#Hikari no Ou

[animangapolls]

[rachelraygifs]

every episode of the fire hunter fills me with incredible dread and horrible vibes, its really good

[harddoor]

[impendingsky]

[nocoan]

[entrehormigones]

[mageinabarrel]

The Only Good Anime of Winter 2023

[cospinol]

OH I SEE. I SEE 👁

[magicalgirlmel]

Anime finished this year 6: The Fire Hunter

6/10

Transcript under the cut

So, the ending of this one surprised me, as in, I wasn't expecting it to end when it did at only ten episodes. Mostly because I didn't know what the episode count was meant to be, but also because it felt like the series was really starting to build towards what was going to be some level of a final act. However, it just cuts off right there, in the middle of what feels like some pretty big raising of the stakes and something of a turning point. As such, I'm not fully sure how to feel just yet. I'm glad that the show is getting a second season, but I also wish that the ending of this season wasn't quite so abrupt.

For me, a lot of the characters here fall a little flat aside from a small handful of standouts, but the world is really meant to be the star of the show here, so I'm not entirely surprised that I ended up feeling that way. However, at the same time, I do wish that I didn't. I would have liked to be a little more connected to them, but some of them can feel kind of flat at times, which does make it a little more difficult. 

Still, the world of the show is interesting and it's always something of a slap to the face to remember that this takes place in a post-apocalypse during a second industrial revolution instead of during just, ya know, a first industrial revolution. It's not that that's a bad thing, but it's something that can feel like a background element until it's really really not. However, the differing factions and the intrigue of the plot were more than enough to carry me through here and I loved the lived in feeling that the city had once we reached it, even if the streets can look empty at times so the crowded feel I think it was going for is a little lacking. I don't believe the novels have official translations at the moment, but I do hope that they get one in the near future since I would love to give them a read.

The downside is there was always this feeling that I had that this series had somewhat bitten off more than it could chew. It's definitely ambitious, but I think that ambition was somewhat of a downfall for the series as well. The art style of the series is fantastic and I really did love the way it had a more grounded feel to it than I think some other productions might have gone for. I may not have agreed with every design choice that was made here, but you also can't say that it wasn't making some strong choices.

The problem is that the animation of that art style could be pretty lacking at times. Because of the look they went for, any CGI elements stood out like a sore thumb, shots of the manor and anytime Kun made use of stag beetles easily come to mind. There's also this usage of cut in shots that don't come up very often and can feel like a reason to not have to animate a full body and just part of one instead. I think the still art pieces that are used at some times are very well done and the colorwork on them is fantastically beautiful, but they also felt somewhat weirdly placed at times and their usage was odd, as some episodes could have quite a few and others none at all. 

It leads to this feeling of inconsistency, like these things were used as something of a band aid patch. That inconsistency is what really keeps them from feeling like a real stylistic choice. That's not even getting into the way that there would sometimes be very obvious animation errors, such as the time that a tree vanished, leaving the man who had been pinned to it very obviously floating in the air.

And for a series that there was a decent amount of moments that were meant to be action, quite a few of those action beats could feel incredibly stiff and stilted. Watching the OP, there are some gorgeous cuts of action animation there that the show was never able to live up to, which was incredibly disappointing to see.

I will be watching the second season that was announced the same day as the finale, to be clear, but I hope that the success that the series has seen can allow them to make change to the production that will allow the next season to feel like it is more consistently put together rather than the roughness that is present in the currently existing one. I think tightening up those animation problems could really make it easier to recommend.

[transanimegirl]

standing in the rain reading a book, killing three birds with one stone

reading a book

ruining a book

catching a cold

[conflagrate]

Hikari no Ou 07

At least she knows the score about her dad

Getting closer to the fated reunion!

Poor chap’s still knocked out.

Ewwww Kun??

And so, they meet.

Finally Koushi finds peace.

[erikaalexi]

Touko and Kanata.

[dyingfad]

Hikari no Ou (2023)

[anisongoftheday]

The Fire Hunter Season 2 Ending

Dakishimete by Maaya Sakamoto

[recommendmeanime]

I've updated anime recommendations for The Fire Hunter just in time (if not slightly late) for Season 2!