while fujimoto is far from my favorite mangaka, i do appreciate how his works always try to explore a greater narrative theme rather than just trying to deliver a coherent storyline. yes, it’s weird and yes, it’s disgusting but you can’t accuse fujimoto of not swinging. fire punch, like chainsaw man, tends to be incredibly nihilistic. the world is in an eternal winter by an ice witch that was never really real. the cold that erodes the earth turns everyone crazy — so much so that they can justify anything for the sake of survival. whether that’s eating human flesh, killing others, or using others to heat up the world again, fire punch tries to show the variety of ways human morality deteriorates when faced with the absurd. because, yes, an eternal winter is one of the most bizarre things a human being can encounter when used to a world of warmth. but it also highlights our own trivial and petty motivations — the ice witch (forgot their name) and togata both wish to survive just to watch movies. agni only wants to be with luna again. san only wishes to worship his god — even in the face of the absurd, the human spirit tends to be itself: ordinary and childish. there are many times when agni is ultimately abandoned by those he loves through increasingly disturbing ways, yet all of them tell him to live even when it only leads to more suffering. this is when fujimoto’s philosophy comes through: while living is certainly painful and there is often no reason why WE get to be chosen to live at all, we bear both the gift and punishment of seeing another day. agni, no matter hen he did good or bad, continued to live because his time simply hasn’t come yet. i think that fire punch also tries to grapple with the process of mythologizing and how people also tend to see only what they want to see. there are many times where we see agni through the eyes of others — the protagonist, god, the fire punch, etc etc. fictionalizing such a human character can only go so far. the people who tried immortalizing agni never end up understanding him (san) and the people who wanted him to follow a narrative ultimately missed out on the simpleness of his character (togata). in the end, agni also ends up not understanding himself anymore after being seen through the perspective of many outsiders who push their ideal towards him. there’s so many things to say about fire punch and it’s not even my fave but i do appreciate it for what it tries to be
while fujimoto is far from my favorite mangaka, i do appreciate how his works always try to explore a greater narrative theme rather than just trying to deliver a coherent storyline. yes, it’s weird and yes, it’s disgusting but you can’t accuse fujimoto of not swinging. fire punch, like chainsaw man, tends to be incredibly nihilistic. the world is in an eternal winter by an ice witch that was never really real. the cold that erodes the earth turns everyone crazy — so much so that they can justify anything for the sake of survival. whether that’s eating human flesh, killing others, or using others to heat up the world again, fire punch tries to show the variety of ways human morality deteriorates when faced with the absurd. because, yes, an eternal winter is one of the most bizarre things a human being can encounter when used to a world of warmth. but it also highlights our own trivial and petty motivations — the ice witch (forgot their name) and togata both wish to survive just to watch movies. agni only wants to be with luna again. san only wishes to worship his god — even in the face of the absurd, the human spirit tends to be itself: ordinary and childish. there are many times when agni is ultimately abandoned by those he loves through increasingly disturbing ways, yet all of them tell him to live even when it only leads to more suffering. this is when fujimoto’s philosophy comes through: while living is certainly painful and there is often no reason why WE get to be chosen to live at all, we bear both the gift and punishment of seeing another day. agni, no matter hen he did good or bad, continued to live because his time simply hasn’t come yet. i think that fire punch also tries to grapple with the process of mythologizing and how people also tend to see only what they want to see. there are many times where we see agni through the eyes of others — the protagonist, god, the fire punch, etc etc. fictionalizing such a human character can only go so far. the people who tried immortalizing agni never end up understanding him (san) and the people who wanted him to follow a narrative ultimately missed out on the simpleness of his character (togata). in the end, agni also ends up not understanding himself anymore after being seen through the perspective of many outsiders who push their ideal towards him. there’s so many things to say about fire punch and it’s not even my fave but i do appreciate it for what it tries to be