A girl of noble birth is playing hide-and-seek in a wooden palace in 1758, Japan, when a fire begins. Like dragons, the roaring flames consume the place. Those who have escaped the inferno despair of saving the girl’s life, but when her father cries out in anguish, Gengo Matsumana hears his call. The young samurai climbs the building and runs around, predicting the course the fire will take and the path the terrified victim must have fled along. And sure enough, he finds her. As he delivers her to safety, another samurai looks on in wonder. Cue the opening, one of the coolest of the season. When we meet Gengo again, he is retired from firefighting, married, and living in the countryside. Someone in Edo wants him back in the game, but our hero’s flashbacks still torment him. And yet, an old acquaintance of his, the leader of the city’s firefighting unit, requests his presence. The province is nearing bankruptcy, the team is in shambles, and rebuilding it will be quite the challenge. But when Gengo arrives, his friend is dead. And the fire that caused his death was man-made…

Plot twist: There have been two murders rather than one. On top of Gengo’s friend, the character animation here killed a show that had a lot of potential. And I mean it: The concept is extremely cool! Samurai firefighters are the only defense wooden cities have when the black smoke rises on the horizon. The dialogue is passable, but the backgrounds are immersive. When they are still, as in the opening, the characters also look amazing. But when they appear in the actual show, they are horrifying dummies with frozen eyes. Sometimes, only their mouths move, or their eyebrows go up and down in a paralyzed face. Sometimes, two characters walk among a multitude of frozen people. You spot a flower seller frozen while shouting to announce his merchandise, or a fireman paralyzed, looking to the side or mid-yawn, as if these were the petrified ruins of Pompeii. And all I can ask is, why? I get you’re on a budget, much like the Edo firemen in the show. But this is anime! A city can be just a background and the rumor of voices! If you cannot fully animate the characters, use silhouettes and shadows! Focus on one symbolic detail! The seeds of something really cool are here, but as it is, the show just doesn’t make the cut. Oh well.

Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix- can be streamed at Crunchyroll.