Fire Force Season 2 Episode 5 [Anime Episode Review]

Welcome, one and all, to my continued weekly episodic review series for season two of Fire Force aka En’en no Shōbōtai. This week, we saw Corna (Sing of the Devil). That’s an interesting title for it because Shinra’s Corna only takes up half the episode. Still, this was a fun tale of two battles. Let’s look at them both.

Shinra vs. Charon

This one took up the first half of the episode and dropped back in for the end. We saw last week that Shinra was going to use the technique he learned from Captain Obi and Captain Shinmon, but as we jumped in, it wasn’t working. His full-powered kicks weren’t doing any damage at all. It wasn’t until he spotted Charon walking without the ground exploding that he realized his mistake: Charon is a second-generation, not a third-generation. He hadn’t been creating extreme firepower, he had been turning Shinra’s back on him.

That left Shinra in a quandary, because it meant he couldn’t attack. He came up with a plan that, because a second-generation turns flames outward rather than inward, if he could time a counter just right, he would be able to push them back at Charon. The downside was that it required perfect timing. This was something that he failed at several times until he finally nailed the timing and sent Charon sprawling. Just as he tried to get the disciples to hand Inca over though, Charon got up and sent Shinra flying. The episode ended with them facing off again and Charon acknowledging that he was the first to do any real damage to him. Knowing that could, Shinra seemed heartened by that.

This was a really great sequence. Honestly, it sped by when watching it, largely due to the simplicity of Shinra’s plan needing little explanation. The action was flashy, Shinra got to display a good mix of determination and intelligence, and we were left with something important: Charon couldn’t be taken down with one hit. He can be hurt, but he’s tougher than that.

This is the sort of thing that Fire Force has always done well with Shinra. This represents some real growth too because, even when he was rushing forward as a ‘devil towards toward evil’, he was controlled and patient. He’s growing up as a character and learning from his experiences. That’s such a good quality for a main protagonist.

Almost Everyone Else vs. The Demon

The other battle saw the rest of the Special Fire Force taking on the demon from last time. Karim was able to freeze it early on, but it broke free quickly. Licht noted that the only two times the Special Fire Force had defeated a demon before, it took Konro or Shinmon using the super powerful Blood Crescent Moon, so theoretically they were going to need the same level of firepower here.

To his credit, Licht came up with a good plan. Using the power of the second generation soldiers present and the wind rushing between the buildings, they would gather all the flames that were burning in the city and gather them in one place. Once they’d done that, Maki proceeded to bring them together into a firestorm. Hinawa lured the demon there and he and Obi attempted to push it into the firestorm.

Vulcan arrived in the matchbox and we learned that he’d fit a water cannon on top that was so powerful it destroyed everything it was supposed to be saving. Obi was tasked with aiming and, after Vulcan rammed the demon, Obi launched it into the fire tornado. Hinawa used the heat inside to launch a projectile strong enough to kill it, and Karim turned the tornado to ice, must as Maki lost control.

Now, this felt longer to watch than the Shinra battle, but it was no less enjoyable. Licht’s plan needed a little more explanation than Shinra’s straight-forward assault, and watching it come together was fascinating.

The mild comedy with Obi being reluctant o fire because he was bad at video games was a little out of place, but not too distracting. It did feel fitting for him to be taking the lead though, and while Karim would extinguish the firestorm, it was really awesome seeing Hinawa and Maki taking starring roles in the actual demon-slaying. I thought Hinawa telling Maki that she did well was quite sweet too given how harsh a taskmaster he can be at times.

Overall

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The two differently flavoured battles let Company 8 shine, and the animation was beautiful throughout. The focus on the power of second-generation fire soldiers was a nice touch, given we normally look at third-generation soldiers as being easily stronger. I liked that we saw Haumea still struggling with Arthur too, and Inca continued to be drawn to danger in what little we saw of her. In all, this was excellently done. Plus, Tamaki was fully dressed again, so yay!

But those are just my thoughts. What di you all think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below.

Previous Episode Reviews