Fire Force Burned My Expectations to the Ground

I went into Fire Force completely blind.

I assumed that this was an anime about firefighters. I was expecting a lighthearted version of shows like Chicago Fire or Rescue Me. Things like putting out burning buildings, rescuing people, maybe some grounded action with a twist.

Well boy was I wrong.

Fire Force took my expectations and burned them right to the ground, delivering instead one of the hottest anime series of the last ten years, both literally and figuratively.

The core premise of the series is that people randomly combust and turn into flaming monsters called Infernals, and special fire brigades are responsible for putting them down. That sounds interesting enough on its own, but the show takes it even further and throws in things like religious symbolism, conspiracies, human experimentation, and eventually full-on reality-bending insanity.

It gets even more interesting when you realize that this is a prequel to Soul Eater.

This isn’t just a fan theory, it’s completely canon, confirmed by the mangaka himself.

And just in case you’re still not convinced, here’s the moon from Soul Eater making its debut in Fire Force:

There’s all kinds of little references to Soul Eater peppered throughout Fire Force, and the prequel angle becomes even more obvious when you notice them. For example, compare the scene where Arthur fights the White Clad outside Vulcan’s house with Excalibur’s story about his time with King Arthur:

There’s no doubt about it, this is a prequel to Soul Eater.

It’s the fights that take center stage in Fire Force though. The choreography is great, the animation is consistently strong, and when the show wants to go hard, it really goes hard.

The combat can be creative sometimes, and it’s really fun to watch. You’re not just watching a bunch of knock-off firebenders from Avatar shoot fire out of their fists. Everyone has different skill sets that allow them to utilize fire or heat in some unique way. Shinra can fly by using his feet as jet boosters. Arthur wields a plasma sword. Maki uses two semi-sentient fireballs to pilot giant metal fists. Kurono can emit smoke from his arms. There’s a diverse set of fire-related powers, and each character brings their own unique combat abilities, which makes for exciting combat that doesn’t get stale or repetitive.

As far as the characters themselves go, it’s kind of a mixed bag.

Shinra is… okay, I guess. He’s not bad, but he’s not exactly anything special either. He’s your standard shonen MC, a good-intentioned young man with a tragic backstory who wants to be a hero. He gets the job done, but he’s not the reason you’re watching.

Arthur, on the other hand, is incredible, and hands down my favorite character in the whole series.

This guy is operating on a completely different plane of existence from everyone else. He’s basically running his own fantasy RPG in his head at all times, and the stronger he believes in his own delusions, the stronger he actually becomes. It’s so stupid, but it works perfectly. After seeing Arthur, it makes perfect sense why Excalibur ended up being such an unhinged lunatic in Soul Eater (“Fool!”).

The rest of the cast ranges from solid to just “there.” Nobody stands out as terrible, but nobody stands out as great either. They do their jobs, they fill out the world, and they contribute to the bigger story.

Except for Tamaki.

I’m going to say it. The “Lucky Lecher Lure” is awful. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s not integral to the story, it’s not clever, it’s not funny. What it is is blatant fan service shoved into scenes where it absolutely does not belong. There are moments where the show is trying to build tension or emotional weight, and then suddenly it derails itself with this nonsense. People who defend it as some kind of necessary character trait are kidding themselves. It’s just annoying, and it actively drags down episodes when it shows up.

And while we’re on the subject of annoying, the whistle guy, Pan, got on my nerves too. Thankfully he didn’t appear all that much. If he had been a main character, I probably would have dropped this series after the first few episodes. That constant whistling gimmick wears thin fast. By the end of it, I was ready to reach through the screen and shove that whistle up his ass.

One thing I was worried about going into the second half of the final season was how they were going to handle the live-action element with Sister Sumire. Blending live action with anime can go horribly wrong very easily.

Surprisingly, they pulled it off:

Sister Sumire in a live-action Fire Force scene, staring forward in a dim, blue-tinted setting

It worked way better than I expected, and I think it may have even been the same woman they used in the manga panels. I’m glad they were able to properly execute what many consider one of the most iconic scenes in the entire series.

Fire Force is a series that constantly flirts with the idea of going completely off the rails, and on occasion does. But more often than not, it manages to stick the landing anyway.

It’s weird, it’s wild, and it leans way harder into its themes than you’d expect. But when it’s firing on all cylinders, it’s genuinely great.

Maybe skip ahead when Tamaki shows up, though.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Yozuki Drive on April 1, 2026.

Angry_Jerk

Adam “The Angry Jerk” Baker is the CEO of The AJnet Organization and Editor-in-Chief of AJnet Magazine. A grizzled internet veteran of over 20 years, he writes about politics, culture, and whatever else manages to annoy him that day.

See author's posts