Burning down the house.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Obi tells Shinra of the upcoming Rookie Fire Soldier Games, just in time for a new arrival: Arthur Boyle, who will be joining Shinra in representing Company 8. Fortunately, he and Arthur already have a history with each other, having met during their academy days. Unfortunately, it’s not a good one, leading to them fighting and bickering all the way up to the roof, in front of Maki and Iris. To test them, Takehisa has the two third-generation firestarters go up against Maki, a second-generation with less power but more control, even being able to conjure fire spirits. This is meant to test them to not rely too much on their powers and more on their minds, as she takes the flames that Shinra’s feet and Arthur’s Plasma Cutter produce and use them against the boys.

But they’re not off the clock, and soon their next mission comes in. They arrive at a surprisingly intact house, but with a crying girl who has already lost her mother to turning Infernal, and now her father as well. Before they head in, Obi pulls Shinra and Arthur aside about their weapons and what they represent about their mission. They claim to be putting Infernals to rest, but the fact of the matter is that they’re killing what was once human. Forgetting this and seeing Infernals as nothing more than monsters to be slain leaves out the bigger goal, that being saving lives and protecting those who lose a loved one due to this curse.

On their way in, they see an odd flurry of flames that form a sneering face, but when they go inside, they only find a patient Infernal sitting at the dinner table peacefully. Shinra wonders if they can spare this one since it hasn’t harmed anyone, but Arthur insists they end its suffering. Suddenly, the building begins to collapse around them, caused by explosive materials in the air sent by an oddly dressed man outside. They don’t know how to investigate the collapse, but they do remember to console the now orphaned girl named Mikako. Whether it’s fighting fire monsters or giving bad news to those left behind, being on the Fire Force is a tough job indeed.

OUR TAKE

While the first episode was meant to establish the more straight-forward action elements of the series, the second takes time to dig a bit deeper by focusing on the darker implications of the central conflict. We’ve had hints at this with Shinra’s backstory last time, but now we see how an Infernal’s emergence not only destroys property but a family as well. An Infernal showing up doesn’t have the same room to be bloodless as an accidental house fire where a cause can be found and there’s a chance everyone can get out of it alive. If this thing occurs, it means a person has died at random and has their humanity gradually stripped away from them until they can be put down.

It can be easy, given the nature of this genre and the more religious undertones shown here, that Infernals can simply be seen as monsters to be stopped when really they were humans once too. That’s why the scene of Obi talking to Shinra and Arthur about this is important. It establishes and foreshadows the varying mindsets and values in being a member of the Fire Force that they are likely to encounter over the course of the series, but that the one they should follow is the one that preserves life and hope instead of adding to one’s kill list. This adds an extra layer to future battles, which will likely play around with this as things get more elaborate and characters are tested.

I guess I should also talk about Arthur, the newest character. I did wonder when we would be meeting this other blond guy in the Opening, but I didn’t expect it this soon. As of now, he seems to be filling Shinra’s obligatory rival role, checking off boxes like being apparently more of a hit with the girls and having his own cool signature weapon which is basically a lightsaber. Also calling that he and Maki will be a thing later on. Not a ton to comment on regarding his personality for now, since it looks like it’s just being into acting knightly, and he has a running gag of forgetting to add “King” to his title as a knight that feels like it’s going to get really old really quickly. After the dozen or so characters I’ve had to suffer through in Black Clover whose entire character is just one gag they beat into the ground whenever they’re on screen, my patience has run out for something like that.

Also, someone please tell me, is this show going for six months or a year?

Score 7/10