May Contain Slight Spoilers Human combustion. It plagues the world of Fire Force forcing people to develop a specialized force that serves to protect the people from the dangers of the Infernals beings that were created from human combustion. This specialized force is known as the titular Fire Force. Shinra the main protagonist of the show joins a ragtag team of individuals the Special Fire Force Company 8 looking to find out about the origin of the plague and to prevent many similar events of human combustion from happening. Its an interesting premise but that initial potential is halted by its poor characters and a weak story. The protagonists are basic and dont offer anything fresh to the table they fit their roles but never develop much as characters throughout the course of the show. Shinra being the main character manages to get a significant amount of development as he learns to define his ideals of being a hero. However his hero speeches whenever he fights an enemy feels shallow and empty and they get annoying after a while. The show does a great job at creating a character who learns and evolves but we dont need him constantly explaining to us what it means every time. There are better ways to do it than generic monologues such as in subtle gestures and slight changes in behavior. It doesnt need to be overt having a smooth route paints a clearer level of understanding. Villains are your cardboard crazy types and the show makes sure to show you how evil they are with the stereotypical evil facial expressions and obnoxious maniacal laughter. The dialogue is also predictable coming from these kinds of characters adopting a Darwinian philosophy and taking part in a ridiculous cult. Its easy to show how crazy a villain is but the show never moves past the surfacelevel crazy and thats all there is to it archetype. Another thing is that the animation shouldnt need to show villains in a sinister light again and again. Their thought process and their actions speak for themselves and showing villains with black lines along their faces to portray how nasty and sly they are doesnt really add any depth and only points to how lacking they are as memorable antagonists. Fire Forces story is predictable and straightforward. Its a hero story about Shinra first and foremost and its not exactly a unique take on the concept either. Its plain and adequate enough to direct the course of the show but doesnt lend itself to anything memorable or noteworthy. Regarding the fanservice concerning Tamaki the ecchistyled comedy feels very awkward and it begins to be repetitive later on. Humor is subjective but the jokes with Tamaki get overused past the halfway mark and it loses its initial appeal. With that being said theres still a lot that Fire Force provides in terms of pure entertainment. The fight sequences are great. Its explosive and powerful the animation and sound design doing a great job at illustrating the intensity of Shinras kicks and showcasing the various abilities that the rest of the characters possess. A few issues were that the actionoriented moments could have showcased a lot more aspects on the technical side like handtohand combat and the monologues that the characters tell as theyre fighting is pretty unrealistic. The constant introductions and info tidbits take away from the immersion as well. All in all though the animation does an incredible job at giving life to the fights and it adds a whole new layer of enjoyment and a great level of hype. While the cast of characters dont offer anything new to the table they still act as sources of entertainment with their interactions being pretty fun to watch. The Special Fire Force Company 8 are a funny group of people with their own quirks. Makis cute musings while being a completely reliable member of the team and the running joke of Arthur being an idiot which serve to create interesting predicaments during his fights are just examples on how fun they are to watch. Comedy is subjective for this one but I found myself being amused by a lot of the shenanigans of Company 8 not to the point where Im laughing out of my mind but enough to create some moments of relaxation and breathing between points of dramatic tension. At the end of the day Fire Force isnt fresh and is far from special. It lacks in a strong story and wellwritten characters but it does have a place in being a fully serviceable piece of entertainment. Thats enough for a lot of people and I can appreciate it for what it does.