Author: Atsushi Ohkubo (Story & Art)
Original Serialization: Shounen Magazine (Weekly)
English Publisher : Kodansha Comics
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Shounen
It might be due to my high expectations coming into this, but I didn't find the first volume of 'Fire Force' anything spectacularly above average. While this might not present a setting typical to battle shounens, it does seem to be drifting in that direction judging from the overall plot progression. The overly generic characters also didn't add much to the overall charm.
This is the story of an alternate reality setting in the city of Tokyo where people have begun to burst into flame spontaneously, leading to the establishment of a special firefighting team, ready to roll on a moment's notice to fight spontaneous combustion anywhere it might break out. Our protagonist is the newest addition to one such team named Shinra, a boy who possesses the unique power to run at the speed of a rocket, leaving behind the famous "devil's footprints". We get introduced to Shnra and his teammates and get introduced to the world that they are leaving in, in this first volume.
The setting seems a bit constricting at first as fire fighters stopping fire doesn't seem like it could have much variation in terms of content. But with the introduction of various generations among the combustion victims and the religious and martial future government provide some room for interesting maneuvers. But I just wish, the setting of the story should have had some morally ambiguous edges rather than the simplistic good versus bad angle.
The characters are mostly just too generic. Shinra, is just too bland, I mean the tragic backstory and heroes shouting 'I want to be a hero' has been done too many times before. The rival is not very original too, with his particular charm for the ladies and the obnoxious desire to be better than the hero. The side characters haven't started developing much yet either, especially the female ones who seem to be on the story just for showcasing unnecessary fan service bits.
The drawing is quite crisp, the characters are quite varied in appearance, the 'Infernals' are very cool and the heroes super powered sprint is depicted quite uniquely and brilliantly. I just wish the author would draw the action scenes a bit more fluidly and make the transitions a bit more understandable.
To be honest, I am not overly impressed by this first volume of 'Fire Force'. But, I will be coming back for the next one, hoping the author could do better things with the interesting setting he has created and for the ending twist which has kept me wanna read more.
Overall Score -
6 out of 10.
If you want more info and other reviews of this Manga check out its MAL page -
https://myanimelist.net/manga/91037/Enen_no_Shouboutai
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