Fire Force (Episode 45) - Enemy Contact

The White Clad close in around the survivors with the White Clad and Purple Haze looking to take out their big guns. Shinra meets an old enemy and discovers that it was all a trap to get him there!

Fire Force (Episode 45) – Enemy Contact

What happened?

Juggernaut told Tamaki to leave him behind. He was finished and if she stayed she would end up the same way. However, she has no plans of abandoning him. She’ll get him to the surface if it’s the last thing she does. She just has to get past all these Infernals and fallen Fire Soldiers.

Meanwhile, Shinra is busy searching for survivors and runs into a familiar face. Well, the face is familiar but the body is very different. Dr. Giovanni has been altering his body to make him more compatible with insects. He believes that insects are aliens that came to Earth on a meteorite and the more he becomes like them, the closer he is to Adolla.

Hinawa and Takigi find themselves up against a Knight of the Purple Haze who can harden his body. That makes him pretty effective against Hinawa’s bullets. Takigi, however, seems to want to discuss Maki and how she isn’t like them. She’s delicate… It’s as if Takigi has never met Maki! Anyhow, Hinawa manages to hit all of the Knight’s joints which he can’t harden else he wouldn’t be able to move.

Arthur finds his way to Shinra and turns his fight into a two versus one scenario. This is about to get interesting. Tamaki defeated the Infernals but finds herself facing two more Knights of the Purple Haze. She’s done for, or that’s what she thought. Obi and Gustav Honda arrive and soon take care of things. However, there’s much more to come!

Fire Force Episode 45 Dr Giovanni finds Shinra

What did you think?

The deaths continue to pile up, although I am a little disappointed that Juggernaut looks like he may survive. It’s not that I don’t like Juggernaut, but his sacrifice was incredible in the last episode and I’d hate to see that undone. I also felt that Hinawa’s fight was a big anticlimax after his fight with Arrow at the end of last season. Maki’s brother was also incredibly annoying. Hey, Yomu, did anything stand out to you in this episode?

That’s the downside of shounen for you, once again showing itself. No character except disposables and certain villains can die. But I’ve complained enough about that this season.

I think first and foremost we have to talk about the man who we’ve been waiting for basically since the first episode of this season: Dr. Giovanni is back! And as one might expect from a mad scientist type, he’s modified his own body. If I had a dollar for every time that’s happened in an anime…

Fire Force Episode 45 Tamaki trying to help Juggernaut

Fire Force Episode 45 Tamakis going to fight

Absolutely. Giovanni is putting the mad in mad scientist. Not content with being mostly machine, he’s added a number of insect-based enhancements. I suppose it makes sense with the bugs that create Infernals and the weird joints on the limbs of the Evangelist. If only he spent more time acting instead of telling Shinra everything. He’s upped his creepy level, but I’m not sure he’s as menacing as he was before.

So, is Giovanni suggesting that Adolla is another planet that has been devoured by the Evangelist who is now turning his attention to Earth and did so by sending insects on meteorites? It’s a novel idea, although not entirely original. Star Ship Troopers did a similar thing, but then they didn’t have cool pyrotechnic powers to fight back, just big guns and terrible military tacticians…Anyhow, I’m curious what you made of Hinawa and Takigi’s fight?

That didn’t feel like much of a fight, just some bickering. The enemy was just bumbling around, acting stupid and overconfident. Hinawa is supposed to be a crack shot and he’s been badass in the past but it feels like we haven’t seen anything that impressive from him in a while. And as you mentioned before, this fight didn’t really deliver.

But you know who did deliver? Captain Obi. Although it wasn’t a full-fledged fight, he still managed to look badass as always.

Obi has been criminally under-used in this series. For a regular person with no special powers, he is as tough as anyone. I loved the way he kicked that Knight of the Purple Haze’s ass without breaking a sweat! I was impressed with Tamaki’s attempts to keep Juggernaut safe, but she was soon well out of her depth. It’s about time she had a bit of a power-up. That might quiet the moaners who are always complaining about her lucky lecher curse.

Fire Force Episode 45 Shinra sheds some light on things

Fire Force Episode 45 Arthur joins Shinra in a battle against Dr Giovanni

Yeah, Tamaki started out as someone who seemed to be able to hold her own last season, but since then she’s devolved into a weak character on the level of Iris that needs to be protected all the time. Which really is a waste of her potential, because she had some cool fights last season.

Do you have any predictions for what’ll happen next?

This trip to the Nether has been quite underwhelming compared with the one at the end of last season that had several outstanding fights. So far, only Juggernaut’s fight has even come close. Hopefully, Shinra and Arthur will make something special happen with Giovanni and obviously, I’m hoping that Maki comes back. It’s just not the same without her.

Also, we’ve not heard anything from the First Pillar in ages. I think it was all the way back in episode twenty-seven. There are only three more episodes so I’m not sure we’ll get much. They’ll probably wrap up the Nether arc in the next episode or two, so who knows what they’ll do after that.

Was surprised to see no Maki last episode, you’d think they’d at least give us a little bit but then I guess they don’t want to pull away from what’s happening in the Nether right now.

And you never know regarding the First Pillar. We’ve been waiting all season for Dr. Giovanni, and finally, we got to see him. So perhaps she will be tied to the climax of this series when Shinra needs her the most… Or perhaps nothing will happen and we’ll be left disappointed.

It wouldn’t be the first time…