Promare

Thirty years have passed since the emergence of “The Burnish”, humans with pyrotechnic capabilities who almost drove the planet to ruin.  In the sprawling city of Promepolis, Firefighters combat Burnish activities on a regular basis, spearheaded by up and coming rookie Galo Thymos.  However, a chance encounter with Lio Fotia, the head of the terrorist group, Mad Burnish, changes everything for Galo.  When a world ending conspiracy threatens all life, Human and Burnish alike, Galo and Lio will have to put aside their differences to find out the secret of the Promare and use it to ensure the safety of two worlds before everything burns to nothing.

It’s hard to believe it’s taken this long for Studio Trigger to make its first full length theatrical film.  You’d think after making an initial splash with Kill La Kill, the Anime film world would be theirs for the taking.  But surpisingly, the studio all about over the top spectacles took their time, experimenting with other Anime genres while continuing to craft their signature style of Anime.  Through successes like Little Witch Academia and failures like Darling in the Franxx, all roads seem to have led to Promare.  While it could have used some fine tuning with run time and story, there’s no denying this is a freaking fun Anime that takes Trigger back to its roots with Kill La Kill and even further back to some of the staffs work on Gurren Lagann.

Promare’s world is exactly what a Trigger Movie should showcase: it’s colorful, it’s energetic and it is beyond freaking huge.  I feel like if you really wanted to get the full experience out of this flick, you should see it on the biggest screen possible.  The very first showdown between Firefighter Galo and Mad Burnish Leader Lio spans massive city blocks and seemingly endless sky scrapers.  Scale and scope are Promare’s two biggest allies and they never disappoint or back down from stepping things up a notch or two.  While there are breaks for story, the action is really at the forefront of Promare and we get to see some fun Mecha dreams in the tech the Firefighters use.  But it’s the Burnish who steal the show with their powers being able to craft anything they need from vehicles to weapons to clothing to armor for giant robots.  Man, the Animation Staff mustve had a blast not only tossing ideas around but also getting to bring them all to life.

The central conflict between Galo and Lio is a fun one and that’s because these opposite ends of the spectrum gel so well either as rivals or forced allies.  Galo is basically the big screen version of Kamina from Gurren Lagann just a lot buffer.  He’s the go getter, the bull who will charge whether he sees red or any other color.  But Galo’s also got a kind heart and isn’t just about the flashy rescues, he’s got the people’s safety in his front view too.  Lio embodies more the latter most of the time and has his own reasons for seemingly playing the role of a villain.  But man can he go even more insane than Galo when he gets pushed too far.  Lio’s Burnish powers are a force to be reckoned with and when he clashes with Galo, it really is a case of the unstoppable force meets the unmovable object.  Which of the two is which in that analogy, you’ll have to decide.  The rest of the cast might not get as much screen time but are still fun to watch, particularly mad scientist and mecha guru Lucia (who also has a cute mouse who looks like Akko Kagari from Little Witch Academia) and Galo’s super cute partner, Aina, who plays a more crucial role as the film goes on.

Promare can certainly get the blood boiling when it comes to the visuals and the action.  The story might not be the most refined though.  I’ll the movie does share similar setup and concepts with Shonen Jump Anime, Fire Force, which came out a few months after.  That doesn’t bother me so much as how things are eventually explained, particularly when they come full force at the halfway mark of the movie.  At just under two hours, there’s a surprising amount of last minute revelations and ulterior motives presented and strangely enough, not enough time to let it all sink in.  Whether or not some of these mysteries could have been presented sooner and smoother in the movie or not is debatable.  As it turns out though, I also think Promare might be about 10-20 minutes too long.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a lot of fun watching the action unfold and the animation shine, but sometimes even Trigger can run the risk of overloading the viewer with all that pizzazz.

It might have some rough edges with run time and story but Promare is still a commendable first stab at theatrical presentation for Studio Trigger.  Unlike it’s infuriating and pointless Darling in the Franxx, the studio found its footing again with Promare by returning to what they do best: act like theyre an Anime staff that loved doing their job so much for other studios that they left to form their own and have some freaking fun.  Promare is a visual marvel that embodies the spirit of what it means to be an Anime fan: have a wild imagination and just watching it all unfold before our eyes.  Story might lack at times but occasionally that can be forgiven.  Because when you’re having this much fun with a larger than life big screen Anime, what’s there to really complain about?

9/10

Thanks for joining me here for the Summer of Trigger.  Tomorrow we kick off our Extended Summer Series with another return to the Gundam multiverse with Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.  Hope you’re ready for another wild summer ride right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.