What They Say:
A New Flashpoint
Obi goes to see the chief with news of a fifth Adolla-Burst bearer. Schoolgirl Inca, who has the ability to sniff out fires before they start, becomes notorious as the Fireground Thief, extorting valuables from victims in exchange for rescuing them.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Things are heating up in this episode. The hunt for the Fifth Pillar has everyone on their knees looking for her. Shinra is still recovering from his battle with Authur and Company 4. It was uncanny to see Shinra apologize to Authur for how he behaved while under the influence of the First Pillar. The only humor of this episode came from their friendly banter. It’s great to see this series finally take their friendship seriously while still retaining their comedic aspect.
Inca appears as a normal average teenage girl but that pretense quickly goes out the window. She summons her friends, Panda and Sancho for a heist. She can sense where fires are about to start. She uses this ability to save people’s lives if they give her their belongings. Her cruelty knows no bounds as she appears in an old man’s apartment and tells him she would save him if he gives up all of his possessions.
Inca reveals her backstory to Panda and Sancho. Her hometown was involved in a great fire. As the fire is spreading, she is just standing there and awaiting death. She is just standing there and people are running and looking at her as if she is a freak. As she sees the fires rise and devour people, it awakens a desire for her to live alongside her power. Her backstory is similar to other characters in this series. But she takes a divergent path from the others and uses her power for her benefit.
Multiple fires start to break over the city. Inca senses the fires are about to start and gives out an unsettling laugh. Fire Force Company 8 arrives on the scene to locate Inca as she is suspected of being the Fifth Pillar and get to her before the Evangelist. They get there a bit too late and it’s up to Shinra to save Inca from Charon.
For a while, I thought this was supposed to be a Shonen anime where everyone ends up happy at the end. Charon kills Sancho in such a gruesome manner in this episode. It was the first moment that made consequences feel real in this series. Seeing Sancho’s blood spatter and all over the air was a bit shocking. There have been deaths that happen before in this series but they didn’t carry the visually horrifying aspect like this one.
In Summary
There were moments that this episode felt like it was a slow burn. Part of the reason is that this episode was more of a setup for future episodes. It was a bit of an info dump and restates information from the first season. This episode was a bit weirdly paced. Some of this information could have gone in the first episode of this season to allow for a better flow. The part where Obi visit to the Chief to convince the Chief to unite all Companies to deal with the Evangelist was a bit much. It will have a deeper significance later but it didn’t need to be included in this episode. It has to happen to create action in future episodes. Inca spices things up as she mixed up in the battle between Company 8 and the Evangelist. Her adrenaline junkie characteristics add another uncanny character to this wacky serious. The gruesome part of this episode was greatly horrifying. Not recommended for the faint of heart.
Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
