This is my first attempt at an anime review so please bear with me.

I went into Promare with high expectations, seeing how many people I know loved this movie, but I ended up being disappointed by the story (if one can call it that), the characterisation, and the many unanswered questions the watchers are left with at the end of the movie.

Set 30 years after the Burnish, humans with a flame-wielding mutation, destroyed the world with fire, Promare is the story of Galo Thymos, a rookie member of the Burning Rescue, and Lio Fotia, the leader of the Mad Burnish a "terrorist" organisation who fights for Burnish rights, as they fight first against each other and then together to save both the Earth and the Burnish.

While the premise behind Promare story is interesting, albeit cliché, after a rude awakening a firefighter helps his former enemy to fight against Burnish oppression, the execution of the story is flat and disappointing. There is no edge to the story, no nuance, and by the end of the movie I was left with a sour taste in my mouth and more unanswered questions than answers. While Galo isn't the only character who gains awareness of the severity of the Burnish's oppression, the other characters who do don't seem to care much about the fate of the Burnish. I mean these are people who are arrested just for who they are and who only want to live peacefully, and no one but Galo realises the atrocities their society is actively committing against the Burnish. The last straw was seeing one of the villains, because that's the only term I can use to describe that person, turn against the main villain for personal reasons, and not because the way they were using and torturing the Burnish. Furthermore the movie ends before any of the villains face repercussions for their actions, which was infuriating to say the least. The movie also doesn't make use of its cast of side characters, using them just as tokens and not treating them as real people. The only character who gets something similar to a development is Galo, but even then he's still somewhat shallow as a main character compared to Lio who is much more nuanced and three dimensional, though even then calling Lio "three dimensional" is a bit of an exaggeration.

There could have been a lot of social commentary, making the story much more layered and nuanced, instead Promare hides its shallowness behind its beautiful graphics, the animation, the soundtrack (which I adored), and the fight scenes.
Overall I can't say I didn't have fun watching Promare, because I did. It's a high stakes anime with likeable heroes and great visuals. However I can't help feeling disappointed comparing what Promare could have been to what it actually is.