Fire Force, Vol. 2

炎炎ノ消防隊 [Enen no Shouboutai] #2

by Atsushi Ohkubo

HERO OR DEVIL?

What started as a simple contest has turned into a life or death struggle! A mysterious man has crashed the Rookie Games, and he did it all for Shinra! Does he really know the truth behind the fire that took Shinra's family 12 years ago? And will Shinra decide to be a hero, or will this man's shocking revelation tempt him to become a real devil?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Fiction, Shonen, Graphic Novels, Action

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2016

About the author

OHKUBO Atsushi

Atsushi Ōkubo ( 大久保篤), also romanized as Atsushi Ohkubo, is a Japanese manga author and fantasy artist known for his work on the manga series Soul Eater, which has been adapted into an anime. Okubo worked as an assistant under Rando Ayamine, on the manga series Get Backers. He also created artwork for various cards for the Lord of Vermillion game.

Atsushi Ōkubo was not a model student and was more attracted to drawing than to learning. At the age of 20, after finishing studies at a manga school where he met Rando Ayamine, the author of Get Backers, he became Rando Ayamine's assistant for two years. Finally, he won a competition at Square Enix's Gangan magazine with his first manga series B.Ichi and it was published for four volumes. After the end of his last manga, he created Soul Eater, still for Square Enix's Gangan magazine, which brought him worldwide success.

Reviews

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Me estoy encariñando súper rápido del grupo de amigos del octava escuadrón? Definitivamente.

Me encanta el temperamento de Maki, la estupidez de Arthur, la templanza y corrección de Hinawa, la cabeza del grupo (Oubi) que por solo ser líder y estar fachero es más que suficiente. Y luego están personajes como Iris que no están profundizados pero de pronto a futuro dan más chicha.

Un grupo variado y que puede dar momentazos.

[Christian Schultheiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume really cranked up the heat with this jam packed sequel issue and just like its predecessor, I dare you to not be so drawn in by the insanely detailed artwork that you have to go reread a few panels again. All from the jump starting with our first encounter with the joker to finishing out a little intel work on the mysterious fire station 5.
“ You’re … You’re the devil. No, I’m a Hero!”
4.25/5

[Keeloween · Rating 4 out of 5]

I little better than the first volume but I liked it though. the comedy was just right. didn't like the pervy scenes much

[Mr. Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge fan of the artwork. The backgrounds and building designs are stars themselves. Love these characters.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for what it’s worth.

Characters are either monolithic in their behavior and thus close to non-existent (Shinra, Arthur...) or have no particular behavior, with the same result (Maki, Iris...). Hibanata is such an ott bitch she’s ridiculous. Obviously this won’t be a particularly original manga character-wise -not that I expected it would be.

Still, the reasons Section 8 was created opens possibilities for further developments. The world surrounding our heroes, the political hierarchies at play, might be interesting to discover too. I’m afraid I’m more interested in this than in what happened to Shinra 12 years ago.
As far as I’m concerned this is pure fun lazy sunday afternoon no-brainer read.

The art is still pleasant. Action scenes are globally legible with clean effects. Typical male fan service might offend some readers.

[Elizabeth (Elzburg) · Rating 2 out of 5]

We finally got our first fight in the very first chapter of this second volume, but I gotta say it wasn’t great. The movements weren’t drawn clearly enough which ruined the fight since I couldn’t enjoy something I couldn’t understand. This whole volume is actually pretty fight-sy and dramatic. It was more fast-paced than the first volume and I found myself having finished reading it in no time. It’s still by no means close to being a great series, but it sure is entertaining and keeps me reading.

This volume was also less in-your-face offensively terrible, which is why it got a 1 star bump in my rating. But now that I keep thinking about it, I wonder if I should round it back down to 2, because honestly this series is so mediocre and forgettable that I’m finding it very difficult to try and remember the events that happened in this volume. *Edit:* I've decided that 3 stars is giving this series too much credit. The first volume was more of a 1.5 anyway, so this one gets 2 stars.

