Fire Force (Episode 38) - The Ashen Reaper

Licht returns to the Eighth’s headquarters and reveals that he is a Haijima spy and that he needs to take Shinra in so that they can expose the tests they are doing on children. Shinra agrees to go with him.

Fire Force (Episode 38) – The Ashen Reaper

What happened?

Licht didn’t get the reaction he was expecting when he revealed that he was a Haijima spy. Everyone already knew, however, Light revealed that he prefers the Eighth as they are closer to the truth. He also tells them that since they missed Shinra’s Adolla flame their experiments have gotten tougher and children are getting injured as a result. Shinra can’t just sit back and let that happen so he volunteers to go with Licht.

When they arrive at the facility, Licht is particularly candid with his words since he fully expects them to try to kill him. Shinra says he won’t let that happen, which pleases Licht somewhat. When they enter the facility, Shinra says he asked to see the boy that was changed by Rekka, but he was denied. The researcher tells him that the boy isn’t at this facility. That’s when Shinra makes an Adolla link with someone begging for help. He believes it was the boy, but to find out he will have to survive the combat training with Kurono, the Ashen Reaper!

What did you think?

Nothing says I’m a villain like beating up children… Well, saying that you enjoy beating up children might just about do it. I’m not sure how I feel about the in-your-face level of villainy, but Kurono has got some pretty wild powers that it’s going to make Shinra have to step up his game again. Also, Captain Obi showed us again why he’s the coolest Fire Force captain with his observation that Licht wasn’t working for either Haijimi or the Eighth. Hey, Yomu, anything caught your eye? Maybe, the slightly crazy looking lady that was with the kids?

It was an interesting episode for sure. Learn a little about Shinra’s past, watch a kid get beat up, and see the infiltration plan begin.

And I think you’ve managed to single out the most suspicious person there. That lady had a cult-like disposition. At first, I thought that she must be a Haijima adherent, but then I began to wonder if she’s actually with someone else?

Fire Force Episode 38 Kurono the Ashen Reaper

I liked that we saw a little more of Shinra’s past, especially the period from when his mother and brother disappeared to when he joined Fire Force 8. Seems like Haijima is doing whatever it wants without any sort of controls in place. That facility wouldn’t have seemed out of place in The Promised Neverland.

Anyhow, you’ve always got to be cautious of the slightly crazy looking characters. Kurono was an obvious one to watch out for, but that lady had a real look of mischief about her. I wonder what the boy making an Adolla Link with Shinra will mean. Surely, he’ll now become of interest to the Ashen Knights/White Clad. And, if they’ve got Inca up to speed, she should have seen it coming.

That’s right, I forgot about the Adolla link. It feels like everyone’s getting a link these days haha.

And yeah, while I guess there is a connection between the Evangelist and Haijima, we don’t know the exact nature of the relationship. So it’s possible that the White Clad may make a move regardless of that.

What I’m hoping is to see the First Pillar again at some point in all of this.

Fire Force Episode 38 Kurono the Ashen Reaper fighting Shinra

Fire Force Episode 38 Shinra kicking Kurono

Yeah, the first pillar was just pure fury and she had the most amazingly crazy look about her. We definitely need to see more of her, especially as she seems like she’d been a natural fit to join the Evangelist’s side, although she did seem interested in Shinra and his subdued rage.

I get the feeling things are going to get a little crazier again. We’ve had a little period of calm and this seems like the perfect chance to bring everything crashing together once more.

I hope so. Let’s see this dystopian society torn apart at the seams! And even though it won’t happen in a shonen, I’d love for a bad ending to all of this anyways…

Some people just want to see the world burn!

That said, I feel like there needs to be something massive that happens to bring about any order here. It’s all got to be torn down so they can start fresh.

Also, I think it’s easy to forget that this is a dystopian post-apocalyptic story so a not so perfect conclusion wouldn’t be out of the question… even for a shounen… maybe?!?!