high-octane consistent quality that's being pumped out and giving the animation staff some space to breathe and deliver some amazing scenes and shots throughout. In the sound department though, while Season 1's OST is infinitely better than the offerings we got this time, at least there are some quality songs that are great on repeated listens on Spotify (a.k.a Aimer's "SPARK-AGAIN" and PELICAN FANCLUB's "Desire", but sorry KANA-BOON, "Torch of Liberty" gets a pass from me).

If there's one thing I can take away from this sequel, it's that IMO, Firecat Tamaki's "fanservice" was "birthed out of necessity" for character development, and though haters will lament this, it kinda services as "justice" for the tremendous amounts of hate thrown at her from her very first nauseating reveal in Season 1.

The anime is much recommended over the manga, but that goes without saying how watchers would recommend people for this show to experience Fire Force at its very best. All in all, Season 2 is the definitive version of the show and a definite improvement overall. Certain expectations met or not is up for debates, but I'd like to think that we all know what to expect by now.

UPDATED REVIEW : - finished 23 episodes and waiting for finale today
firs t of all i apologize for all and any grammatical mistake I just typed it and did not bother to read through it .


(personal note):- this is a very well adapted anime considering the fact that the manga for fire force is mediocre . the anime is really much much better and i would recommend the anime over the manga any day for this case .


(short review) although the season 1 reviews are highly favorable
there were certain areas were fire force was failing like slow pacing .... season 2 improves ... on those with every 6 episode having a major plot line with minor info dumps here and there and just about 1 semi filler (about 5 mins of tamaki fan serv and comedy in episode 18 which was still good).




first of all we need to STOP THE JOJO FANBOIS from just force boycotting and spreading hate about this anime just cause david is working on this and not jojo part 6 ... i am a jojo cultist as well but an anime studio cannot just cash in on one title all time (ahem toei tried it ). fire force on its own is probably the best animated shounen title out there maybe followed by (if not tied to BNHA and KNY.
ART:
the ANIMATION in the fight against the big infernal in ep1 was top notch , though the fight was not as well animated as a key scene like shinra vs shou and it was very well directed soft fanserv/recap episode (without being a 0.5 or ep 0 )
what followed was mindblowing camera angles and fights so well animated that even if you have no context on the story you still want to watch it through and through.
there are times when CG fire was used but those were for fires in building s or unimportant areas .
they eyes of all the pyrokinetics are so god damn gorgeous and when they light up the look PERFECT.
MUSIC AND SOUND:
the SOUND and theme s of season 1 are being re used and i have no complaints since they were real good by themselves but i can tell that they have added to them .
CHARACTERS:
what i admire is the effort to provide even male fanservice for all them female or yaoi fans in episode 1 (im a straight male but buff (jojo) muscles are <3) they did not try to be as creepy as imposing straight up yaoi on us and made it comedy or fanservice (depends on perspective) .
the characters are still true to their season 1 selves and i can say they are more interesting than the basic archtypes at the very least some may say tamaki is a killjoy but if you can try and take a bit optimistic approach you can see her worthless ability is activated only in fights which contribute little to story.
the newly introduced characters were honestly much better than the orignal cast (for me personally ) .that might be since they stated to fit into the basic anime archetype of hero/MC , rival (arthur) , leader , love interest 1 (tamaki), love interest 2(sister),onee san (maki) etc.
we also got to see one of the best duo of rogue s kickin ass in the most well animated way possible (cant reveal the duo since itd be a spoiler but trust me you will have just as much fun with those 2 eps as i did )
STORY:
the characters interact with the world in a very believable way no one is truly"evil " but they have thier own reason to do what they do so yes many unlikely as hell alliances are formed and are very carefully and politically well constructed to make the WORLD of fire force feel alive and authentic.
the fact that season 1 spoiler **



shinra does not worry all that much about his mother being a infernal after the big clifhanger reveal last season is a bit questionable though.









