Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? II 5
"Director, we have a problem! The next episode of the show is just a bunch of people talking in a mansion."
"WHAT? But that's boring! Nobody's going to watch this week's episode if it's just people sitting around talking!"
"Yes, but-"
"AND WE CAN'T HAVE VIEWERS BAILING RIGHT BEFORE THE NEXT ARC FEATURING ANOTHER NEARLY NAKED GODDESS!"
"Funny you mention that, because I think I might have a solution."
"Okay, let's hear it."
"Well, the original light novel here makes mention of an onsen-"
"BRILLIANT! People will DEFINITELY watch a bunch of NAKED people sitting around talking in a mansion!"
"Yeah, but there's A LOT of conversation that's supposed to happen in this onsen-"
"SO WHAT? The higher-ups won't complain even if we have to set half the episode in there, so long as conveniently censor all of it."
(This is a totally accurate portrayal of how this episode came to be from my sources inside J.C. Staff.)
Oh, the episode itself? Well... it was kind of boring.
Fire Force 5
Uoy wonk nehw uoy hctaw a wohs dna uoy semitemos evah elbuort gniees tsuj tahw ti si touba eht wohs taht thguorb os ynam elpoep ot eht tcejorp ni eht tsrif ecalp? I naem, ti yam evah stnemom fo ecnaillirb, tub s'ereht osla emos elbainednu stnemom fo ytidiputs taht t'nod yllaer ekam yna lacigol esnes rehto naht eht retirw ylsuoires thguoht taht a "tsiwt" ekil taht saw ynnuf...
Tiaw, yhw soed siht kool gnorw... hoooooooooo,
There, much better.
Anyway, as I was saying: Fire Force can be a real exercise in how much you're willing to put up with either questionable or purely nonsensical narrative decisions for exceptional art. In a lot of my write-ups for previous episodes, I've often found praise for Fire Force's lore and worldbuilding, as much of it draws upon unusual source material to craft something that feels close enough to the real world at times to some great effect, even if a lot of that so far untapped material is mostly shorthand for political and institutional corruption, the cost of the privatization of first responders, the uncomfortable status firefighters hold in the community due to their both practical and religious roles, etc. But it's when you contrast that against moments like Arthur being so absent-minded in the heat of battle he nearly dies because he doesn't remember what his dominant hand is and it's really difficult to take the more high-minded topics in the background seriously. And this doesn't even touch on the fanservice, which wouldn't be as big of a detractor if it didn't feel like it was the kind of perverted humor that would appeal to a young demographic that still finds sexual slapstick funny instead of lame.
I can't remember the last time I saw something where the gulf between the quality of the production and the quality of the script in any given episode was this wide most of the time. And the truth is, it kind of sucks because there is the potential for something good here. There's multiple times where Fire Force reminds me of things like Fullmetal Alchemist, which can suffer from the same kind of tone problems from time to time, but FMA knew when to curb the humor and dial up the horror. Fire Force feels like it wants to have its cake and eat it too, and while my eyes often say it can get away with that, in my heart I know it's just junk food.
But damn, do I like me some junk food now and again.
O Maidens In Your Savage Season 6
"Director, we have a problem! The next episode of the show is just a bunch of people talking."
"WHAT? But that's every episode! Nobody's going to notice the difference if it's still just people sitting around talking!"
"Yes, but-"
"AND WE CAN'T HAVE VIEWERS BAILING RIGHT AFTER LAST WEEK'S INCREDIBLY BAD HANDLING OF THIS SHOW'S PEDOPHILE!"
"Funny you mention that, because I think I might have a solution."
"Okay, let's hear it."
"Well, the original manga here makes mention of an onsen-"
"BRILLIANT! People will DEFINITELY keep watching after last week if we have the main girls talk about their bodies in an onsen!"
"Yeah, but I'm not so sure having leering shots of our protagonists while they indulge in self-loathing about their bodies is wise-"
"SO WHAT? The higher-ups won't complain if it keeps viewers around, and it's not like Okada's fans aren't used to this shit, right?"
(This is a totally accurate portrayal of how this episode came to be from my sources inside Lay-duce.)
What am I even doing with my life anymore?