Hump Day Husbandos: Benimaru Shinmon (Fire Force)

With the Fire Force manga having ended in February of this year — but with a third season of its anime still in the works — there will be no forgetting about this latest output from Soul Eater creator Atsushi Ohkubo any time soon.

It’s honestly surprising to me that we haven’t yet covered any characters from the series for either Hump Day Husbandos or Waifu Wednesday — so let’s fix that right now with some appreciation for my favourite character in Fire Force.

Who is Benimaru?

Benimaru is perhaps best compared to characters like My Hero Academia’s Aizawa. He’s a seemingly authoritative figure, but one who also puts across an impression of not really caring about anyone’s safety or wellbeing thanks to his laid-back, inexpressive self. Those looks couldn’t be any more deceiving, however, as he also possesses a quiet sincerity and sense of protectiveness.

As one of the strongest characters in Fire Force, Benimaru possesses some of the most exciting and capable fighting abilities. He has a nicely contained character arc, too, with development around his position in the Special Fire Force Company 7, the way in which he becomes a part-time mentor to Shinra and Arthur, and a neat conclusion to his overall story.

Why we love Benimaru

If you were to ask me to give one reason as to why he is my favourite character from the series, a major one would be due to him describing one of his hobbies as being bathing — a situations which provided us with this particularly glorious scene. When I’m being more respectable, it’s the same reason as the majority of his fans would point to – he’s simply a badass.

Benimaru is highly skilled and insanely strong as a rare hybrid Second and Third Generation pyrokinetic who showed promising and impressive talent from an early age. He can do it all: close combat, controlling his own flames plus manipulating flames from other sources, effortlessly copying others’ abilities, creating barriers and forming sharp projectiles from long ranged distances. Plus, utilising a flaming matoi to quickly travel around is always a fun addition to any character. To say that he’s one of the most exciting characters to watch during the series’ battles is a massive understatement.

As well as speaking impassively and behaving indifferently no matter the situation, he’s not especially respectful, either, and he is both highly and quite easily irritable. Despite this, his heart of gold is easily noticeable whenever his compassion for Asakusa and those who live there are concerned.

For example, when we first meet him, we learn that he’s familiar with the residents, who want Benimaru to be the one to extinguish them if they become an Infernal. He knows the names of those who previously became Infernals, too, and gives them as much of a peaceful send-off as he can manage — even if he damages the area for the sake of doing so quickly — and gets to work in repairing any damage he’s caused in the aftermath.

He’s compassionate about the whole ordeal throughout, and never takes such a situation lightly.

Why you will love Benimaru

As a lone wolf kind of character, it’s always endearing to see Benimaru forced to interact with other characters, be it as a mentor to Shinra or Arthur, an accomplice to Joker — but especially when he finds himself spending time with the twins Hikage and Hinata; the very definition of cuteness.

Possibly his most noteworthy relationship is with his subordinate Konro, however; Benimaru seeks guidance from him and cares for him due to a past run-in and misstep with a Demon-Class Infernal.

As the main voice of reason pushing Benimaru towards accepting a leadership position in Company 7, Konro helps Benimaru learn to become dependable and feel capable in his position. Benimaru ends up becoming increasingly more confident from hereon.

This is an ongoing issue he has struggled with since a young age as a result of the strict teachings of his mentor and adoptive father Hibachi Shinmon. He was former fire chief who treated Benimaru with tough love for the sake of becoming his successor — an origin story that later comes back to finalise our hero’s growth.

Overall, Benimaru is a sweet guy who has issues with communicating appropriately (big mood – Ed.), but has the best of intentions. He struggles to truly own his potential as a leader despite his power naturally setting him up as the best candidate — but he still questions his capability. He’s not flawless and still somehow has plenty of growing to do. This makes him all the more appealing.

Let’s close this out with talking about his voice actor, because that’s what we do around here. The always classy and unforgettable Mamoru Miyano (Light Yagami from Death Note, Death the Kid from Soul Eater, Chrollo from Hunter x Hunter and so many other iconic characters) brings Benimaru to life, and his performance is wonderfully fitting for such a character.

If you’re yet to experience Fire Force for yourself, check it out via Crunchyroll sooner rather than later!

Header art by Suzuka Nene. Original source here.

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