*** spoiler end





the STORY is compelling and each reveal (except a few) answers no questions but adds more of them more hence it may get a little frustrating but never annoying .
i think david is taking a break after this season two since they are leaving us at a litlle more relaxed point of the story and not a CLIFFHANGER like season 2 (although i dont blame them season 2 followed and was announced soon after).
i really hope this series gets the attention it deserves because for some reason mainly jojo starvation this anime
had heavy criticism and hell it even was pseudo boycotted in japan

With the running Season 2, David Production continues to improve the series by taking the critics from the first season and fixing the issues watchers had with it.

Story: 9
The story follows Shinra as he discovers more about the truth behind Spontaneous Human Combustion and his past. I've heard some people saying that Season 1 was a mess of a story, just running around without context, but to be honest.... it feels like it. In the end you just finished Rekka and thats it.

Not with this one. In the beginning you're already being introduced to the mysterious so-called "First Pillar" announcing the birth of the ... Fifth Pillar. Soon enough, the city was on fire and Company 8 was in the quest of securing the Fifth Pillar. The pacing is stable yet leaving you wanting to know more (I eventually read the manga but I won't spoil it here).

Art: 9
The art is maintained from the last season, even improved in my opinion. They focus more about small details that express more. However, the lines could've been sharper and cleaner (I'm not an artsy boi so please compensate)

Sound: 10

The sound is a major improvement from last season. Sound effects have been improved and it's getting better and better. Take example from Episode 4 and 5. The action feels better and is more enjoyable with the compliment of sound.

Character: 8

Character development is there. We get a massive character development for Shinra and Arthur and everyone else. However, it would be better in my opinion if the anime reduced the number of lewd (ahem, Tamaki) scenes. Including them is okay, but I don't think it would be a problem to remove the lewd parts that ruins the hype of a scene.

Enjoyment: 9

Even though I've read the manga, I can't help but feel astonished by watching the anime. The animation and the sound and everything gives me manga flashbacks, but this time is better.

Overall: 9

Fire Force Season 2 is a solid successor to its previously critical season, and I can't wait to see what David Production has more in the shelves for us.

Wow, it has been a great ride with you guys. I really enjoyed every episode on it and i can say that this season was amazing! Let's start with the story.

For the story, The story of this show is very unique and makes me curious about the continuation of each episode. That's how I feel in every episode. Their adventure to find answers to their every question makes me like this story, plus the main character in this show is very determined to be a great hero.

For the art and sound, I gave it 9. To be honest, I like how they make the sound ... of the fire from each character have a unique sound and sound like blazing. And for the animation/art, every scene looks so alive with so many details on it, and the colors look very colorful, making this show amazing.

For the character, every character in this show is very likable, not only the main characters but supporting characters and villains can also be very liked. The story of a character's past, or a character's development from nothing to something, attracted my attention to exploring the roles of each character in this show. And as I mentioned earlier, the main character has high spirits, and his unyielding spirit is so fun to watch. It depends on each person, how they take the important points of each character in certain shows.

Overall, every enjoyment I had while watching this show really paid off, every episode is worth waiting for, and if you still don't want to continue this season because the answers might not be convincing, then I will tell you that this season is worth watching. And one more thing, I'm glad I found this show opening theme by accident, or else I might not be watching this masterpiece show.

SPOILER ALERT] The second season of fire force shows us how much a story can evolve from one hour to the next, both in terms of character narrative and in the plot that in overall improved everything that was good in the first season


PLOT: This season we see the 8th encountering more challenges in relation to the evangelist. It is shown that the evangelist is after 8 people who have Adolla Burst (Pillars Calls), to complete their plans, which in overall is cliché 'want to dominate / destroy the world', but this cliché story shown to us by the author is passed in a ... good way that shows us how she seeks to get these pillars, showing that she not only wants to bring the pillars to her side but seeks to protect them too, so much so that in a part of the story we are shown an ally of the evangelist protecting Shinra just so that he does not die to the completion of the evangelist's plans. [Grade: 8]


