Promare - Burning through itself

 

Promare’s sense of visual style is perhaps best exemplified in the scene where the hero’s rival introduce himself by creating a throne made out of fire, leaning back on the throne with both legs spread and both arms on the arm rests in complete symmetry, and then immediately shifting his posture so as to lean on his right hand, clenched into a fist, as the camera zooms in on his face, the sound design and character animation giving each action a sense of impact not unlike that of a bullet being fired. 

 

This is immediately followed by a cut of him and his entourage being announced as “Mad Burnish,” by looming text. If the prospect of watching two hours of sounds like too much of an ordeal, then strap in, because it somehow gets even wilder.

 

Promare is the debut film of Studio Trigger, a Japanese animation studio known for their work on Kill la Killand Little Witch Academia. Directed by Trigger founder Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by Kazuki Nakashima, the film makes liberal use of many idiosyncrasies they have built up over their career; flashy aesthetics, fast-paced visual humor, larger-than-life characters, and a constantly escalating sense of scale. 

 

The story follows hot-blooded firefighter Galo Thymos and his encounters with the Burnish, humans who have developed the power to generate fire and a compulsion to use it to burn anything they can. Their leader, Lio Fotia, is a young man who leads them to avoid harming innocent people and fight the government that oppresses them.

 

While that summary may seem truncated, it is the only way to explain the film’s story without revealing anything major. Promare’s first hour is on turbo, starting the plot at a point in time where characters are acting as if they’re at the 30-minute mark of a conventionally paced film.

 

This is both a blessing and a curse, a blessing in that it keeps the film constantly moving and introducing new information, but a curse for the characters themselves. The cast simply does not have room to breathe and interact with one another in a way that feels natural. Especially Galo and Lio.

 

The first ten minutes of the movie give way to a fight scene so dynamic that the first hour seems to tire out afterwards. There are many low-energy scenes that imply complex relationships between the cast, but without any context behind their dynamics, they don’t carry much weight. It simply moves too slow and too fast in the wrong places. And for a film that prides itself on manic energy, that is a large problem.

A problem that also ceases to exist come the end of that first hour.

Promare spirals into absurdity in its second half, cutting away any remaining traces of conventional narrative structure. Action scenes become a constant, characters speak exclusively in yelling, and everything gets a dramatic entrance complete with equally dramatic captions. The rapid descent into madness makes up for the plot’s overall simplicity in a spellbinding way.

 

A jaw-dropping score from composer Hiroyuki Sawano backs all of this action. His ability to craft sweeping vocal tracks that perfectly accentuate Imaishi’s style of action is on full display, with Lio’s theme being a particular standout. If anything is worth the price of admission in Promare, it would be the music.

Promareis, at its core, a celebration of Imaishi’s work. It is a culmination of his directorial skills, and a testament to how well he can elevate seemingly nonsensical ideas through his manic sense of style. Although the weaknesses of the script keep it from reaching its full potential, it is still very much a watch. As an introduction to Imaishi’s style, or anime in general, it is about as perfect as can be.

 

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