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「焰の蟲」 (Homura no Mushi)
“Infernal Insects”
It’s been five days since Shinra and Arthur have infiltrate the 1st Brigade to investigate the surge of Infernals appearing in their district. Everything is happening pretty quickly. They’ve narrowed down the suspects, found the ‘bug‘ that triggers the combustion in people, and caught the culprit in the span of an episode. However, that doesn’t mean the investigation is complete. There’s still a question of who was behind the whole thing and why.
We know the culprit is working with the Evangelist, a new entity we’ve only just heard of. Could they have moles in both the Fire Force and Haijima industries. Where do they stand in the grand scheme of things? Obviously they want to create pyrokinetic users, but for what purpose?
There are a lot of subplots in this series and it’s getting bloated. Shinra wants to be a hero and is so preoccupied by it he seems to have forgotten about the possibility his baby brother is still alive. He’s not exactly the most believable character. I understand wanting to save the world but if I’d heard my sibling was still alive after so many years, I’d do everything in my power to find them.
That said, how do the Joker and Viktor fit into all this? They dropped a bomb on Shinra’s lap but he hasn’t had the time or thought to act on it. Were they hoping he would? Do they think of him as the key to discovering what is really happening in their world?
With the introduction of this insect, could it be that combustions across the world have never really been ‘spontaneous’? Maybe these bugs are released in designated spaces and their creators are hoping they do their job. Perhaps all the pyrokinetic users in this world were created by humans rather than Sol. Infernals are the ‘ones gone bad.’ Just theorizing.
That would mean that a swarm of bugs would have made their way into Iris and Hibana’s home convent, turning all the children and sisters into Infernals. If my theory is wrong, then this bug is a new tool created by the Evangelists and one they are willing to test out on children. That’s downright cruel. Watching those kids whimper in fear and Tamaki take a beating was the harshest scene of the season. And kudos to Yuuki Aoi for putting such a swell of emotion into it. With the animation, this makes up such a well-done damsel in distress moment. I knew she had more in her than the forced fan service.
Many strings are hanging loose but hopefully some answers will come soon.
It’s worth remembering that Hibana mentions that insect dna was only found in some infernal cores, and only the ones she had already found suspicious to begin with. Also, from the way Rekka delivered the insects directly into a victim’s back with the bottle, it’s easy to assume that he can’t control the insect if it flies loose. So for instance, the murderous firefighter in the previous episodes who infernalized in the middle of a courtroom was likely a genuine spontaneous case.
Isn’t this show 24 episodes?
Yes it is! I can see now I made it seem as thought it’ll be short. I’m just voicing my concern for the amount of mysteries/conspiracies building up.
The manga is currently up to 186 chapters. The current ep covers events up to chapter 27. What are people expecting?
The anime is closely adapting the manga (some small changes here and there) and is moving quickly.
That said, long-running series tend to have a lot of subplots simply because there is a lot of time to flesh out a large cast; sure, the story could zoom through Shinra’s story in 12 eps and we’d have no world-building or any other characters to like. To expect that a 24 ep series is gonna jump right into the main plot is unrealistic. The 24 eps isn’t gonna get us half-way through the current chapters. There will probably be something revealed about Shinra’s past before the end of the 24th ep.
Examining in-world reasoning, Shinra is currently doing everything he can to try to get to the truth. He’s on the correct path (the correct unit in the correct force) to find his truth but the 8th can’t just simply barge into other units looking for Shinra’s personal truth just because Shinra heard some unsourced rumors from a shady source.
what you mena 24 epsidoes it ben canfoemd frie force will have 50 epsidoes so I don’t no where you herad 24
Made some minor edits 🙂
Shinra isn’t a good protagonist for this series and you highlighted most of the reasons in that he hasn’t mentioned anything to anyone about his brother…or his suspicions about the 1st commander. He has had zero development this whole time as well. I said it before and I will say it again…I only keep watching because i am mildly intrigued by the story and the fight animation is fantastic.
my 2cents theory – the bugs are being used to find compatible users. I suspect those users will exhibit 3rd generation pyro skills.
i bet his younger brother is still alive and perhaps even the catalyst that make this Infernal instant combustion possible. Before it was very rare, but perhaps he produces this ash that combust all to hell
evangelion, the “blood of the Angel” i have in mind. But here it is this Ash
I find this so odd because Maka Albarn was one of the best anime protagonists that year, she had a solid personality with a complicated back story and goals that changed later on! What happened?
I think a few different things are in play here.
Shinra is largely another shounen trope MC: hot-headed, impulsive, shallow, hasn’t been challenged or questioned himself on what he thinks.
His ideas about himself and the world are simplistic and cheap. Like all such characters, his story development will challenge these things.
The manga is a long weekly one. It doesn’t lend itself to a short 12-13 ep adaption and that’s not what we are getting. But anime audiences have come to expect major story developments within a handful of eps; Enen is built like stories were built in the old days – long with lots of side-development, lots of world-building, and lots of characters to get to know.
Yes, I’m saying a lot of anime fans are ruined by expecting fast development now because somehow a 24 ep series is now a “double” when it used to be a standard.
Shinra isn’t my fave character but I appreciate how he plays very well as a BlackStar/Naruto type who’s edging into adulthood and is thus calming down, taking things a bit slower, thinking some things through, but still hasn’t totally moved on from being impulsive and overeager to do things stupid. As I said, he’s a trope but he’s a more adult version of the trope and I really like seeing someone take that idea on. He’s in an awkward mid-stage and he will get challenged. This makes him a bit unusual as a character; his age range is rarely explored (he’s 17
at the start) in this sort of context so he plays like a rash middle-school kid sometimes but he’s definitely a maturing young man at other times.
This is one of the things I like about both Enen and SE: Ohkubo’s willingness to develop characters which look like tropes but are a bit off from what one is expecting. But it’s risky; people don’t always get it. In this case, Shinra’s budding maturity contrasting with his hot-headed simplicity may be too subtle for lot of people to see. We definitely are not nearly far enough into the story for this to have really been portrayed yet.
Oh well.
This Evangelist
Seems like they forcing something, perhaps forcing of Jesus reaper on Earth again to start the Armageddon, then the “sheep’s” get separated from the sinners and would taken into the Garden of Jesus and life eternal
in short, they want to live eternity and do not fear to “kill” or dirty their hands in blood for that
……………. well THAT escalated quickly.
This must be the part of the manga that made Tamaki a favorite.
Tamaki face was priceless. GG!