MeinMMO editor Jasmin Beverungen discovered the anime Fire Force a few years ago. The story and art style instantly captivated her. However, one character was so annoying that she had to stop watching the series.
Fire Force is one of the biggest highlights of the upcoming anime season. In spring 2025, the anime will finally receive its third season, showcasing the grand finale of the manga. Five years have passed since the release of the second season, which is why fans are eagerly anticipating the continuation.
I would actually be one of those people. Soul Eater caught my attention back then. Both mangas come from the same mangaka, which is noticeable among other things in the cheeky character design.
Soul Eater was one of the first animes and remains one of my favorite series to this day, because it conveys a dark atmosphere without jump scares. Fire Force also features an incredibly exciting world with a big mystery that I actually wanted to uncover.
However, my enjoyment of this anime was taken away from me in the second season. One character was so intrusive and annoying that I stopped watching the series in the middle of the plot. Therefore, I probably won’t watch the third season.
You can watch the trailer for the third season here:
One character ruins the entire anime for me
Already in the third episode, Tamaki Kotatsu joins the story. Like protagonist Shinra Kusakabe, she is part of the Special Fire Force and helps to uncover the mystery behind the spontaneous combustion of humans.
In fact, the character has an exciting ability. She can create flames like Shinra, which manifest as pink fire for her, giving her cat-like traits. But Tamaki has a curse that makes her an annoying character.
She has the ability to magically attract bad luck. This often puts her in situations that are extremely uncomfortable not only for her but also for the viewer. And I don’t even mean the everyday situations where Tamaki is beset by bad luck. She loses her clothes or stumbles and ends up with her breasts in the faces of others.
There are other scenes where the disruptive moments pulled me out of the story:
- When Tamaki is overwhelmed by Orochi and lying on the ground, I felt the seriousness of the situation. But the threat disappeared for me when Tamaki’s clothing was burned away by Orochi’s flame whip.
- In training with Hikage and Hinata, Tamaki rises to the occasion and is praised by Chief Shinmon. A touching violin music plays, interrupted by Tamaki’s missing clothing and her bare bottom.
- The fight between Rekka and Shinra was one of my favorite battles. It showed what a psychopath Rekka really is and what kind of threat he poses. Yet even here, serious battle scenes are interrupted because Shinra uses Tamaki’s breasts as an airbag.
There’s even a name for her bad luck: Tamaki suffers from the “Lucky Lecher Lure” syndrome, which is why her clothes keep falling off. This bad luck is explained by the fact that the girl cannot control her powers. Her body unconsciously reacts to the heat of her own powers, causing her to lose control of her clothing.
Such characters or moments are nothing new in the anime world. There are entire animes that rely on such effects. These include harem animes like Trinity Seven or High School DxD. A prominent example of an anime with many fan-service moments, which you might remember from earlier, is the RTL2 anime Ranma 1/2.
But in Fire Force, it feels out of place to me. I was actually interested in the anime because it has a dark story and I was curious about the mystery behind why people spontaneously combust. The fan-service moments constantly pulled me out of the action. Moreover, according to the lore, Tamaki is only 17 years old, which makes it even harder for me to accept.
Currently, there are only two options for how I deal with Fire Force:
- I can rewatch the anime and fast forward when Tamaki gets “plagued by bad luck” again. However, fast-forwarding also pulls me out of battles, and I have to time precisely when to stop fast-forwarding. Therefore, it’s more likely that I…
- will leave the anime aside and unfortunately not watch the third season either.
Another alternative would be to read the manga. But even there, Tamaki is supposed to be just as annoying, which would pull me out of the action again. I doubt I will ever finish watching or reading the story.
Is there an anime or manga for you that you couldn’t enjoy to the end because one character annoyed you? Tell me in the comments which character you would most like to delete from a story! Interestingly, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda is annoyed by his own character: Why Ruffy annoyed the “One Piece” creator more than all his characters
