Promare Review

Promare is now available on Digital and Blu-ray/DVD. This review was originally published in September 2019.

From the minds of the men who gave us Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill comes their first feature film, Promare. The themes and pacing are reminiscent of director Hiroyuki Imaishi and scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima’s past work, which isn’t a bad thing, but leaves the film feeling a little predictable for anyone who knows the pair’s work. Still, Promare has enough of its own flair to stand alongside the great anime series the duo have produced.

In Promare, people surging with anger start to spontaneously combust all over the world, causing a global event called The Great Burning. Thirty years later, society rebuilds and dubs these people - now with more controllable fire powers - as Burnish. Galo Thymos, an overenthusiastic meathead with a strong sense of justice, is the protagonist and a member of Burning Rescue, a defense force that’s created to quell Burnish-caused flames. His team is a fun, lively cast of characters that have flourishes of individual identities but don’t get enough screen time to feel fully fleshed out. Promare has no shortage of interesting characters, but much of the reason the Burning Rescue team seems to get pushed aside is because this movie isn’t centered around Galo alone.

Lio Fotia leads what’s left of a villainized group of Burnish who are immediately pitted against Burning Rescue. Lio is a great alternate protagonist to Galo. He’s focused, sympathetic, and like Galo, has a strong sense of justice. Their contrasting journeys make the movie more compelling as they both give greater context to the troubled world around them. Lio is the more interesting of the two by far, and the script smartly prioritizes his story. Galo, on the other hand, provides a great bit of comedic relief in some of Promare’s heavier moments; other characters often chastise him for cheesy monologues and goofiness.

The world Trigger presents in Promare is fascinating.

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The world Trigger presents in Promare is fascinating. The actual scene showing the birth of the Burnish provides excellent insight into the state of the world. The technology Burning Rescue uses to fight Burnish fire is neat too; the mech suits are equipped with a variety of icy weapons and even more tools to deal with collapsing buildings.

Promare’s story structure is fast, but exciting too — I thought the film was going to end at two different points before it actually did, one of which was within the first 20 minutes. That’s not to say that the pacing felt off — it’s more of a compliment to the intensity of some scenes. It is unfortunate, though, that several unneeded flashbacks break up the pace and waste time that could have been used to further develop side characters or explore other ideas the movie presents.

Studio Trigger’s ace animation, with help from XFLAG and 3DCG studio Sanzigen, blends traditional 2D and 3DCG surprisingly well. Some action scenes do seem a little clunky at times, but they’re generally engaging thanks to some great scene direction and framing. The whole design of Promare is also almost unfairly stylish, between the beautiful pastel fire, and the distinct coloring and aesthetics that differentiate the three factions of Promare. The design of the characters and the attitude that shines through in their movements are delightful as well.

Verdict

Promare is a great debut film out of Studio Trigger. Its characters burn bright with stylish designs and fun personalities, but the action is the real scene-stealer. Time split between protagonists Galo and Lio’s conflicts in a world on fire is done well, though the movie would have been stronger with tighter editing to flesh out some finer character details. Promare is littered with Trigger references too, so much so that even the movie’s structure is reminiscent of the director and writer’s past work. That’s hardly a problem, though, as that just means Promare keeps escalating to bigger and more exciting fight sequences.