This show is prime example that you need more than solid visuals, a good musical score, and a mildly interesting initial cast to provide a fun viewing experience. The hype this show carried at the beginning of the season, coupled with an admittedly very interesting premise and a few decent world-building episodes at the outset pulled me in; only to be blindsided by a complete dismissal of pacing, refusal to develop characters, senseless and contradictory plot reveals, and lazy fight choreography.
The main cast appears likable enough, and it’s frustrating when their backstories are quite literally glossed over, or ignored altogether. Chemistry between the “crew” is stated repeatedly to be improving throughout the season, but with the minimal meaningful interaction the viewer is privy to, it all feels rather shallow. The majority of characterization comes from some of the most tasteless fanservice bits I’ve seen in quite some time, and the timing of said events is terrible. Most moments of tension are broken with something stupid, making the whole related scene feel meaningless. Hints and potential plot threads at the beginning of the show are pushed aside, and the writer’s solution to this seems to be interjecting a plethora of new (and equally underdeveloped,) characters around the half way mark. Around the same time, the firefighter shtick fades away completely, and we’re left with some generic action. The fights dip tremendously in quality with questionable animation choices, and some contrived gibberish about powerplants, the sun, and the end of the world are brought to the forefront as ambiguous ways to explain the source of Shinra and Sho’s strength. The “big reveal” in the last episode appears to be rather inconsequential, and very weakly sets up the next season. I’d be lying if I said the ending felt inconclusive, as it felt like the show barely began telling it’s story in the first place.
Now this may sound like a nihilistic review, and I don’t want to leave the impression the show was all bad. Some definite standouts were Shinra vs Rekka (which was unfortunately a victim of the aforementioned tension-breaking fanservice,) Hibana & Benimaru’s respective arcs (probably the two most developed non-protagonist characters,) and the second OP (seriously, it’s a genuinely good song, and not just for an anime OP.)
As a result of all of these factors, I give the show a 5. I certainly don’t regret watching it, as it presented some memorable scenes visually, but nothing of substance content-wise unfortunately. I’ll end this by saying that I WILL watch the upcoming season 2, as I still like the show conceptually, despite it’s misguided direction.
