Promare

A mutation has appeared in the world: some people can control fire. They are called the Burnish and the rest of society treats them as a threat. Galo Thymos works in a rescue unit that functions like a fire brigade and encounters Lio Fotia, the Burnish leader. Then who is the rescuer and who is the instrument of repression reverses. The subject is not fire but defining a minority as a danger in order to manage it. The man who owns the rescue institution is the person everyone regards as a hero, and his plan is what the film is really about. The form is a spectacle in itself. The fire is triangular and pink; the flames are not realistic but drawn as geometric shards. The palette is deliberately limited to pink, blue and black. The movement is fast, the cutting hard, and the music almost never stops. It is Studio Trigger's first theatrical feature. The director Hiroyuki Imaishi and the writer Kazuki Nakashima were known for television work, and the excess here is that experience carried to cinema scale. The score is by Hiroyuki Sawano. Kenichi Matsuyama voices Galo and Taichi Saotome voices Lio. Who it is for: viewers who like high-tempo, visually excessive animation. Who it is not for: anyone after character depth; the narrative moves fast and the emotional turns lag behind the imagery.