“If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tatsuki Fujimoto
Translation/Adaptation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
Boss, the leader of the Behemdorg escapees, finds he’s at a disadvantage when fighting the soldiers who continue pursuing them. But all that changes with the sudden appearance of a mysterious spear-wielding girl and a masked man, who are willing to lend their aid. Meanwhile, will Agni have to perform that certain act once again for those who revere him?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Woo boy, here we go.
This volume of Fire Punch opens strong. We come face to face with the hooded Ice Queen, who takes what’s left of Judah and departs. Agni is left wondering what to do. He’s wracked with guilt about burning down Behemdorg, even though that really wasn’t his fault. He vows to find and put an end to the Ice Witch, but things are certainly not what they appear.
The survivors of Behemdorg are fleeing for their lives from pursuit by Uloy and his men. Togata is, of course, filming all of the action. When the driver of her vehicle is shot she takes over. The bat-wielding man fends off the attack, and is joined by a woman in underwear riding a spear through the air. She appears to only speak English. Not to be outdone, another Blessed arrives wearing only briefs with a noticeable bulge, for equal opportunity random nakedness. The three consider themselves follows of Agni.
The chase is full of over-the-top action which is gruesome and hilarious. By the time Agni catches back up with his group of freed slaves he is shaken and doesn’t know what to do, so Togata teaches him how to be a god. Agni is the hope of the people, and they all stop in an abandoned town. It’s not long before food starts running low and Agni falls back on the only way he knows how to keep people fed, but cutting off the only portion of his body not on fire and feeding it to his followers.
The kids, Sun and Neneto, also survived the trip. Sun is still convinced Agni is his savior. Neneto still remains surprised that she’s managed to survive. While the humans look to Agni for answers, he looks to Togata for answers. She responds with facts from the old world, a deeper understanding of how religion can control the masses, and ultimately shares what she thinks the afterlife is. Or at least, what she wishes the afterlife is.
That comes to an end when Bat Guy tells Togata and Agni that he can see into people’s hearts and sees a secret in Togata’s. Togata is so upset by his words that she storms off, leaving Agni wondering what it all means. However, Agni is distracted when he learns Doma still lives.
Judah, meanwhile, is nursed back to a state of health by the Ice Witch. The Ice Witch is, unfortunately, is not all that different from the flippant Togata. In fact, both are very similar in speech and motivation. A being that has lived so long that their own bizarre ideas have taken life. Her claims to Agni about being the Ice Witch were partially a lie. She wasn’t responsible for the ice age. She explains her plan to save the world to Judah, which all sounds insane but the true absurdity of the whole thing doesn’t strike the reader until the Ice Witch explains her motive.
At witch point and dropped the book on the floor and had to go take a walk.
In Summary
Agni has good intentions, but maybe all he’s doing is prolonging the inevitable. A peaceful death may be the only mercy he can grant those following him. If you had any supposition that Fire Punch had something meaningful to say, I’m sorry. Firmly rooted in the same sort of absurdist nihilism a teenager might latch onto, it acts like it has something to say about humanity, but ultimately it’s just sheer spectacle. From the first page to the last in this volume, all your preconceived notions of meaningful discourse will be terminated. It’s just a wild ride off a cliff.
Content Grade: C +
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: October 16, 2018
MSRP: $12.99 US / $17.99 CN / £8.99 UK
