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REVIEW: Fire Punch GN 1


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ThatMoonGuy



Joined: 13 Oct 2017
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:18 am Reply with quote
This manga feels so damn weird. Everything about it is strange. The characters, the humor, sometimes the layout, the way the story is presented, the way it develops. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. Maybe Abara but even that didn't go so far as Fire Punch goes.
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#854626



Joined: 04 Apr 2016
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:06 pm Reply with quote
This is like an a- for me. I mean, this story feels so creative and original. The art is very sketchy. Had to look at a few panels for awhile.
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Kayne Denny



Joined: 14 Apr 2018
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:10 pm Reply with quote
Fire Punch is on the same level as Apocalypse Zero (Kakugo No Susume). They both have extremely graphic content despite being shonen and their 1st volume covers are similar. Both also have an Anti Villain/Hero protagonist who kills a lot of people and both seem to try too hard to be edgy. Their story is the only difference.
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AngKear



Joined: 16 Mar 2018
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:56 pm Reply with quote
Kayne Denny wrote:
Both also have an Anti Villain/Hero protagonist who kills a lot of people and both seem to try too hard to be edgy.


If you finished the series, you know that he’s no anti-hero. He’s a freakin villain.
It’s quite a bizarre experience to follow a story in perspective of a villain without him or reader realizing he was one himself.

I say the story is worth experiencing, and really distinguished itself from other dark shonen/seinen adventure series imo.

PS: For anyone wanting a great deconstruction of the difference between a hero and villian. This is the one for you. The line between the two is so blur that it’s surreal in this dystopian setting.
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:08 pm Reply with quote
I was gonna say, Kakugo is basically a super hero with a sense of honor in a bizarre dark world (he even goes out of his way to avoid killing his first opponent before resorting to the ol' foot-to-brain).

I've never heard of this one before, but that is some fantastic cover art.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:05 am Reply with quote
Have been reading this now since the last volume was released in Jan I believe (I like to only read finished works) but haven't finished yet. So far I can't say the protagonists's a villain anymore than he's a hero. Anti-hero seems just as appropriate as anti-villain. A lot of the panels would be better in color to quickly distinguish than in b&w. The flames are just white and in some scenes I feel the mangaka just uses way too many lines. I have this problem with some other manga too.

Anyways I noticed it's a Shounen Jump title but Viz doesn't list it under their Shounen Jump label Smile
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BlueAlf



Joined: 02 Jan 2017
Posts: 1493
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:28 am Reply with quote
I recall every title made by the author has this inherent sense of weirdness. But Fire Punch, being the one that has been serialized longest, really takes the cake.

I think someone also once said that what makes the story amazing is how it actually manages to STAY weird since the beginning.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:39 am Reply with quote
I read the first volume, and lost count of how many try-hard, edgy violent incidents it had (can't get much more edgy than "eats own arm to survive--multiple times!") especially ones featuring kids & rape. There were some interesting details about the world, and I might read volume 2, but unless the violence lets up, I don't think I'll stick around to read the inevitably gruesome ending.
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AngKear



Joined: 16 Mar 2018
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:03 am Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
I read the first volume, and lost count of how many try-hard, edgy violent incidents it had (can't get much more edgy than "eats own arm to survive--multiple times!") especially ones featuring kids & rape. There were some interesting details about the world, and I might read volume 2, but unless the violence lets up, I don't think I'll stick around to read the inevitably gruesome ending.


It's been a while since I finished the series, but from what I remember the violence stayed consistent throughout but sexual explicit scenes were pretty much gone from here on. The storytelling became slightly convoluted in the second half, as the world-buildings expanded and the MC's psyche was thoroughly examined.

The ending was calm, nihilistic yet subjectively *sweet* at the same time and the twist itself was Evangelion-tier in term of WTF level.

The first volume sets the peak of violence level and never went beyond that. Maybe because I became desensitized, but it didn't have as much impact compared to the early parts imo. Though I don't recommend you continuing if you don't like the first vol, this series is depressed af.
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petbastard



Joined: 15 Apr 2018
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:59 am Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
I read the first volume, and lost count of how many try-hard, edgy violent incidents it had (can't get much more edgy than "eats own arm to survive--multiple times!") especially ones featuring kids & rape. There were some interesting details about the world, and I might read volume 2, but unless the violence lets up, I don't think I'll stick around to read the inevitably gruesome ending.


The thing is, the first volume IS one hell of an edgy mess with its hurr durr rape dismemberment bestiality. But (as author once said, iirc) there's intentional tone shifts in pretty much every volume since the second one. It gets pretty weird, funny, dramatic and entertaining overall. Mostly weird.
I mean, I HATED the first volume, but now i got all eight of them in japanese on my shelf. Such a wild ride.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:23 pm Reply with quote
I like weird, and I don't mind violent or even depressing. It was the over-the-top aspect, especially regarding kids and rape/bestiality that threatened my suspension of disbelief. Sometimes, a story can be so violent it ceases being horrifying and delves into unintentionally funny territory. If the violence lets up and the story develops more evenly, it won't bother me as much.
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BlueAlf



Joined: 02 Jan 2017
Posts: 1493
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 10:14 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
I like weird, and I don't mind violent or even depressing. It was the over-the-top aspect, especially regarding kids and rape/bestiality that threatened my suspension of disbelief. Sometimes, a story can be so violent it ceases being horrifying and delves into unintentionally funny territory. If the violence lets up and the story develops more evenly, it won't bother me as much.


If you put it like that, I think you're the kind of person who'll enjoy this series.
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danpmss



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 762
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:46 pm Reply with quote
I've coincidentally just finished this manga, before even knowing about this review in the site.

I gotta say, besides the crazy over the topness all the way through, it actually makes a lot of sense in its very own twisted way, besides get VERY confusing later on.

The manga as a whole was a bit too nihilistic and at times even offensively bonkers for my tastes (the whole first arc is probably as much disturbingly graphic as the story will get, but not at all its darkest point), but believe me, it isn't really even trying to be edgy. It's unpredictably bizarre and screwed up in such a natural way because of the settings, you will feel yourself slowly descending into the insanity the plot and its many peculiar themes go exploring. This manga deconstructs everything it stands for at least 3 or 4 times, it's one hell of a ride.

I can't really talk about it without going into spoiler territory, but hell, this thing is beyond twisted and wild even with its main plot devices... and yet, they somehow make sense.

My biggest question still is how the heck did this ever got published for 83 issues in a shounen magazine, that one being Jump of all things too. This was probably way more heavy in content than most actually try-hard edgy Seinen manga I've read, and that says something, as I've read a lot of those.

In any case, as it was such an unique and indescribable experiment, I can't possibly rate it properly considering the whole big picture of the manga, I just find difficult to compare to anything I've read thus far, as the story exponentially escalates into something so absurd and surreal I've never thought any manga would follow towards a similar direction with such... insane (that word would be too little to describe) twists... that again, SOMEHOW, makes a lot of sense given the bizarre context as a whole, and at the same time, it's just too WTF to follow through without going "what in the name of a burning god in cocytus is going the fudge on in here" at least once a chapter after some point.

This author also has one great love for movies and even uses that as an actual recurring element in the story (and somehow it still works, just... how!?), so expect lots of references coming out of nowhere and very unexpected twists.

As unrate-able as this experimental piece of madness in form of manga is, I'll go for a 9/10 considering the story as a whole. I highly recommend anyone to actually marathon it instead of reading it weekly or in big intervals of time, otherwise this will be an upsettingly confusing hell to even begin to interpretate.
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AngKear



Joined: 16 Mar 2018
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:41 am Reply with quote
danpmss wrote:
I've coincidentally just finished this manga, before even knowing about this review in the site.

I gotta say, besides the crazy over the topness all the way through, it actually makes a lot of sense in its very own twisted way, besides get VERY confusing later on.

The manga as a whole was a bit too nihilistic and at times even offensively bonkers for my tastes (the whole first arc is probably as much disturbingly graphic as the story will get, but not at all its darkest point), but believe me, it isn't really even trying to be edgy. It's unpredictably bizarre and screwed up in such a natural way because of the settings, you will feel yourself slowly descending into the insanity the plot and its many peculiar themes go exploring. This manga deconstructs everything it stands for at least 3 or 4 times, it's one hell of a ride.

I can't really talk about it without going into spoiler territory, but hell, this thing is beyond twisted and wild even with its main plot devices... and yet, they somehow make sense.

My biggest question still is how the heck did this ever got published for 83 issues in a shounen magazine, that one being Jump of all things too. This was probably way more heavy in content than most actually try-hard edgy Seinen manga I've read, and that says something, as I've read a lot of those.

In any case, as it was such an unique and indescribable experiment, I can't possibly rate it properly considering the whole big picture of the manga, I just find difficult to compare to anything I've read thus far, as the story exponentially escalates into something so absurd and surreal I've never thought any manga would follow towards a similar direction with such... insane (that word would be too little to describe) twists... that again, SOMEHOW, makes a lot of sense given the bizarre context as a whole, and at the same time, it's just too WTF to follow through without going "what in the name of a burning god in cocytus is going the fudge on in here" at least once a chapter after some point.

This author also has one great love for movies and even uses that as an actual recurring element in the story (and somehow it still works, just... how!?), so expect lots of references coming out of nowhere and very unexpected twists.

As unrate-able as this experimental piece of madness in form of manga is, I'll go for a 9/10 considering the story as a whole. I highly recommend anyone to actually marathon it instead of reading it weekly or in big intervals of time, otherwise this will be an upsettingly confusing hell to even begin to interpretate.


I 100% agree with your sentiments. Your description really does the series justice imo.
I always feel there's something special in this series, but I can't exactly pinpoint and describe it properly since it's so unlike what I've seen. For anyone's into dark stories, I can't recommend this series enough.
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CoreSignal



Joined: 04 Sep 2014
Posts: 727
Location: California, USA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 2:41 pm Reply with quote
I'm about 2 volumes into Fire Punch and I'm really enjoying it so far. As a couple people have said, Fire Punch is really a dark, absurdist, "superhero" story with pitch black humor. Definitely, one of the most bizarre post-apocalpytic stories I've ever read.

That scene with Agni and Luna drinking cannibal soup was meant to be a joke, imo. Well, at least I found it to be darkly comedic.

The last part of volume 1, when they introduce the character rambling about movies, seems random at first but makes sense later on and also gives the absurdist, deconstructionist angle to the story.

Even though the edgy stuff will turn off a lot of people, I think it works because of the setting and with the general bizarre tone of the story. The graphicness is bit exaggerated too. All the violent stuff isn't really any more graphic than something like Berserk or Gantz.

I think the artwork is mostly good too. Fujimoto's art can be rough, I agree that many of the action and snow scenes look rough but the character designs and backgrounds look good.

I'm also shocked that Fire Punch was published in Jump (technically Jump SQ). Fire Punch seemed a like much bitter fit for whatever magazine that Dorohedoro's published in.Fire Punch is definitely one of the most bizarre post-apocalpytic stories I've ever read.
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