"Warm Cinema": Understanding of "Flame Fist"

Author: Helipteru

The article contains spoilers, please read

Fujimoto tree, hello freedom!

Fujimoto has been drawing often since he was a child. In the third year of junior high, he bought the tablet and started publishing comics on Shintosha under the pseudonym Nagato はMe. At the age of 17, he contributed his debut novel "There were two chickens in the yard" to "JUMPSQ." ", and then passed the AO entrance exam (similar to our self-admission ) and entered the oil painting department of the university. With the determination of "death before graduation", he won the November 2013 Crown Newcomer Comic Award "Love". Blind" debuted. In terms of the style of

's works, because he loves movies, his comic storyboards have a unique cinematic feel. Fujimoto doesn't cherish the characters other than the protagonist very much, and sometimes kills indiscriminately. Coupled with his unexpected plot style, he is called "the second free manga artist on the surface" by readers.

Because it can avoid describing the relationship between characters, there are often sister-control plots in comics, which is also reflected in " Yanquan ".

The picture above is Fujimoto's Twitter, and the following is a translation of its profile:

I am Fujimoto, a third-grade elementary school student. I created a twitter account. I like Firefist and Chainsaw Man, thanks.

Brother and sister

Looking at the conventional general thinking, "Flame Fist" tells the story of a man named Agni who endures the burning pain and keeps moving forward in order to take revenge on Dema. Along the way, I met all kinds of people, some were like a shadow, and some were just passing by. In his interactions with others, Agni's position changed, and he finally ushered in a permanent slumber. In general, stories like

are not much different from most of the juvenile comics of the jump faction, and one of the elements that makes "Flame Fist" stand out from the rest of the works is its background. The story of

is set more than 300 years after the "old era", that is, the "new era". In the cold future, where supplies are extremely scarce, Agni and his sister Luna, as two well-wishers of regeneration, provide food for the whole village by constantly cutting off their hands. Dema from Bay City, a city-state ruled by religion at the time, came to Agni's village to force slaves. After discovering that the people in the village were eating human flesh, he killed them with the blessing of "burning the target to death". All villagers except Agni, including his sister Luna. Agni's regeneration ability was too strong to be burned by the flames, so he survived alone in a burning posture. Luna's sentence "to live" before her death became the only reason for his existence at that time, and the story began.

It is worth mentioning the naming of the characters in the work: Agni is taken from agnoy, which means great pain, and the homophone agni, in Indian mythology, refers to the god of fire; Luna and the sang that will appear later are respectively taken from Since luna and sun.

Protagonist and Director

The most impressive character in "Fire Fist" is "director" He Litian. The director wants to see a movie, but there is no such kind of art in such a world. The director, who has lived for 300 years, is unwilling to be lonely. After learning of Agni's existence, he rescued him from danger, let Agni be the protagonist and the director himself, and made a good-looking movie. Director

represents the image of the "reader" in the comics. He always tells Agni to take revenge and take "whatever he wants to do as long as he kills Dema" as his own idea, and let the protagonist into play. At the same time, the director doesn't think he's cool enough to be the main character, and there are only z like Agni.12z People who are "cool enough" can become the protagonists of the story - is it not the case for readers, we can look down on the protagonist above the paper or the screen, but we can never become the protagonist.

In "Fire Fist" and "Chainsaw Man", there are bridges about movies. Here, the director said that "people will go to the cinema after death", I think this is a very interesting image: the cinema is warm and comfortable, the director said that people will go to the cinema after death, it is out of his inner love for the film true love. While serving as an artistic symbol of the old era in the story, the film carries all the director's nostalgia for the old era.

In an episode, Agni's body melted the ice under his feet, and Agni fell into the water. After the director said "Agni—", the camera turned to the cinema for the first time. When Agni saw his sister in the seat, he wanted to sit down beside her, but the director pulled Agni away and sat beside her. After a brief recollection, he said his own Desire: To be like the protagonist in the movie, to save others.