Something else that’s also not great about this manga is the art. I mean, it’s okay. Whatever. But I can’t help but constantly notice how Ohkubo never draws backgrounds, and just leaves everything but the character(s) in the frame white. It comes off as super lazy to me. (Yeah he does draw backgrounds, but never when there are characters standing in front of it. He draws an establishing shot then leaves the setting alone.)

Something I must add: THE TOURNAMENT ARC WAS RUUUUUIIIIINNNNED!!!!! I take back what I took back from my review on the first volume: This is a 0/10, worst manga!!!

But in all seriousness I probably won't be continuing with this series since I have now exhausted my pre-bought supply of volumes and I have a lot of other series that are actually GOOD that I'd rather spend my time reading. Ohkubo, it's an L from me today sir.


Please consider giving this review a "Like" if you've made it this far, it helps me out a lot! And follow me if you want more!

Click to read my other Fire Force Reviews:
Volume 1 | Volume 2*

*Current review

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LECTURA: 4 ESTRELLAS🧡
RELECTURA: 3 ESTRELLAS

“God? Please, what you worship is a nonexistent hollow puppet. In this country, this world, the only thing that really exists…ARE DEMONS LIKE ME.”

Segundo tomo donde la historia va despegando de a poco Sin embargo, el fan-service de este tomo en mi opinión lo arruina. Me da mucha rabia y eso que estoy nuevamente enganchada a la historia

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from more of the gross fan service (… they sexualized nuns. I am at a loss for words, honestly), none of the characters really have personalities. It’s very odd to me. I don’t think this is going to be a series I’m super invested in in continuing.

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.

Things are not as they seem. The Fire Force is not as heroic as Shinra once thought. During the Rookie Games, a mysterious man breaks into the games and tells Shinra that the Force is corrupt, something he can't get out of his head and for good reason. When an inferno is taken by Company 5, Company 8 vow to investigate but then Sister Iris goes missing and everything comes to a head. I liked this volume, don't get me wrong, I like the humour of this series. I think Shinra is a decent enough main character, I think the side characters are good (except Arthur, he's annoying) but you'd think after 20+ chapters of a story, we'd be a little further along. It's interesting that the Joker look alike in the Rookie Games told Shinra his brother was still alive though, so hopefully something comes of that. What I don't enjoy in this series is the hypersexualisation of random characters, especially Sister Iris. It just feels unnecessary and adds NOTHING to the story. I will keep reading because I'm interested but I'm not super impressed with this volume.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second volume of Fire Force improves upon its predecessors in some aspects, but still doesn't reach its peak. The action scenes are entertaining, and the humor keeps the ship afloat, however the fan-service doesn't work with me, and the characters feel one-dimensional and bland.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Reading this in a 3-in-1 Omnibus)
Now that we are all settled into the story we can have even more fights.
Believe it or not the plot advances even with all the fighting.
Our brave team is storming Squad 5's barracks as the volume ends.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series very much, but again, fan service is my least favorite thing in the world.

Pros:
-The "you're the Devil" panel. It goes extremely hard.
-The full 2 page spread showing all of Co. 8 was really cool, especially considering I'm reading it online.
-Usually, I don't like those gags of the "strong girl" beating up people just because she's mad or whatever, but I love Maki, and I think Shinra and Arthur deserve it sometimes. And even when they don't, it's fine because it's funny.
-Hinawa and Obi. They are my dads!!!
Cons:
-Panty shots. What are we doing.
-All of Iris's sexualization. Being naked can be normal, and that's fine. I'm all for that. But this is all just a ploy to draw Iris like that. Whatever.

