Fire Force Episode 2 – The Devil and the Knight – Gallery

Fire Force really brought it this week. I gushed a little about it on Karandi’s blog. Not to mention that it’s just fantastic to look at. It’s a visual treat with some great directing on display. I’m impressed!

Now that I know this was from the same author as Soul Eater, I wonder how I didn’t instantly figure it out. Just look at those skulls! The colours are great but this episode had some great use of shadows. Not only is there a subtle shift in palette, I think they even played with the saturation a bit to show constantly changing light conditions which gave a jittery feel to the early scenes, even though nothing was happening. It was a great way to set the audience on edge without announcing it.

The blue sky against the orange jumpsuits and fire not only made everything pop but made the action really easy to follow. Smart colouring choices there. I know you can’t see it in still shots but once again, the animation was great. Smooth and fluid, a pleasure to watch. This was one of the funnier parts and I think you can tell just by Arthur’s hair and how cheery and sunny the palette is.

This is the clam before the storm. The colours have intensified to an almost monochrome brassy orange. This is no longer sunny, it feels stuffy. The heat is heavy. Shots are also either wider or closer up playing between estrangement and claustrophobia.

A surprisingly solemn tonal shift from the series and the images become appropriately bleak. We are keeping in line with the signature fiery palette but this time things are bathed in an almost cool yellow. The light is unpleasant almost sickly looking. An art shift for the pivotal scene was striking and essentially made things seem more bloodless.

The final scenes where bittersweet at best. Sometimes even heroes can’t do all that much but you live to fight another day. The dusty sky echoes the mix of regret and hope.

When looking over the gallery for this post, I was amazed by how much the images and colours shifted with the tone of the episode. I already knew the technical know how behind the series was considerable but it was on undeniable display this week!