Fire Punch, Vol. 1

ファイアパンチ [Fire Punch] #1

by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Orphaned siblings Agni and Luna, like the Ice Witch who cursed their world, are two of the “blessed,” humans who hold special abilities. However, not all who are blessed are friendly, and after another of their kind attacks Agni and decimates the orphans' village, Agni fights to survive, vowing revenge.

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

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2016

About the author

Tatsuki Fujimoto 藤本タツキ (Fujimoto Tatsuki) is a Japanese manga author, mostly known for Chainsaw Man.

Awards:
- Shōgakukan Manga Award: Shōnen category for Chainsaw Man (2020)
- Harvey Award: best manga for Chainsaw Man (2021-2022)

Chinese language profiles: 藤本樹 and 藤本树.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels like Tatsuki Fujimoto came up with the main character of Fire Punch first and then worked backwards from there. He’s a naked dude who’s on fire - all the time! - but doesn’t die somehow… and wants punch-y revenge for… stuff. And of course before he realised that he was basically writing Marvel fan fiction because they’ve got a character who can flame on, and another character with a healing factor who’s always getting bits of him chopped off (and is set to share the big screen in his third movie with Marvel’s other famous healing factor character shortly).

The Ice Witch has turned the world cold because she’s the Ice Witch and some random people are popping up with superpowers called “The Blessed”. Everyone’s become cartoonishly evil because snow and Agni, the healing factor dude who gets set on fire forever, becomes the latest victim of one of this dystopian future’s perennially roving evil gangs and sets out to kill the baddie what wronged him. Ho hum.

Fire Punch is an older Shonen Jump series meaning it’s a manga for older teenage boys, hence the eye-rolling edginess of it all. There’s a lotta gore, a lotta grim sex stuff, and a lotta angst, most of which read comedically more than anything, to me anyway. I mean, he’s stuck in one spot - on fire - for 8 years and he doesn’t go mad? And it takes him that long to figure out how to control the fire? Man, he’s so tough. Similarly, the bad guys are so one-dimensionally evil so that Agni is justified when he flames them out.

I didn’t find it totally boring as it’s increasingly amusing how awfully the “good” characters get treated by the “bad” characters. The coup de grace is the guy with the dogs at the end - I didn’t see that one coming! Although, I wasn’t meant to find any of that funny but rather more shocking - which it might be if you’re a child. And that’s who might enjoy Fire Punch: teen boys, because it’s too Shonen-y for anyone else to take seriously. So it’s well-suited to the line it got published in but doesn’t transcend it like better titles do to a wider audience (DBZ for example).

Tatsuki Fujimoto’s a fine mangaka but I’d recommend his less frenetic books Goodbye, Eri and Look Back over absurdly wannabe-macho titles like Fire Punch.

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full series review

I read all of Fire Punch in one sitting about 6 months ago, and it left me feeling sick and weak for days. It's been on my mind almost continuously since then. Sometimes I wish I could forget it. It's one of the best manga I've read, and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

Fire Punch wears a lot of masks over its run - absurdly edgy revenge story, screwball comedy, somber tragedy, uplifting and seemingly fated love story. But there is something running through the entire manga, consistently, waxing and waning. Lies. From the very beginning, we are lied to - there is no Ice Witch, the world is dying quite naturally. Agni lies to his little sister about having seen the warm world, and about his pain, in order to cheer her up. Together they lie to their mother to stop her from worrying. San is lied to about his expulsion from his village to keep him from despair. Judah lies to Dowa and all her citizens about hearing the voice of God to keep her kingdom running. Her father came to believe those same lies he had taught her when she was a child. Togata lies by omission, keeping her hatred of her body a secret, until it is exposed.

As the story nears the conclusion, the lies become ever more powerful, and painful. Agni lies to Judah that she is his sister, putting him on the final road to his destruction. Agni lies to Dowa's daughter, insinuating himself in her life, and becoming a surrogate big brother to her child. Finally, he lies to Dowa's daughter, by trying to her convince her that he hated her all along, and everything he had done was for the purpose of destroying her. A desperate attempt to save Dowa's daughter from her association with him. After that point, Agni does not speak much.

