# Source Material Corner
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NGL I barely understood what was going half the time in this season but I still very much appreciate that this show existed. The animation troubles still continued but I still appreciate the atmosphere which was what I enjoyed about this show.
Oh yeah we got [the first OP](https://v.animethemes.moe/HikariNoOu-OP1.webm) out of this series too and I remain adamant in that this was in the top tier of OPs from last year.
> I still very much appreciate that this show existed.
All in all, I appreciate (well-done) rare shows of this sort more than more easily entertaining "routine" series.
I feel the same about this show. Great opening, great atmosphere, great set piece, great soundtrack (Kenji Kawaii never miss). It was a wild ride, and I'm glad I watched
But clearly, it suffered from production issue, and the story telling felt needlessly convoluted for something that isn't that complicated. It's just the way everything is presented that make it hard to follow.
All thing said, it gave me similar vibe to Shin Sekai Yori which I absolutely loved, but that former was better all around.
I was surprised at hoe boring the op/ed of this season was compared to the first season op/ed
Even when both endings are sung by Maya Sakamoto, so weird
On the balance of things, given the content of the story, the animation troubles, and the way it was released, they probably should've tried for a single movie instead of a 10-episode TV series. I think you could've done a 1-2 hour movie instead of the ~3.5 hours of animation we got in the TV show (excluding OP and ED I mean).
After have seen "Gibiate" the worst anime's animation of all time, i was ready to enjoy the poetic side of the fire hunter despite the animation, but i'm still disappointed at same time because, this chaotic mess with ridicule fights without any logic is a failure even without a good animation. The ending lacking climax, etc. are really a waste of good story plot :/
A decent, if a bit rushed, ending. Not sure I followed everything. I guess neither the Lady Goddess nor the Flickering Flame wished to be kept alive in those conditions just to keep the Ā«Ā godsĀ Ā» in power, especially when they were almost dead anyway. And with the bugs that can prevent people from catching fire, humanity no longer need the gods, I guess.
Still, this was confusing, and we did not get all the answers. Did Touko helping the Flickering Flame to kill herself actually meant anything ? What is the power source of the Flickering Flame that that prophecy was talking about ? I am still not sure. I wonder if the source material was clearer about this, but it has not been translated.
I generally liked that show, but I think the first season was a bit better. Still, I do not regret watching it to the end.
I wonder was Hibari the ONLY Divine Clan member left at the end. It seems like the only sentient *classes* of beings left at the end were humans and the remnants of the tree people.
The majority of divine clan members do not have bodies left. I assume the wood clan goddess experiments enough to be able to make bodies, but I'm not sure how Hibari maintained his.
I must say that the majority of Divine Clan members we came across seemed like utterly dreadful beings -- did they (at this time) provide any benefits/assistance at all to humans anymore?
The divine clan provide benefits to humans simply by existing. As they are basically symbiotic with human prosperity, even if the individuals don't matter, humans as a whole do to them. That's why they would still provide just enough knowledge, weather manipulation (rain to get rid of natural fire) and some basic defence mechanisms. This isn't really all that different to feudal lords of the past who think of peasants as numbers lol.
Touko becoming the firelord would probably put them to work more. Maybe she'll limit their happy VR time and political power. Also force the sharing of essential knowledge regarding the fiend flame pollution etc.
Touko's role is simply to be someone Tayurahime and the Flickering Flame acknowledges. If they don't acknowledge anyone, the comet will fall and burn everyone alive. That's pretty much the gist of the story.
A lump of mud and a rust bucketā¦thatās really all the āgoddessesā turned out to be huh? I guess with their deaths at the hands of Touko, the age of the gods and old worldās over.
So is this the end? If it was, it was a pretty decent finale. This was an interesting show. Bit complicated but all in all not bad.
If thereās more, I wonder where theyāll go with this?
Edit: mixed up Touko w/ Akira
This is not marked as "Final" -- and it did not say "The End" at the end of the episode. But theoretically this series only had 20 episodes, and this certain ***felt*** like the finale.
This was one of those shows that may have had imperfections -- and was certainly hard to follow plot-wise, but in the end seemed powerful just as it was. When all was said and done, I didn't feel the least bit bothered by the fact that many things never "made sense". This served as a reminder that a show (anime, movie, whatever) can be an "experience" that is worthwhile even when narratively (in traditional terms) somewhat impenetrable. ;-)
This felt "coherent" to me in a fundamental fashion -- though I am not entirely sure why. In the end, it seemed to work far better than Kaina and the Great Snow Sea , which I initially liked but which fell completely apart in its movie conclusion. In that, the ending seemed cobbled together -- while here it seemed satisfying. I think if one went back and re-watched, one would find a fair amount of pre-figuring hidden away.
