Fire Force revamped itself for midseason with a new OP and ED as well as new characters to join our main cast. It’s a breath of fresh air. But it still looks like Fire Force and considering Fire Force looks amazing, that’s a good thing.
As for the story, I write about it over on 100 Word Anime! Here we look at the pictures!
This is just from the before OP tag. I’m sad that my first two screencaps really don’t capture that sequence. It was really pretty in fact.
Sho looks sort of bummed out. What’s with this posture? I do like the spots of yellow light in the White Hoods’ very blue stronghold.
When Viktor is introducing himself he looks harmless enough but boy did they code him as sinister when he steps back and listens to the others. the two last right hand pictures really make it obvious. Fire Force often frames characters in windows, many shows do, it a nice composition with the outside light creating a harsh contrast and the window frame acting as an actual visual border. But Viktor is framed between to windows, completely in the shadows, in the middle of a room in broad daylight when he is not meant to be hiding or discreet. Yet he sort of melts into the background, sneaky and sinister.
The camera kept panning up and down during this sequence. It made a quiet conversation seem dynamic.
I really liked that Vulcan and his apprentice mirror their poses. They do it a few times throughout the episode. It’s cute. Apparently a lot of animals do that to show kinship and non aggression.
I can’t quite explain it but I love that Arthur is wearing that soft lilac. Maybe it’s because it clashes with the yellow of his hair. Maybe it’s because it’s a subversion of the purple coding which is supposed to stand for wise and regal (two things Arthur wishes he could be)maybe it’s just because it’s a very different colour on him. Either way fantastic.
It’s also adorable that Shinra is wearing a hero name tag sweatshirt. Good street clothes this week.
Once again we have those impossibly cloudy dark blue Fire Force skies. I love them!
Arthur’s junk castle is wonderful and made me long for a lego set.
The hammered together metal sheet aesthetic of Vulcan’s home is pretty stereotypical steampunk but boy did the animators do a great job creating a sense of texture an dimensions. Not only are all those sheets of different colour but the actually seem to be of varying thickness and different levels of damage.
That last shot is just wonderful framing, through the slot in the door. I’m really happy I managed to snag a screencap of it. The angles of the junk wall give such nice depth, you also have the contrasting greens in the distance to create a 3d horizon point and all of it framed to mimic an ultra long screen as if we were watching this on a luxury imax or something. And since this is one of the softest coloured scenes in one of the most colourful episodes, Giovanni’s unusual black silhouette really pops!
This was one of the most comedic sequences in the show so far and you can just tell. Everyone’s faces look derpy, their shoulders are relaxed. I know no one else probably feels this way but that last screencap is one of my favourites. Arthur is just such a little weirdo. No wonder Shinra has trouble with him.
Well this is a never before seen colour palette for Fire Force. I guess I knew on some level that something had happened to the rest of the world because we never see scenes like this.
I really thought that pretty girl was Vulcan’s sister. I’m pretty basic, I only thought that because they have similar hair colours. I guess she’s like a sister so it works.
Shinra’s danger sense really manifests in the most terrifying way possible. Imagine if Spiderman’s eyes bulged all red like that every time!
Once again, we get some beautiful detailing on the metal walls around that photograph shot. I can’t help but think I might be focusing my attention on the wrong this here. In many ways thus episode of Fire Force wasn’t as spectacular as others. It didn’t have the visual personality of Asukasa or the visual excitement of the company 5 arc but I found that in this quieter visual space I really appreciated the attention to detail.
Also, I forgot to save a screencap for the closing picture so you’re getting a repeat of the door shot. I just really like it!
I thought she was Vulcan’s sister, too – same reason.
Simple explanations are the best