CHARACTERS: Compared to the first season, where we are not shown much character development this second the characters are developed in a way that we learn to like the characters, as the author shows that the characters have an ambition or simply want to be better to seek answers from this world, the improvement is good compared to the first but it is not a huge improvement do not go expecting that all the characters will be developed equally, but it is already an advance compared to the first. [Grade: 7]


FANSERVICE: In relation to tamaki, the fanservice is extremely unnecessary at times and is even tedious, because in crucial moments for the story where we have characters being presented, someone simply trips over something nonexistent and is naked, something that could be discarded would be this unnecessary fanservice. [Grade: 5]


ART: In overall, the art of this animal is exceptional, beautiful and fluid traits, the studio was able to improve on the first one, which was already beautiful, it could improve in a few ways, but it is extremely difficult to notice any wrong traits or animation, both in fights and in moments where our main characters are just talking to each other. [Grade: 9]


OVERALL: The anime has improved over its last season, leaving a hype for its next one. [Grade: 9]

A noticeable improvement upon the first season.

When I saw that the second season of Fire Force was coming out, I reluctantly decided that I would give it a go. I had a very mixed reaction to the first season. It had some great animation, sound design, and world-building, but was held back because of bad framing, poorly written characters, and eye-rolling fanservice. I am happy to say that this season made great strides to correct those mistakes.

The season starts off a little slow as we are still dealing with Infernals that are supposed to a threat, but everyone watching knows they don’t matter. While ... the beginning of the season is pretty on par with last season, the moment I became hooked was on episode 12 where we get arguably the best episode of the entire series. After that point, it is just banger episode after banger episode for most of the season.

There is a lot more action in this season against the Evangelists (the actual entertaining villians) which keeps the episodes pleasing to watch. There are also new characters introduced that are actually somewhat interesting and some fan favorite characters like Joker receive some great backstories. Hell, even the fanservice is more enjoyable in this series, as it is toned down some and used in a way unique to this series.

Speaking of such, this season really carved Fire Force an identity separate from similar Shounen series. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and just tries to have fun. This season embraces the wacky and over-the-top nature of its source material, like it tells the viewer “Yes, we will show you flashy action scenes every episode, then give you some shameless fanservice and you will like it”. And I’ll be damned, but I really did like it.

Now, obviously my rating for this season is a 7 not 10, so I do have some problems with it. It does start out pretty slow, with my rating at some point being a 5 out of 10. They still pad out episodes with characters not making obvious decisions in fights that could easily end them. Also the fanservice can occasionally be way too overt and unlikable like in season one.

But overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how this season turned out. It surpassed my expectations and I am looking forward to watching season 3 when (and if) it comes out.

It is closer to a 6 than an 8

For the past few years, I've been so trash that I don't even have the energy to live, but this game is so much fun. It's a quality that makes me want to live a little longer.
　DVD sales of "Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou" didn't do well, but since the second season was announced at the end of the first season, it's likely that they were planning to make the second season from the beginning. There was plenty of stock of the original work at the time.
　The good thing about this anime adaptation is that it is mostly faithful to the original work, just ... like the first season. And while it's not at the level of a monster, the drawings are relatively stable and hard working. At the very least, you can feel the love and seriousness for the work.
　The original good point of the second season so far is the OP. The level of the video itself is high, but the direction is also very well done. On top of that, the lyrics stick. Most of the OPs of anime are made for the work and if you like the anime, it sticks, but if not, it is hard to get into it. Even if you do get hooked, you'll get bored unless you like the work to a certain extent. Well, the lyrics of this song are of course linked to the work of Flame Flame, but by all means, the passionate lyrics give power to the people who have been living a ragged life a little bit more to do their best. Honestly, I was so moved that I cried, and personally, I feel like it's been a while since we've had a great song that's been on the level of being a decade player. I've been watching a few anime in the past few years, and out of the several I've seen, there are a few that I've come to love. However, I don't think any of the songs have been this numb in the past few years.