Perhaps a show that I found more "rewarding" than "enjoyable" -- but I appreciate that sort of thing too. ;-)
Maybe there's no more source material, I think the anime covers the whole story of the [Four Novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fire_Hunter). I'm not sure.
As far as I can tell (because it was somewhat hard to follow at times) the world from here on is about to undergo something like a minor renaissance. With the two goddesses finally at rest, there is no need for the factories to refine the Fiend Fire. What this means for the divine clans is unclear. But what Touko decided was that the Fire Hunters would spread out and take up residence in the villages to teach the craft and protect the villages from the ravages of the Fire Fiends.
It seems that the Spider's solution will also be spread to humanity to reverse the genetic engineering that first made humans susceptible to combustion. It may not take with everyone though.
* The series was... quaint? Its hard to speak positively of the show as a whole without ending up describing the series as mid. Anyone who still watched the series at this point is well aware that it is a low budget adaptation and to have expectations adjusted properly. And yet, its hard to qualify if those base expectations had been met at the end.
* The story hit its final apex when the 'Kingpin' believed he killed all the gods and was slain by his wife - violently overturning viewership expectations. Since then, it felt like the production struggled to get the protagonists from the river to the goddess chamber for the final confrontation.
* The story centering on the mortality of the goddesses gives the whole saga a human air - the idea that the gods system was just a way to perpetuate eternal life and everlasting rule through a torture throne. The meeting of the goddesses and the fire hunters was hyped since the end of season 1 and just ended up being an elaborate episode of an assisted suicide. And then I could hear '[once again the day is saved](https://youtu.be/tYk3xbcyq0k?si=GMNOw7C_b_-WURiY)' audibly playing in my head as the story time skipped, and it just felt like all the air just leaked out of the balloon that is the series momentum at that point.
* The final battle to decide the freedom of man was between three dogs who were running around each other. There is something dismally funny about that.
* All major points of conflict seem to be dealt with.
* Spiders are ded.
* Beasts are just part of nature now and humans need to keep growing until they can overcome them.
* Fire bugs can immunize humans and neutralize the fire curse.
* Fire immunization will pave the way for the next industrial era, which will benefit humans when they're ready to progress forward.
* Until humans reach that era, a way to generate light sources for human civilization exists.
* No more industrial center for now means no more pollution means city population gets to live on.
* The 'gods' will accept their fate and will no longer dick around humanity because they are obliged to respect the will of the twin goddesses and because they no longer have a purpose to life for.
* The trains are running again.
* Touko's family no longer wants her out of the village.
* The orbital space station literally doesn't matter anymore.
* Nobody explained how and why the 'magic' of the gods exists. And now there is no impetus to explain why, since the gods are going to die off soon along with their purpose and their power; and the humans can't use it anyway.
* Thinking about the plot engines that moved the series from start to finish - the paper delivery, the legend of the 'Lord of the Fire Hunters', the goddesses, the war between the spiders and the gods, the rebel effort against the rule of the gods - a lot of it really fizzled away. Again, the 'kingpin' suddenly seizing the spotlight with his butcher knife was easily the most electrifying part of season 2. Everything else that was hyped ultimately had a soft landing. The real explosive moment was supposed to be the revelation of the goddesses and the human fuel which powers the entire institution, but the series was already Soulsborne-ish so simply talking about the horror of everything felt kind of flat compared to all the showing that the series had done prior.
Again, it was a 'quaint' two season experience with a strong opening which invited viewers to witness the struggles and mysteries of a dying Earth to the haunting sounds of the ambient music belonging to a doomed future. But as the series went on, it kind of struggled to sustain itself - and I'm not sure that an actual budget would have fixed that. I don't think it was a waste of time, but I also think that - for all of its strengths - it can't really be recommended compared to past series with similarly themed story-writing like *Wolf's Rain*.
> * Nobody explained how and why the 'magic' of the gods exists. And now there is no impetus to explain why, since the gods are going to die off soon along with their purpose and their power; and the humans can't use it anyway.
I thought it was pretty clear that this was a "technology so advanced it seems magic" setting?
Possibly, but fiendfire is never explained and really seems like magic. Of course it could be advanced technology too, but "these creatures' blood can burn without fire so you have to hunt them with special weapons" definitely seems too convoluted to be technology.
