u/EMajorinc

Hello all.
This is my first time posting on this sub so apologies if I accidentally broke any rules.
And for a bit of a ramble.

I would like to ask a question about Fire Force and would like to get some spoiler free FACTual answers. I am kind of not interested in opinions I just want facts from which to make a decision.

I am a huge fan of Soul Eater. Absolutely adore it.
When I first heard of Fire Force I just assumed it was another DBZ-like and ignored it.
Then I heard it was by the same person that wrote Soul Eater and decided to give it a chance.
So far I am loving it. With one exception.

A trope that you see a lot in DBZ-likes which I loathe with a passion has cropped up.
That is the trope where anyone other than the main character is useless in a crisis situation. They just stand there waiting for the main character to show up and deal with it. This is specifically when the people in question COULD have done something.
I do not need them to succeed just to at least TRY.

This has happened twice in the first 8 episodes of the show.
Spoilers ahead for EP1-8.

First there was Iris. She goes on her own to face her best friend and then basically becomes the macguffin to be saved.
This one wasn't so bad because of a few reasons:

1. Iris is a non-combatant. So she is not really capable of fighting.
2. Iris came to talk to a friend. She did not expect to become part of a fight.
3. Iris still did something during the altercation.
4. The stakes were not so high. Except near the end.

If this was the only occurrence of this trope I would not be on here.
But then comes the part that made me question whether I want to keep watching.

Tamaki.
Now I know there is a lot of discourse around this character.
I tried googling before making this post and boy did I find some things.
So to be VERY clear.
I generally do not take others opinions on if I like something or not.
I am not part of any anime community. I prefer watching over talking about. So I had no preconceived notions about Tamaki.
I have no problem with fan-service in any way.
That being said her scenes with Rekka sucked.
Because she was useless.
Again I do not need her to single-handedly defeat Rekka. Or even manage to hurt him.
But she didn't even TRY.
The man is in the process of potentially murdering children.
And you just lie there and watch. You don't even make the effort to help them.
She has a power that doesn't require her to move and she doesn't even try to knock a glass from his hand maybe.
She is basically just an excuse to make the main character look good.
In that scene she was not a character at all.

Now I know that stuff happens later (I don't know what but people kept bringing it up.) But frankly none of that excuses this scene.
The scene sucked.
Also for those clamoring to say it. It doesn't matter if something comes up later to excuse this scene or in the manga. Because all of that wold have been good to know before watching the scene.

So my question is this.
Does this keep happening? Is this another show where no one but the main character can ever do anything?
Where we are just always waiting for the MC to come and save the day.

Again I would like facts not opinions.
And thank you to anyone willing to read all that and respond.