Fire Force Season 2 Episode 4

Fire Force Season 2 Episode 4

Groping Through the Fire

Fire Force season 2 episode 4 wasn’t as good as the previous two episodes. It was like the awkward middle child of what appears to be a three-episode mini-arc. Last week we were introduced to Inca and Charon (officially), this week focused a lot on what other members of Company 8 are up to, and next week looks like the real battle will happen.

Really, I wasn’t all that interested in the episode until the final third when we really got to see Shinra’s fight against Charon resume and Arthur’s fight against Haumea begin.

Normally I’d say I’m someone who prefers supporting characters over the main characters in series like this. And I still wouldn’t really say that I like Shinra as a character. But I have to admit that he and Arthur definitely have the best fights of the series. We got a little bit of Lieutenant Hinawa in season 1, but other than that there hasn’t been much of anyone else.

Inca from the anime series Fire Force season 2
Inca

Speaking of non-main characters Tamaki’s lucky lecher lure ability finally made a comeback. Is this the first time it’s triggered in season 2? Perhaps it triggered during the first episode, but I don’t remember it (which is a good thing). I guess I should have expected it would show up in an episode with “groping” in the title, though.

We also got to see the abilities of two other side characters we haven’t seen much of before: Juggernaught and Tooru. I was thinking this might have been the first time we’ve seen Juggernaught’s pyrokinetic ability, but I’m sure we must have seen it in the first season.

The same goes for Tooru (the bubblegum guy). I feel like we must have seen him use his ability in the past, but again, I can’t remember when it would have happened. I’m also not sure how exploding bubble gum bubbles is a pyrokinetic ability, but whatever.

Charon is Still a Boss

Charon didn’t look quite as sturdy this week as he did last week. It’s clear that the initial fight against Shinra has weakened him somewhat. But what’s not clear is how the fight weakened him. We saw that he shrugged off all of Shinra’s attacks in episode 3, so it doesn’t really make too much sense for that to be the reason.

One thing I was thinking about is that we haven’t actually seen if there’s a limit to using pyrokinetic abilities in this world. It could be that Charon’s ability just uses a lot of stamina and he’s used it too much already.

In most shounen battle series like this there’s a limit to how much each character can use their ability. But so far, I don’t think that’s been touched on in Fire Force. Can we assume that all pyrokinetics can use their powers without worrying about tiring out?

Charon smashing Shinra from the anime series Fire Force season 2
Charon smashing Shinra

I’d assume that there’s a base-level amount of stamina that each pyrokinetic generation has. For example, second-generations would have less than third-generations by default (though anyone could work to increase their stamina). And with this, I would think that third generations use up stamina faster because they’re creating flames, not just controlling them.

Under this system, I would assume that those with the Adolla Burst have an even greater amount of stamina — or theirs would be unlimited. This would also be true for first-generations (Infernals) who are also connected to Adolla if I’m remembering correctly.

But, of course, none of this seems to be the case and from my best guess, Charon has simply been slowly beaten down by Shinra’s attacks. Though, it does say something about his strength for him to still be dishing out massive blows in his current state.

Arthur vs. Haumea

Haumea was originally introduced in the first season, and back then we did get to see her use her ability a fair amount. But just as Shinra is about to finish up his fight against Charon in the next episode, Arther looks to be getting ready to fight Haumea in earnest. I really hope we get to see a well-animated battle between the two plasma users.

What I really like about the Arthur vs. Haumea dynamic is how these two are opposites in just about every way other than that they both use plasma. Even the ways in which they use their plasma is the opposite.

With Arthur, the way he uses his ability is extremely basic, yet still effective. He can create a beam of plasma come out of anything he holds, and he just so happens to typically use a sword hilt because of his knight persona. But at the end of the day, he’s really just creating a beam of plasma and cutting things with it.

Haumea from the anime series Fire Force season 2
Haumea

Haumea’s plasma usage is much more complex. For example, she’s able to use it to control the minds and actions of a large number of people over an extremely wide radius. But, the one drawback of that ability seems to be that her effective range is tied to her elevation — so it’s not that hard to find her.

The other way we’ve seen her use her plasma, including in this episode, is to create force fields. The force fields work to repel other plasmas (such as Arthur’s sword or fire-based attacks), but I don’t remember if we’ve seen her use it to repel physical projectiles.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the fight between Arthur, the simple plasma user, and Haumea, the complex plasma user.

Conclusion

What did you think of Fire Force season 2 episode 4? Did you think it was as good as the episodes that came before? Or are you with me in thinking it was a bit lackluster compared to them? And what fight combination would you like to see? Last week I mentioned that Oubi vs. Charon would be cool. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

2 Replies to “Fire Force Season 2 Episode 4”

  1. I have a decent memory so I can actually answer some of your questions.

    “Tamaki’s lucky lecher lure ability finally made a comeback. Is this the first time it’s triggered in season 2? Perhaps it triggered during the first episode, but I don’t remember it (which is a good thing).”

    This is indeed the first. Also Tamaki is now an official sister, we saw last season she was studying under Iris to pass the bar.

    “I was thinking this might have been the first time we’ve seen Juggernaut’s pyrokinetic ability, but I’m sure we must have seen it in the first season.
    The same goes for Tooru (the bubblegum guy). I feel like we must have seen him use his ability in the past, but again, I can’t remember when it would have happened. I’m also not sure how exploding bubble gum bubbles is a pyrokinetic ability, but whatever.”

    We did indeed see Juggernaut’s ability in the first season. Tooru’s Gum ability was also explained when he used back in the first season.
    “Tōru inserts some special bubblegum in his mouth and chews it, blowing up a balloon with a vacuum inside it that contains flammable gas. The balloon is lighter than air and, as such, is able to float. When given a command, the balloon pops, causing the flammable gas to react with oxygen, which leads to an explosion.”

    “One thing I was thinking about is that we haven’t actually seen if there’s a limit to using pyrokinetic abilities in this world. It could be that Charon’s ability just uses a lot of stamina and he’s used it too much already.

    In most shounen battle series like this there’s a limit to how much each character can use their ability. But so far, I don’t think that’s been touched on in Fire Force. Can we assume that all pyrokinetics can use their powers without worrying about tiring out?”

    We actually have seen this and had it explained
    “Though gifted with the power of igniting flames, this ability also comes with some drawbacks. If the ability is overused, the user can use so much oxygen that they’ll no longer be able to use their Ignition Abilities until they’ve regathered more. Repetitive use of the ability under such oxygen-deprived conditions could lead to the body beginning to char, and the user can gain Tephrosis from it.”

    “Upon an individual using a considerable amount of oxygen which is needed for generating flames, they cannot use their Ignition Abilities until they’ve regathered the oxygen to do so. When one has overexerted their Ignition Ability, it can potentially lead to burning their own bodies and severe dehydration.
    When a Third Generation further overuses their ability, their bodies begin to char due to the lack of oxygen in the body. This is a type of disease called Tephrosis, and in some cases, it prevents the Third Generation from using their ability without feeling a great amount of pain.”

    Konro was our example character that suffers from Tephrosis. As Second Gens don’t create their own flames, they have no limits to using their powers. (Other then needing other flames.)

    Also to me it did not seem like Charon got weaker so much as a few hits caught him off guard.

    1. I’m not sure how I completely forgot about Konro and his condition. But even with that condition being included as a limiter on the abilities of third-generations, it doesn’t actually come into play for the majority of fights. It’s not like we’ve seen Shinra or Arthur have to worry about using too much of their ability or even running out of flames.

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