The Fire Force Season 2 anime will be increasing the heat this summer since confirmation arrived that the Enen no Shouboutai Season 2 release date arrives in July 2020.
What’s more, Fire Force manga creator Atsushi Ohkubo is teasing that the Enen no Shouboutai manga’s ending is coming up relatively soon… and this final chapter will be his very last manga series!
It’s been confirmed that the anime’s continuation is a “true” second season rather than a split-cour first season.
A “cour” is a three-month TV broadcasting unit based on the physical seasons, and animes usually have between 10 to 13 episodes per cour.
A “split-cour” is when a single anime season takes a TV broadcasting break for several months before resuming.
But it’s easy to become confused by anime season labeling.
Both FUNimation and Crunchyroll News call the continuation, Fire Force Season 2. The official Twitter account for the anime series and the teaser trailer both called the next part the “2nd chapter” of the anime series.
Anime news leakers Spytrue and Yonkou Productions claimed the Fire Force TV anime was going to be four cours. kVin of the respected Sakuga Blog was telling anime fans to expect 24 episodes followed by a three to six-month hiatus before the second half was released.
As he predicted, the time frame for the Fire Force Season 2 release date is July 2020.
Other anime series can just be as confusing. Overlord Seasons 2 and 3 both came out in 2018 yet were considered separate seasons (see our article about Overlord Season 4).
On the other hand, split-cour anime seasons like Attack On Titan S3 and Food Wars! S3 were clearly labeled, while others like Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 2 are labeled as Part 2, not a second season. (See our articles on Attack On Titan Season 4 and Food Wars! Season 5, which was delayed as of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 5 Episode 3 due to the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic).
Fire Force Season 2 is being produced by animation studio David Production, which is best known for creating the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime and Cells at Work! (both Cells At Work! Season 2 and a Cells At Work! Code Black anime is confirmed for 2021).
Most of the primary production staff at David Production has been confirmed to be returning for Fire Force Season 2. The biggest difference is that Fire Force Episode 12 director Tatsumi Minakawa (who is also supervising the scriptwriting process) is replacing director Yuki Yase from the first season.
Shin’ya Takano is also replacing CGI director Daisuke Kusaka.
Many of the ex-SHAFT creators are returning, but they’re being supplemented with new faces.
Character designer Hideyuki Morioka and Chief Animation Director Yoshio Kozakai both worked together at SHAFT on Kizumonogatari, with second Chief Animation Director Yumenosuke Tokuda (Haikyuu!! Season 4, Infinite Dendrogram, Naruto Shippuden) joining them.
Animators Kazuhiro Miwa (Tokyo Ghoul, Noragami, Attack On Titan), Hiroyuki Ookaji, and Riki Matsuura were all involved with SHAFT projects in recent years.
They’re being joined by main animator Neito Hirohara and Miyazato is now the Art Director.
Writer Yamato Haishima is handling the scripts and series composition. Katsumi Terahigashi (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Psycho-Pass) is providing storyboards.
Composer Kenichiro Suehiro (Goblin Slayer, Golden Kamuy, Re:ZERO) provides the music.
(On a related side note, the primary staff is entirely different for David Production’s adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The JoJo Part 6: Stone Ocean anime should not be unnecessarily delayed by the Fire Force Season 2 anime.)
The Fire Force Season 2 opening (OP) theme song music is “SPARK-AGAIN” by Aimer, and it’s featured in the above trailer. The ending (ED) will be performed by Cidergirl.
Fire Force Episode 24 aired on December 27, 2019. Enen no Shouboutai Season 2 has been confirmed to be two cours again with 24 episodes, which makes sense based on the manga’s story arcs. The 24 episodes will be sold as four Blu-ray and eight DVD volumes.
Adult Swim Toonami’s Fire Force Season 2 TV broadcast is scheduled to start on October 24, 2020. New episodes will be released on Saturdays. Toonami also offers a rerun of the first season starting at 1 AM EST on August 9, 2020.
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Updated July 29, 2020: Added Toonami Fire Force info.
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Updated July 2, 2020: Number of Fire Force Season 2 episodes confirmed.
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Updated June 24, 2020: Added new Fire Force Season 2 trailer from Crunchyroll.
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Updated June 16, 2020: Exact Fire Force Season 2 release date confirmed!
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Updated May 27, 2020: Added Fire Force Season 2 ending theme song artist.
This article provides everything known about Fire Force Season 2 (Enen no Shouboutai Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
FUNimation’s Fire Force Season 2 English dub delayed?
Many English dubbing houses have experienced delays since voice actors often travel to the recording studio.
To protect voice actors from the impact of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic, FUNimation has “temporarily paused SimulDub production for the remainder of the current and upcoming seasons.”
Both FUNimation and Crunchyroll have been streaming a trailer for Fire Force Season 2, but it’s notable that the FUNimation version only has English subtitles.
Does this mean that the Fire Fire Season 2 English dub is one of the “upcoming seasons” that will also be delayed?
In general, many anime studios’ schedules have suffered from cascading effects due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the mitigation efforts by all nations.
Many anime studios are located within the Tokyo area, which has struggled to contain the viral spread. Some Japanese prefectures have begun to reopen slowly, but it may be some time before life, and thus anime creation, can return to normal.
Fire Force manga’s ending will be Atsushi Ohkubo’s final chapter
The story for the Fire Force anime is based on the Enen no Shouboutai manga by writer and illustrator Atsushi Ohkubo. He is the creator of the popular Soul Eater manga series, which also received an anime adaptation in the past.