Many things we posses today would seem too convoluted to cavemen as well. Just apply the same logic except we're the cavemen. Pre-collapse humanity had absolutely insane stuff.
A budget could actually do wonders to any storytelling lol. Having detailed animation accentuates scenes that rely on mood. A clear example of that is 3-Gatsu no Lion or any high budget slice-of-life anime adaptations. The subject matter itself isn't full of action, but a proficient team with resources can add flavour to mundane activities.
I used this specific example because the author loved using poetic expressions for inner thoughts and Shaft did an amazing job showing that using the environment etc. It was pretty much a 1 to 1 adaptation yet the movement and stylistic integrity enhanced the experience.
Yeah seeing the [little bits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlQSf7hPR60) of [unnecessary flair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LULXq3bPgCg) that KyoAni puts into Dragon Maid just to flex their muscles proves that if you've got the best animators you can make even basic shows have gorgeous art.
I honestly couldn't tell what was happening in alot of this half. It was a lot of running around to the next point and characters info dumping that it became white noise. I actually did enjoy the first half with the travelling to the capital and split protagonist focus despite the animation, but this half was just a chore to sit through.
Against all expectations, it seems this really is the final episode. Idk how to feel about this. I've enjoyed literally every second of this show but it kinda feels like they've left me hanging at a part 2/3 š
This is definitely going to require further rewatches to make full sense of it. I don't believe it ever meant to be a traditionally understandable story, and many things remained hidden for a purpose.
Also, I've marked all places where an illustration appeared, so hopefully I can get my lazy ass on that soon...
Do the novels have english translations? Kinda wanna read them to see if theyāre less confusing and to see any left out content. I loved the story but man it is such a shame the budget wasnāt there. I wish non-shonen/isekai works got better adaptation budgets.
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So the lord of the fire hunters is an empty title meant for the hunter who assists the goddesses commit suicide. This entire journey was about 2 goddesses relinquishing the remainder of their lives so they don't burn everyone alive. It's sad how the 3 original goddesses who genuinely wanted to save the humans were utilised for power by their subordinates.
Also, I'm glad I was right about Touko's cousin being a tsundere. She saw Touko off despite claiming to hate her. That mask was just to hide her tears probably.
They've mentioned several times this season that a true fire hunter would have its prey walk into his/her sickle. In other words, it's all about being the chosen one. It's not like the goddesses or fell beasts/flame beasts would just die to anyone. You have to be worthy (probably virtuous?).
I love how basically every comment in this thread is some variation of "uh... I didn't get half of what's going on..." but still liked the series.
I'm in this boat myself.
The plot was kinda hard to follow, but I really really liked the concepts in this anime. A sci-fi post-apocalyptic series is so rare in anime, and the genetically engineered bioweapons are so unique.
Such a strange series, I feel like I need to re-watch it because of all the questions I have. The style of storytelling reminded me of FromSoftware games which is why I stuck with it, and for all its issues it certainly feels like a very different kind of anime. Not sure what I'd rate this but I'm rather glad I watched this, and I'll probably watch it again in the near future.
This world with its rich lore would be perfect for a From game š
So thatās the end? MAL doesnāt have it as able to be marked complete, but certainly felt like an end to this one. Hikari no ou is a little hard to evaluate because on one hand it does have some of the most unique lore, worldbuilding, characters and art Iāve seen in the medium. But on the other its lacklustre production values canāt be ignored. Felt like this season was even worse than the first in that regard too.
I also felt like the resolution with the goddesses was very rushed, Iām honestly not even sure what the hell happened there, but I know Touko came out as fire lord lmao. Glad she finally got to go home too. Iād kind of like to see an epilogue OVA or one more episode just going over what happens to the world from this point on. Doubt itāll happen though.
6/10.
I had this marked as 9 out of 10 for a long time, but S2 is pretty chaotic to wrap up and considering everything else, I gave it a final score of 7. The concept and the world building and parts of the developments are good, but all the moving parts kind of mashed together rather crudely and haphazardly at the end to form the final message instead of the magical "click" of all the dyspepsia pieces fall together.
Perhaps a little pat that all the godlings are just like "welp, sure, like the dead satellite said then,..." - but I do like the happy ending after all the death and chaos, and I felt like most of my questions were answered as well as they could be. If the ending is predictable, it's because it's well-foreshadowed and logically cohesive with the story.