What are all these lies for? Mostly for comfort, sometimes for control. Sometimes these lies go on so long, the liars forget they aren't true. The lesser lies of fiction, another recurring theme throughout the manga, provide for our lives everything from structures to understand the world, to aspirational models to live by, to shields that help buffer us from the harshness of life. Togata is the exemplar here - everything in her life is mediated through the lens of movies and film quotes, or the obfuscating roles of director and actor in her movie project. She never allows people to simply be people - always actor, protagonist, villain, cameraman. But of course, as useful and comforting as we find fiction to be, it breaks down. It isn't real, and as much as we might pretend otherwise, there is something out there. The lies we tell and the stories we love can't protect us forever. Togata sees this at the moment of her death. She mulls over her last words, thinking of various film inspired final lines. She settles, however, on "Agni, live." The final words of his sister that have been driving him since that moment. Why choose those? Togata doesn't say, but I think it is because she wanted something unmediated by constructed stories.

Can we find truth anywhere? If we tell ourselves a lie long enough, does it become true enough? Would we even want it if we found it? There are no answers here. Agni's psychotic hallucinations of his sister suggest that Dowa's repentance is false. We have no way of knowing.

Structurally, Fire Punch is very odd. As I noted above, it seems to change genres on a dime in between volumes, but maintains the same story the whole way through, always centred around the core of Luna/Agni/Dowa/Judah, with San and Togata as little satellites. It's a revenge story where the revenge is completed halfway through, and there's a long way downhill from there. It's a twisted love story between a man who cannot grow up past the moment of his childhood trauma, and a woman he should by rights hate more than anything. It's a story where the protagonist we follow becomes the villain, and we're relieved when he can finally die and forget himself. Nothing I've read is like it. Many will dismiss the first volume as edgy garbage, and it certainly is edgy. But if you're willing to look past that and continue on, you'll get a truly unique, inspired story. That's not to say the structure is perfect - plot elements outside the core get picked up and dropped unceremoniously, which will likely annoy many readers. But the things that are important to the story are treated with all the gravity they need and deserve.

Artwise, Fire Punch is surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Most of the younger characters have a smooth and healthy look to them, and even Agni has an innocent seeming face. This is contrasted by the sometimes quite extreme gore, and the emaciated bodies of slaves. Agni's body is appropriately chaotic looking, and in any pose other than straight up with his limbs stretched out, it can look like a formless mass, making for some strange action scenes. The compositions are usually clear enough to convey what's going on, however, even when Agni has torn off his own arm and thrust it through a man's stomach, turning them both into a mass of fire.

In the end, the acute suffering throughout this manga was what left me feeling sick. It's one of the worst forms of suffering - the kind that comes from within, as characters are driven to do terrible things to themselves and others by their own natures, rather than having suffering thrust upon them by outside forces.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

So this was ... interesting. I really didn't know anything about this but I kept seeing it pop up in recommendations on here and Amazon JP so I gave it a shot.

Contained in this one volume:

1. Cannibalism
2. Incest (almost) The sister suggested making a baby with her brother but then she's murdered.
3. Rape (adults and kids)
4. Slavery
5. Bestiality (almost) Two slaves are given to a guy who seemed nice, until he told them their job was to have sex with his two male dogs. Just wut
6. Extreme violence and gore

So ... yeah.

[Isabela. · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sabía que espera de este manga pero definitivamente no me veía venir eso. En lo absoluto. Tiene una historia muy cruda, va al punto y no tiene miedo de tomar riesgos que resultan enfermos. Fuera de eso, hay una extraña vena de esperanza en nuestro protagonista y eso me gustó. Me provoca intriga saber el porqué terminó el mundo de esa manera y cómo es la causante de tanto dolor.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 3 Pages contain a sister cutting off her brother's arm and it growing back.

