Ending of Fire Punch

Fire Punch by Tatsuki Fujimoto, more famously known for his work Chainsaw Man.

Warning Spoilers of the Ending:

The ending of fire punch is a subject of much debate and left up to interpretation. The main theory is that Luna and San just out live everything and eventually reunite and their story ends. It is just accepted that they are different people and it is what it is.

My take on the ending is a little bit deeper. Fujimoto's running theme is utter chaos enveloped by the basic faucets of life. Birth and death. The ending of Agni and Luna exiting the theater is the biggest key in interpreting the end. Luna and San reunite, yet we see Agni and Luna, the two long, long been deceased. Call it cheesy, but I see this story as a tragic love story that transcends life itself. There's a mirror of the two through out the story. First, Judah's memory is completely wiped and becomes an entirely new person. This person grows to love Agni, so much so they decide to wipe Agni's memories and become a tree despite that Agni as she knew was gone after the memory wipe. Luna was reincarnated when Judah's memories were wiped. How? Well, the theme of Fire Punch is that people become who they want to be, who they say they are or what people think they are. It's all purely subjective. So whose to say Luna wasn't reincarnated? People believe what they want to believe. Agni too, dies when his memories are wiped and reincarnates as San. Is San Agni? Is Luna Judah?  

A seemingly chaotic story that seems to question a lot of the insanity that "living" is. There's many ways to fabricate a moral or message from the story and Fire Punch seems to accepting of all of them. Agni was a man simply too angry to die, in too much pain to care and suffering so much they lost their mind. Yet, transcending the suffering, he was able to reach Luna as San. A point of note is that San watched the film by Togata of Fire Punch. San, who has no recollection of any of these events, just accepts the role and waits until eternity. On the other hand, Luna's love transcended space time, willing to wait an infinite amount of time. Waiting for Agni.

The most reasonable line of thinking is that Reborn Judah accepted the role of Luna and Reborn San accepted the role of Agni. We become who we want to become. So as Luna and Agni, the roles that they accepted, they are who they are. 

Ironically, there is a song that this story reminds me of:

Yes, I am calling Fire Punch as cheesy as Genesis of Aquarion. 

The message I take away from Fire Punch is that we, in our consciousness, just take on a role. Act as who we want to be perceived as. What we believe is right. I think therefore I am. Judah did become Luna. San did become Agni. Are they different? Well, yes. They are. But are they really? That my friends, is something you have to accept within yourself. Togata was the answer the entire time. Togata was a man on the inside. A female on the outside. They felt as if they were a contradiction, their existence just suffering because of who they thought they were. If you wiped Togata's memories, is Togata still Togata? The topic of identity, sexuality, religion, politics all get touched in this series and for good reason. People believe what they want to believe.

If it looks like a duck, if it swims like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. 

The other interpretation is that none of this matters and it's just a mash of different ideas compacted into a manga series for the sake of artistic expression through manga. Totally reasonable theory. Another is that it's actually just a movie and they leave the theater. Also viable. The story gives very little explanation or truth regarding the matter and it's part of the beauty. It doesn't need to be explained, it doesn't need to make sense. It has no obligation to. It's a piece of art.


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Edit 3/6/2025


Yes. At the end, what truly mattered was the acceptance of it all. The ending was truly irrelevant because we are all just transient. A flicker of light in space-time. Honestly, recollecting my memories of this story, it continues to add new depth and meaning to all the parts that went into it. A seriously timeless piece of work that I hope many will enjoy for decades, centuries to come.