Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17 Review - Best In Show

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Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17 Review – Quick Summary

In Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17, “Boys, Be Weak,” the battle between Haijima, Special Fire Force Company 8, and the White Clads raged on. In a flashback, we learned that Nataku Son’s mom expected him to succeed perfectly at everything, and for a very good reason — her abusive husband would take it out on her if Nataku didn’t. Driven to madness by those expectations, egged on by the mental ghost of Rekka Hoshimiya, Nataku prepared to unleash an attack that cowed even Ritsu. Shinra, the self-proclaimed undefeatable hero, himself prepared to die. Can anything stop the looming attack? Will Inca finally get a thrill that’s too much for her?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

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Favorite Quote from Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17

Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17: Inca was way too happy at everyone imminent death.

Well, at least someone is having fun! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I love it when a character is pressed to their absolute limit. Among other things, I want to see how they’ll react. In this episode, we got to see quite a few character stare death right in the face, and oh man, was it a lot of fun!

We know Inca is an adrenaline addict. I’ve known people like that, and I never know just how far they’re willing to go. Do they want something safe? Or are they willing to turn it up to eleven? In this episode, we got a pretty good idea just how serious Inca is about her addiction.

Watching Charon hold back Nataku’s massive destructive force, knowing that if he faltered even for an instant, whatever atoms remained of their bodies would be in the center of a 500 kilometer wide crater, Inca said (06:39), “This is fun, all right!”

And she looked so happy about it!

Best in Show Moment for Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17

Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17: Charon, making dads everywhere proud

Charon versus nuclear death was a fantastic moment. Even better — it was a dad moment! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Meticulous Preparation

Amazing moments don’t just happen. Writers have to craft them. They have to build anticipation and they have to show us the stakes. We have to know just how amazing the feat will be, if the character pulls it off.

This episode could teach a master class on the subject. Oubi tried to get Iris behind a building to protect her from the blast and radiation, but Victor was all like, nah, man, we’re dead no matter where we go. Inca used her predictive powers to look at coming catastrophe and only saw a sun and a crater over 500 kilometers wide (05:10).

Why not just stop the monster that consumed Nataku? Because they couldn’t! We saw that Shinra’s most powerful kick did absolutely nothing. Several characters in the previous episode had tried to bring the beast down, with precisely zero results.

Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17: Shinra tried, but to no effect

Shinra’s most powerful attack had no effect. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

And did you see the scenery? The red billowing radiation cloud swirling all around them? The scene looked and felt and sounded like Armageddon. When Nataku’s madness drove him to unleash that mammoth fireball, I was absolutely convinced, in that moment, that I was watching the end of the world.

That’s anticipation done right.

Delivery: Charon, Doing the Dad Thing

We’ve seen Charon in action. We know how powerful he was against Shinra. Now, as the fireball streaked towards him, he put out his hands.

He caught it. He caught the nuclear fireball before it could impact and return the surrounding city, including all its inhabitants, to their component atoms.

The way the animators showed his resolve, from his clenched teeth to his face mask beginning to burn away; from the ground buckling beneath his feet to his mental litany listing the pillars he had to protect, was flat out amazing.

Best of all, in the midst of this hell, the writers treat us to a flashback to when Charon was trying (with about as much success as one could reasonably hope) to raise the child Haumea. He was reading a book called “How to Raise Good Children” (07:07). There were bookmarks all over the place. Suddenly, it all make sense.

Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17: How many dads have read up on child-rearing?

In one, quick scene, I realized the Charon and I aren’t that different. Well, except for how ridiculously powerful he is. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t hold back a nuclear blast. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Charon has said he wanted to protect the pillars. Why? Because he sees himself a father figure to them. He’s doing the dad thing and protecting them, the best he can. Turns out, his best is pretty darned good, because he took the nuclear fire ball and threw it to the moon. Left a pretty big crater, too.

As a father myself, I approve of this message.

What did you think of the president of Haijima’s decision at the end? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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2 thoughts on “Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17 Review – Best In Show”

Dawnstorm says:

October 27, 2020 at 12:34 pm

I think my fave moment of the show was when they showed how the president of Haijima dared to hope almost entirely through the eyes. That was one of the most unexpected moment in recent anime history for me. The dead-eyed beaurocrat thinking “maybe they can really make a reactor that gets by without a person inside?” That’s one of things I love so much about Fire Force; there’s just no factional black-and-white here.

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1. tcrow says:
  
  October 27, 2020 at 4:00 pm
  
  That was a good one.
  
  I think I was still recovering from the Charon event, or I would have put more importance around that moment. Just as you said — someone who’s dead hope reignited, even if for a moment.
  
  That’s actually kinda poetic.
  
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Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17 Review – Best In Show

Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17 Review – Quick Summary

Amazon stuff here

Favorite Quote from Fire Force Season 2 Ep 17