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Warning: Contains spoilers for Fire Force.After five years of waiting, theFire Forceanime has finally entered its third and final season. Fans of the anime and manga alike have been waiting patiently for the final arc to be adapted into animation, and considering just how great the final arc is, it’s easy to see why.
Fire Force’s final arc is truly amazing, and that’s why the anime’s handling of things might be a problem. The first half of season 3 has ended, withFire Forceseason 3, part 2premiering in January 2026, and despite all the hype for its return, it was a notably mixed bag that leaned toward being bad more often than not. It hasn’t been outright terrible, but even so,the mixed quality ofFire Forceseason 3 could spell trouble for the final arc in 2026, and with how great the arc is, that would be nothing short of disappointing.
Why Fire Force Season 3 Was Such A Mixed Bag
Fire Force Season 3’s Divisive Reception Explained
So far,Fire Forceseason 3hasn’t done the best job of adapting the final arc, and it’s easy to see why. For starters, one ofFire Force’s biggest trademarks is supposed to be the incredible animation used to bring the wild and kinetic fight scenes to life, but that was notably lacking in season 3, with most fight scenes only giving characters the bare minimum of motion. Add in the notably inconsistent artwork, andFire Forceseason 3 was a major downgrade for the anime in terms of visuals.
The bigger issue, however, lies in the pacing. Previous seasons knew how to take their time with adapting the manga and give every story beat room to breathe, but that’s not the case for season 3, as plot beats often move too fast to be properly understood or appreciated, and certain scenes are even completely cut out.Fire Forceseason 3 is paced far too quickly to be as enjoyable as it should be, and that’s nothing but disappointing when looking at both past seasons and what’s being adapted this season.
All of these problems can be traced back to a single source: the amount of content being adapted. Season 3 is set to adapt about 14 volumes of manga, almost fifty percent more than what the first two seasons adapted, yet it has the same episode count. That presents an obvious problem of the show not having enough time to properly adapt things, so overall,Fire Forceseason 3’s biggest failing is that it’s trying to adapt more content than what would make sense for its episode count, and that’s bound to get worse as season 3 moves along.
Why Fire Force Season 3 Needs To Nail Its Final Arc
What Makes Fire Force’s Final Arc So Great
Fire Forceseason 3 hasn’t been great so far, and that needs to change if it wants to properly adapt the final arc.Fire Force’s artwork evolves to have a level of creativity and overall craft that highlights the story’s chaotic nature in the best of ways, especially when it comes to Arthur’s fight with Dragon and the final fight with the Evangelist.Fire Force’s final arc has some of the best artwork and fight scenes in modern manga, and it would be nothing but a shame for the anime to not properly convey that this upcoming January.
More important, of course, is how well the story plays out. By the time the final arc gets started,Fire Forcefully embraces its narrative themes of hope and despair for some surprisingly thoughtful storytelling, and it all leads to an ending that wraps up every arc as cleanly as possible in the best of ways. It’s one of thebest endings for a manga in recent years, so overall,Fire Forceseason 3 needs to be good if it wants to properly adapt the manga’s spectacular ending.
Something that’s also important about the final arc isFire Force’s connection toSoul Eater. One of the biggest twists inFire Force’s final arc is that the story was a stealth prequel toSoul Eater, and the reveal of that in the anime could be used as a segway tothe long-awaitedSoul Eaterreboot. That won’t be anywhere near as exciting as it could be ifFire Forcedoesn’t end with a good showing, so more than anything,Fire Force’s anime needs to nail its final arc to get people excited about aSoul Eaterreboot.
Is There Any Hope For Fire Force’s Anime To End On A High Note?
Fire Force Season 3 Might Still Have A Chance To Be Great
Fire Forceseason 3 has a lot stacked against it, and that calls into question if it can even end on a high note. The first half of season 3 ended in the middle of volume #25, meaning that there are about nine volumes left to adapt, but it somehow has to be done in the same amount of time. That means things will have to move even faster in the second half, and because of that,Fire Force’s pacing and overall execution will likely be even worse in the second half of season 3 than the first.
All hope is not lost, however. The part 1 finale was, by far, the best episode of season 3 for how well it adapted the reveal of the pre-Cataclysm world, and with how vital that is to the final arc,Fire Forceseason 3 might at least have a good handling on the most vital parts of its final arc. It would still be ideal for the second half, as a whole, to look good, but if at least moments like Arthur and Dragon’s fight and Shinrabanshoman look good, that might be enough to end things on a high note.
Overall, while it was still one of thebest anime of spring 2025, it’s hard not to be disappointed withFire Forceseason 3. The largely lackluster presentation of season 3’s first half will likely continue into the second half, which could lead to a poor presentation of the final arc, soFire Force’s anime might end on a low note, despite the final arc being as creative and all-around great as it is.Fire Forcereturns next January, so there’s still plenty of hope things will turn out well, but that’s unfortunately hard to believe right now.