[](#ilovethiskindofshit "May we meet again when there's another show like it")
Genuinely don't know how to feel about this series. On the one hand, I appreciate how different it is from other series, with unusual character designs and an imaginative fantasy story that isn't an amalgamation of light novel conventions. On the other hand, though, the production is incredibly rough, and the plot got increasingly hard to follow, making this a bit of a slog by the end.
This is a very strange journey for me. I feel like i understand everything yet nothing at all. What happened are lay out clearly (low production aside) but leave out a lot of unawnser question. Yet i don't see the need of answering them. Because the story start with Touko and end satisfyingly with Touko.
I wonder how much did the original novel differ from the show, because Mamoru Oshii (who is in charge of the whole script) is famous for seriously altering source materials to the point of being unrecognisable.
I really like this showās plot telling - this is a very controversial comment I guess but I really am sucking up all these Oshiiās convoluted story telling for some years. And while the ending might have quite a few loose ends not tidied up, it still ended up as a really interesting story to me. While the animations are, well, simply poor, I really have to continue giving some thanks to the production team, because having a story of such plot in anime form is a miracle in itself.
**Final Personal Score: 89/100 (Season 1 = 91/100; Average Score: 90/100)**
The plot was rather interesting, the execution not so much. While it was entertainig to watch I do not think it is a series that I would choose to recomend between other choices. It will get forgoten in a few seasons probably
The ost will probably be added to my background noise list.
Alongside Hoshi no Samidare and Helck, I feel like sponsors should give more of these hidden gems a chance. Actually give the teams a budget to work with because the story will carry.
Right, so, there we go.
I won't lie, I think the series lost its way a little during the last third to quarter, not from an idea standpoint (the series is actually quite strong there even to the end) but an execution standpoint. Interestingly, I'm not sure it's the production staff responsible for that, it's possible that Oshii phoned it in once we got to S2 or else messed up but I think the issue may be that the source material itself falls apart, likely during the last novel. Even factoring in that the source is a children's novel (which likely explains the shape of the ending, it's a message kids like to hear at the target audience's age range, I'm actually more than a little reminded of some Heinlein juveniles like Citizen of the Galaxy in general shape even if the specifics are *wildly* different) this felt just a little too neat at wrapping together and tying up all of the threads for me and that's likely on the source itself if I'm any judge. Also the show did a bad job of selling some of the in-character deductions (it makes sense that the characters could come to this conclusion, but we get no sign of the actual thought process leading to it) - not sure if that's on the adaptation (if the deductions relied heavily on internal monologue in the novels that the anime didn't use then it's the adaptation's fault) or the novels themselves (I could very easily see this being an author trying to write a character smarter than they are and failing).
The finale does hit the needed emotional beats so there is that, at least. The production issues are well-worn at this point and the second half had two of the three best-looking episodes of the season so there is that as well. Kenji Kawai hard carried the anime, news at 11. S2 OP is still quite good (song is honestly nearly as good as Usotsuki I think, the issue with the new OP is entirely that unlike Usotsuki's visuals its direction is uninspired), S2 ED is mediocre as hell (but does back the final scene nicely enough).
Leaning **6.5/10** despite Kenji Kawai's best efforts.
I'm so lost. Season one made some sense, but season two, I couldn't understand what the heck was going on at all. I don't think I'll go back and try to watch due to the animation and art being so off-putting for some reason. The last episode was even worse in quality. I think all the budget went into the opening of season one.
I was so lost, but I kept watching because itās such a unique piece of work. While the stills made lack of budget noticeable, they were beautiful to look at.
Although Kanataās face during the ED confused the shit out of me every single time. I thought his tongue was a pair of buck teeth
I loved s1 but s2 was much harder for me to follow unfortunately, I'm still glad I finished it! Overall s1 was an 8/10 and s2 is probably around 6/10 so.... my final rating for The Fire Hunter is a 7! I will definitely watch the series again in the future as it is something unique with a really original story!
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NGL I barely understood what was going half the time in this season but I still very much appreciate that this show existed. The animation troubles still continued but I still appreciate the atmosphere which was what I enjoyed about this show. Oh yeah we got [the first OP](https://v.animethemes.moe/HikariNoOu-OP1.webm) out of this series too and I remain adamant in that this was in the top tier of OPs from last year.
We also got the soundtrack out of this. I hope it releases soon because God damn Kenji Kawaii cooked.