镜头又拉回现实，导演在冰冷的湖水中与阿格尼相拥，并把阿格尼救上岸。

, as the director of Regenerators, after coming into contact with the flames on Agni's body, he experienced Agni's pain for a long time, finally understood the reason for Agni to live, and finally said "survive". The director

played a big role in advancing the entire "Flame Fist" story. From rescuing Agni on the train and fighting against Yoda for the first time, to arranging Agni to confront the enemy headed by Yoda, to teaching Agni how to play the image of God in the hearts of everyone, In the end, he opened his heart to Agni, gave his life to save Agni, and ended with the words "live" to continue his will to move on. In a plot, the director was pointed out as a person who was "female on the outside, male on the inside", which also became the beginning of the director opening his heart. In later episodes, Agney successfully retained the director on the grounds that he was too weak and incomplete, and the director also inadvertently revealed in his dialogue with Agney that his long-term strange performance was just to maintain a popular audience. People like the image of "Crazy Woman He Litian". The director

has emphasized his love for movies from beginning to end, which is also the most original and true of all the director's performances in this comic work. In the work, the director talks about superheroes like Spider-Man on the train, and he can't change his love for such handsome actors by telling the filth of what his favorite actor Tom Cruise does off-screen. It's a good reflection of the director's desire to be a hero, and also reveals a message the comics want to convey to us: Everyone is an actor.

The role of the actors in the movie is the same, everyone plays their role and maintains a personable image, but in doing so, we are drifting away from the road to the person we want to be. For example, the director shows people in the image of madness, but in his heart is eager to become a hero who saves others.

's interpretation of religion

In the first half of the story, Agni, under the arrangement of the director, fought against the Bay City army headed by Yoda, the well-wisher of regeneration, and won. The people in Bay City were divided into twoSpecies: "Used" and "Used", Agni's victory brought hope for the first time to the slaves who had been oppressed for a long time, the flame of "Flame Fist" gave them the right to resist, the first Once saw the possibility of changing the world. Since then, Agni has been enshrined as a god named Flame Fist, and has taken in slaves from Bay City, as well as followers who come later. With his regenerative ability, Agni once again nurtured others with his own flesh and blood, and established a village that believed in the "Agni" religion.

Religion's ability to sustain is always unreliable. Ten years later, religion has become a tool for ruling the villagers. The innocent boy, San, who was helped by Agni, has also become a ruler who uses the name of religion to exercise power.

Live!

Throughout the story, there are certain characters in the story, such as Luna, the director and Yoda all told Agni to "live" Past:

All the pain started when Agni was ignited for the first time, the pain of burning his body made him want to die, but the starting point at this time was only limited to the physical. After a few years of adjustment, the endless, snowy life took a toll on Agni's psyche: Why did he live? Agni begins to search for the meaning of his existence. First to avenge his sister's killing of Dema, then to play the protagonist of the movie, then to play a god, and to play a family member, and finally defeat the misguided San. All of this is actually Agni's exploration of self-worth.

In the process of breaking with the so-called "family", the author once again used the expression of the film to insert a memory of Agni's conversation with the priest in the village when he was a child:

"The priest...I.. .probably not Agni.. in the old days it was called firewood.. my hands and feet can make a fire if I throw them in the stove. Sometimes I look at those fires.. .... I think maybe I'm really a firewood. Now, my hands and feet have become everyone's food. Although this kind of thinking is stupid... But I always feel like I'm not a pig and a chicken or something Is it..." "Agni... I don't know what he is. When people saw snow for the first time, they knew that he was white. After being touched for the first time, Only when you know it is cold and melancholy; when people see fire for the first time, they know that they are red, and when they are touched for the first time, they know it is warm and dangerous. Agni, you are also loved by everyone. After contact, then you can understand what you are. No matter how much Agni you think you are a firewood, a pig, or a chicken, in our opinion, you are not a firewood or a pig. Everyone When I meet Agni, I will feel full of energy, and when I meet you, I will feel that you are very gentle. You can only understand what you are after being evaluated for the first time." Yoda also revealed his heart to Agni: I hope Agni will follow his heart and not play one role after another.

The whole story is discussed hereThe question is already clear: why do people exist? However, as a comic, "Flame Fist" can only ask questions, and it is difficult to give a practical answer to the question.

The doctrine that "Flame Fist" wants to express is usually divided into two views, namely existentialism and nihilism , let's briefly talk about my own views.

"Flame Fist" can be classified as a comic based on deconstruction . In this work, Agni shifts from acquiring his meaning through others to living by his own will. Agni's own existence is meaningless, but his personal pain has forced himself to search for meaning, and finally realized that the "live" in his mouth is actually a curse to himself, The meaning given by others is too wild and wishful thinking. But the appearance of the director brings readers a new perspective to observe the world in the story. The long life gives the director more time to settle himself, observe the world, and understand the absurdity and meaninglessness of this world. Out of his love for movies, he recorded the world with a camera, obsessed with everything that seemed interesting to him.