By around page 18 the sister, who cut off her brother's arm, is in bed with him asking for him to give her a baby. They are around 13-14.

SO yeah...this Manga is something else. I'm not sure what's happening half the time to be honest. Basically a man who regrows his body parts is lit on fire and then that fire can never go out because he is regrowing his parts over and over again so he stays on fire forever. They all blame the witch of winter because of the coldness of the world while Angi, the main character, main goal is to kill the person who made him stay completely lit on fire for the rest of his miserable life.

Good: Uhhhh it's crazy insane and never boring. There's a dreadful feeling throughout it all and for that it stays scary with high stakes. I also thought the ending was a pretty interesting twist that made me want to try volume 2.

Bad: Characters act super fucking random at times. Traps everywhere (for non-manga/anime fans this means boys who look like girls). Also there's some beastiality and a lot of rape/almost rape so might be a bit much for people.

SO yeah Fire Punch is a gut punch because it'll probably leave you kind of stunned. If read darker series like Gantz or Berserk the gore/sex won't turn you off but the rest might be a bit too much and also some of this dialog is wow. BUT overall it's entertaining enough to least try another volume. A 3 out of 5.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just CANT with this book. It's just too horrible, trigger warnings all around.



HERE are just a few warnings; INCEST, RAPE, CANNIBALISM, PEDOPHILIA...

I am not sure how I even got through the entire volume. Knowing this is just the first volume in a string of volumes, I am 100% sure I won't be able to finish the series. The decent aspects of the story line gets so muddled by all of the grotesque events that I can't begin to enjoy it. This has to be one of the most cringe inducing books I have read in a long while.

I would not recommend this to anyone with problems with any of the themes above or who is a more sensitive reader. I can read gore, pain and angst but this was too much even for me. I understand the themes of humanity being at it's worst. The idea of extreme depravity runs rampant, but it's too prevalent for me to actually enjoy anything.

So done with this manga, just can't handle it...

[library ghost (farheen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a well thought out dystopian world! i wouldn't wish for my worst enemy to live here even though i am a petty person

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Chainsaw Man I was better prepared for just how wild a book by Tatsuki Fujimoto can get, but this grab-bag of grossness and off-kilter storytelling still had my head spinning.

In a post-apocalyptic world of eternal winter, we are served up all the worst of humanity: cannibalism, incest, massacres, rape, pedophilia, bestiality, dismemberment . . . and the desire for revenge, fiery and all-consuming revenge.

I'm looking forward to seeing just how messed up this series can get.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's like the author tried to figure out how much shock value he could put into a book and still get published. The cannibalism plot point I can understand, but the incest was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story, which was poorly explained in any case. Characters were neither sympathetic nor interesting. Worldbuilding was shoddy at best.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was honestly too much for me. It was all so fucked so I just didn't really like it. Bestiality, incest, pedophilia, rape, cannibalism, literally any fucked up thing you can think of this series has it. And some of it is just so nonchalant too?? It's a lot and the plot isn't that interesting either so uh yeah. It's a no from me.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

One day, a miracle happened. A new breed of children called gifted ones were born into the world, each with their own bizarre powers. In the distant past, an evil gifted one known as the Ice Witch unleashed a never-ending blizzard upon the world which led to a new ice age and the near-extinction of all life on Earth. Humanity returns to their primal nature, surviving only by cannibalizing, pillaging and enslaving each other.

Agni and Luna are orphaned siblings, gifted ones with the power of regeneration. They can regrow any limb they lose and heal from any injury. Agni's powers are nearly unlimited while Luna requires much more recovery time. Their fellow villagers take advantage of this by repeatedly chopping off their limbs and cooking them over a fire for daily nourishment. They're treated like fuel and life is bleak for the brother and sister, but they find comfort in surviving together.

