Shinra Kusakabe Joins the Force (森羅日下部入隊,Shinra Kusakabe Nyūtai) is the first chapter of theFire Force manga series, considered chapter zero instead ofchapter one.
On a train, a human is set ablaze while at the same time,Shinra Kusakabe makes his way to the train station, where he bumps into a girl and scares her away with his grin. Upon arriving to the station, an alarm goes off and announces that a train was caught in fire, after which, people begin evacuating the premises as aInfernal appears from the train carriage. Before Shinra could take action, theSpecial Fire Force Company 8 arrive. The force confronts the being, eventually managing todestroy its core. After the ordeal, Shinra notices a falling light and uses hisability to save theperson underneath and introduces himself as the team's newest member to the force. When the team returns to theCathedral, Shinra is formally introduced toTakehisa andAkitaru. When asked why he joined the force, Shinra replies that he wants to become a hero. After the girls have a shower, Shinra is introduced toMaki and Iris. The force members soon begin talking about the Human Body Ignition Phenomenon and that their mission is to unravel the mysteries surrounding it. Later in bed, Shinra recalls the death of his family and claims there was a "black shadow" present before they died, as well as how his grandma treated him following the incident. Straight after, he and the team are notified that a fire has broke out and the team gets prepared anddeparts to the scene, where Akitaru encourages Shinra to do his best while on the job.
On the cover page, the souls ofMaka Albarn andSoul Evans, two main characters fromAtsushi Ōkubo's earlier series,Soul Eater, can be seen, in more fire-like forms. It is comfirmed now that they're called Pusupusu and Meramera.
Arthur Boyle is seen on the cover page of the chapter, despite not having an appearance untilChapter 2.
