Firefighter Daigo is an anime that is adapting a manga that is a sequel to a 90s manga. It’s about a trio of young firefighters and their training, first missions as well as some of the drama surrounding all of them. It’s an alright show. The concept is good and when it’s “on” it’s doing pretty damn well, but it has a glaring problem that runs through the entire show. Few episodes suffered as much as this latest episode where – according to a reddit user – there was 62.5% of reused footage. Including the opening, ending, eyecatches and the recaps and flashbacks to previous episodes there was almost 15 minutes of reused footage, leaving about 9 minutes of actual new content. This combined with two recap episodes so far really puts into question the decision to make this anime run for two cours instead of just keeping it at 13 episodes. But let’s put the pacing issues aside for a moment and let’s talk about something that this anime does really well. And to do this, I’m going to have to go into spoilers, so as usual, this is your warning. If you’re just here to see if this anime is worth your time… probably not. It’s good at times, but it drags too much and unless you skip entire chunks you’re going to be very bored. Now then, that out of the way, let’s talk about vulnerability.
Yuki and Shun both went to the same high school. Shun has had a crush on Yuki for a while and when he saw that she had a firefighter as her phone background he decided to ask her out, promising he’d become a firefighter. Yuki herself also started the path to become a firefighter and during their training the trio is completed with Daigo. Unbeknownst to Daigo and Yuki, they also have a bit of history together. It turns out that Yuki was a survivor of a tragic fire. Her family died and the CEO of the hotel that burned down was responsible for the fire happening. Yuki – understandably – harbors a ton of resentment for the deceased CEO of this former hotel. What she doesn’t know is that Daigo is actually the son of this CEO. Now, obviously crimes aren’t magically inherited and if I were to wager a guess as to Yuki’s reaction to eventually learning about this I think she’ll probably agree with me. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Instead, I want to take a look at the third character in our trio: Shun. Shun initially only wanted to become a firefighter to impress Yuki, but he quickly became fully invested in the dangerous but rewarding job. He’s a hard worker but he can also be a bit dumb at times. On top of all of this, he is a bit selfish, doesn’t have the best self-esteem and can be awkward. But what he lacks in any of those fields he makes up for in compassion and emotional vulnerability. In an age where algorithms like to spoon feed toxic masculinity into our feeds, teaching us that you need to be the big man who is strong and never wavers, women should bow down to you and if you’re not working out you’re wasting your time he shows a different angle. In episode 19, Shun learns that Daigo’s father was responsible for the deaths of all those people in the hotel and it hits him like a ton of bricks. He weeps for his friend, understanding how hard this must be. He also cooks him a meal to cheer him up and cries once more, realizing how deep Daigo is stuck in his trauma.
Shun is a firefighter. He can lift heavy things, climb buildings on a rope and do some incredible feats of athleticism. He’s literally someone whose job it is to save lives. He is about as manly as you can possibly get. I think the fact that he’s a good example of a strong man and he is also emotionally vulnerable when his friend is hurting is such a great character trait. Obviously it should be relatively normal to be there for your friends, but people like Shun are rare in modern media. Maybe I’m self reporting here that I’m watching the wrong shows, but I feel like someone like Shun doesn’t exist in most shows. He’s a breath of fresh air and if this show was a little bit better I think it would have been an easy recommendation. Unfortunately it lacks a lot in other departments and combined with the pacing issue it makes for a mediocre anime. But I do think that if you have a bit of time you don’t know what to do with, you should give this show a shot. Skip the long recaps and cut off all the extra fat and hidden below it is a solid show about firefighters. Thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 