Promare, the newest film from the duo behind Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann, is exactly as over-the-top crazy as you’d expect–and even more visually stunning.
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Promare is set in a world where humanity teeters on the edge of extinction. 30 years ago, random people across the Earth suddenly gained pyrokinetic powers–powers that manifested in moments of extreme anger. This caused disaster upon disaster as some people went berserk and others pointedly used their new powers for evil. Or to put it another way, the world burned–literally.
However, despite the ruined nature of the planet, there remains one city where people can live a normal life thanks to the Burning Rescue Team. Armed with mecha and cryo-weaponry, the elite squad of six puts out Burnish-related fires and rescues those caught within them. However, their job is not to stop the Burnish–this falls to their rivals: the Freeze Force.
But now, with the rise of the terrorist organization Mad Burnish, things are set to go spiraling out of control–and not in the way that anyone could have predicted.
At first, Promare looks like a simple Power Rangers-style story where a team of mecha-using firefighters battle against evil pyrokinetics. However, while this is indeed the status quo–it is one that is overturned within the first 20 minutes.
When it comes down to it, the world of Promare is far more complex than normal humans are good, Burnish are bad. Many Burnish only seek to live in harmony, keeping their heads down and powers under control. Even those labeled as “terrorists” are only trying to do what’s best for their people–and rescue those cruelly treated by normal humans.
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Our hero, Galo, finds himself thrown right into the middle of the layered moral quandary. Galo is a straightforward heroic character. He believes that, with justice on your side, if you charge right at the enemy, you will win. Thus it’s no surprise that, at the start of the film, he believes in the simple good versus evil dichotomy that he has been told. However, by learning more and more about the true state of the world and the Burnish people, he is forced to decide for himself what is right and what is wrong.
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On the other side of the equation–directly opposing Galo–is Lio. The leader of Mad Burnish, he is viewed as a terrorist by the remaining human population and the only hope for freedom by the Burnish. While Lio is by far the most powerful Burnish ever, his power is also his curse. Not only has his amount of power pretty much made him responsible for the fate of his people, but also his flames are fueled from his rage–creating a battleground inside his very soul.
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The other major relationship in the film is that between Aina and her sister Heris. While Aina is a vital part of burning rescue–providing aerial support and extraction for the team–she finds herself living in the shadow of her sister. She wants nothing more than to make Heris proud. This feeling also draws her close to Galo who likewise is determined to live up to the expectations of the man who saved his life–the leader of humanity Kray Foresight.
Heris, on the other hand, faces a crisis of conscience. As the discoverer of wormhole technology, she is credited as the savior of humanity–and thanks to her humanity is preparing to leave the devastated earth and colonize a new world. However, such technology comes at a terrible cost.
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Thus Heris is forced to choose between something unspeakable to save humanity and doing what she knows to be morally right. But what tips the scales is the personal aspect of the situation and her story becomes “what evils you are willing to do to save those you love and where exactly the line will be drawn?”
The story of these four characters intertwines in a narrative filled with revelations–some more than a little bit out of left field. The film tries to glaze over this by keeping everything at a breakneck pace–however, this proves to be a double-edged sword.
As each twist is revealed, we are left with no time to focus on the implications for the world and characters before moving on to the next crisis. I can’t help but feel that this story might flow better with double the runtime–perhaps as a 12 episode series where the impact of each twist could be given a bit of room to breathe. That said, in the moment, you’re unlikely to notice as the film goes from one over-the-top moment to another–especially with visuals melting your brain.
Promare is the very definition of eye candy. But rather than going toward vibrant or realistic color pallets, it goes as surreal as possible. This means that hot colors in abound. Everything from special effects to character designs stabs at your eyes–especially once the Burnish start throwing their multicolored fire around.
The Bunish fire is also the creative center of the work visually. Rather than fire as we know it, Burnish fire can be made solid. Sometimes it becomes something as simple as a weapon, other times it appears as full body armor or even a motorcycle. This means, in turn, that the heroes use solid water–i.e., ice–in their weapons, adding crystalline shapes into the mix of flowing fire designs.
The mecha designs are likewise creative–especially Galo’s. It’s basically an Aliens-style exosuit combined with feudal Japanese firefighter gear. Not only does it make for a great joke visually (as well as give a bit of character insight into Galo) but is a genuinely unique design as well.
On the aural side of things, the soundtrack is penned by the ever-magnificent Hiroyuki Sawano. Like it did with previous Studio Trigger hit Kill la Kill, his music takes the anime to an entirely new level. Not content to stay in the background, his music is filled with powerful vocals, making the most epic and over-the-top scenes even more so. It’s truly a standout soundtrack that’s on par with Sawano’s always high quality work.
Image source: 映画『プロメア』大ヒット上映中！ on Twitter
For all its focus on flash, Promare is a film with a surprising amount of substance underneath. It’s a treat for the eyes and ears filled to the brim with layered characters, narrative twists, and moral dilemmas–though it often lacks the time needed to treat these with the gravitas they deserve. In the end, Promare is a welcome spiritual sequel to Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann and if you enjoyed either of those two anime, you’ll almost certainly have a blast with Promare as well.
Promare was released in Japan on May 24, 2019 in Japan. There is currently no word on an international release.
Top image source: 映画『プロメア』大ヒット上映中！ on Twitter
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