Fire Force erupted onto our screens in 2019 with an imaginative story from the creator of Soul Eater about special operations fire fighters. Combining action, humor, and a grand conspiracy, fans embraced new recruit Shinra Kusakabe of Special Fire Force Company 8 as he sought to uncover the mystery behind his family’s death at the hands of fiery beings known as Infernals. Season one ended at the end of 2019 with revelations and new questions. At FunimationCon 2020, we were treated to a back-to-back screening of the first two episodes of season two. Get ready to suit up because it looks like things are going to get hot!

A Light Start

The first episode begins with Shinra on a shopping trip with the girls of the 8th: Maki, Tamaki, and Sister Iris (in casual clothes!). The girls took it upon themselves to buy new clothes for their military-minded lieutenant, Takehisa, and took Shinra with them just because. At the store, the girls try on silly hats and headpieces during their search, while Shinra waits for them outside. As he watches the public go about their daily lives, he vows to protect them from the forces of the mysterious Evangelist that the 8th encountered in the Nether.

He doesn’t have to wait long to put his promise into action. An explosion occurs at a nearby building, and he heads out immediately to investigate. When he arrives, he encounters a gigantic Infernal that shoots massive fireballs. He can’t do much against its attacks, though, and is in danger of getting beaten when Arthur appears and saves him from a blast. This is followed by the arrival of the rest of the 8th. Now suited up in full gear and with all civilians evacuated, they engage the Infernal.

After a brief battle, the 8th’s resident mad scientist Viktor Licht is able to provide an assessment: its five cores (one in each arm and leg, and one in its chest) need to be destroyed before the Infernal will go down. The team splits up, and each attacker takes out a core in their own unique style. It not only looks cool, but it also serves as a quick reintroduction to each character.

Once the team is back at the 8th’s headquarters, the seriousness disappears instantly. Captain Obi chews out Lieutenant Takehisa for wearing a ridiculous rabbit outfit around the building. However, he knows that the lieutenant did not buy them for himself and calls in Shinra and the girls to ask them which of them did it. Having just defeated an Infernal, Shinra believes in the bonds he’s forged with his comrades, but that illusion is quickly shattered when the girls all use him as a scapegoat. Oh well…

The remaining time in the episode is spent on a short comedic side story that involves a calendar. More specifically, Shinra learns about how the Fire Force creates a nude calendar every year to improve relations with the public. Each company gets its own month, with the more popular companies getting featured more. When Obi brings out the previous year’s calendar for reference, Shinra immediately fantasizes about Princess Hibana, the beautiful and alluring captain of the 7th. However, he is shocked when he finds out it’s a males-only calendar. (Meanwhile, Princess Hibana fantasizes about seeing her beloved Shinra’s naked form.) He is surprised (for different reasons) when he sees the pictures of Dr. Giovanni as well as the captain of the 7th. Anyway, Obi has a plan—a new pose—for making the 8th more popular for this year’s calendar, and he hopes Shinra will join him in this endeavour. By the end of the episode, we see the final photo, but more importantly, I can guarantee that many viewers will try the pose as well.

Some Like It Hot

After a light-hearted first episode, the second episode gets back to business. Obi tells Shinra that he’s agreed to let him meet the head of the 4th, Captain Agu. (During an Adolla Link, Shinra had seen Agu.) The 4th supervises the Special Fire Force training school and is where Shinra was sent last season. When he arrives, some of the trainees remember him and not too fondly, so they pick a fight. However, they get their butts kicked by his superior hand-to-hand skills. Before it escalates further, Shinra’s friend at the 4th, Ogun, shows up and eases the tension.

Shinra goes to meet Captain Agu, the first regular fire fighter to join the Special Fire Force. In a downright unsettling and creepy sequence, Agu tells Shinra that he’s been especially eager to meet Shinra and that he wants to see his flames. During this weird meeting, Shinra starts hearing and seeing a mysterious blonde girl (presumably the Evangelist follower who always wears a golden crown over her head) telling him to burn. Meanwhile, Agu reveals that he has experienced and now reveres the desolate burning wasteland that Shinra had seen in his Adolla vision. If that isn’t enough, the trainees who caused trouble earlier suddenly show up, looking very much mesmerized. The mysterious voice again tells Shinra to burn, but he resists…until he doesn’t. He attacks Captain Agu.

Agu is happy to fight since he’s still eager to let himself be burned by Shinra’s flames, so it’s a bit of a bizarre battle. He’s very clearly a masochist. Still, at least he recognizes that he could die if he stayed within the flames too long. Anyway, before things get too crazy, Arthur suddenly shows up (again!) to stop Shinra’s rampage.

The possessed Shinra is no match for Arthur, the self-proclaimed King of Knights. And surprisingly, we get a little backstory that reveals the beginnings of how Arthur changed from a normal kid to that glorious moniker. Afterward, after Shinra is asked whether he is a hero or a devil, he gets his wits back and overcomes his possession. However, before the blonde girl fully separates from him mentally, she predicts that the third pillar is about to appear.

Force Feedback

I’m glad the first episode didn’t jump right into the plot-heavy elements immediately, opting to take a little time to reintroduce us to everyone. Although it’s only been a few months since the last season ended, I did need a bit of a refresher. Heck, I almost didn’t recognize Iris without her nun’s clothes on, but man, was she adorable. Even with the threat they faced, I don’t recall the Infernals last season ever being that large, so that made it even more intimidating.

I did love how the 8th took the Infernal down, though. Obi’s Captain America style shield throw was definitely a standout moment, but I also liked the contrast between Maki’s excessive beatdown and the lieutenant’s ruthlessly efficient single shot. Their fighting styles match their personalities perfectly.

That said, Arthur jumping in to save Shinra the first time was fine, but having him do it two episodes in a row was a bit much. I don’t want to see it happen again until much later in the series, if at all. Other than that, he really is an unpredictable bag of seriousness and stupidity, and you never really know which will show up. The brief glimpse into his personal history was quite revealing and even a little heartfelt. The fact that they lampshaded it at the end was well done and completely in-character.

Kudos are also in store for the portrayal of Captain Agu of the 4th. His introductory scene is easily one of the creepiest and most disturbing I’ve seen in an anime in a long time. I mean, I’ve seen psychopaths, sociopaths, sadists, masochists, and madmen across many shows, but watching him was just uncomfortable. I’m reminded of the author’s previous work Soul Eater, which dipped unexpectedly into that deep darkness from time to time. He knows what he’s doing. And there’s no doubt there are even more disturbed individuals in store for us as the season continues.

Fire Works

Of course, with a new season, there are new opening and ending animations and songs. The opening theme “SPARK-AGAIN” is performed by Aimer. Although it doesn’t have as catchy a start as last season’s “Inferno”, it’s still solid. Besides, I’m paying more attention to the visuals that it plays over anyway. It teases some juicy character connections and battles, even if they may not actually exist or happen.

The ending theme “ID” is performed by Cider Girl. Here again, the animation is just cooler, mimicking a side-scrolling video game with Shinra and Arthur in complete shadow fighting against Infernals. It even has health-restoring power-ups. In the old days, this would be turned into a Flash game on the official site. I guess it would be an app nowadays. Either way, I want to play this.

Flame On!

In short, the beginning of Fire Force Season 2 stokes the flames for the rest of what’s guaranteed to be another great season. With 24 episodes in all, there is plenty of room to explore the characters, deepen the mystery, provide much-needed answers, and have a bunch of fun while doing it. We don’t need no water; the fire of excitement will cleanse us.

Fire Force Season 2 now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.

Látom.