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Fire Force Season 2 Ep 20 Review – Best In Show

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Fire Force Season 2 Ep 20 Review – Quick Summary

In Fire Force Season 2 Ep 20, “Weapon of Destruction,” members of the 8th Special Fire Force Company like Shinra, Arthur, Takehisa Hinawa, and Akitaru Oubi split up and temporarily joined squads from the 2nd Special Fire Force Company under the command of Gustav Honda. The goal of their operation was to hit several White Clad laboratories at the same time. The hope was that if they struck all at once, the White Clad’s resources would be stretched too thin, and the labs would not have advance notice of the attacks. The plan started to go awry as soon as they entered. They immediately encountered dozens and dozens of Infernals. The platoons weren’t aware of two key things. First, Ritsu was there, and her power to reanimate dead bodies immediately began to work against our heroes. Second, she wasn’t the only enemy to arrive on scene. Who was this new enemy? How many death flags can members of the 2nd Special Fire Force raise? And was leaving Arthur alone with the 2nd a good idea?

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

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Favorite Quote from Fire Force Season 2 Ep 20

Shinra was, justifiably, concerned about leaving Arthur on his own with members of another company. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Since the 8th was the only company to see action in the Nether, individual members of the 8th joined the other mustering companies. Shinra, who had joined Hebio’s squad, was understandably nervous about the operation.

He wasn’t just worried about how he and his squad would do. He was worried about his teammate.

“Is leaving Arthur one his own a good idea? I did give them a handbook on how to handle him, but…” (02:10).

Shinra had indeed given the Heckler squad a manual. He had named it “Company 8 Arthur Boyle Care and Feeding Manual.”

I would like to say they never needed it, but I’d be lying. And I don’t want to do that to you.

Best in Show Moment for Fire Force Season 2 Ep 20

Talk about bringing your A game… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Dark Humor Good, Tamaki, Well…

I like dark humor. Back in the 1980s, I even enjoyed a movie called After Hours. So after I realized what this episode was doing with its humor, I could roll with it. To be clear: This wasn’t just black humor. It was cynically black humor, so it’s kinda in my strike zone. Plus, Ritsu was behind it, and I really like how her powers work. In a dreadful, Dawn of the Dead sort of way. So this episode was very, very dark.

What if you weren’t ready for it, or if it’s not your style of humor? This is going to be a hard episode for you to watch.

That said, there’s another reason this episode was a bit hard to swallow. I’m having flashbacks to season 1 episode 9. The setup for my favorite moment in that episode involved Tamaki getting pummeled right out of her clothes. I don’t want to see that anymore. The word “overused” comes to mind, and it just doesn’t help the plot. But I’ve said my piece, so I’m going to move on.

Tamaki’s bright; she’s also no weakling. She’s a good foil for Shinra. I’d love to see the series explore those aspects. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Ritsu brought friends in this episode: members of the Knights of the Purple Haze. One of them, Orochi, armed with her Medusa Whip, attacked the squad that Tamaki and Takeru Noto/Juggernaut were a part of. She easily slaughtered everyone, even the squad leader, Hajiki, who initially seemed almost as strong as Takehisa Hinawa when it came to firearms.

Keep two things in mind: First, Hajiki was Juggernaut’s senpai. Second, Juggernaut really likes Tamaki.

Delivery: Juggernaut Steps Up

Tamaki Thought On Her Feet

As soon as Hajiki’s headless corpse fell to the ground, Juggernaut went catatonic. Tamaki kept her cool — she knew that if she didn’t do something quickly, she and Noto were both dead. Reasoning that her Third Generation abilities gave her resistance to fire and hoping that fire was the basis for Orochi’s attack (the strike on Hajiki was too fast for her to see), she tried to attack. And for an instant, I thought his might be Tamaki’s moment.

Might this be Tamaki’s moment to shine? Smack smack smack. Nope. Well, maybe next week. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

It wasn’t. She was right in that her body could take Orochi’s attack, but Tamaki quickly went down. Orochi then proceeded to try to drive a flame sword right between Tamaki’s breasts (I know… I said I’d move on…).

With what seemed like her dying breath, Tamaki actually out to Shinra to save her. In a way, it was nice seeing how much she trusted him. It wasn’t Shinra who answered, though. It was Juggernaut.

And boy, was he pissed.

Hammer and Tongs, Whips and Bombs

It wasn’t quite as good as the tank battle between Hinawa and Arrow back in season 1 episode 20. But it was still everything I like about Fire Force: Gorgeously animated attacks, amazing sound effects, and characters striving against each other in a battle for their lives.

And that’s exactly what it was. We know that Orochi wasn’t about to let them live. We knew that Juggernaut had seen his comrades and mentor fall. So he brought it. In an ever-escalating attack starting with dual flame mini-guns to his Human-to-Surface Rocket, he gave as good as he got. But she was no slouch. Her attacks escalated, too, until she dealt real damage.

Flame mini-guns are cool. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Desperate, knowing this would be his last chance, he conjured the equivalent of a flame atomic bomb. He didn’t just drop it on Orochi. He pushed it through her face. When it detonated, it finished the job.

We’re just not sure yet if it finished Juggernaut. I hope it didn’t, because he finally stood up for himself and for someone he cared about. Dude done good.

I wonder: Is it too much to hope that if he survives and confesses his affection to her, it might cure the Lucky Lecher curse? If I could pick just one thing to remove from this show, that’d be it. Well, in any case, I hope that Juggernaut survives. Though there are worse ways to bow out.

What did you think of Takigi Oze meeting Hinawa? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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