　Soul Eater was the same way, but the battles are more flashy and interesting when inflation is on the rise, so I have high hopes for the range of battles in the second season.

I feel like the only people I see talking about Fire Force outside of Fire Force forums are those who dropped it in or shortly after the first cour. And they always do it with such a weird tone, like they're opinion on the entire anime is definite and final. I mean I kind of see why it's heavily dropped among certain types with the way Ookubo writes things at the start, but
SEASON 2 SO GOOD THOUGH
like the story actually started getting really interesting, we got some great character development, coming back to previous events, solving mysteries, getting answers, going to C H I ... N A, and cute Tamaki/Iris/Maki moments.
I noticed that the story is actually super well planned out; arcs are based off events from other arcs, revelations and twists make sense when thought about, and characters get stronger only when they really try to, not just when they need it.
Just like the first season DavidPro could not have made a better adaption, everything is handled excellently and beautifully, and I'm personally very partial to stylization like they use it here. The second OP for this season is a BANGER! And Inferno for the finale's end credits tops it off nicely.
Overall I found the second season markedly better than the first, which isn't saying a ton but it's really really good.

A consistent job that surprised me. Despite the difficulties that anime had to face in the 1st season, the show pleased most of the world and guaranteed its continuity.

The animation is good, but it bothers me when the distant scenes leave the characters without a face. The opening / closing soundtrack is on the head, as well as classical music during battles.

The great charm of the series are its characters that make entertainment enjoyable. The David Production Studio also has several references to Jojo Bizarre Adventure, the company's flagship.

I hope for the success and continuity of this incredible work. The author already has a legion ... of fans for his previous work.
Until the moment of this analysis the anime is in the 2nd season.

The second season is finally over, so what did we achieve throughout 24 episodes? Well not that much...

We continue from where we left off the first season as the 8th company tries to unravel more mysteries about the goal of the White Clads. And at the same time, trying to fight them to protect the Empire. It's pretty much the same as the first. We still have multiple arcs, training episodes, some greatly-animated fight scenes, and our cast having spotlight moments for their character developments.

The thing that frustrates me in this second season is that the quality goes up and down most of the time. ... There were true moments of climax and greatness but it dragged on in some parts and it didn't felt like we had a true climax. Which means the payoff for watching 24 episodes of the show doesn't feel redeeming for some people.

In the case of sound, the OST and the BGM is still solid for Fire Force. The OP's & ED's are much more better-made this season with SPARK-AGAIN being my favorite of the 4 as it evokes hype and excitement each time when an episode begins, also the OP animation was really great. David Production didn't let us down with the art as it's just as solid and high quality than ever, you can tell they put a lot of effort half of the time.

The characters of the show, they're still there. Almost all of the cast from the first had some minutes that are important to the story. And some of them had their time in the spotlight to spark and shine, receiving some considerable character development. Also the villains/antagonists were decent as well, each presenting some hard challenge to our characters this season.

To sum this all up, I gave so many chances for this season. I didn't felt like I witnessed a great sequel but it was also not enough to say that it has become a mediocre series that deeply wasted my time. What saved this season is its great production quality, banger theme songs and the story still having its flair to interest me. What doomed this season is its inconsistent pacing, drowned out arcs and minimal progress from the first season, which was the true letdown for Fire Force this time around.

Overall, it is still a good show that manages to keep me interested amidst all of its flaws. I really hope the third season will be the true masterpiece that this anime series really needs, cause at this moment it only manages to surpass the first by a short distance.

Fire Force is such a fun anime, it has some issues but is one fun ride. I really enjoyed the first season but I know it had its issues. Season 2 improves on those issues but they are still present. One flaw I noticed with the second season was just consistency which I will explain later in the review.

