Hikari no Ou

Title:Hikari no Ou
The Fire Hunter
火狩りの王
Overall:Unevaluated
Keywords: , ,
Notables: Animation - Signal MD
ISHIGE Shouya
KUNO Misaki
OSHII Mamoru
SAKAMOTO Maaya
In a world in the chaotic aftermath of humanity's apocalyptic Last War. A great forest, infested with flameling creatures and other fallen beasts, covers the world, and pockets of humanity live in small protected communities. Due to a special weapon used in the Last War, human beings spontaneously burst into flame even when merely getting close to a small source of fire. The only safe energy source for humanity lies within the bodies of flamelings, and the duty to hunt them falls to the sickle-wielding firecatchers who brave the depths of the great forest. Among the firecatchers, they whisper tales of one who would be "Firecatcher Lord," an individual who will be able to harvest the fire of the thousand-year comet, the "Wandering Spark" that has flown in the sky since it was sent up before the Last War, but is now returning to earth.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


TV anime that premiered on January 14, 2023.
Animated by Signal.MD.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated Stretch [series:4607#628]
(Eight episodes watched):

An odd, if not weird premise, with 'fire hunters', 'natural fire', 'warding stones', 'Muku paper', 'treefolk', etc, etc. I'm just not sure whether I like it or not. Perhaps it is so odd that I still have little idea where it is going after one episode. Is this Japan or some alternate world? What are 'Fire Hunters' and why do they need dogs? What are those monsters with yellow blood that they hunt? Episode one doesn't tell us all that much, but this seems like it could be good so I'll continue watching for now.

Touko has been sent on the 'trucks' (actually, more like trains that are propelled by a screw mechanism) to the Capital to return Kanata, the dog, to the family of her late master who was a Fire Hunter who was killed while protecting her. In episode two her journey (which is supposed to take several months) continues and she may be thrown off the Truck as a result of something she does. We also get to know Koushi, a poor but brilliant boy in the capital city. His father was the slain Fire Hunter. I still have little idea what exactly this 'fire' stuff is or how the system of hunting for it works. I hope it makes some sense eventually. For the time being the confusion I am feeling is dampening my ability to enjoy the series as a whole. For some reason, still images had to be used at times instead of animation in this episode.

In episode three we learn some more about Koushi who is trying to figure out how to make/use/something this fire stuff. His benefactor fears the government may collapse one of these days (and has a cute daughter who is about Koushi's age). During episode four I got the feeling that more and more unexplaned stuff was being piled upon us without any explanations for what had already happened. Like how mystical scythes can kill these fire beasts when a machine gun has no effect. We did see a map that was clearly of the South Pacific, which means this story must be taking place on Earth. But I get the impression that whoever wrote this assumed we would be thrilled by all the mystery and wouldn't care whether it made any sense. Touko and a couple of companions must flee cross country after their Truck is attacked by some sort of giant monster. At one point they see what looks like a child--probably one of the 'Treefolk'. The next thing we know they have travelled a good distance and sure enough this child is accompanying them and has more-or-less earned their trust(?). Say what? Was a scene ommitted from this episode? It only makes the show seem even more disjointed. They find a small boat with its sail in tatters; then, before long they are at sea and somehow the boat has a complete sail. WTF? they encounter a graffiti-painted whale; sometimes it seems that weird stuff is tacked on to this show just on a whim.

Koushi learns some secrets of the fire hunting trade and gets a glimpse of the trouble to come in episode six. Also, Touka finally reaches the city. In episode seven the two finally meet. I was still trying to make sense of all the different types of fire and how such things could exist on planet Earth, given the laws of physics and such. I cannot picture fire as anything but a chemical reaction that gives off heat and light, and unless I missed something this show never made clear what exactly the deal with these varieties is. The plot gets more and more complex, but it makes so little sense to me that I can't keep track of it all. Are these 'Divine' folks really that? What happened to the problem of people spontaneously combusting? Has that gone away? It seems that more and more details are piled on, but we never get any closer to an explanation of how the world came to be like this, which is what I really want and need. Often times I don't fully understand what happens at the climax of a complicated show, but here I fear I may not even partially understand it. With that being the case, I decided that I was just wasting my time watching this. This show has some interesting points, and I wish it had been a little better, but when I try to make sense of everything I feel as if I am beating my head against a brick wall.

Last updated Thursday, April 20 2023. Created Tuesday, January 24 2023.

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Official Japanese Series Web Site https://hikarinoou-anime.com/

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