Billie Eilish’s Fire Force Outfit Catches the Attention of Manga’s Creator

Fire Force creator Atsushi Ohkubo approves of Billie Eilish's new Tamaki-themed outfit.

The Grammy Award winning singer was photographed wearing a shirt printed with images of Tamaki Kotatsu, one of the main characters of Ohkubo's latest and apparently final manga series, during her Detroit concert on March 12. Photos from the concert were shared with Ohkubo, who is very active on Twitter. "Billie Eilish's clothes have Tamaki on them lol," Ohkubo wrote in response to one picture of the outfit. "This was a cool photo," Ohkubo stated in a later tweet, which featured another picture of Eilish's Fire Force shirt.

This is not the first time Eilish has literally worn her anime fandom on her sleeve: she previously performed in outfits inspired by Death Note and Attack on Titan, and has been photographed wearing Jojo's Bizarre Adventure merchandise. She also worked with acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to create an anime-inspired music video for her song "you should see me in a crown."

Fire Force tells the story of Shinra Kusakabe, a young man with the ability to cause flames to erupt from his feet. Shinra is recruited into the titular Fire Force, a group of pyrokinetic warriors who literally fight fire with fire as they defend the populace from the Infernals, which are humans who have spontaneously combusted and have been transformed into flame-spewing monsters.

The manga was first published in 2015 and released its final chapter last February. The 42-year old Ohkubo previously stated that Fire Force would be his final manga series and that he planned to retire following its conclusion. In addition to his latest work, Ohkubo is also known as the creator of the fantasy manga Soul Eater, which was published from 2004 - 2013 and has a circulation of almost 20 million copies worldwide.

An anime adaptation of Fire Force premiered in 2019 and was produced by David Production, the animation studio behind the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The anime was well-received and aired a second season in 2020. A third season has not been announced at this time, so the final chapters of Ohkubo's manga have yet to be animated. Following the publication of the series' final chapter, publisher Kodansha teased an upcoming "important announcement" regarding the future of the series, which some fans hope will be related to the continuation of the anime series.

Both seasons of the Fire Force anime are available for streaming on Hulu, Funimation and Crunchyroll. The manga is available in English from Kodansha USA.

Source: Twitter (1, 2)

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