Story: 6.5
So the story is there, Fire Force has a good bit of hidden lore of how the world came to its current state which is good. But overall the storytelling isn't very consistent. Some episodes are fantastic and amazing whereas others kinda just trudged along. I ... understand the author sorta writes like that but with some episodes it the whole direction of the episodes felt like different people. (Side note Tamaki still exists so fanservice is there from her, it didn't feel like it was during big moments IIRC but if you were a fanservice hater before your gripes will still stay.)

Art: 9.5
I think the art may have gotten a little worse from season 1. Season 1 did a fantastic job and season 2 wasn't able to fully recapture that same magic. Granted it still is amazing but sometimes the little things just seem a little off (Granted this was with a few episodes) Sometimes movement felt a little lazy but this was just certain moments from some episodes.

Sound: 9
Sound is hard to review for me but overall the sound FX felt realistic and was well done. And the musical score was pretty good.

Character: 6.5
Characters are decent some of them are pretty tropey ie the hero, the dumbass & the badass op dude girls like. This season focused more on new characters so we got to see their abilities so that was cool. The characters already introduced did get some development like Maki, Juggernaut and even Tamaki.

Enjoyment: 9
Like I said in the beginning this is one fun anime. This was my top anime of the summer season week in and week out I never missed an episode. I love the action of the show some characters are really cool.

Overall 8.25
This season was a small improvement from its last season. It did a lot of things season 1 missed the mark on. I don't have too much to say that I didn't mention before on why I give it this score. (And as a message to all the self titled "Elitist critics" This show is at least like a 5 using the Mal rating system (If you use a different one why are you even on Mal?) Cause even if you dislike the story and characters, the art and sound are objectively good so anything below a 5 or average by Mal is just bizarre.)

Story: 7
The Story is, just as in the first season, very varied. One episode can be really powerful and expertly written, others could be a 14-year-old's fan fiction. Two points stand out the most to me:

1. Pacing: The pacing is quite simply all over the place. Some episodes progress the story at the speed of light, others feel like filler. Even inside a single episode, there are crazy jumps. This does not make for a pleasurable viewing experience.

2. Tone: It's fine to goof off in scenes that aren't meant to be serious and aren't attached to the main plot. But interjecting comic relief and goofiness ... in otherwise serious and emotional scenes breaks any investment you could have in the story. The best example for this is (spoiler) the newest episode (20) where several background characters die in a fight, while some tragic backstory like wives or kids waiting for them at home get shown. Literal seconds after this one of the dead characters comically turns his head to one of the main characters who then proceeds to run away like a character from an old Disney cartoon. Another big offender is fan service. In the same episode after a semi-interesting side character dies, one of the female characters gets absolutely needlessly undressed by being whipped by a female villain. Things like this happen constantly and are nothing but cheap fanservice for horny teens. I'm fine with having some fan service in shows, but please do it in parts where it doesn't distract from the plot.

Art: 7
Just like the story the animation and art quality varies drastically. Some scenes look stunning with beautiful animation, characters, and scenery. In others, the animation is reduced to still frames with virtual camera movement or in other scenes literally 2 frames per second animations. The art also occasionally looks like it's drawn in MS Paint and I'm not talking about freeze frames taken out of context but full scenes. Corners have most definitely been cut in the art and animation department.

Sound: 7

Some of the fight sounds are pretty punchy and sound great but they are overused and lack variation. The show generally lacks detail in its sound design.
The music isn't bad but not outstanding either. There are also once again not a lot of different tracks which sometimes leads to tracks being used that don't fit the scene.

Character: 7

Some characters are multidimensional and interesting, others are extreme stereotypes and serve only one purpose. Designs are pretty good for the most part.

Enjoyment: 7

When I began watching the first season and especially after watching the first episode I was very hyped for this series. Over the following rest of season 1 and season 2 up to this point I've been getting more and more disappointed as the initial proposition for the show shown in episode 1 drifts further and further from reality.

Overall: 7

Fire Force season 2 can be worth it to watch if you want to see some good fight scenes and don't really care about the rest too much.