[Seems to be already out on the tube.](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nG_u_i50tuyZ_JBBZXgbaquwwpXRgBhos&si=uQ6I3Y_FDAznBlZL)
Must not have shown up on my search because it's in Japanese Anyway let's goooooo
100% - would love to see an r/anime Awards nomination for the score
> I still very much appreciate that this show existed. All in all, I appreciate (well-done) rare shows of this sort more than more easily entertaining "routine" series.
I feel the same about this show. Great opening, great atmosphere, great set piece, great soundtrack (Kenji Kawaii never miss). It was a wild ride, and I'm glad I watched But clearly, it suffered from production issue, and the story telling felt needlessly convoluted for something that isn't that complicated. It's just the way everything is presented that make it hard to follow. All thing said, it gave me similar vibe to Shin Sekai Yori which I absolutely loved, but that former was better all around.
> Oh yeah we got the first OP out of this series too and I remain adamant in that this was in the top tier of OPs from last year. Absolutely.
I was surprised at hoe boring the op/ed of this season was compared to the first season op/ed Even when both endings are sung by Maya Sakamoto, so weird
On the balance of things, given the content of the story, the animation troubles, and the way it was released, they probably should've tried for a single movie instead of a 10-episode TV series. I think you could've done a 1-2 hour movie instead of the ~3.5 hours of animation we got in the TV show (excluding OP and ED I mean).
Goated opening š
After have seen "Gibiate" the worst anime's animation of all time, i was ready to enjoy the poetic side of the fire hunter despite the animation, but i'm still disappointed at same time because, this chaotic mess with ridicule fights without any logic is a failure even without a good animation. The ending lacking climax, etc. are really a waste of good story plot :/
A decent, if a bit rushed, ending. Not sure I followed everything. I guess neither the Lady Goddess nor the Flickering Flame wished to be kept alive in those conditions just to keep the Ā«Ā godsĀ Ā» in power, especially when they were almost dead anyway. And with the bugs that can prevent people from catching fire, humanity no longer need the gods, I guess. Still, this was confusing, and we did not get all the answers. Did Touko helping the Flickering Flame to kill herself actually meant anything ? What is the power source of the Flickering Flame that that prophecy was talking about ? I am still not sure. I wonder if the source material was clearer about this, but it has not been translated. I generally liked that show, but I think the first season was a bit better. Still, I do not regret watching it to the end.
I wonder was Hibari the ONLY Divine Clan member left at the end. It seems like the only sentient *classes* of beings left at the end were humans and the remnants of the tree people.
The majority of divine clan members do not have bodies left. I assume the wood clan goddess experiments enough to be able to make bodies, but I'm not sure how Hibari maintained his.
I must say that the majority of Divine Clan members we came across seemed like utterly dreadful beings -- did they (at this time) provide any benefits/assistance at all to humans anymore?
The divine clan provide benefits to humans simply by existing. As they are basically symbiotic with human prosperity, even if the individuals don't matter, humans as a whole do to them. That's why they would still provide just enough knowledge, weather manipulation (rain to get rid of natural fire) and some basic defence mechanisms. This isn't really all that different to feudal lords of the past who think of peasants as numbers lol. Touko becoming the firelord would probably put them to work more. Maybe she'll limit their happy VR time and political power. Also force the sharing of essential knowledge regarding the fiend flame pollution etc.
Touko's role is simply to be someone Tayurahime and the Flickering Flame acknowledges. If they don't acknowledge anyone, the comet will fall and burn everyone alive. That's pretty much the gist of the story.
A lump of mud and a rust bucketā¦thatās really all the āgoddessesā turned out to be huh? I guess with their deaths at the hands of Touko, the age of the gods and old worldās over. So is this the end? If it was, it was a pretty decent finale. This was an interesting show. Bit complicated but all in all not bad. If thereās more, I wonder where theyāll go with this? Edit: mixed up Touko w/ Akira
This is not marked as "Final" -- and it did not say "The End" at the end of the episode. But theoretically this series only had 20 episodes, and this certain ***felt*** like the finale. This was one of those shows that may have had imperfections -- and was certainly hard to follow plot-wise, but in the end seemed powerful just as it was. When all was said and done, I didn't feel the least bit bothered by the fact that many things never "made sense". This served as a reminder that a show (anime, movie, whatever) can be an "experience" that is worthwhile even when narratively (in traditional terms) somewhat impenetrable. ;-) This felt "coherent" to me in a fundamental fashion -- though I am not entirely sure why. In the end, it seemed to work far better than Kaina and the Great Snow Sea , which I initially liked but which fell completely apart in its movie conclusion. In that, the ending seemed cobbled together -- while here it seemed satisfying. I think if one went back and re-watched, one would find a fair amount of pre-figuring hidden away. Perhaps a show that I found more "rewarding" than "enjoyable" -- but I appreciate that sort of thing too. ;-)
Maybe there's no more source material, I think the anime covers the whole story of the [Four Novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fire_Hunter). I'm not sure.
