Firepower is waist-deep in its climatic endgame, a phase where even the strongest Firepower characters cannot afford to hold anything back. All the previous battles against the Infernals and the white-robed cult were mere warm-ups compared to this final war, as Arthur Boyle's duel with Dragon showed in episode 21. Both the stakes and power levels have peaked, meaning it's time for protagonist Shinra Kusakabe to jump back into the thick of things.
The last ones Firepower episode didn't actually involve Shinra that much, not since he kicked Raffles I titan a few episodes ago. Shinra disappeared after the people turned against him as the killer of a great emperor, and the heroes have been fighting in his absence. However, the end of episode 21 suggests that Shinra is about to return in a big way – or at least the heroes urgently need him to. Some big battles are still ahead, whether or not Company 8 can return the world to normal and stop the Great Disaster halfway through.
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Shinra must overcome his image as a villainous devil
Shinra has not been popular recently
Ever since Firepower Anime aired first, protagonist Shinra Kusakabe has toyed with the idea of a devil, as the sharp-toothed hero who practices the Devil's Footprints fighting style as a fire soldier in the Tokyo Empire. It's not uncommon for shonen anime to switch roles like the angel and the demon, like twisted bishops or cute devils and succubi, and Firepower does much the same with Shinra himself. He has always been a self-proclaimed superhero in every respect, and it has been his pleasure to save people from Infernals and other threats. Lately, though, Shinra's devil theme has come full circle, and it could work against him in the coming episodes.
Shinra believed that he had become the world's glorious savior in the Great Disaster, with all his friends at Company 8 cheering him on as he defeated Raffles I titan while Soul Eater the moon hung overhead. Instead, the common people turned on Shinra as the devil who killed their emperor, meaning the white-robed cult has imagery and history on its side. The white-clad cult wants to “save” humanity in a twisted sense, hiding behind the historical significance of Raffles I to sell the idea. After that battle, Shinra ended up somewhere else, and he hasn't been seen since. All these battles have taken place in his absence.
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What's more, Shinra woke up with the burden of his doppelganger weighing him down. Ever since the third act of Season 3 began, Shinra has been working against his own doppelganger's nasty reputation as a rough and unkind person, one who would casually hit Iris. All of this means that in Episode 22 and beyond, Shinra will likely be quite unpopular and have little support outside of Company 8 when he returns to battle. Shinra may have to come to terms with his own darkest impulses, or at least fight everyone's unfairly negative image of him. After all, this is the phase where images and reality blur, so the idea of Shinra the bad guy isn't just a rumor. It's part of reality, and it's something fans can expect to see more of in episode 22 until the end of the anime.
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Company 8 faces the remaining doppelganger threat without Arthur
Even Shinra can be late to the party
A few episodes ago, Firepower terrified viewers with the dramatic arrival of a quintet of doppelgangers, matching some of the most powerful fire fighters and other characters in the anime. The remaining members of the white-robed cult ensured that these doppelgangers arrived in time to keep the Great Disaster on track and keep the heroes of Company 8 at bay, and so far only one of these doppelgangers has seen action. Tamaki Kotatsu battled Assault's evil twin a couple of episodes ago, meaning the elite squad is down to four surviving members. Then, Firepower switched gears to depict Arthur's climactic showdown with Dragon on the moon itself.
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This means, with so few episodes of Firepower As they remain, it is likely that in episode 22, the main characters will take on the four remaining doubles, either in duels or in group battle. The anime has been surprisingly reluctant to show these doppelgangers in battle thus far, but the likes of Shinmon Benimaru and Joker wouldn't make their doppelgangers come off as mere window dressing. It's almost certain that these Adolla-born villains will see action pretty soon, and Shinra probably won't be there to see it first. Nor will Arthur Boyle, the mighty knight, see himself cut to pieces in his fight with the Dragon and appear on the brink of death.
At the moment, Kurono and Benimaru are already staring down their own doppelgangers, and that could dominate the narrative of the next battle, while Shinra struggles to find his way back to the battlefield while shaking off his own villainous image. Shinra is the main character in an endgame battle, so he's probably strong enough to help even Benimaru or Kurono fight their own evil twins as someone who has to prove again why he sees himself as a great hero to everyone.
Firepower
- 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
- Author
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Yoriko Tomita
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Gakuto Kajiwara
Shinra Kusakabe (voice)
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Yusuke Kobayashi
Arthur Boyle (voice)
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Saeko Kamijo
Maki Oze (voice)
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Mao Ichimichi
Iris (voice)
