Fire Force (Episode 11) – Formation of Special Fire Force Company 8 – The Mightiest Hikeshi
After discovering a clue at the first incident Company 8 attended, Hinawa informs the group on how Company 8 came to be when he met Obi and together, they took down an Infernal. The clue then leads them to Company 7!
What did you watch?
Episode 11 of Fire Force is split into two parts, the first taking in a flashback of how Company 8 was created and the second follows them as they go to Company 7’s district to investigate the Evangelist. If you remember back to the meeting of the captains in the last episode, Company 7 was the one that walked out before Ruffles III had got going. Hopefully, Yomu from Umai Yomu Anime Blog won’t do the same or this will be a pretty one-sided discussion! As you may expect, there will be spoilers.
What happened?
The search for the Evangelist continues and Obi thinks they may have a lead. It happened during their very first call out as Company 8, which gives Obi the perfect chance to tell Hinawa to tell the others about how it was formed. Hinawa had been in the military along with Maki until his friend and roommate, Tojo Infernalised right before him. Hinawa was unable to shoot his friend. He took a walk to clear his head and witnessed Obi, a regular firefighter getting into a standoff with the captain of Company 3. Together they took care of the man that had become and Infernal and was waiting for their help. That’s when Obi decided to start Company 8.
With the back story out of the way, the clue led them to Company 7’s district. They arrived unannounced and instantly got on Captain Benimaru’s nerves. Shinra was about to start a fight with him when a fire alarm rang out. Company 8 watched as Benimaru took on the Infernal from his district, destroying numerous buildings in the process. Shinra helped an old lady watch as the man she knew was put to rest. She explained that they don’t pray to Sol here and that the festival was their way of putting the Infernal to rest.
I get to go first this week and I feel like there’s a lot to talk about, so I better get on with it. (Yomu will be in bold as normal.)
What did you think?
I really enjoyed this episode and liked the contrast with the way District 7 runs things. It felt much more like a view of the old way versus the new way, with the Church of Sol dictating the new way of things. I also got a laugh out of Obi and Hinawa standing in front of the ‘new’ Company 8 headquarters. It had a Ghostbusters vibe to it as if they were Peter Venkman and Ray Stantz. Does that make Maki Egon Spengler? Either way, it was interesting and now I’m wondering who gave them the directive to investigate the other Companies?
Hey, Yomu. Thanks again for agreeing to put your thoughts on these episodes with mine. I hope others are enjoying our discussions as much as we are.
Hello again, and absolutely these have been a lot of fun!
Personally, part due to my anti-flashback bias, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this episode. It didn’t feel like we really learned anything important. And after Fire Force has been full steam ahead with new developments, it felt real sluggish to just watch a flashback featuring Hinawa and Fire Force 8. From the way things have gone so far, I’ve been looking for either action, story development, or both. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get much of either this time around.
What was your favourite moment?
I liked the backstory segment, but I think Benimaru taking out the Infernal and a city block was exciting. It’s cool that he has the ability of a second and third generation pyrotechnic where he can create fire and control it. Even though the destruction seems excessive and probably a little dangerous to other residents, I liked the festival approach to vanquishing the Infernal. It seemed like the whole area was behind the idea even if it meant rebuilding every time. That would definitely explain the more oldfashioned look to the area as rebuilding would probably happen often and doing so with wood would be cheaper and quicker.
I’d say my favourite moment was just meeting those two twins from Fire Force 7 and watching their interactions with Benimaru. It was fun to meet another company and see how different it is. Felt much more like Fire Force 8, with a few elite members, compared to Fire Force 5 which seemed like it was full of cannon fodder and not much else.
What was your least favourite moment?
As much as I enjoyed the Benimaru parts, I can’t help but think that Shinra threatening to fight him so soon was a bit ridiculous, especially as Obi just stood by and watched. I’m blaming all parties as Benimaru seems determined to play the mysterious loner and not even entertain a discussion with anyone, but there’s no way Shinra should be jumping to a fight like that.
I have two least favourite moments…
First was how the flashback completely glossed over Fire Force 8’s first Infernal takedown. After all the buildup we didn’t even get to see some action there? Felt really disappointing for us to see the four of them nervously approaching the building, just for them to say “there were no problems”.
Second was Benimaru destroying an entire city block. This guy is supposed to be elite? Seems pretty pathetic to me that he has to destroy an entire section of his city to take down one Infernal that anyone else could do without the collateral damage. I’m not buying the whole “we destroy our own city to honour those who turn into Infernals” because that’s just such a ridiculous concept to me. The entire world has basically been reduced to just the Tokyo region right? And yet he still insists on destroying what little is left of it and making people rebuild afterwards…
Who was your favourite character?
I think it was Hinawa in this episode. His backstory along with the creation of Company 8 was pretty interesting and I liked how it brought Obi, Hinawa, and Maki together, plus it showed us the unsavoury nature of the Special Fire Force and how it’s a game to some of them. That makes Obi’s stance on weapons and respectfully dealing with Infernals that much clearer. It was easy to understand anyhow, but this was nicely done.
I’ll go with Maki because I liked seeing her both in the flashback and her cute reaction to hearing Hinawa talk about how he referred her for Fire Force 8. We really need more Maki in this show!
Who was your least favourite character?