Edit: If you're watching the show in German: The subs are often very badly translated and read like someone pasted them in google translate. Go for the English sub if you can.

- the first ep was good but i don't see this ep as a good start , in this season we continue our adventure with shinra and the boys *team 8 lol * to to discover all the secrets of the first saison

- Story ; the story is Complement of the first saison and with this season we weill see the Evolution of characters more

- art ; the animation continues with the same quality as the first season and she's great

- Sound ; i like the voice of the characters and also the openings and many other saounds

Enjoyment: i can say the anime will be ... good and much better then the first saison but we will see
-- i recommend every one to give a chance to this wenderful peace --
\my rating / (until now) 7/10

Well, Fire Force is a new guilty pleasure of mine.
It's a deeply flawed series, that's at the same time weirdly enjoyable... Maybe because it's made by David and they know how to make a fight-focused series?

Compared to the 1st season, not really much changed. A lot of cons of that one stayed: story is overally pretty ok, but sometimes characters will just run into a solution of a problem. Pretty much EVERY plot point is given to the characters, instead of being earned, for example bad guys have a weird habbit of explaining mysteries to the heroes.
On the good site, middle 3 arcs (Inca, China ... and Joker/Benimaru) are actually enjoyable and don't feel forced (for the most part).
But.... Characters are just as dumb as previously. Arthur is basically a big child, Shinra is boooring (i aint a demon, i am a HERO!), rest of the cast doesn't really matter. Viktor and Vulkan feel like characters taken straight out of Soul Eater (and yeah, it's a compliment). But a lot of the main cast just don't get screen time. Maki is the biggest wasted potential, alongside captain (a power-less character that will just chop you with an axe?? i want more!). Tamaki's development is just bullshit writing - she suddenly became priestess (xD). 50 episodes and we still dont know what her powers are about. I know, she looks like cat - but WHY and for WHAT reason?

I still cant stand fanservice. There's *less* of that here, but it's still fckn abnoxious. A serious scene? Yeah, let's have some BOOOBS BOIIIS. At least Tamaki is no longer molested (if not r**ped, like previously...) every second scene.

Art - during non-action scenes, it's simple. And what's with those blank faces? They appear way too often and are way too distracting. And the weird thing is that they don't appear only on the background characters, but also on the front...

Fights- ok, this is really why we're still watching it. Fights are, as always, increadibly enjoyable, mostly due to the animators, not the story. I dunno why, but David's fight (goes for JoJo too) just have an amazing sound design (not sound track, but sound desing - and a lot of other animation studios forget about it). Every punch, flame, exmplosion has that crisp, powerful sound effect to it. Maybe David has access to some other base of sounds or they hired another team just for the sake of making sounds in their basement? I don't care, as long as they keep those deep, bass sounds whenever someone is punching other people's faces.

Overall - 8 (compared to 7 i gave s1). I will probably forget about this shonen in few months, but so far - i have fun watching it.
Perfectly fine if you have spare 20 minutes and want some low effort enjoyment.

*THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Fire force was one of the most under-rated show of last year, getting slept on by a lot of people, the animation was great and the world they introduced was very interesting. When a Shounen gets a sequel the 1st thing it needs to do is built upon the characters and world that was settled in the 1st season. Let's see if Fire force season 2 manages this.

STORY: 6/10

Let's start with the good parts: there are a lot of fights and a lot of hyped up moments, the show does well to pull you into the next episode and it ... is an overall decent ride. Now the bad: Pacing, i know you probably already read about how horrible the pacing is in this show but it has to be said, its really REALLY rare that i fall to sleep while watching a show, but Fire force managed it. Also one of the arcs is so fucking bad that i actually considered skipping it but it was really important to the main story, which btw, just fucking jumps out a window. It tries to do something simple but ends up complicating it so far that it seems the makers of the show got tired of people saying its just a "basic Shounen" which it is. It goes for the "The evil people have to collect x amount of things/people to do this bad thing" cliche which i don't really like mixed with the "evil cult" cliche. As an ending statement on the story: you would probably like this show if you are really into conspiracy theories.

