The smash-hitanime/manga seriesFire Forcecenters on protagonist Shinra Kusakabe, who aspires to be a hero. Before Shinra joined the Special Fire Force due to his incredible Third Generation pyrokinetic powers, he had a rough, depressing childhood. A couple of unfavorable events split the Kusakabe family apart, damaging Shinra’s personality.
Surprisingly, amidst this crisis, Shinra’s father is non-existent. The brief flashbacks in the anime only showed Mari Kusakabe and her adorable son, Sho. For a major part of the series, these individuals were the only characters portrayed as Shinra’s family. This was the default narrative untilchapters 231 – 234ofFire Force mangafinally revealed the circumstances behind the birth of Shinra. So, who is Shinra’s father?
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Shinra’s Traumatic Childhood
It’s not uncommon for Shonen protagonists to have a rough early life. In fact, it’s a pretty common backstory punchline in the shonen world. Regardless, Shinra’s childhood was no less traumatic and horrible thanmost Shonen protagonists. Growing up in a small happy home with his mother, Mari, and his infant brother, Shinra had a relatively peaceful childhood playing hero to the delight of young Sho. Even at an early age, Shinra manifested honorable traits, occasionally vowing to protect his brother from any harmful circumstances – like a typical hero. Mari Kusakabe also advised Shinra to protect other people with his strength and skills, gradually shaping Kusakabe’s mentality as a child to be a positive, honorable one.
Their happy home thrived until a fire disaster caused by an infernal later revealed to be Shinra’s mom destroyed their home and ripped the Kusakabe family apart. The whole precarious situation was already traumatic for Shinra since he had just lost his family. However, this didn’t stop fingers from pointing – people accused Shinra of causing his family’s demise due to his pyrokinetic abilities. The whole situation triggered aunique reaction from Shinra – the Devil Smile– one of the major highlights ofFire Force. Shinra partially believed that his brother was gone following the disastrous fire that destroyed his childhood home. However, he was proved wrong after discovering that his brother was alive and well, but as a Commander in the White-Clad.
This eventually led to a mind-blowing battle between the siblings. After the fight, a desire sparked by Shinra’s actions to discover his real family was born in Sho. Although it was constantly quelled by Haumea, it eventually blossomed, and in chapter 231, Sho made progress in unraveling his childhood mystery.
Shinra & Sho Unique Birth Circumstances
In chapter 230, Sho, alongside his aide, tried discovering detailsregarding his birth circumstancesand his father’s identity. After a number of failed attempts, he then changed his search tactics. Instead, his search focused on finding any critical news that happened 17 years before his present timeline. This new plan proved to be fruitful as he discovered an unsettling occurrence. 17 years ago, Mari Kusakabe was featured in the newspapers as a patient for Virgin Birth. This development puzzled Sho because he had never heard about a real-life Virgin Birth. Simply put, a Virgin Birth involves the conception of a child without sexual intercourse. After discovering that his mother was linked to such a unique saga, Sho then decided to visit the Shinjuku Community Center, where he met a rather boisterous individual who willingly divulged all theinformation he had on Mari Kusakabe.
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The talkative individual revealed that the sons birthed by Mari Kusakabe allegedly had no father – a medical miracle that is not possible following the biology of the human body. Gradually, the old man’s ramblings began to sound like gossip until he finally disclosed that the Church of the Holy Sol censored the information regarding the Kusakabes' birth. This adds merit to the stranger’s talks since the Church of the Holy Sol would not get involved in any issue except it holds great importance to them. In the chapter, Sho also wondered why his brother was popularly branded as a ‘Devil.”
Suddenly, Sho experienced an Adolla link with his infernal mother. She then relayed her backstory to Sho through her memories. Through Mari’s memories, Sho learned the truth behind his birth circumstances. He & Shinra were indeed Virgin-born. Due to this occurrence, Mari’s parents disowned her and neglected her since she was unable to identify the father of her children. In reality, Shinra and Sho had no father; however, Mari’s parents heavily doubted this fact and rejected her. The flashback also showed Mari calling Shinra a “hero” in a serious manner, foreshadowingShinra’s future role in relation to humanity.
After going through his mother’s memories, Sho then stated how Shinra’s birth is similar to the one of a hero that was virgin-born before the Great Cataclysm. The reference to Christianity and the messiah of the religion, Jesus, led Sho to believe that Shinra was truly a hero since his circumstances were similar to the ancient hero. After going through his infernal mother’s memories, Sho then decided to protect his brother since he is indeed a hero, abandoning the White-Clad. The whole development in chapters 230 – 233 finally debunked the existence of Shinra’s father while introducing an even better, unique story no one expected. Shinra plays a critical role inFire Force, and hopefully, thethird season of the showwill animate the jaw-dropping background of the brothers, Sho and Shinra.
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