The element of "junk movie" also appeared in Fujimoto's recent work "The Chainsaw Man", but the meanings in the two works are completely different. Director

loves movies from the bottom of his heart, and tears will run out of his eyes for some movies that can no longer be shoddy. Isn't the world like this? This world is made up of junk movies, religions, non-existent gods and thousands of lies, but this is not bad. A movie that touches the heart is a good movie, and a world that makes people cry is a good world. It is a world worthy of individual existence, no matter how absurd and meaningless it is. Existentialism like

is reflected in the absurd cycle and resistance cycle of Camus . The general story background of "Flame Fist" is similar to that of " Plague ". Eternal winter makes people pray to God and worship Buddha. Find a moment of solace in religious falsehood. But among this group of people, there are also rebels: they are well aware of the weakness of human beings. In the face of eternal winter, human beings may be defeated countless times, but they cannot give up their resistance because they have no future. Rebirth well-wishers like Agni are more aware of the fragility of life. "I'm not used to seeing people die, and I don't know anything else." These are the words of the doctor Rieux in "The Plague". Hope to see anyone die before my eyes again."

After seeing that existence has no meaning, people's psychology often divides into two directions: denying their existence and destroying themselves, or creating meaning for themselves, even if the meaning itself is absurd. And the path chosen by the director is the latter. Through the director's "cinema", the author divides a boundary between life and death, and at the same time gives a place to realize its own value. At the end of the story of

, Agni fell down again and again through the video recorder left by the director, and stood up and waved his fist again and again. This repeated scene depicts from another perspective—that is, the reader’s perspective. The value of Agni: the rebel who threw a fist at a world full of despair, the spiritual leader who inspired others to join it.

Reunion At the end of the cosmic

story, the reborn Agni, under the name "San", reunites with Yoda, who thinks he is "Luna", in the universe. Such a cruel story finally has a warm ending, Agni and Yoda, two people who were in a relationship of enemies in the past, meet again in the universe under the names of sun and luna, with only vague memories. , Sun and Moon Xianghui, I personally think this ending is very romantic, a bit Taoist.

However, Agni, who has been searching for traces of his sister, the mostIn the end, in the arms of a skin similar to "sister", he obtained the peace that he has never had before. Isn't this absurd? It's not that Agney didn't see the absurdity and meaninglessness of all this, but chose a gentler way to be compatible with the absurdity. In a sense, such behavior is an escape, but for the individual, this It is also a kind of courage.

Jumping out of the story, Fujimoto did not focus on the romance and precious eulogy of existentialism, but focused on describing the process of the protagonist Agni's establishment of self-worth and the search for the meaning of existence. The

story also discusses another issue: the impact of relationships on individuals. Whether it is the people in Beicheng who are used as firewood, or the identity of "Flame Fist", the expectation of "survival", or the emergence of Agni in the process of social development, such factors are external Yes, it was outsiders who influenced Agni in the way they expected. Yoda, on the other hand, is the outsider who decides whether others are "the one who uses" or the "one who is used." "Meeting in the universe" actually means that these two distorted worldviews meet and merge in their purest form.

Some irrelevant

The opportunity to contact "Flame Fist" is because after reading the well-known "Chainsaw Man", I became interested in Fujimoto and learned about the work "Flame Fist". He's going to use the flame fist." This stalk is a pit that has been heard before. Just looking at the name, I once thought that "Flame Fist" was a relatively hot comic like "Tianyuan Breakthrough", but I didn't expect it to be a very Fujimoto-style work.

A little more about Chainsaw Man.

Compared with "Chainsaw Man", "Fire Fist" gives me a feeling of anguish and despair that is hard to describe. Now that "Chainsaw Man" is going to be animated, and various peripherals are gradually appearing, the further development of "Flame Fist" is far away. Maybe it's because the storyboard of "Flame Fist" is more professional, and it's not very suitable for animation. It may also be because "Flame Fist" doesn't have the cool characters created by "Chainsaw Man". However, the animation of "Chainsaw Man" shows that it does have the ability to cater to the aesthetics of mainstream audiences, and it also indicates that "Chainsaw Man" may be more out of the circle. With the expansion of the fan base, the quality of the audience will be mixed, so the lukewarmness of "Flame Fist" may also satisfy my selfishness.