Fire Force Creator Reveals What He's Most Excited for in the Anime

Atsushi Okubo has been a pretty popular creator among fans are the wide success of Soul Eater, and fans have been anxious to see what another anime adaptation of his work would bring to the table. Leading the charge as part of the jam-packed Summer 2019 anime season, Fire Force has already been one of the major hits with just a few episodes under its belt. But what is Okubo himself looking forward to seeing in the new anime adaptation?

Speaking with ComicBook.com during Anime Expo 2019, Okubo revealed that what he's most excited to see in the Fire Force anime is the "fire" in its title as David Production's animation staff will be bringing the fire of the series to life in a way that he can't quite tap into completely through his manga.

As Okubo explained about his work when compared to the anime, "Manga is in black and white on paper, and it's, really, this is a limitation how you can express fire, and the colors to the fire, and the movement, and the light. That's what I'm most excited about seeing." Fans have already seen the fruits of this labor as the first few episodes have been a marvel to watch.

Elaborating, Okubo revealed that he liked what he saw from the anime thus far just as much as fans have, "I've seen some animations, and animators have done great job interpreting the color, and the fire, and the sound of fire, sound effects, and things like that. I'm very much looking forward to that, and I'm very happy with what I've seen so far."

Okubo's been excited about the wide reception of Fire Force as well as he shared his thoughts about its good reception in the West thus far, "One of the reasons why I became a manga author is because I wanted to spread the word about Japan...the fact that my manga is embraced around the world, I feel that I chose the right path as a manga author to promote Japan and be understood by the world and fans."

Fire Force officially made its anime debut on July 5th, and you can currently find it streaming with Funimation and Crunchyroll alongside its run on Saturday evenings as part of Adult Swim's Toonami block. Fire Force was first created by Atsushi Okubo for Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine in 2015, and has since been collected into several volumes. Kodansha USA has licensed the series for an English language release, and they describe Fire Force as such:

"Terror has paralyzed the clockwork metropolis of Tokyo! Possessed by demons, people have begun to burst into flame, leading to the establishment of a special firefighting team: the Fire Force, ready to roll on a moment's notice to fight spontaneous combustion anywhere it might break out. The team is about to get a very unique addition: Shinra, a boy who possesses the unique power to run at the speed of a rocket, leaving behind the famous "devil's footprints" (and destroying his shoes in the process). Can the Fire Force discover the source of this strange phenomenon and put a stop to it? Or will the city burn to ashes first?"