OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Hibana, Karim, and Konro meet with Obi to go over notes about the White Clad, including Giovanni’s involvement, their plans for Amaterasu, and their hopes to make viable hosts for the bugs. However, it seems that Haijima was so concerned with a potential scandal that they blamed the rumors on an imposter, only to make the REAL imposter show around for appearances. Regardless, it seems that Company 8 isn’t up to stuff to do any real damage yet. Because of that, Konro suggests bringing Shinra and Arthur back to Asakusa to train with Benimaru, whose main lesson is for the two rookies to “stay sharp” in case of any surprise attack. Licht arrives soon after to suggest Shinra concentrate his flames, which Beni helps by showing a hand technique, known as Kata, that will help concentrate his “Ki” to do so. Meanwhile, Vulcan starts making new equipment to boost the company’s fighting strength.

OUR TAKE

This week is a bit of a breather, which is good timing after all the commotion in the last few episodes. We’re entering the final quarter for this season, so now is a nice opportunity to show how far we’ve come. Surprisingly, this was not in the form of a recap episode (which I wouldn’t exactly put past this show after all the issues it’s had) but simply highlighting the accumulating knowledge and many allies that Company 8 has gathered since they began their journey. Not only with the new members they’ve gained since Shinra like Tamaki, Licht, and Vulcan, but also the relations they’ve built between the fifth, seventh, and first companies. It’s safe to say that, despite their eccentricities, the eighth’s honest and integrity have helped win over others to their cause of discovering and fighting the White Clad. And while I still don’t think the first company is entirely on the up and up, for now, they seem to be a considerable help.

Aside from that, it looks like the main note of development present here is Shinra’s ability to access and manipulate his Ki in order to help strengthen his flames. For those not in the know, Ki is generally used in manga and anime as a form of spiritual energy that characters pull from their bodies to help increase their fighting ability. If I’m remembering correctly, the idea of using it first originated in Dragon Ball, becoming the basis for the show’s legendary beam attacks and struggles, but since then has been utilized in the Chakra of Naruto, the Spiritual Pressure of Bleach, the Nen of Hunter X Hunter, and so on. Now is a pretty interesting, if not odd, time to begin utilizing it in Fire Force, but it does make sense that the fire that comes from third generation pyrokinetics would be linked to that. Perhaps we’ll see more of how Shinra utilizes this in future fights as they become more intense.

Next week, we enter the final quarter of the season. I’m not familiar with where this series will end up within six episodes because I haven’t read the manga, but hopefully, we’ll land on something that will work as a fitting season finale. Now that we’ve taken the time to show off how things have come a long way for our heroes, it would probably good to have the remaining fourth of the season be about how they go all out to strike a major blow against the villains, which I cannot wait to see.

Score 7/10