The following contains spoilers for Fire Force Season 3 Episode 21, “Dragon and Knight Surge Toward the Heavens,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The third and final season Fire Force anime rages like scary Soul Eater The moon still hangs overhead as a sign of things to come. This endgame is best defined not only by its shonen-style star battles, but also by the new rules of reality, where hope and despair help reshape the world. It's a great idea that gives episode 21's stunning fight between Arthur Boyle and the Dragon some extra thematic weight, backed up of course by the excellent fight choreography.
Episode 21 is aptly named, pitting Arthur against one of Evangelist's most fearsome and durable minions, the Dragon himself. This episode has the same strengths as the previous one, but takes things to much greater heights, all without the thematic confusion of turning fanservice into a weapon of hope against evil. Tamaki Kotatsu shined in the last episode, but Arthur triples it here in “Dragon and Knight Surge Toward the Heavens” with a few minor quibbles that hold the episode back. Otherwise this is one of the Fire Forcethe most impressive offers yet.
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Arthur Boyle Goes Plus Ultra in Fire Force Season 3, Episode 21
Endgame wars in anime like shonen “big three” and modern hits like Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia they tend to go hard and Fire Force he will not be left behind. This riveting shonen anime keeps revealing more and better weapons for its final war as the Great Cataclysm unfolds, and Episode 21 is the best example yet of those endgame stakes and power levels. The heroes all charge up and use new, increasingly creative power sources while staying true to their likeable motivations, with Tamaki taking a turn in the previous episode. She did well in episode 20, but Arthur goes much further in episode 21.
Anime veterans won't see anything terribly deep or original in all of this, and longtime fans of the medium may find it routine, the only major knock against Arthur's stunning heroism as a mighty anime knight. Fire Force it's not so much a reinvention of shonen anime or even a self-discovery, but it's still stronger and more creative than anything that came before. For Fire ForceFor his own ends, Arthur does something incredible, and that's what drives the battle of Episode 21.
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Arthur realizes his full potential as a self-proclaimed Knight King in Episode 21, surpassing the goofy performances of previous seasons. Back then, Arthur's King Arthur routine was 50/50 between comedic nonsense and actual battle tactics, but now it's the real thing and not a gag. Fire Force he manages to pull himself together to create a serious and genuine story for his best heroes when it matters most, leaving aside Atsushi Okubo's silliest tendencies to take the ending more seriously. The end result can be a bit predictable since Arthur goes Plus Ultra, but there isn't much else Fire Force audiences expected—or wanted.
In this episode, Arthur makes an incredible effort to defeat his enemy Dragon in a well-animated, vividly colored battle that isn't interrupted by too many flashback sequences. Fortunately, episode 21 immediately explores Dragon's backstory to develop the character a bit, then returns to the present and stays there. Shonen anime are well known for using flashbacks right before a fighter turns on or dies, but Fire ForceThe latest episode ditches that strategy, and it's for the best. What fans will get is a smooth, brutal and simply thrilling toss-up between the supreme King Arthur and the OP “dragon” who has been craving a real challenge for centuries. This means that Arthur's predictable but exciting victory arrives just in time to close the battle in stunning fashion.
Arthur Boyle is comfortable with his supporting role in Fire Force
Another reason to praise Arthur Fire Force Season 3 Episode 21 is such that he will never forget his role as a supporting character in the anime. He strikes the perfect balance between questioning Shinra Kusakabe's massive levels of power/relevance while knowing that it's up to Shinra to complete the quest to save the world. That said, Arthur compares well to sidekicks like Katsuki Bakugo, who tried too hard to overtake the real protagonist, or Zenitsu Agatsuma, who didn't try hard enough to do the same. Bakugo learned some humility and Zenitsu grew stronger when he fought Kaigaku, but Shinra had the right balance all along and in Episode 21 capitalized on that role.
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That's why watching Arthur's final moments in Episode 21 is so breathtaking. He achieves a stunning victory that involves cutting through the entire Earth as everyone watches, but is also unable to fight any further and pleads with Shinra to end the war. Arthur thus completes his own chivalric arc in spectacular fashion, maintaining his position as a supporting hero, strictly respecting boundaries without making too many sacrifices.
Episode 21 indulges in a fluffy narrative that results in a mess
A minor knock against Episode 21 is how the episode tries to feel a little too epic. Even cheesy, slam-bang action anime like Fire Force they need to make sure they don't get carried away, and Episode 21 goes a little beyond the sweet spot. It doesn't spoil the episode by any means, but the over-the-top storytelling still comes across as tacky and redundant. Some anime are notorious for their storytelling, but Fire Force it has no place among them.
This grandiose, poetic narrative serves its purpose during Dragon's flashback sequence, but after that, the narrative in this episode merely describes what fans can already see. The clunky narration adds nothing to the tone or intensity of Arthur and the Dragon's battle, as the actions of both characters speak for themselves with such blatant animation thanks to the hard work of the animation studio. If Episode 21 were to cut this narrative, it would feature the most polished fight scene seen in any anime in years. Fortunately, the rest of the final result is so good that fans might not mind that much anyway.
- Release date
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July 5, 2019
- Network
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TBS, MBS, CBC, Tulip Television, BSN, tys, NBC, HBC, RKK, i-Television, SBS, IBC, BSS, MRO, OBS, TUF, RSK, TUY, tbc, RKB, SBC, KUTV, RBC, UTY, RCC, MRT, atv, MBC
- directors
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Sho Sugawara, Ryota Aikei, Tetsuharu Nakamura, Yuya Horiuchi, Kazuomi Koga, Daisuke Chiba, Kyohei Suzuki, Yuushi Ibe, Shuuji Miyazaki
- Writers
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Yoriko Tomita
- Franchise(s)
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Fire Force
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Gakuto Kajiwara
Shinra Kusakabe (voice)
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Yusuke Kobayashi
Arthur Boyle (voice)
- It features a well-animated battle
- Arthur reaches his climax without stepping on Shinra's toes
- Smooth pace with unobtrusive flashbacks
- Fluff narrative
- The battle and its outcome are fairly predictable
