English Dub Review: Fire Force “Dark Hero”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

When it becomes clear that the temple has no intention of revealing what Shinra and company found on the Chinese Peninsula to the public, Licht decides to contact Joker to investigate further. Joker also has his own recruit: Shinmon Benimaru, captain of Company 7, who already dislikes the way the empire handles things and is willing to tag along on this weird mission. They begin their attack with taking down the guards in front, surprising Pope Raffles III, though Benimaru is surprised by sudden poison dart. Joker is displeased by this.

OUR TAKE

This begins a smaller arc that gives the spotlight to some of the lesser focused pockets of the Fire Force world, as well as some lesser focused characters. We’ve seen Licht and Joker’s partnership since the early episodes, though we’ve never had a good idea of what was going on with them. Initially I figured they’d be villains, but as the real antagonists emerged, these two began to fit the description of anti-heroes instead; rogue players who didn’t quite work for either side but contributed as it benefitted them. Licht became more prominent a character once he joined Company 8, but Joker has remained pretty much in the shadows until this point. Now that he’s getting some time in front, we’ll be seeing more of his connections to the secrets and conspiracies that Company 8 have also been diving into lately, as well as some more surprising friends.

I do like me some focus episodes for supporting characters, especially those who are as morally dubious as Joker is, and Benimaru has certainly been a favorite of mine amongst the captains, so this is a very interesting match up to see for me. It also feels like it makes total sense to put them together, as two people who happen to have their issues with the government and church because of their uncompromising ideals and morals, but still work for those organizations in some form or another. And obviously they both have really well animated fighting moves and styles, which makes them tearing through guards fun to watch as well. And that’s putting aside the worldbuilding that we see continuing to form as we learn more about how the Holy Sol Temple really has taken over this world since the Great Cataclysm, which we’re still learning bits and pieces about. This arc will continue for the next couple of episodes, in which time we’ll be learning many new things to reshape how to view the events taking place and how it impacts the characters we’ve been following, but in the mean time, it’s just really cool to see two badasses kick butt in their own trademark styles. And whatever hints that haven’t quite been shown in the OP will also get their time before we switch that out. Expect more of that in the coming weeks as we close in on the end of this first half of the second season.