Finally! After putting this Anime on hold for about 4 years, I finally got to finish it. I did need to watch it with English Dubbing to help me do so though (I'll explain in a bit.)
I've tried multiple times to get back on it during those years, restarting it from the beginning every time, only to lose interest after the very first arc. Back then I couldn't quite point a finger as to which aspect of the Anime seemed to be causing me to feel somewhat bored about it, especially since it already captivated me, aesthetic-wise (Animation quality, Distinguishable characters, Good Japanese VAs, OP music, etc.). It had so many great things going on that it felt weird to just conclude and consider it a bad Anime. But now, I kinda have an idea as to why I felt as such.
The thing is, after multiple failed attempts to watch this Anime entirely, I decided to once again attempt finishing this BUT in English Dubbing this time around, as I play it in the background. I've already seen the first chapter multiple times this past few years anyway so, I felt playing it in English would aid me refreshing without having to watch every scene again for the 'x' time. And it worked! I breezed through the first 10 episodes easily without having to pay full attention at any point. This also means that I missed out on some story exposition, details, info, and such. It wasn't until the "Formation of Special Fire Force Company 8th" episode that my attention was first taken by the show, and then the "Asakusa Arc" as well. And from that point on, I slowly transitioned from half-arse watching, to properly watching in subbed mode (during the "Into the Nether" arc).
Now, we could say that it makes sense that it got interesting during the latter half because that's when the climax starts but, for me personally, I felt the change in setting had something to do with it as well. I say that because I think I only felt bored during the first half of the Anime because it felt like they were in the same place every time. Their World felt small, and the backgrounds felt bland as it was the same-looking buildings and walls and pipes every time. But as soon as the environment changed, (When they went to Asakusa and Vulcan's place) it felt like things suddenly got interesting, and the characters being away from each other during battles finally felt like a big deal.
I'm still not sure really but, after all these years of getting back into this Anime and failing to progress past the 7th episode every time, it's the only reason I can find as to why it felt that way all this time.
So I guess what I'm basically saying is: Episodes 1-10 felt boring because of the environmental setting, and it got interesting after that as the story started progressing.
Pros:
- OP themes are bangers!
- Very high art quality
- Character-filled
- Cinematography
- Enemies everywhere... exposed, not teased. Makes the story interesting when they let you know who's bad... and who's worse among the ranks.
- Also, credit to the English dub. Some characters got some good fitting, even unique voices on them. And the entire dub didn't feel cringe at all. This is probably just my 3rd or 4th English dub experience, ever, and, this is one of those that worked well, IMO.
Cons:
- Took half a season to get interesting (IMO)
- Ridiculous generic protag-related twists.
- Lots of characters just have the cliche "sadistic psychopaths" as their "personalities".
I'd probably rewatch the latter half of this season in Japanese dubbing. But it won't change the 4-year experience I had with this Anime... the first season at least. (Hope the sequel would do better as a whole season.)