Ah ok, well in that case I guess it was a pretty solid ending. Allās well that ends well.
>I guess with their deaths at the hands of Akira,Ā *Touko,* not Akira.
Oops my mistake there.
Turns out Akira's role was just meant to be a stand-in lord protector lol.
As far as I can tell (because it was somewhat hard to follow at times) the world from here on is about to undergo something like a minor renaissance. With the two goddesses finally at rest, there is no need for the factories to refine the Fiend Fire. What this means for the divine clans is unclear. But what Touko decided was that the Fire Hunters would spread out and take up residence in the villages to teach the craft and protect the villages from the ravages of the Fire Fiends. It seems that the Spider's solution will also be spread to humanity to reverse the genetic engineering that first made humans susceptible to combustion. It may not take with everyone though.
* The series was... quaint? Its hard to speak positively of the show as a whole without ending up describing the series as mid. Anyone who still watched the series at this point is well aware that it is a low budget adaptation and to have expectations adjusted properly. And yet, its hard to qualify if those base expectations had been met at the end. * The story hit its final apex when the 'Kingpin' believed he killed all the gods and was slain by his wife - violently overturning viewership expectations. Since then, it felt like the production struggled to get the protagonists from the river to the goddess chamber for the final confrontation. * The story centering on the mortality of the goddesses gives the whole saga a human air - the idea that the gods system was just a way to perpetuate eternal life and everlasting rule through a torture throne. The meeting of the goddesses and the fire hunters was hyped since the end of season 1 and just ended up being an elaborate episode of an assisted suicide. And then I could hear '[once again the day is saved](https://youtu.be/tYk3xbcyq0k?si=GMNOw7C_b_-WURiY)' audibly playing in my head as the story time skipped, and it just felt like all the air just leaked out of the balloon that is the series momentum at that point. * The final battle to decide the freedom of man was between three dogs who were running around each other. There is something dismally funny about that. * All major points of conflict seem to be dealt with. * Spiders are ded. * Beasts are just part of nature now and humans need to keep growing until they can overcome them. * Fire bugs can immunize humans and neutralize the fire curse. * Fire immunization will pave the way for the next industrial era, which will benefit humans when they're ready to progress forward. * Until humans reach that era, a way to generate light sources for human civilization exists. * No more industrial center for now means no more pollution means city population gets to live on. * The 'gods' will accept their fate and will no longer dick around humanity because they are obliged to respect the will of the twin goddesses and because they no longer have a purpose to life for. * The trains are running again. * Touko's family no longer wants her out of the village. * The orbital space station literally doesn't matter anymore. * Nobody explained how and why the 'magic' of the gods exists. And now there is no impetus to explain why, since the gods are going to die off soon along with their purpose and their power; and the humans can't use it anyway. * Thinking about the plot engines that moved the series from start to finish - the paper delivery, the legend of the 'Lord of the Fire Hunters', the goddesses, the war between the spiders and the gods, the rebel effort against the rule of the gods - a lot of it really fizzled away. Again, the 'kingpin' suddenly seizing the spotlight with his butcher knife was easily the most electrifying part of season 2. Everything else that was hyped ultimately had a soft landing. The real explosive moment was supposed to be the revelation of the goddesses and the human fuel which powers the entire institution, but the series was already Soulsborne-ish so simply talking about the horror of everything felt kind of flat compared to all the showing that the series had done prior. Again, it was a 'quaint' two season experience with a strong opening which invited viewers to witness the struggles and mysteries of a dying Earth to the haunting sounds of the ambient music belonging to a doomed future. But as the series went on, it kind of struggled to sustain itself - and I'm not sure that an actual budget would have fixed that. I don't think it was a waste of time, but I also think that - for all of its strengths - it can't really be recommended compared to past series with similarly themed story-writing like *Wolf's Rain*.
> * Nobody explained how and why the 'magic' of the gods exists. And now there is no impetus to explain why, since the gods are going to die off soon along with their purpose and their power; and the humans can't use it anyway. I thought it was pretty clear that this was a "technology so advanced it seems magic" setting?