ART: 8/10

I mean, it's practically a death sentence to make a Shounen show without good, fluid animation so i expected it to be pretty good. The fire itself looks really good but doesn't really look like it packs any wait when it hits something and i really didn't see any problems with the animation in most of the episodes. There is one arc however (also mentioned previously) that for some reason looks way worse than the rest of the show. I swear to god David Production went on vacation for a month and just let some fucking random people they picked off the street do this arc, its pretty bad. Either way, the animation isn't ground-braking put it does look pretty good.

SOUND: 10/10

This is the only place where FIRE FORCE settles itself apart from other run-of-the-mill Shounen. The sound in this show is so fucking amazing, i could say it's on orgasmic proportions. Seriously now, this is some of the best sound design i have ever heard, its crisp, well chosen and it really shows that they spent a lot on time on it. The only reason i didn't read the manga(which i heard was better than the anime) is because i wouldn't have been able to hear that beautiful roar the fire does. The music also fits amazingly well with the show and it compliments the fight with style. Easily the best part about Fire Force.

CHARACTER: 5/10

I mean, it doesn't take any brave steps here. This is the reason people call this show the "basic bitch" of modern shounen. The characters are so cliche that its actually embarrassing. If you watch anime and ask me to tell you about the characters of fire force without saying their name you would be fucking confused cus it seems i'm just talking about every character in existence. The character design is pretty good but even here the show kinda fails with some of them (you know which if you watch the show). The only true character development we get is: this character is strong now and in conclusion it's a total shit show.

ENJOYMENT: 6/10

I mean, i really liked the fight scenes and the well-placed cliff-hangers but you can't expect me to give it more than 6 when i fell asleep while watching it. It's a tough one, on one hand i was looking forward to almost every episode and sometimes i enjoyed myself, but on the other hand, some of the episodes are boring as fuck and that arc was really really bad, i just cant give it more than 6 (and thats pretty bad for a Shounen).

ENDING STATEMENT: In this instance season 2 ends up being worse than season 1. Even if it seem i dont like the show at all i would still recommend it to you if you are looking for some fun stuff you can turn your brain off to (or if you are a conspiracy theorist). If a season 3 ever appears I'll probably watch it, but not get too hyped.

OVERALL: 7 (almost a six)

I've been watching this show since July, which, yes, is how time works given that 25 episodes come out every week, but seeing the little summary of scenes at the end of the last episode, it made me realize that while I don't have such a strong memory of what's gone on exactly and how it's put together, it definitely was fun with the time I've spent watching it, and saw some great fights and animation along the way. This season definitely confirmed my love for Maki and Benimaru, and I'm glad that more time was put on other characters, Tamaki was definitely needing it. ... The animation and visuals are always the standout here and great sound design to boot. So it feels all over the place but it's fun to see where it goes.

I'll mention that in the last episode Captain Obi mentions that everyone has done a good job at acquiring allies and making friends with other departments and groups for fighting the White-Clad, and I forgot if that was ever the mission at all in the grand scheme of things as opposed to just the 8th doing various jobs in a more collaborative environment. When it did get to explaining things like Adolla and Amaterasu, I got pretty lost and asked my friend who was watching this as well for explanations. She helped me understand but, once again, it felt meandering, for better and for worse. Benimaru and Joker fought together and this is probably the most religious anime I've seen since Neon Genesis Evangelion (in one way or another) so I can't complain that much.

The truth seems to me from the few times that a second season is better than the first but by far. The only thing I don't like is that he's stripping the cat girl all the time; That fans service seems unnecessary to me, but I really liked getting that out. There is death and destruction there, are levels up very well overall this season. Very entertaining and with a lot of death that is good I look forward to the third season.


