It is a very basic shonen, the characters are simple, there are the good guys and the bad guys. The Hero, the Rival, the Mad Scientist, etc.
Fire Force sounds like a really average shonen, plot is basically good guys use fire against bad fire monsters. But is it bad? I don't think that way.
The characters in Fire Force are not bad, we have Shinra, the Hero, we have Arthur, his "Rival", we have Obi, the leader, etc.
They are one-sided characters, they are not deep, those guys are who they were meant to be, it's easier to understand that way. It's not like they were meant to be deep but the author failed to do so, it's just that they're like this because they don't need to be anything else, every character has its roles. Well, it's what I think about it. They are all simply archetypes.
Next, the Story.
The story is clearly average, even mediocre, but I still like it, even though it is a bit ok-ish, it still hooks me, I just want to know more. Even though it seems to lead to nowhere at the beginning and it causes a quite slow start for the anime, it starts getting interesting at some point. I won't talk too much about it because it would spoil and I'm not really good at reviewing the story, it's not good, but it's not bad either, it's the definition of average.
The animation, art and soundtrack are good, very good, it's way above an average anime, it's pretty, the soundtrack is great, you really feel it when you see Shinra's flames and hear the boom, and the overall designs are not bad at all.
Also, the creativity of Atsushi Ohkubo about all the flame powers is fun, you have the basic flame manipulation like Maki and Hinawa, the explosions of Shinra, Arthur's Plasma, the random guy with mirages, Karim's fire sounds which turn to Ice (I don't think it works for real tho), etc. It's really interesting and you could compare it with Jojo part 3's Stands, it's simple yet intriguing.
Overall, Fire Force is a good show. It's not some incredible anime, it's not some disgustingly bad anime, it's just your average Shonen. The animation is good, the plot is decent and the characters aren't filling a role bigger than what they need to be.
If you like this genre, then Fire Force won't be a problem, it's watchable, it's fun and you will kill some time watching it.
And there is Benimaru, best boy.
