REVIEW: ‘Fire Force,’ Season 2 Episode 21 – “Enemy Contact”

Fire Force is a shonen anime produced by David Production. With the infernals threatening to overrun the Fire Force personnel in the Nether everything seems to hang on a knife’s edge. And the investigation is still no closer to figuring out what scheme the White clads are up to this time. And once they are able to decipher this latest enigma, will they have time enough left to stop it?

Fire Force Episode 21 opens with Juggernaut’s final attack against his opponent from the last episode. As the smoke clears from the explosion Tamaki does what she can for the fading Juggernaut as he slips away after his final act to keep her safe. He spends his last breaths thanking her for giving him the opportunity to finally become a man. I’m not going to get into why I so strongly dislike this whole line of thought from Juggernaut again. But, in case you missed it, you can check out my review from last episode for why I hate the way Juggernaut’s final scene played out.

Even with these feelings, however, the scene still struck a chord with me for Tamaki’s sake. As she is clearly wracked with survivor’s guilt at the loss of her kind-hearted friend, she isn’t even given time to grieve as a fresh wave of infernals approaches their position. Vowing to return Juggernaut to the surface, Tamaki’s trademark fiery cat ears appear, as she prepares to clear out her foes. I just wish we could’ve seen the fight.

Instead of staying with Tamaki, Fire Force Episode 21 begins a bit of jumping around as it catches us up with how everyone else is doing. Most notable perhaps is Shinra’s coming into contact with an old enemy that, if im honest, I’d completely forgotten about. No spoilers, but this character was a welcome surprise to see again, and they brought along a new bag of tricks to challenge Shinra with.

The other big scene in this episode follows Lieutenant Hinawa and Officer Oze as they have to confront a previously unknown white-clad. During this confrontation, Oze refuses to stop bringing up how upset he is with how the Lieutenant, and the rest of Station 8, so needlessly endangered his fragile flower of a little sister Maki. The obliviousness on display by this guy here is astounding. Not only is the given situation not at all the right time for such a conversation, but in addition every time he talks he drives home how he knows completely nothing about his sister. It’s so frustrating to know Maki could suffocate forever hidden away behind a desk if this dude and his dad have their way. My fingers are still crossed that Maki will show up again before the season finale to help save the day.

Fire Force Episode 21 comes to a close with a return to Tamaki who has been joined by several other survivors of the now terminally disarray mission. As the combined strength quickly dispatches the last of the immediate threats, the group has a moment to take stock of their situation and attempt to piece together what the white clads might be up to.

With the team finally realizing what the Evangelist’s endgame in the Nether is, Fire Force Episode 21 ends on a bang. I wasn’t expecting the situation to escalate quite as hard as it does, but with only a handful of episodes left in the season, I suppose it’s now or never. I look forward to seeing how the group tries to thwart the villain’s plan once again.

Fire Force Episode 21 is streaming now on Funimation and Crunchyroll.