En español:
La verdad me parece de la pocas veces que una segunda temporada es mejor que la primera pero por mucho. Lo único ... que no me gusta es que todo el tiempo esta desnudando a la chica gato; me parece innecesario ese fans service pero bueno sacando eso me gusto mucho. Hay muerte y destrucción hay levels up muy bien en general esta temporada. Muy entretenida y con mucha muerte eso esta bueno espero la tercera temporada con ansias.

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

After the rather lackluster first season i stood at a crossroad. Either i stop watching the series at all and leave it at that, or i continue with season two to see if the show improves. I did the latter and i have to say that it was a fantastic decision. Season 1 turned out to be just a stepping stone to what this series can develop towards. This was a major improvement in every single way.

STORY - 7/10

This season started with one of the best arcs so far. The fights have improved wildly consisting of not just flashy animation and ... willpower like season one. There are tactics, strategies and decisions being made. Fights change over the course of time and the show is not afraid to let one of our heroes lose. Generally it can be said that the stakes feel much higher than before. Gone are the mini-arcs with no meaning. Every arc pushes either the story or a character forward. The mystery is interesting and i am really eager to know where this is going. The only minor flaws are that the arcs are a little bit inconsistent in quality and the tone of the show seems to change every episode. There is funny and dumb humor in one episode and then heads getting ripped of in the next. I also think that while the mystery itself is very compelling, the way it unfolds seems a bit inconsequential. There are big reveals but they aren´t build up towards very well.
However, this season was consistently entertaining, written way better and a huge step up from the first. If this keeps going there is a good chance that Fire-Force will play in the same league as some of the genres best.

Art – 9/10

One of my biggest issue with the first season was the janky animation. It looked fantastic in some shots but the timing and the angles were just completely all over the place. But all that was fixed coming into season 2. The quality stayed the same and the fights truly keep up with it. Fantastic lighting, fluid fire animation, great choreography and an overall better flow during the fights than before. The character designs stayed the same with the introduction of some new highlights (I have to point out the third arc here). Thank god that these changes were made.

Sound – 9/10

This was the strongest category in the first season and it still is in the second. While none of the two openings reach the incredible first one, they are still fantastic openings in themselves, especially the last one. The endings are also great, opting for a very stylistic approach to their artstyle. The sounddesign is still incredible. There are multiple scenes that literally took my breath away. The timing and intensity of the different attacks are well crafted and fit every single time.

Characters – 8/10

Huge step up from season one. A lot of the characters that i found incredibly agitating back then,
have now received huge amount of development. I think Arthur is still a joke in most of his scenes, but atleast they gave his actions some amount of reasoning. Shinra, our main character, has been mostly static but still likeable and fun to root for. But the thing that impressed me the most was the handling of the side characters. Some of them got amazing episodes and story-arcs. Joker, who was just this mysterious figure in season one, is now one of my favorite anti-heroes ever. The different pillars are also interesting characters with insane powers.The female characters are written much better in this season. Maki received her own story-arc going into her relation with her family and sister Iris has to deal with the breaking of of her belives .The only standout here is still Tamaki, who is still just there for panty-shots and fanservice.
Enjoyment – 8/10

I was hesitant to start this season, believing that it would just spiral down in quality, but it proved me wrong. This was consistently entertaining. Season 3 ,which is going to be the last, has been announced and i am very eager to see all the storylines flow together in an epic finale. If season one dissapointed you, watch season 2.

-Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 8/10

**Spoiler free**

Ill make this review short,

The makers of fire force seem to think that making their anime into a murder mystery is a good idea. I'll tell you right now, it isn't. I have no problem with the story growing more complex over time, it's to be expected. But now it's just a rolling coaster of plot twists. The characters really don't grow much more. The art is still great, music is fine. But I do think what made season 1 special is gone in season 2 (as of now aka episode 13).

Now there are still some good parts, the humor isn't bad. The ... action scene's are still good. The pacing is ''okay'', it's really all over the place. The second season doesn't improve on anything the first season did good or bad. This doesn't mean it's a bad anime but It's much worse than the first season.