‘Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire’ Ending Explained: What Is Enkai Doing When Her Mother Works?
Welcome to the Ending Explained for Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, a new animated anthology arriving on Disney Plus this week. The anthology presents us with ten powerful short films created behind the scenes by African talents from different countries on the continent. In the last five years, African productions have managed to prove that the continent is a territory in development for both film and television, and this anthology just serves to prove that animation is just one more medium the African filmmakers can master.
The series contains ten short films of around 10 to 15 minutes each. Each of them is produced with an entirely different animation style. Character designs, world-building, traditions, and characters are diverse from short to short. It is a perfect way to show that each African country is its own entity and that while it is true that the entire continent shares many traditions, just like it happens in Latin America or Europe, every country also has something that makes them unique, something that is worth celebrating. This might be the best Disney animated anthology to date.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. Read at your own risk.
Who Is Shiro?
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is a fantastic set of short films. The series might actually remind you of a lot of bad robots, as there are a lot of fantasy and science fiction elements going around in each story.
It makes the stories feel like something out of this world, and combined with the already very unique style of Afro-futurism, the show seems to have its own unique flavor. The fact that each short film is also directed and written by different teams from different countries makes the entire collection worth exploring.
We very rarely see African filmmakers working at this level. The film industries in those countries have indeed developed themselves to a massive level. Still, you can see that these shorts cost money.
Bringing these kinds of budgets to filmmakers in these regions of the world really makes every effort to have a unique result. The last short film of the collection, Enkai, is particularly enchanting, not only because it is unique in terms of visuals but also because it deals with a subject that is very close to the heart of the African continent.
Enkai introduces us to Shiro, a powerful entity that seems to be some mother nature figure in the story. Like many other cultures worldwide, the first and most important goddess that most people started praying to and worshiping was nature itself. As an entity, nature was both a nurturing mother but also a merciless deliverer of destruction. Maintaining the fine balance between the two phases became a space of study for people around the world, including the inhabitants of the African continent.
Shiro seems to represent this entity. She is a mother who cares deeply for humans and their world, even to the point that she abandons her child, Enkai, a charming and cute girl. She is the one who gives the title its name, and she, of course, becomes our true main character.
We see that Enkai loves her mother, Shiro, but this one goes out to work and always protects her people. Every time something bad happens in the human world, Shiro starts having pain in her womb. We all come from her, and she feels it.
‘Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire’ Ending Explained: What Is Enkai Doing When Her Mother Works?
It is revealed very early that Shiro begins spending more time in the human world, working, than in her magical home with her daughter Enkai. Shiro prohibits Enkai from going outside when she is working. It is too dangerous, she says. One day, while playing, Enkai manages to do something only her mother could do. She brings a toy to life. Like, it makes a small toy and gives it life. She takes the creature as a pet and calls it Awa. Enkai is excited. Of course, these powers are a huge thing. So, she goes outside to look for her mother. She needs to show her what she did.
When Enkai goes outside, she sees the world for the first time, and it is quite scary. War, famine, pollution, and disease are all there, and Enkai gets scared. She sees that her mother is fighting out all these other entities, but while powerful, her strength is not enough. Shiro sees her daughter is in danger and brings her back home.
She makes Enkai promise she will never go out ever again. Enkai lies and makes the promise, but as we see next, Enkai will continue to go outside while her mother tries to defend the world.
The prayers of humanity assail Shiro as they pray for her to end their suffering, and yet, the enemy is themselves, as they are destroying the world around them. For decades, it has been terrible that the African continent has been sold out to foreigners who only want to extract the resources they need for their own countries. This brings money to the African nations but also puts them in a position where they are giving away what is basically theirs.
This is where the analogy of Wakanda works so well because that nation owns the most precious mineral on Earth and is unwilling to share it.
Time passes, and Shiro looks increasingly exhausted every time she returns home. Enkai has become a young woman, and she and Awa have been working on something to help her mother.
Enkai shows her mother, and we see that she has transformed into another mother nature and created her own world. Enkai begs her mother to leave the humans behind and go with her to their new home, a place with no humans, only nature. Shiro accepts, and together they dance happily in their new world.
Humans are left alone to save themselves. This is a perfect explanation of why the gods don’t speak to us anymore, not like they did in the time of the old civilizations. We are not children anymore; we need to do the work ourselves, just like Enkai did.