Bizarrely, I’m going to give it to Shinra just for jumping into a fight without knowing anything about his opponent and without giving it any consideration at all. It seemed to be against the growth he’d shown in not attacked the Lieutenants of Company 1 when he had followed someone after the artificial Infernalisation. At that time, he even held Arthur back, but now he’s back to picking fights with anyone. Hopefully, he’ll reassess the situation having seen Benimaru fight.
Haha, I’m sort of the opposite for that. My least favourite would be Benimaru, and I hope Shinra knocks him down a peg. Guy is a bit too full of himself for someone who apparently needs to destroy city blocks to take out one measly Infernal. And it bugs me that he basically insisted on having this town be his turf specifically so he can destroy large swathes of it every time an Infernal appears.
Would you like some more?
Of course, things are just starting to get good. I like the whole samurai vibe with Benimaru and his district and how it differs from the rest of Tokyo. I feel like there will be something that sways Benimaru into helping them and hopefully, it’ll be because the Evangelist does something and not because Shinra beats him in a fight. Plus, we still need more Maki. Much more.
I want to see more conflict with the Evangelist and his troops. While I’d like to see Benimaru take a hit, personally I’d be just as fine with us moving on from him completely. I don’t think he’s not a bad guy or anything, which sort of makes me lose interest in him.
Agreed. If anything he’s probably too much of a good guy and that will put him at odds with the church and the Evangelist. It would be nice to get some serious Infernal action going, like a load of people turning at once. I think we need some chaos!
Benimaru is one of those guys who is too disinterested in politics and power to bother with any sort of organized crime. And yeah that’d be awesome, although if too many Infernals appear in Fire Force 7’s turf the entire city might no longer exist afterwards!
One small detail that actually bothered me was that the entire Fire Force 8 crew showed up… what if an Infernal appears back in their home territory? I feel like they need at least one or two people staying behind whenever they go on trips like this… They just don’t have the manpower like Fire Force 5.
That’s true, but then there are regular firefighters too. I feel like the Evangelist is planning something big given the army we saw at the end of the last episode. There’s been lots of setup recently, hopefully, that’ll turn into something soon.
From what we saw in the flashback though, firefighters don’t deal with Infernals at all. It’s just a minor thing, but I’ll admit it bothers me that they would just abandon their territory like that.
And yeah, the Evangelist will most definitely be quite the challenge. It’ll be fun to see just how big the organization is, and how widespread it is among the Fire Force territories. I also wonder how Joker will fit into everything, given that at the moment he is definitely a rogue third party in all of this.
I can’t wait to see how Joker fits into things and what he has to do with Shinra. I doubt it’s a coincidence that he’s the guy that Joker has sought out to help moves things along.
Do you think that Joker could end up becoming a turncoat antagonist? While technically he is neutral at the moment, the anime definitely frames him as an antagonist so far I’d say. Maybe that’d be too predictable though! Joker showing up and ruining everything for Shinra and friends would actually be quite the shock, wouldn’t it?
Yeah, Joker could go either way and I think that’s what makes him interesting. I could see him trying to snatch victory from them at the last moment.
Is there anything else that caught your eye?
Just those two twins in Benimaru’s company. Don’t think they’re anything important, but I wonder if they have some cool ability that they can use together or something like this.
For sure, they are pretty bizarre to start with. As always, we’ve got a lot to look forward to and hopefully, more Maki!
Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – Shinra Kusakabe Enlists
- Episode 2 – The Heart of a Fire Soldier
- Episode 3 – The Rookie Fire Soldier Games
- Episode 4 – The Hero and the Princess
- Episode 5 – The Battle Begins
- Episode 6 – The Spark of Promise
- Episode 7 – The Investigation of the 1st Commences
- Episode 8 – Infernal Insects
- Episode 9 – The Spreading Malice
- Episode 10 – The Promise
- Episode 11 – Formation of Special Fire Force Company 8 – The Mightiest Hikeshi
- Episode 12 – Eve of Hostilities in Asakusa
- Episode 13 – The Trap Is Set
- Episode 14 – For Whom the Flames Burn
- Episode 15 – The Blacksmith’s Dream
- Episode 16 – We Are Family
- Episode 17 – Black and White and Gray
- Episode 18 – The Secrets of Pyrokinesis
- Episode 19 – Into the Nether
- Episode 20 – Wearing His Pride
- Episode 21 – Those Connected
- Episode 22 – A Brother’s Determination
- Episode 23 – Smile
- Episode 24 – The Burning Past
- Season Two
- Episode 25 – A Fire Soldier’s Fight
- Episode 26 – Flames of Madness
- Episode 27 – A New Flashpoint
- Episode 28 – Groping Through the Fire
- Episode 29 – Corna (Sign of the Devil) / A Secret Plan
- Episode 30 – The Time to Choose
- Episode 31 – Road to the Oasis
- Episode 32 – Smoldering Malevolence
- Episode 33 – The Core
- Episode 34 – The Woman in Black
- Episode 35 – Dark Hero
- Episode 36 – Shadows Cast by Divine Light
- Episode 37 – A Pair of One-Eyes
- Episode 38 – The Ashen Reaper
- Episode 39 – A Three-Way Melee
- Episode 40 – Mind Blown
- Episode 41 – Boys, Be Weak
- Episode 42 – The Holy Woman’s Anguish / The Man, Assault
- Episode 43 – The Oze Family
- Episode 44 – Weapon of Destruction
- Episode 45 – Enemy Contact
- Episode 46 – Plot for Extinction
- Episode 47 – Firecat
- Episode 48 – Signs of Upheaval
- Bonus Posts
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