OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

We get some narration about the day of the “Great Cataclysm”, which might be the new opening tease for the rest of the season. After that, Yona and Arrow report to Sho, Shinra’s younger brother.

Back at the Company 8 HQ, the company gets a new member: Viktor Licht, the newly appointed company scientist (who is also the guy who talked to Joker awhile back). Viktor’s especially interested in Shinra’s Adolla Burst, but what’s even more suspicious is his connection to Haijima.

While this is going on, Shinra, Iris, and Arthur are sent to recruit an engineer for the team, Vulcan, who’s apparently a real legend in the field, as well as an expert drink thrower. He’s also very obstinate about not joining any company (though the new OP isn’t helping his case), so he’s not getting any customers. They try going through Yu and Lisa, his assistants. They then get a surprise visit from Company 3’s captain Giovanni, who’s even more in bed with Haijima AND responsible for Vulcan losing his customers. Turns out he’s been doing this to corner Vulcan and make him join, but Vulcan still won’t budge, especially since he thinks Giovanni killed both his grandfather, Giovanni’s teacher and Vulcan’s father, Giovanni’s fellow student, before joining Haijima.

Shinra and friends don’t seem as bad, however, so Vulcan shares his dream with them: to find a new energy source that will restore the Earth to a vibrant planet, including bringing back all the animals that went extinct. Still, he won’t join anyone related to Haijima, but he’s still a good guy. Suddenly, Shinra gets some sort of signal that Giovanni is about to strike.

OUR TAKE

Another arc begins as we kick off the final ten episodes of the season, introducing a whole slew of new principal characters, as well as bringing new opponents into the fray. But first, let’s talk about the show’s brand spanking new OP and ED. Besides reacquainting us with everyone we’ve met over the last dozen episodes (who will no doubt play bigger roles as the plot moves forward), we also see that Viktor, Licht, and Yu joining Company 8. Kinda spoils the focus of the current storyline, but then again, I wasn’t particularly worried about that outcome. Also of note is hinting at some more members of the White Clad, as well as the eventual brother-versus-brother showdown between Shinra and the brainwashed Sho, which the ED also primarily focuses on.

The episode itself is pretty much just establishing the new story and important characters. Vulcan and his eventual recruitment look like it’ll be the center of things going on, while Company 3’s Captain Giovanni is its main antagonist. Each arc so far has managed to rope in one new company each time, with 5, 1, and 7 all getting their chances in the spotlight. We might not be getting a full look at Company 3, but Giovanni’s connection to both Vulcan’s father and grandfather AND Haijima can open up a lot of pathways in the world for us to explore. Plus, now that we know of Vulcan’s dream to revitalize the world with a non-thermal energy source, we may just see some hinting at how Haijima got started. They’ve been established as a major player in Fire Force’s power structure, but they could use some development as well.

The only major thing that could probably be discussed at length currently is Shinra’s Adolla Link, which is the supposed term for when he receives some sort of connection to people’s thoughts with the unique flame in his legs. The last time he made use of this was hearing Konro when he asked him to save Benimaru, but now he can apparently detect killing intent from Giovanni. There’s a lot here that we haven’t tested out, but it seems this will be a good chance to try. Shinra’s special traits are likely going to become more and more relevant, but I appreciate that they aren’t some sort of trump card he can control just yet, but who knows if that will be the case by the end of this arc. In any case, I’ve been enjoying this series so far, so I don’t expect that to change this far in.

Score 7/10