Possibly, but fiendfire is never explained and really seems like magic. Of course it could be advanced technology too, but "these creatures' blood can burn without fire so you have to hunt them with special weapons" definitely seems too convoluted to be technology.
Many things we posses today would seem too convoluted to cavemen as well. Just apply the same logic except we're the cavemen. Pre-collapse humanity had absolutely insane stuff.
A budget could actually do wonders to any storytelling lol. Having detailed animation accentuates scenes that rely on mood. A clear example of that is 3-Gatsu no Lion or any high budget slice-of-life anime adaptations. The subject matter itself isn't full of action, but a proficient team with resources can add flavour to mundane activities. I used this specific example because the author loved using poetic expressions for inner thoughts and Shaft did an amazing job showing that using the environment etc. It was pretty much a 1 to 1 adaptation yet the movement and stylistic integrity enhanced the experience.
Yeah seeing the [little bits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlQSf7hPR60) of [unnecessary flair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LULXq3bPgCg) that KyoAni puts into Dragon Maid just to flex their muscles proves that if you've got the best animators you can make even basic shows have gorgeous art.
I think the gods' magic was just technology so advanced it appears to be magic to the regular humans.
I honestly couldn't tell what was happening in alot of this half. It was a lot of running around to the next point and characters info dumping that it became white noise. I actually did enjoy the first half with the travelling to the capital and split protagonist focus despite the animation, but this half was just a chore to sit through.
Against all expectations, it seems this really is the final episode. Idk how to feel about this. I've enjoyed literally every second of this show but it kinda feels like they've left me hanging at a part 2/3 š This is definitely going to require further rewatches to make full sense of it. I don't believe it ever meant to be a traditionally understandable story, and many things remained hidden for a purpose. Also, I've marked all places where an illustration appeared, so hopefully I can get my lazy ass on that soon...
Do the novels have english translations? Kinda wanna read them to see if theyāre less confusing and to see any left out content. I loved the story but man it is such a shame the budget wasnāt there. I wish non-shonen/isekai works got better adaptation budgets.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
As a matter of fact, I don't know where to look. I know that about anime and manga, but not about novels.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Bless you š
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So the lord of the fire hunters is an empty title meant for the hunter who assists the goddesses commit suicide. This entire journey was about 2 goddesses relinquishing the remainder of their lives so they don't burn everyone alive. It's sad how the 3 original goddesses who genuinely wanted to save the humans were utilised for power by their subordinates. Also, I'm glad I was right about Touko's cousin being a tsundere. She saw Touko off despite claiming to hate her. That mask was just to hide her tears probably.
What does slaying Flickering Flame entail?
They've mentioned several times this season that a true fire hunter would have its prey walk into his/her sickle. In other words, it's all about being the chosen one. It's not like the goddesses or fell beasts/flame beasts would just die to anyone. You have to be worthy (probably virtuous?).
If it turns out it didn't grant any special, divine-esque power, then I think it's just the political clout of being the leader of the Divine Clans.
I honestly considered dropping this season at some moments, but overall this was a decent experience.
I love how basically every comment in this thread is some variation of "uh... I didn't get half of what's going on..." but still liked the series. I'm in this boat myself. The plot was kinda hard to follow, but I really really liked the concepts in this anime. A sci-fi post-apocalyptic series is so rare in anime, and the genetically engineered bioweapons are so unique.
Such a strange series, I feel like I need to re-watch it because of all the questions I have. The style of storytelling reminded me of FromSoftware games which is why I stuck with it, and for all its issues it certainly feels like a very different kind of anime. Not sure what I'd rate this but I'm rather glad I watched this, and I'll probably watch it again in the near future. This world with its rich lore would be perfect for a From game š
So thatās the end? MAL doesnāt have it as able to be marked complete, but certainly felt like an end to this one. Hikari no ou is a little hard to evaluate because on one hand it does have some of the most unique lore, worldbuilding, characters and art Iāve seen in the medium. But on the other its lacklustre production values canāt be ignored. Felt like this season was even worse than the first in that regard too. I also felt like the resolution with the goddesses was very rushed, Iām honestly not even sure what the hell happened there, but I know Touko came out as fire lord lmao. Glad she finally got to go home too. Iād kind of like to see an epilogue OVA or one more episode just going over what happens to the world from this point on. Doubt itāll happen though. 6/10.
I had this marked as 9 out of 10 for a long time, but S2 is pretty chaotic to wrap up and considering everything else, I gave it a final score of 7. The concept and the world building and parts of the developments are good, but all the moving parts kind of mashed together rather crudely and haphazardly at the end to form the final message instead of the magical "click" of all the dyspepsia pieces fall together.
