Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 Episode 20 – Quick Summary
In Fire Force Season 3 part 2 episode 20, “Where Hope Is,” Akitaru Oubi rallied the other captains of the other Special Fire Brigades in a last-ditch effort to hold back the Cataclysm. His efforts began to pay dividends when the Doppelgänger for Assault showed up – and he was immune to Tamaki’s unique charms. One by one, the members of the Eighth fall to Assault’s power. With her Lucky Lecher skill nerfed, is there anything Tamaki can do? And why has the crowd turned on her?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 Episode 20
Well, that didn’t go in the direction I expected. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Tamaki kind of summed up the entire episode, and a good part of the thematic impact for the entire series, with a single quote. And yes, I feel a little targeted. Fortunately, I’m honest enough to admit it! But more on that later.
Tamaki had just helped defeat Doppelgänger Assault, with the help of the real Assault. Good thing the latter showed up. Things would have gone sideways otherwise!
After her victory, after the real Assault had left, Viktor came up and congratulated her on a well-earned victory. She was, not surprisingly, humble about it. Tamaki didn’t brag about her hotness. She didn’t claim any special powers.
“I don’t want to lose to anyone who thinks that whatever makes them uncomfortable makes everyone uncomfortable,” she said (23:38).
I swear, I felt like she was looking at me when she said that!
Favorite Moment from Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 Episode 20
Assault Prime turned out to be eloquent on the subject. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: I Feel Called Out!
I feel like this show just force-fed my pre-conceptions back to me. But, let’s put that aside for a moment.
Instead, I’d like to start the journey to my favorite moment with a quote from the Reddit thread discussing this episode. Reddit user FLorianGran had this to say:
Absolutely hilarious that the author actually went “you know Tamaki’s cringy fanservice gag? Actually it was a cosmic personification of humanity’s self expression and if you have a problem with it you’re just a prude and part of the faceless mob. Here’s a strawman character and a kid that will literally monologue this to your face”
And damn it, the guy’s right. I still maintain that the Lucky Lecher took away from the dramatic moment back in episode 9. But that aside, I think I get the point the writer made. Not trying to make – I think Atsushi Ohkubo made his point in an entertaining and powerful way.
The YouTube making-of video said the actor’s name was Yukiyo Motoki. She was chillingly effective. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The episode started with a discussion of mobs. Sister Sumire’s human-form version, played by a real actor with chilling effectiveness, spoke of how divided we are by those controlling social media when she said (01:43), “Once (sic) glance at social media and they’re swept up in some fad with no substance, the whole mob. The way they swarm toward the latest craze… They’re like insects.”
Not gonna lie. I worried that this might be too on the nose. I thought it might be too obvious. But you know what? As a writer trying to convey some ideas with subtlety, I find that my points often go unnoticed. So, I give Atsushi Ohkubo points for clarity. I’m going to take his example to heart.
Then we get to the battle between the Eighth and Assault. Or, should I say, between Tamaki and Assault, because Assault dropped everyone else in seconds. She fought hard. She tried conventional attacks. Tamaki (unconsciously) tried her Lucky Lecher, which had worked on Assault Prime. But it didn’t work on Doppelgänger Assault.
Delivery: But Really, I Should Feel Reassured
The crowd turned on Tamaki. In retrospect, I realized they had turned into a mob; they followed whoever was loudest. And the loudest was a woman who said Tamaki was a hussy (well, she put it a little less politely) and should be ashamed of herself for showing her body in front of children.
Tamaki was fighting for all their lives. And that woman was worried because Tamaki fought in her underwear.
Do you see the problem here?
Her son called her out on it. Mom said Tamaki had just been born hot; that was no excuse to show off. Her son reminded her that she had been born a genius and never had to study. What was the difference? After a bit of back and forth, mom disappeared, now a non-existent member of the faceless mob.
Fairly accurate depiction of a member of the mob forced to consider their assumptions. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
By this point, I think I got it. Just in case I didn’t, Assault Prime drove the point home in my favorite moment. As Doppelgänger Assault went on about how Eros (human sexuality) had no business on the battlefield, Assault Prime shot back (22:06), “Sexual desire is hope! It’s beautiful and cool! Why do you reject it?”
I said that I felt like this episode force-fed my pre-conceptions to me. Actually, it did something even better. It helped me re-contextualize some observations I’d made, like seeing how the Scapegoat of the Day changed, how one day, Somali immigrants in Dayton, Ohio were productive members of society, and the next were chowing down on pets. Of course they weren’t. There’s precisely zero evidence they ever did.
But those spinning the narrative certainly knew how to “swarm toward the latest craze,” didn’t they? And this show called them out on it.
What did you think of Noto asking Tamaki for a date (assuming any of them survived)? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to share in the comments!
Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 Episode 20: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Enen no Shouboutai: San no Shou • Fire Force Season 3 – Episode 20 discussion
- But Why Tho? REVIEW: ‘Fire Force’ Season 3 Episode 20 — “Where Hope Is”
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 1: Indomitable Resolve
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 2: Prisoner
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 3: Incarnation of Flame
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 4: Golden Secret
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 5: Chance Meeting with an Arch-Enemy
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6: Beyond Prayer’s End
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 7: Sleeping Truth
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 8: Holy Mother of Darkness / The Knight King’s Great Adventure
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 9: Holy Sword, Resurrected
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 10: Advent
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 11: The Great Kaiju Battlefront
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12: The Madness of the Distant Past
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 13: Unaware
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 14: With the Sun At His Back
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 15: Birth
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 16: Savior
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 17: At the Center of the World
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 18: Incantation of Destruction
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 19: Those Who Fight Back
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 20: Where Hope Is
