We’re back this week as we descend further into the Nether and the mysteries of human combustion and the Adolla Burst start to deepen and unravel. There are a few solid side moments from some of the larger cast, but the big draw here is the second confrontation between Shinra and Sho Kusakabe. Let’s get right into it, folks!
1. Feeler? I don’t even know her!
In the last episode, our golden boy Vulcan met back up with his former ‘friend’ Lisa, who seemed to have been working for the sickening Dr. Giovanni the entire time and now goes by the incredibly uncomfortable name Feeler. In this episode, we get a little more of an explanation as to the nature of why Lisa (still not gonna call her Feeler, not sorry about that) had such a change of heart. It appears to be more out of her hands than suspected and more due to Giovanni’s potential brainwashing! There’s a beautiful scene at the start of the episode that seems to represent Lisa’s subconscious below her brainwashed self, with her trapped in a car crash against a desaturated yet stunning cityscape.
We learn a little about her past as she talks via the prompting of Giovanni, saying that her parents were killed by an Infernal but that one of the Evangelist’s bugs ‘re-opened her eyes’. It’s effectively chilling, using vague yet familiar language like that to unsettle viewers and make us speculate a huge variety of possibilities that have taken place here.
2. Mega creep energy
I’ve made it no secret that I’m constantly creeped out by Dr. Giovanni every time he comes on to the screen, something which shows how much effort the animation department put into his every movement to sell him as unnerving. I have to give credit here to his voice actor Yutaka Aoyama, who manages to balance a droning monotone that manages to spike at random moments to keep viewers at high tension at all times. Paired with his sickly dialogue reminding Lisa about how he saved her life and she owes everything to him, he’s one of the show’s most effective villains to this point, which is a testament to the writing considering he’s only appeared in a handful of episodes.
What I do love about this scene is that we get a fun pairing between Vulcan and Obi who have great dorky chemistry together. I love when Obi tries to be serious when refusing to reveal he was wearing bullet-proof body armor, but Vulcan in total contrast is more than eager to explain it and how it works. They have a great almost sibling-like relationship that is another testament to how much fun this show has in pairing its main cast in different ways.
3. The devil inside
Giovanni reveals to the captains after a while a little more about the history of the world and why the Evangelist is so obsessed with Shinra’s Adolla Burst. As it happens, an Adolla Burst was the thing that set off the original calamity that set the world aflame… 250 years ago! Revealing this kind of timeline is a big deal for Fire Force as it gives us more concrete detail as to when this show could be set and leads to more speculation as to what might have happened in those 250 years after what is presumably the present day for us. What I love, however, is the show’s commitment to the mystery. Rather than explaining further, Giovanni says it would be pointless to explain it to underpowered people like Obi and Vulcan, but that Shinra must be feeling a connection by now.
Speaking of, Shinra’s having a bit of a hallucination that invokes a lot of beautiful, haunting gothic imagery. There’s a lot of visual storytelling here that’s a little more abstract but compellingly told. Shinra develops a demon-like shadow from underneath him that resembles the demonic silhouette that killed his mother back in the day. At the same time, Giovanni drops a theory that the reason that they use bugs for combustion is that they might be tied to something more infernal, using the delightfully insane theory that moths being attracted to flame might be for more sinister reasonings.
Continued below4. Sibling rivalry
After Shinra finishes his terrifying Catholic-guilt trip, he musters up the courage to move on and face his brother, Sho. Shinra retains his optimism towards his brother for a moment, until Sho decides to go full-asshole and insult their mother and the fact that he was born from her. At this point, the show makes a conscious switch into a beautifully animated scene, the trigger moment for me being the highly detailed shot of Sho slapping his brother’s hand off his shoulder.
What takes place afterward is a classic Shonen trope done extremely well using modern animation technology. Sho and Shinra battle at speeds too fast for the human eye to keep up with, but we manage to see the after-effects since Shinra leaves an ashen footprint from wherever he steps. Licht is here too, but he’s something of a stand-in for the viewer as most of the fight, he just stands by in awe of the incredible power both of these kids possess.
5. Fire can do anything if you believe hard enough
The fight continues on for a while, with Shinra using his newfound Rapid ability to great effect in order to keep up with Sho (he doesn’t say Rapid-Man Kick each time, which is disappointing, but I’ll forgive it this time for the sake of dramatic effect). As the power gap between the two begins to close, Sho reveals that he has an absolutely ridiculous ace up his sleeve as he manages to seemingly pause time mid-fight and deliver a potent blow to his brother. Again, Licht stands in for the audience here, questioning the plausibility of the scene saying “It was like he stopped time. How could he do that with Pyrokinesis?”. Buddy, you and me both.
As it happens, the power as explained here is that Sho has a… miniature universe of his own around him in which he superheats to the point that it expands beyond him and stops time for anyone caught within it? It’s a bizarre explanation, but my take from it is that Sho somehow has the power of a mini-Big Bang inside of him and can expand the heat from that outwards to control time. Would you like to debate my hastily thrown together theory, folks? Sound off in the comments below! And no cheating and looking at wikis!