Facts about Shinra that were really funny to me:
-20/10 vision. As a perpetually blind person, I'm so jealous.
-Math is his favorite subject. I did not see that being a thing, but sure.
-The "Who He Has Trouble Around" category listed pretty girls and Arthur, which I know is supposed to be like "oh he gets nervous around pretty girls vs. he hates Arthur so much he doesn't want to be around him," BUT it is worded just so I can ship this. Bisexual Shinra let's go. Cue the 'shipping characters in a shounen is like losing at chess against a dog' meme. Whatever let me delusional whatever those are my gay sons.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty cool volume, as Shinra and Arthur go to rescue some dog turns out its the mascot being attacked because a fire force person was let go even after murdering and as luck would have it he becomes an infernal but he is in control of his senses and mind and talks back too and its a curious case so the 8th FF co. fights him and its an interesting fight and Shinra vs him is awesome, until Princess Hibana and FFC5 come to the scene and its a fight almost between them, but Obi steps and stops them and somewhere else we learn of Hibana's strange origin and its a good one, Iris remembers her time with Hibana and goes to her, but iis taken hostage and so its upto FFC8 to save Iris and fight FFC5 and find out whats going on! Its an interesting volume and reveals so many things and has layers of mysteries about the origins of infernal and this 5th co. and whats the deal with Hibana? She looks like a cool antagonist and also something to do with this world. Good world building and good gag pages in the end haha.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, the story is ramping up and it's getting interesting.

However, these characters...oh my gosh...Arthur is SO stupid... He's annoyingly stupid. He's worse than Black⋆Star. (He's from Atsushi Ohkubo's other series called Soul Eater.)
Now Tamaki...that twin-tail cat girl from Company 1... Her only purpose in this story is to be Pervert Fan Service. I mean come on! Lucky Lecher Lure? UH! SHE IS THE DEFINITION OF AN ANNOYING, USELESS FEMALE CHARACTER! Sister Iris, THE NUN, is a better character than her!
The other characters...they have promise. So far my favorite is Captain Obi. Second in Shinra, mostly because he makes funny faces.

This series has 34 volumes.

[L.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first watched the anime which is (so far) mostly faithful to the manga. The story is superficially an action/fighting manga. But, the themes are post-apocalyptic and horror-based.

[Eesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure I'll be continuing this manga. I liked this volume better than the last, but the pace was a bit too fast and some things got left unexplained. I liked the part about the real purpose of Company 8, but there wasn't as much info about why the other Fire Force companies were hiding things. Though maybe that'll be revealed in future volumes. Lastly, I didn't like the random moments of semi-nudity. They were so pointless. Also, I thought Knight would be interesting. Nope, an idiot. I like Shinra though. And Obi and the Lieutenant. Maki didn't have much of a role in this one.

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I said this with Volume 1, but I get a lot of the same feelings as Souleater, which makes sense, because they are both from the same people.

I love the characters from Team 8 and can’t wait to see who else they bring in to round out their team.

[RG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than vol. 1, I really enjoy where it’s goin.

[Cristhian · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a bit more of worldbuilding but something feels off

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

English translation below the French.

Dans ce tome, on découvre qu'il y a quelqu'un qui connaît ce qui c'était passé le jour où Shinra a perdu sa mère et son petit frère, mais est-ce que le coût de cette connaissance est-il trop élevé? Quel choix ferait-il Shinra?
Le vrai but du 8e bridage est révélé aussi, et bientôt Shinra et le 8e brigade vont enquêter sur le 5e brigade - que cache-t-elle la princesse du 5e brigade? Et quel est le rapport entre soeur Iris et la princesse du 5e brigade?

Encore l'action ne s’arrête pas, et on découvre des faits surprenants sur les torches humaines... mais qui va profiter de ces nouvelles informations, et à quel coût?
Dernièrement, il y a un peu d'ecchi dans ce tome, et je me demande toujours pourquoi c'était nécessaire de l'ajouter, car ça n'ajoute rien à l'histoire, et rend cet ouvrage plutôt pour les jeunes adultes qui ont plus de 14/15 ans que les enfants de 10-13 ans (même en considérant la présence de quelques gros mots).

