This week I couldn’t resist and made two different Fire Force gif. One day I’m just going to gif an entire episode and get a major copyright strike. I will have earned it! In the meantime, if you want to see the other gif I made this week, you can mosey on over to 100 Word Anime and take a gander at my review! I don’t know what happened to me just there. I’m really sorry, it won’t happen again!
Let’s jump right into some screencaps, we’ve got a journey to get through!
Why do they have a divergence meter? Is this happening in the same universe as Steins;Gate? Because if it is my head will explode in the happiest infernal ever! I’m pretty sure Fire Force is not set in the Steins;Gate universe but I still love that aesthetic. I know they make clocks like that. They cost a fortune but I may be swayed… I have poor priorities!
I didn’t notice before but the opening tag was a sort of dulled purple. I like the effect. It puts me in mind of a cool crisp dawn after a ruckus night! Is that mist outside? I don’t think we’ve seen mist before.
This has been a pattern in Fire Force so far. The first sequence after the opening credits tends to be very light and playful while more, let’s call it “intense” subject matter is usually saved for about the midway point of the episode. As such, the first few scenes tend to be bright and colourful, featuring a lot of light anf a varied cheerful colour palette. We often get fun contrasts like those blue chairs and orange jumpsuits for instance.
It’s a little more childish or “innocent”. The fight scenes are usually a somewhat uniform background against which the moving elements can really stand out (last week being a glaring exception mind you) while all important exposition so far has been accompanied by a more monochrome look.
The shadows in this show are really harsh, aren’t they?
I really love how the city looks in Fire Force. It manages to be colourful without looking cartoonish. I could imagine photographs looking close to that yet there’s a style to it. It makes me want to visit. I guess I can do so from the comfort of my own home!
Those blue phosphorescent bands really shine. I wonder if their not actually LED. That brings up other questions. In any case, I have yet to get tired of that effect. It’s a very smart design element.
Despite how cute those kids are and how happy everyone looks, this isn’t a happy scene. And we haven’t seen this colour palette since the wonderful second episode. One of Fire Force’s strongest to date. Not because the show got bad but because that episode was just that good!
It’s a touch warmer than the bleak yellow used there but it’s in the same tones and you I got that same slightly suffocating sense from it.
On the other hand, the coral and yellow explosion of Rekka’s style shot was just plain weird. I don’t think I’ve seen quite that combo used before. It sort of highlighted just how wacky the character has become!
Even though the outside world is still bright and lovely, dusk has already fallen indoors. We seem to be discussing some important matters and getting ready for action as the images all get an ochre wash over them.
And Arthur is really growing on my as the unlikely blonde bimbo of the group. They gave his stylized panel the same structure as Rekka, i.e. monochrome character straight on at the center of the screen with one arm up and lines radiating outward. Both have generally playful expressions but by colouring Arthur and his background a kid friendly almost neon green and contrasting it with bright pink, it really looks funny instead of menacing or intimidating in any way.
Is it just me or does Arthur look a bit like Soul in that last image. It’s the eyes.
I didn’t manage to capture is in the stills much but the camera has been moving around pretty wildly since the eyecatch. We’ve seen a lot of angles of most shots. The camera is searching for something or just avoiding looking head on at something. The unsettling effect worked to heighten the mystery they were going for.
I have no clue where those rainbows are coming from, especially in that pattern. We are in a cathedral and we know half the windows are stained glass but that’s still odd. And it’s wonderful. As a design effect it was jarring, captivated the eye but familiar enough not to distract too much from the scene. You wanted to know where it was coming from but it didn’t make you miss what was happening. It made you focus on it more.
There’s probably some symbolic meaning as well. The is a scene where Shinra and Arthur find an ally that they thought was an enemy. On that is going against how friends and company. There’s probably all sorts of parallels to be drawn and the symbolic imagery to go with it, sadly it goes over my head. I do appreciate the practical aspect a lot though.
It’s also an unusual device and I like to give points to directors that are willing to try stuff out!
The actual action in this episode was over very quickly in fact. It followed the usual dark background and bright characters pattern. The light hasn’t changed at all since the first scene in this warehouse. I assume that Tamaki and Rekka’s confrontation was happening at the same time as Arthur, Shinra and Flam’s. It makes a lot of sense and it’s nice to have a visual confirmation. Basically the entire second half of the episode took place in the span of roughly an hour, maybe less.
Rekka has another really offbeat style panel in this scene and I can’t explain it. It’s a complete contrast and it’s just silly. It looks like merch. A sticker or phonecase of the series you could buy for your nephew who loves them Japanese cartoons. In a way, the goofiness of it made the entire scenes even harder to take. Tamaki really took a merciless beating, it got a bit hard to watch. And to add it such a kid friendly image…
I am noticing that I like pictures of photographs. It’s a very specific niche. I think I’m going to create a pinterest board! Eventually…
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