Shinra and Arthur compete in the Rookie Fire Soldier Games in Fire Force Episode 3, a contest to test the abilities of each year’s newest recruits. However, they are interrupted at the goal by the mysterious man who created explosions at their last fire scene.
Shinra in this episode meets the man who saved him from the fire 12 years ago and tries to learn what he knows about that day. Unsurprisingly, the guy is unwilling to co-operate, leaving the impression that he knows more that he’s letting on. Aside from the comedic fan-service we got, everything else in the episode was very serious. I’m starting to think that the nick-name “Devil’s footprint” might have something more to it that what we’ve assumed.
So things finally got serious with Shinra as he compete in the Rookie Fire Soldier Games. During the exam, he runs into the mysterious guy from the last episode. The guy begins to taunt Shinra about his past and what really happened 12 years ago, with the extra fact that Shinra’s little brother is still alive. Things escalate as both Shinra and the weird guy engage in combat. Soon Arthur and the cat-flame wielder show up for back, but even with the combined strength, they still weren’t able to capture the guy.
After the event, we start to learn more about the faction in the world and how the Fire Force play a pivotal role of learning what the other companies know about the Infernal and their sudden appearance in the world. My best guess is that the weird guy knows the truth about the appearance of the infernal, and somehow it ties in with Shinra. I mean why else would he care for some random kid that can shoot fire from his feet. Overall, the episode was pretty interesting as it did give us even more clearance of what the purpose of Fire Force is all about! However, the best part of the episode was the faces that both the weird guy and Shinra pulled off. I liked the art style in that seen as it conveyed the intensity of the situation pretty well.