In this book, we discover that there is someone else who knows what happened the day Shinra lost his mother and little brother, but is the cost of this knowledge too high? What choice will Shinra make?

The real goals of the 8th Brigade are also revealed, and soon Shinra and the 8th Brigade are going to investigate the 5th Brigade – what is the princess of the 5th Brigade hiding? And what is the relationship between Sister Iris and the princess of the 5th Brigade?

Once again the action never stops, and we learn some surprising information about human torches… but who will benefit from this information, and at what cost?
Lastly, there is a bit of ecchi in this book, and I wonder why it was necessary to include it, as it does not add anything to the story, and it makes the book more for young adults older than 14/15 years old than kids of 10-13 (even when considering the usage of some swear words).

[Raroshnaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exciting, fitting skills, secrets to discover, we getting somewhere to found of shô is actually alive ,I loved it, can't get enough of this

[Jennifer]

This is a very interesting world, though there are some aspects that it could do without. Mainly the gratuitous fan service and ridiculous women that serve no real purpose to the plot. We have one dominatrix type that literally walks on people and calls them gravel, and another that has a "chronic lucky lecher lure" condition that basically means she ends up getting groped accidentally in every situation. It doesn't help that she is wearing a bikini top and her pants are chaps (open at the hip/butt) so it's exceptionally easy to grab her inappropriately. I guess that's part of the humor, but IMO it doesn't add anything to the story, it's just a weird sidebar of things that happen.

I'm really enjoying the 2 2nd generation pyros - though most of the 3rd gens look down on them as not having enough power (they can't produce their own fire), their military training allows them to triumph anyway. They have both tactics and combat skills, which frequently render their opponents flashy powers null.

[Jopordipi]

Està Good.

[Mert · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars (%78/100)

It was much better than the previous volume but I now realized a problem with pacing. The Introduction Arc ends and immediately the next short arc starts in this volume. We learn more about the members of the 8th. We are also introduced to a character named Joker and he is by far one of my favorites in the whole series. I've always liked trickster type characters and I think Joker's design and character are great. In general, I am really fond of the art style. Overall, it was a good volume and I am curious to see what happens next.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoop whoop, the second volume! I am so excited that it is licensed in German! This is such a fun series, with lots of action, twists and turns, and hilarious situations. There are some parts that made me go eh??? but in general I loved every part of this volume. Can't wait for the third volume to come out.

[Ben Nealis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 Stars. While better than the first volume in some aspects such as action and pacing the same problems seem to persist. I am really not enjoying the series so far and most likely will drop it after volume 3.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm starting to love this cast of characters!

[Joe Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:

Fire has always been a thing of nightmares for many. In this world, people are at risk of spontaneously combusting and turning into Infernals. An Infernal wants only one thing - to destroy. They are no longer considered human. That is where the Fire Force comes into play. It's their duty to protect the people.

Shinra has officially joined the Fire Force; only things aren't going quite as he expected. Yes, his abilities have been put to great use...but he isn't any closer to finding more information about the death of his family. The past still haunts him. So imagine his surprise when he finds a villain promising some answers.

Review:

And so the series continues! I feel like Fire Force hit its stride in the second volume. That's usually the case as the world has been established, and now we can focus on getting to know the characters and their stories.

As expected, Fire Force Vol. 2 has plenty of action. There are also a few surprising twists. I say "surprising" because while I expected twists to happen, I thought it would have been another volume or two before we dove into those elements. Not that I'm complaining.

This volume adds a lot to the complexity of the world. There are eight different Fire Forces, and they all seem to have different origins/motives. That's pretty fascinating, and I hope we can learn more about that in future volumes.

The fan service ramped up in Fire Force Vol. 2, adding another character to the mix. Not surprising, but worth commenting on.

Highlights:
Manga – Shonen
Connected to Soul Eater
Lots of Action

You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy