Volume 1

**Volume 1** (炎炎ノ消防隊 01, *En En no Shōbōtai 01*) is volume 1 of the *Fire Force* manga series.

## Summary

The city of Tokyo is plagued by a deadly phenomenon: Spontaneous Human Combustion. Luckily, a special team is there to quench the inferno: The Fire Force! The Fire Soldiers at Special Fire Cathedral 8 are about to get a unique addition. Enter Shinra, a boy who possesses the power to run at the speed of a rocket, leaving behind the famous "devil's footprints" (and destroying his shoes in the process). Can Shinra and his colleagues discover the source of this strange epidemic before the city burns to ashes?

## Chapter 1

Main article: Chapter 1

Shinra goes on his first official mission with the Special Fire Force Company 8, where the wife of the factory's manager has become an Infernal. After arriving on the scene, Akitaru warns the crew of the falling debris in the factory, in which the fire is taking place. Heading into the building, Shinra contemplates the act of destroying a Flame Human and how is is equivalent to killing a real person. Shortly after heading in, the force comes across the burnt corpse of the last employee of the factory whom they set out to save, who failed to escape, making their primary mission to extinguishing the threat. At the scene, Akitaru reminds Shinra the purpose of the blue lines. Distracted by Maki showing her Second Generation abilities, Shinra is caught off guard by the Flame Human who knocks him out, causing him to recall his past, before being woken up and told to stand up. Shinra finally decides to fight. With the squad cooperating in order to deal with the intelligent Flame Human, Shinra launches himself towards the enemy, igniting his feet in the process. The boy delivers a kick to the core of the Flame Human's heart, sending her to the afterlife in peace. He overhears the spectators chanting for him while the rest of the crew praises him, saying that he has finally become the hero he longed to be. Elated, Shinra shows off a delighted smile.

## Chapter 2

Main article: Chapter 2

Akitaru informs Shinra that a battle tournament will be held between the newcomers of all eight Special Fire Forces. Meanwhile, Arthur arrives at the Special Fire Cathedral 8. Shinra, looking forward to seeing the leader of the Special Fire Force Company 1 at the Rookie Fire Soldier Games, also the man who saved him in the past, bumps into Arthur while walking through the corridor. On the roof, Maki shows Iris how she can create sentient flames, but their conversation is cut short when a fight breaks out between Arthur and Shinra. The former unsheathes his bladeless sword, which causes Maki to question his weapon, to which the boy responds by introducing himself as the "Knight King" and calling the two girls "princesses". Shinra and Arthur start squabbling again, but it is cut short when Takehisa arrives to see what was behind all the ruckus, pouring water on Maki's fireball and telling her not to play with the flames. The commander orders Maki to spar with the two boys, with the girl asking the two not to underestimate her, quickly disposing of Shinra. Maki then attempts to extinguish Arthur's Excalibur, but fails. Using her combat skills, she makes the boy kneel before her, kicking him in the face with her knee, causing Arthur to insult Maki, which forces her to create a huge creature out of the flames of both Arthur's sword and Shinra's flames. After the battle, Shinra is baffled and thinks to himself that he needs to become stronger, so that he can protect people when the time calls for it. In the meantime, Takehisa extinguishes Maki's creature, much to her horror, and Akitaru, who has been lifting weights this whole time, ponders about how long it will take for Arthur to arrive.

## Chapter 3

Main article: Chapter 3

Shinra, Arthur and Akitaru eat at Ippudo Ramen, where the two Fire Soldiers fight on who can finish their meal first and afterwards, on their way back to the headquarters, Arthur has a casual conversation with Akitaru, which makes Shinra notice that the Battalion Commander is a very nice person, impressing the boy that Arthur is getting close to him in such a short amount time. Back at the headquarters, Takehisa gives Shinra a seven-style battleaxe, and offers Arthur one as well, but he refuses to accept it, viewing Excalibur as the only weapon he requires. Akitaru then complains about the maintenance and wishes that the force had a stoker in their ranks. In the meantime, Mikako returns home, only to see her father has turned into an Infernal. The siren signals a mission, which forces Maki to gather up the team and head out. While in the Matchbox, Akitaru requests Shinra and Arthur to hide their weapons in public.

When the team arrives at the scene, Akitaru starts feeling pity for Mikako. He then notices that both Arthur and Shinra are displaying their weapons in public, and takes them aside to have a talk, telling them that, since purifying Infernals means killing them, their loved ones also lose them forever, and tells that if a person cannot hide their weapon from the eyes of the families of victims, then they have no place in the Special Fire Force Company 8. After they finish the conversation, a gigantic flame bursts out from the balcony, forming into a smiley face, to which Maki claims it not being her doing while an ominous looking man is seen near the house.

## Chapter 4

Main article: Chapter 4

Two unknown men are ecstatic that their plans are in full fruition. In the meantime, Company 8 storms into the building and, as they step foot in the house, they trigger some sort of powder on the floor. The force gets into the room, where they spot an Infernal, casually sitting in a chair, and Akitaru notices the picture of Mikako's family. Arthur volunteers to send away the Flame Human, but Shinra tells him that the being has done nothing wrong, however, Akitaru reassures Arthur to go, with the boy claiming that the man must be in pain from all the fire. The rest of the force start praying as Arthur impales Mikako's father with his Excalibur. Akitaru then reassures Shinra that what they are doing is for the greater good and that the most frustrating job is to get used to it. Takehisa then notices powder, seeping from the ceiling, as the roof collapses straight on the force. Akitaru ignores safety precautions and runs straight for the Mikako's family portrait, but gets rubble fallen on his body. The man, however, dedicated and furious, exclaims that he has been training for this every day. In the meantime, a shady character, smoking a cigarette, mumbles that the force is smoldering for a fight, while the opposing threat is just playing around. After reassured that Akitaru is fine, the force moves out of the building. While outside, Akitaru delivers the picture he managed to save to Mikako, telling her that her parents were fighting for her sake. Shinra apologizes for not being able to do anything, while Akitaru just assures him, and everyone else, that all they can do is get as close as they can to the ones who are left behind.

## Chapter 5

Main article: Chapter 5

The Rookie Fire Soldier Games begin, where Shinra meets Tamaki and gets infatuated by her revealing looks, but is pushed away by the girl; with a disgusted expression. In the meantime, Maki gets fascinated after seeing Mamoru, Q and Race — the mascots of The Fire Defense Agency, also known as 119. Arthur then claims that Mamoru looks like a geezer, and not a dog, but Maki corrects him, saying that the animal was modified. She then informs both Shinra and Arthur of the other spectators, among which are the president of the Haijima Industries and the priest of The Holy Sol Temple. Shinra, however, tells her that he's more concerned with a stern-looking man in the crowd. Later, Shinra meets the man from the Special Fire Force Company 1 who helped rescue him in the past, and approaches him. The boy introduces himself, but the man just shoots him down and leaves. Shinra attempts to catch up to him, but is interrupted by Tamaki, whom Shinra accidentally gropes, leaving her with an attempt to slap the boy. Shinra pleads the man for his time, while Tamaki bumps into Arthur, embracing him, then pushing him away for supposedly being a pervert. In doing so, she bums into three other guys and then again into Shinra, which causes him to grope the girl yet again. The announcer informs the contestants to gather up, which leads to the man telling Shinra that he doesn't remember anything and that he should just get ready for the competition, which makes Shinra wonder if the man is hiding something. The competition starts, with the mission of the contestants being to siege a building, save those in need of saving and combat the Infernal inside. Shinra wonders about the abilities of each Fire Soldier, reminding himself that their abilities were checked before the competition. A man gives the signal for the contestants to start, which leads to Shinra using his powers to jump onto the building with ease. Tamaki uses Nekomata to substantially increase her mobility in order to catch up to the boy. Shinra ventures inside, where he sees a fallen man and a stranger inside, who appears to know about Shinra's past.

## Merchandise

Below is a list of all the merchandise that was released in Japan on the same day as the volume as promotion.

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## Reception

* In its first week of sales in Japan, volume 1 reached 14th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and had sold an estimated amount of 42,217 copies as of February 24, 2016.
* The English edition reached 9th place on the New York Times Manga Best Seller List, on the week of November 6th-12th.

## Trivia

* The Japanese volume also included an official character profile for Shinra Kusakabe, revealing personal information about him such as his height, weight and hobbies. In the English version of the manga, Shinra's character profile is included in Volume 2 along with Arthur's.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-02-24/japanese-comic-ranking-february-15-21/.99043
2. ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-11-18/new-york-times-manga-best-seller-list-november-6-12/.108978