The Fire Hunter – Season 1 Episode 5 “The Spider Child” Recap & Review

The Spider Child

Episode 5 of The Fire Hunter begins with the tree folk leading Touko and her friends to the nearest village. They get ambushed by a strange man, but a female fire hunter named Akira and her canine Temari save them. Akira leads the trio to the village.

One of the villagers explains their relationship with Akira. Shouzou trades the people some muku paper in exchange for shelter. At the area, Akira tells Shouzou, Kaho, and Touko that she knows they came from the demolished collection trucks. In the bath, Akira overhears Kaho explaining Touko’s plan to travel to the capital and wants to tag along. Akira says they’ll need to travel through the forest to reach the capital. Since they have Spiders and flame fiends to deal with, it’d be best if someone of her caliber traveled with them. According to Akira, the tree folk can’t provide them with much protection.

All Touko needs to offer Akira is some muku paper, and it’s a sealed deal. They plan to travel through the forest until they reach the sea. At sea, they’ll take a boat to the capital. It should take them about three days. The four proceed with the plan and travel through the forest. They stop at a cave to rest for the night. Touko explains her connection to Kanata with Akira. Akira wonders if his fire hunter was after the same thing she seeks. Touko asks Akira about her fascination with Muku paper, and she tells Touko that she wants to use it to write a letter. Akira says that the Flickering Flame will appear soon as something causes Temari and Kanata to freak out.

Akira and the others spot a child in the mist and rush to them. Meanwhile, Koushi spots Hinako holding a gold concoction in her hand and freaks out. Later, Koushi attends a party held at Youshichi’s mansion. Some guests belittle Koushi’s father for leaving Koushi, Hinako, and their mother behind. Koushi isn’t thinking straight because he’s not used to all this attention. Kira pulls Koushi aside to meet with the guests’ dogs. Koushi reveals that he once had a dog named Kanata, but doesn’t elaborate. Kira gets pulled aside, allowing a man to confront Koushi about a skyfire deal.

The man reveals himself to be a fire hunter named Roroku, and his dog’s named Mizore. Koushi asks Roroku if he can teach him about skyfire. Roroku asks Koushi to join him on a hunt if he wants to learn about skyfire and fallbeasts. At the same time, Akira says the boy’s a Spider. They can use him as a hostage. Akira and the others arrive at a remote location filled with burned-up humans, dogs, and fiends. Shouzou starts yelling at the kid and asks him how the Spiders can wield fire. The boy reveals that specific bugs are to blame for this travesty. By allowing these bugs to bite them, the Spiders can wield flames (not from fiends) that won’t cause their bodies to burn.

Kaho tells Shouzou not to take his anger out on the kid. However, it’s possible the Spiders are to blame for the white dragon’s assault on the collection truck. Some animal flame fiends attempt to attack them as they rush for the boat. They escape, but Shouzou’s badly wounded. Kaho and Shouzou rest. Akira apologizes to Touko for not protecting them, appropriately. She’s impressed by Touko’s bravery in attacking a flame fiend before it could hurt Kaho. Touko wonders if the family will be okay with her using the sickle. Akira says she shouldn’t worry about it and reveals that hunters trade with each other–all the time.

Temari and her sickle were gifts from another hunter. The Spider boy asks for food and reveals he’s named Kun. He says the bug’s venom didn’t work on him, so his mother said the forest could have him. The episode concludes with a flame-fiend whale startling our cast.

The Episode Review

This was a far better-paced chapter than the previous one. It struck a good balance between its dialogue and action segments. The fights in this episode looked far better than in the previous chapter. Some of the flame fiends’ movements looked a little jarring, though. Nonetheless, many fans will enjoy learning more about The Fire Hunter’s world and its characters.

For instance, it appears Kanata may belong to Koushi’s father. This will make Touko and Koushi’s inevitable meeting that much more extravagant. Based on Koushi’s personality and ties to his father, it’ll be intriguing to see if Kanata harbors any familiarity with Koushi or Hinako since it’s been a while since they last saw each other.

Regardless, many viewers may be eager to see how that turns out. Akira and Temari are excellent additions to our team’s line-up. Now that Touko’s wielded the sickle in combat, I expect Akira will teach Touko how to become a fire hunter before they reach the capital. It’ll fill in the void Benio left in fans’ hearts before her tragic passing a couple of episodes ago. Overall, this was a better chapter than the previous one. I can’t wait to see what happens next week.