That all changes when an army of wicked gifted ones raid their village for slaves and resources, only to misinterpret them as maniacal savages who torture and cannibalize their own people. They burn the entire village down along with everyone who lives there. Luna's powers are too weak to fully resist the might of the flames, leaving Agni the only survivor of the massacre. His gift becomes a curse, as the flames that consume his body can only be extinguished upon death, which his unlimited regenerative powers prevent. Unable to die, he becomes a walking inferno that's in constant agony of being devoured by fire. With nothing but pain and hatred consuming him, he turns his fiery rage into a weapon to take revenge on the ones who took his sister away and the Ice Witch that caused the destruction of the world.

Fire Punch is an insanely edgy dystopian thriller with a unique ice age setting. The first volume alone contains torture, cannibalism, incest, extreme child abuse, genocide, slavery and just about every other nightmarish thing you can imagine. Most of the disturbing content is purely for shock value, along with the characters all being very over-the-top twisted. Agni is your typical edgelord antihero, there's a wannabe film maker girl who likes to record real murder and tragedies for her own entertainment, there's cultists who worship fire, constant gore and death all over the place, it's wild and shocking all the way through.

It's the type of series you read just to see how weird, disturbing and shocking it can get. It's definitely not for everyone, only fans of extreme shock horror would probably find any enjoyment from it. The plot and characters are passable, but neither have much depth to them. It's still entertaining for the shock-value alone and the entire second half of the series reaches levels of absurdity that I can't even begin to properly describe. I honestly have no idea what the hell happened because it was so ridiculous, surreal and just barely coherent.

That's Fire Punch in a nutshell. It's edgy and absurd for no reason, but it's so weird, gruesome and over-the-top that it still manages to be entertaining so long as you have a strong stomach and a dark sense of humor.

***

If you're looking for some dark ambient music for reading horror, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...

[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4. 25 stars.

“It’s all the Ice Witch’s fault! If only she hadn’t made the world so cold. It could still be warm, and the people would be nice to each other! It’s all the cold’s fault! That we… that we have to go through this.”

TW: Gore, graphic violence, death, sexual abuse, body horror, cannibalism, allusions to incest.

After having dipped my toe in Fujimoto's writing with some of his one-shots and his Chainsaw Man anime, and quite enjoying both experiences, I decided to read this completed manga series.

True to form, Fujimoto has already crafted a very interesting and twisted look into human psychology filled with social commentaries and deeply disturbing but equally enlightening imagery and metaphorical figures that make for a really engaging read.

Heed the trigger warnings, though, because this is not a story that can be enjoyed by the faint of heart, as it gets right to the point in the most uncomfortable way possible since the very beginning and it does not stop going forward.

“If he ever found out we were dying, he’d cry, and if he loses himself to the tears, he’ll never survive in this world.”

The characters are very simple in every respect, which only makes them all the more human and quite easy to sympathize with.

Agni, the protagonist - whose name means fire in a very clever little allusion, is not your typical hero and I quite like his selfish and cold motivations. Sun, on the other hand, is absolutely everything you would expect from that name and serves, quite well, to balance the mood.

Each character is well built up and explained, so you can sympathize and grow fond of them quite easily; and they each enrich the story and construct it into something quite special and interesting.

“Everyone, death is the one thing you must never allow in. You may bear all other manners of pain and suffering but always resist death.”

The plot does not fall behind the characters as it is interesting and filled with twists and turns; plus, the seeds of a political drama, the philosophical musings, and the social commentaries all make for a fun read.

It is, at its core, a simple story with a simple premise, and it delivers well on that front, and yet it seems like there are layers ready to be peeled and holes to be excavated. I like an incredible amount the way it has subverted all my expectations thus far, and innovated in old ideas.

Based solely on the ending twist I can say I know nothing of the true depths of this world.

Altogether, it combines to make of this first volume a really enjoyable, if also deeply disturbing and mildly revolting, experience.

“Without firewood, fire will go out. People are like fire. Without fuel, we can’t live. […] Good. You two are what fuels me. So please, no matter what… never die.”

[sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5, baby! this was a humbling reading experience for me, since i’ve liked everything else i’ve read of fujimoto’s. fire punch has a bad case of male mangaka disease, worse than any volume of CSM, and like, truly so cringe and bad. i am SO SICK of post-apocalyptic universes that contain sensational levels of rape, incest, child assault, bestiality, a naked 8-year-old’s ass, etc. there’s no purpose, it’s not interesting, it does nothing for the worldbuilding and actually just makes me think that maybe everyone SHOULD freeze to death. the plot is so boring and you can’t even root for the main character because his only motivation is revenge for a sibling (hello bootleg Aki) and that’s it, no other character trait, just be on fire and want to kill people. I’m sure he gains sentience at some point since there are many many volumes. but i simply will never know.

tldr thank you fire punch for this wonderful example of what no pussy does to a motherfucker. i will not be reading more!

[fatherofdragons113 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how fucked up this is

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man this is some serious shit kind of punch—cannibalism, sex slavery, hint on incest, animal cruelty (that self-righteous guy is making me furious); but I'm prepared and I know I'll get this, considering this is Tatsuki Fujimoto. And despite the revolting themes, he still managed to rip my heart into two. Man, I love him. He never disappoints me. By the way, this is definitely going to be placed on my vomit-worthy shelf.

[Olly · Rating 4 out of 5]

inizio scioccante, distruggente. incredibilmente sadico e triste.
ci vedo citazioni a X-men e un po' di Snowpiercer, immagino che abbia tratto ispirazione anche da storie vere di esplorazione dell'Antartide.
Fujimoto non ci mette 10 pagine a mostrare il suo talento.

[božica]

i wanna know how tatsuki fujimotos brain operates cause wtf is this?

[Alberto Palomino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta lectura ha sido en parte una manera mía de internarme más en el mundo del manga el cual siempre he tenido apartado de lado (excepto Berserk claro) y también como parte de la recomendación que me dio un amigo mío (aunque voy con retraso como siempre).

El mundo es un infierno blanco y frio, las personas necesitan el calor para sobrevivir, y como suele ser habitual el hombre es un lobo para el hombre, sobre todo cuando este pasa frio y hambre y solo pueden sobrevivir los fuertes. En un contexto post-apocalíptico algunas personas nacen con poderes específicos y se les llaman Bendecidos, una de estos bendecidos llamada la Bruja del Hielo convirtió el mundo en este paramo inhóspito.

Agni y su hermana Luna son dos bendecidos con el poder de regenerarse, básicamente si se cortan un brazo les vuelve a salir otro (aunque el dolor es el mismo). Viven en una aldea como los dos únicos jóvenes y usan su propia carne como alimento no solo para ellos sino para la aldea entera, hasta la llegada de una tropa de soldados de un nuevo reino feudal llamado Behemdorg y aquí es donde empiezan los problemas.
Por un motivo Agni se convierte en un ser envuelto en llamas que nunca se apagan y como puede regenerarse, mientras se quema su cuerpo vuelve a recuperarse en un ciclo de dolor extremo que nunca acaba. Y movido por un acto de venganza, usa este dolor y este nuevo “poder” para acabar con los que le han llevado a esta situación.

Una manga duro, muy visual y sin medias tintas. Aquí encontrareis canibalismo, violaciones, muertes, brutalidad, pedofilia (hay más pedófilos que en la Atenas de Pericles macho), esclavitud, poderes y un mundo post-apocalíptico. Si no os va el rollo obviamente pasar de leerlo, pero si dejáis a un lado las cafradas y las situaciones impactantes que suceden casi de manera manual, observareis un manga con mucho potencial y el cual solo se vislumbra una historia que tiene toda la pinta de ir a más. Me recuerda un poco al principio de Berserk, manga que recomiendo a todos, el cual también empezaba de forma muy rápida, al grano y con mucha violencia, pero que luego fue introduciendo un maravilloso arco argumental y unos personajes interesantes. Espero que este Fire Punch tire por ahí.