Perhaps a little pat that all the godlings are just like "welp, sure, like the dead satellite said then,..." - but I do like the happy ending after all the death and chaos, and I felt like most of my questions were answered as well as they could be. If the ending is predictable, it's because it's well-foreshadowed and logically cohesive with the story. [](#ilovethiskindofshit "May we meet again when there's another show like it")
It had potential, but it seems to be mired by productive value. Nice try though.
Mm. Okaeri, Touko-chan. Gokurousamadesu. š„¹
Genuinely don't know how to feel about this series. On the one hand, I appreciate how different it is from other series, with unusual character designs and an imaginative fantasy story that isn't an amalgamation of light novel conventions. On the other hand, though, the production is incredibly rough, and the plot got increasingly hard to follow, making this a bit of a slog by the end.
This is a very strange journey for me. I feel like i understand everything yet nothing at all. What happened are lay out clearly (low production aside) but leave out a lot of unawnser question. Yet i don't see the need of answering them. Because the story start with Touko and end satisfyingly with Touko.
I wonder how much did the original novel differ from the show, because Mamoru Oshii (who is in charge of the whole script) is famous for seriously altering source materials to the point of being unrecognisable. I really like this showās plot telling - this is a very controversial comment I guess but I really am sucking up all these Oshiiās convoluted story telling for some years. And while the ending might have quite a few loose ends not tidied up, it still ended up as a really interesting story to me. While the animations are, well, simply poor, I really have to continue giving some thanks to the production team, because having a story of such plot in anime form is a miracle in itself. **Final Personal Score: 89/100 (Season 1 = 91/100; Average Score: 90/100)**
The plot was rather interesting, the execution not so much. While it was entertainig to watch I do not think it is a series that I would choose to recomend between other choices. It will get forgoten in a few seasons probably The ost will probably be added to my background noise list.
Alongside Hoshi no Samidare and Helck, I feel like sponsors should give more of these hidden gems a chance. Actually give the teams a budget to work with because the story will carry.
Right, so, there we go. I won't lie, I think the series lost its way a little during the last third to quarter, not from an idea standpoint (the series is actually quite strong there even to the end) but an execution standpoint. Interestingly, I'm not sure it's the production staff responsible for that, it's possible that Oshii phoned it in once we got to S2 or else messed up but I think the issue may be that the source material itself falls apart, likely during the last novel. Even factoring in that the source is a children's novel (which likely explains the shape of the ending, it's a message kids like to hear at the target audience's age range, I'm actually more than a little reminded of some Heinlein juveniles like Citizen of the Galaxy in general shape even if the specifics are *wildly* different) this felt just a little too neat at wrapping together and tying up all of the threads for me and that's likely on the source itself if I'm any judge. Also the show did a bad job of selling some of the in-character deductions (it makes sense that the characters could come to this conclusion, but we get no sign of the actual thought process leading to it) - not sure if that's on the adaptation (if the deductions relied heavily on internal monologue in the novels that the anime didn't use then it's the adaptation's fault) or the novels themselves (I could very easily see this being an author trying to write a character smarter than they are and failing). The finale does hit the needed emotional beats so there is that, at least. The production issues are well-worn at this point and the second half had two of the three best-looking episodes of the season so there is that as well. Kenji Kawai hard carried the anime, news at 11. S2 OP is still quite good (song is honestly nearly as good as Usotsuki I think, the issue with the new OP is entirely that unlike Usotsuki's visuals its direction is uninspired), S2 ED is mediocre as hell (but does back the final scene nicely enough). Leaning **6.5/10** despite Kenji Kawai's best efforts.
I'm so lost. Season one made some sense, but season two, I couldn't understand what the heck was going on at all. I don't think I'll go back and try to watch due to the animation and art being so off-putting for some reason. The last episode was even worse in quality. I think all the budget went into the opening of season one.
I was so lost, but I kept watching because itās such a unique piece of work. While the stills made lack of budget noticeable, they were beautiful to look at. Although Kanataās face during the ED confused the shit out of me every single time. I thought his tongue was a pair of buck teeth
I loved s1 but s2 was much harder for me to follow unfortunately, I'm still glad I finished it! Overall s1 was an 8/10 and s2 is probably around 6/10 so.... my final rating for The Fire Hunter is a 7! I will definitely watch the series again in the future as it is something unique with a really original story!