“The real heroes closest to us are the firefighters all around us. They’re the closest thing we have to a hero, so I really wanted to create a manga that gives them the spotlight,” Ohkubo said.
“I think even if you’re in the fantasy world, you’re still going to have fires, right, so who puts those out? That’s why we need firefighters in this fantasy world, and they have to fight fires with fantasy powers.”
Please read our exclusive interview with the Fire Force manga creator. He discusses the planned number of volumes, the series’ ending, and how Shinra’s name is relevant to the central mystery of the story.
Serialized weekly since 2015 in Weekly Shonen Magazine, the Fire Force manga is up to Volume 23 as of May 2020. Fire Force Volume 24 is scheduled to come out on July 17, 2020.
The official English translation of the Fire Force manga series is being released in North America by Kodansha USA. As of April 21, 2020, the English manga was up to Volume 18.
Fire Force Volume 19 is scheduled to hit on August 25, 2020, Volume 20 on October 20, 2020, and Volume 21 on December 15, 2020.
In the author’s notes section of Volume 23, Ohkubo hinted that the Enen no Shouboutai manga’s ending is on the horizon. He said that the manga’s story is in its “final stage.”
Even more shocking, Ohkubo announced that Fire Force would be his “last manga” series. He’s asking that fans join him “until the very end” of the story.
Fire Force anime has a long ways to reach the Enen no Shouboutai manga’s ending
Everyone agrees that the first two episodes of the Fire Force anime’s first season are an absolute blast.
Following the manga pretty closely, this new world is revealed with artistic flair while giving emotional depth to the characters. In later episodes, the story gives way to e*chi excesses, but that change in tone can’t be blamed on David Production.
The manga creator loves his “man of culture” jokes (never mind the sexy nun fetish). It wasn’t too surprising when cat girl Tamaki Kotatsu and her “Lucky Lecher Lure” introduced a fan service gimmick in the anime.
The problem is that such gimmicks are quite a tonal shift from poignant emotional scenes and development of the story’s overarching mystery.
The anime did make some changes in that regard. For example, Episode 3 skipped Tamaki grabbing Shinra in an awkward spot when they rocketed up through the roof of the Rookie Games training area.
Later on, the anime cut back on the lewdness slightly when Shinra was on his face before Princess Hibana. In the anime, it was made evident by Shinra’s facial expression that he accidentally looked up Hibana’s skirt, but the manga graphically depicted the upskirt peek.
It was good to see the anime dropping such moments of lewdness since adolescent urges are out of place in an otherwise tense set of events.
Overall, the anime reordered the presentation of some events for a dramatic impact. David Production’s writers managed to condense the story events from the manga while staying true to the heart of the story.
David Production maintained comfortable pacing, and Episode 24 adapted up through Chapter 90 of Volume 11, the ending of the Netherworld arc. Finishing at least Chapter 90 was necessary since it’s the ending of the longest story arc in the manga series thus far.
By Summer 2020, the manga series provided plenty of source material for producing Fire Force Season 2 with two cours. The second season will likely end with Chapter 197 of Volume 23.
The only bad news is that producing the Fire Force Season 3 anime may need to wait until the ending of the Enen no Shouboutai manga series is released.
Enen no Shouboutai Season 2 release date confirmed for July 2020
Advertisements for the anime in Japan have officially confirmed the exact Fire Force Season 2 release date.
The time frame for the Enen no Shouboutai Season 2 premiere date is scheduled for July 2020, the summer 2020 anime season.
The Fire Force Season 2 release date will be on July 3, 2020.
Fire Force Season 2 spoilers (Plot summary/synopsis)
The last time we watched the anime, Shinra and Company 8 had confronted the White Hoods in the Netherworld. Shinra confronted his younger brother Sho and it’s revealed their mother is still alive as an Infernal.
Investigating further, Shinra meets with Battalion Commander Soichiro Arg of Fire Force Company 4 to ask more about the Adolla Link and Adolla Bursts.
But things get complicated quickly when a mysterious entity called the First Pillar takes control of Shinra and commands him to kill the captain!
Depicted as a floating woman in the Fire Force Season 2 anime’s key visual, the First Pillar first appeared to Shinra in a dream in the Netherworld. Now, she uses Shinra’s Adolla Link to direct his anger at the Demons toward humanity.
The rampaging Shinra not only goes after Captain Arg, but he also fights with Arthur and others. The First Pillar tries to manipulate Shinra by offering to give him more information on his mother if he is willing to kill by becoming a Devil.
The investigation turns to the introduction of a new Fire Force character named Inca Kasugatani. The pink-haired girl is the very first Fourth Generation flame user, and the First Pillar claims that Inca will become the Fifth Pillar.
But Inca does not want to have anything to do with either Company 8 or the White Hoods. And then an Infernal outbreak involving Charon and Company 8 turns up the heat even more because the confrontation causes Inca’s full powers to erupt.
That’s just the beginning of Company 8’s struggles since they lead an expedition to the Chinese Peninsula where they run into sentient Infernals and even a tear in space itself!
What they uncover in China upsets some of those in power, and now the Holy Sol Temple wants to suppress their discoveries. These revelations cause even Iris to doubt the church.
It’s discovered that Nataku, one of the children that Rekka forced to be bitten by a bug, is still alive at the Haijima Industries headquarters. In fact, Nataku is now the Sixth Pillar due to his awakened abilities, and Company 8 must fight for his future.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Fire Force Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!