Sobre las criticas tan negativas por parte de los usuarios de Goodreads, pues lo de siempre, ponerle una estrella a una historia solo porque no te guste su contenido violento/polémico no me parece adecuado, entiendo que son opiniones pero solo hacen confundir a la gente creyendo que se encontraran con mierda y no es así. Simplemente no es para todos los gustos, y hay que partir ahí de base, si esto no te gusta ni te acerques. Visto lo visto si llegan a leer algunas cosas de Berserk queman los mangas directamente, y ya si entran en la literatura sado o bizarra explosionaría más de uno. Pero para gustos…

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. THAT WAS INTENSE.

[alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read Chainsaw Man yet, but after shotgunning Fire Punch over the course of one night, I definitely understand the appeal of Tatsuki Fujimoto. Like. I get it. The opening chapter is SO compelling (brother/sister incest aside lmao), and a third of the way in, Fujimoto introduces what I suspect is a huge staple of CSM: a completely deranged freak who no other character likes or understands.

The escalation into the ending reminded me of “Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet” and “Shadow Star”, two quintessential over the top Whoaaaa So Fucked Up manga that I loved as a teenager. The author clearly has a sense of humour, though, and at only eight volumes this moved at a fast enough clip that it never teetered over into Edgy territory for me.

[Aimé · Rating 3 out of 5]

A veces empezar a leer algo sin tener ni idea del argumento tiene sus recompensas.
Aquí donde me ves, desde que he empezado a leer no he parado de arrugar el ceño, mascullar "qué coño" y dar respingos del espanto.
Este es un manga arriesgado, creativo, original, duro. Ha dado giros que no me esperaba y esto es solo el primer tomo. Visto lo visto difícilmente se lo puedo recomendar a alguien, pero vaya si yo voy a continuar con esta historia.

[aamna]

dropping it after reading the prologue, ig im not woke enough ?
….fujimoto on some serious dr*gs for this 😐

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a mixed bag, but may have some potential. So far, I feel like the mangaka relies too heavily on misery, and dwells repetitively on it. I get it, this world is fucked up. The shock scenes worked well at first, but when the story starts to feel like a slideshow of edgy scenes, it loses the punch. That said, the art is great and the twists do get me curious to see how the story will develop. There are some pretty cool ideas in here.

[Runell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just really f'ed up. Super interesting premise but then you've got cannibalism, incest, beastiality, pedophilia . . . And well, I just don't know.

[Fátima Embark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Menuda bizarrada!! Y quizá por eso me ha flipado, jaja

[Savannah Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayo wtf hell of an intro…

[jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

if fujimoto wrote berserk

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire Punch is a twisted, dystopian story of a world covered in constant snow, most of the world has gone and the left-over remnants of mankind struggle to survive in this harsh, cold world. However, there are a few that are known as the blessed and they have abilities such as metal creation, pyromancy and electric generation, the main character Agni instantly regenerates, no matter what is done to him. A tragedy strikes him and his sister and he seeks revenge for what is now a cursed life for him.
This manga has a lot of messed up stuff happen to its characters, it reminded me of Made in Abyss where the characters try to survive a harsh environment and end up punished for trying to do so! If you’re not easily offended and want a manga that’s disturbing, violent and shocking, I’d totally recommend this, otherwise you should give this a hard pass.

[Facundo Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

El prologo y en general es muy bizarra. Empieza la historia con dos hermanos, Agni y Luna, viviendo una aldea en medio de la nieve. Ambos hermanos tienen el poder de regenerar sus cuerpos sin embargo su poder es inferior al de su hermano Agni.
Agni todos los días corta su brazo para darle de comer a la gente del pueblo compuesta por ancianos que apenas pueden sobrevivir
Disfrute leyéndolo, con los dibujos se nota que es anterior a Chainsaw Man en ciertos paneles y se mantiene el estilo "sucio" que tiene el autor sin tocar el alto detalle que tiene al dibujar fondos y las peleas se entienden perfectamente y es muy difícil perderle el hilo a la historia.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, all trigger warnings you can shake a stick at for this first volume.

Still liked it though. I'm a pretty hardy reader though so ymmv. Definitely continuing on with the 2nd volume cuz I need some answers God Damn it!