Tag: Chainsaw Man

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Let’s Watch CHAINSAW MAN Episode 5 – “Gun Devil”

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

Earlier today, I had a lengthy discussion with a good friend of mine in which we went over all sorts of very personal and heavy subjects. One of these was, essentially, dreams – aspirations. These things keep us pushing forward and pursuing them often defines our lives. I, for example, would like to formally study history someday. I have an interest in the subject and think it’s an important field.

But of course, different people have different sorts of dreams, which brings us to today’s Chainsaw Man serial. You see, at the start of episode five, Denji achieves one of his dreams.

To touch a boob.

Listen, I never said the man’s dreams were noble. Or terribly fulfilling. But hey! He has them! Respect his dreams! Or don’t! I’m not a cop.

Instead of being fulfilled, Denji finds himself spiraling. Power, in a bit of the manga’s trademark askew humor, was wearing breast pads the entire time for…reasons. Who knows why, really? They’re probably Fiend reasons. Very secret, you and I wouldn’t be privy to them. Denji thus finds his boob-touching experience to be largely unsatisfactory, which plunges him into a bout of existential ennui. If there is no truth and beauty to be gleaned from the titties of the world, where then, might it be gleaned?

Well, Denji gets an answer not long later. Whether or not it’s a useful answer is another question entirely.

It’s been a moment since we last spoke about Makima’s Problematic Power Dynamics Emporium on this blog. I don’t think I’m cutting the legs off of any kind of “twist” by pointing out that Makima does not exactly have Denji’s best interests in mind, but Denji himself of course does not know that, and as an emotionally shattered teenager whose spent most of his life not knowing even the feintest hint of human kindness, Makima’s practiced, razor-sharp manipulation seems entirely genuine. What might be read flags to an experienced viewer are, instead, to both Denji and I’m sure at least some of the demographic at whom Chainsaw Man is in fact aimed—it’s a shonen manga at the end of the day, recall—genuinely alluring. They’re also instructive; as warnings.

The little lecture that Makima gives Denji here is all about physical intimacy. She tells him that sexuality is best explored with someone you know very well. She has him fondle not just the obvious but also her ear. It is all extremely charged, and it’s supposed to be. But it’s also supposed to be a little unsettling. Take note of the many cuts back to Denji’s own eyes, which Makima stares phantasmal daggers into, intentionally or not. She also asks him if anyone’s ever bitten his finger before. The sort of request that scans as a little bizarre on paper, but could easily absolutely destroy the unprepared in the right circumstance.

Make no mistake; Denji is actively being manipulated here, in a way that is extremely transparent and wildly inappropriate, considering that Makima is pretty clearly at least a bit older than Denji and is also his boss. Guys; don’t rake me over the coals for this, but I think that this Makima character might not have our boy’s interests in mind!

And sure enough, before he really even knows it, Denji is agreeing to hunt the Gun Devil, a spectre of death that appeared in—where else?—the USA some number of years ago. (Why does he agree? Other than the fact that Denji would probably do nearly anything Makima asked at that point, it’s because she offers to grant him any “one wish.” You get two guesses what he plans on making his wish. First two don’t count.)

We get a flashback, eventually revealed as Aki’s, where the creature passes unseen over a remote home and completely obliterates it and everyone inside in microseconds. Except for Aki himself, waiting for his brother to go fetch a pair of gloves so the two of them can keep playing with snowballs. Naturally, Aki’s brother never comes back.

More exposition, brief but important; the Gun Devil sheds bits of flesh—casings, basically—wherever it goes. Stick enough together, and it acts like a giant magnet, pointing you toward the Gun Devil itself. This is all the context we need for part two of this episode, where we meet some new friends.

From left to right (and skipping Power, Denji, and Aki, who we obviously already know), that’s Arai (Taku Yashiro), Kobeni (Karin Takahashi), and Himeno (Mariya Ise). Respectively, they’re straightlaced and serious, a walking bundle of nerves in the vague shape of a human who jumps out of her own skin at anything and everything, and a bisexual whirlwind freewheeling spirit whose broad smile, perhaps unsurprisingly, holds a profound inner pain. They’re all pretty great. Much of this half of the episode is character dynamic, feeding us fun little hints about this other company of Devil Hunters (such as Himeno’s contract devil being the Devil of Ghosts) fun moments for the newly-expanded cast to interact in equal measure.

Anyway, not long after this, they discover that the hotel building they’re infiltrating is looping infinitely in every direction. The episode ends there, because cliffhangers are fun.

a line of infinite ends finite finishing the one remains oblique and pure – arching to the single point of consciousness – find yourself starting back

On that note, I’d like to talk briefly about this show’s pacing, as a closing note. I think some have been surprised at the relatively easy pace the series is adapting the manga’s chapters at. It’s only skipped a very few things and most of these small arcs at the start of the series have been given an episode and a half or so to sort themselves out. It’s a pacing that feels slightly unconventional in the modern TV anime landscape, but if it is a difference, it’s a welcome one, and it suits Chainsaw Man extremely well.

Bonus Power Screencap: Behold, the hall of 100 Powers! Tremble at their infinite variety and their varied facial expressions! At this rate I’ll be able to pick these out from the ED alone every week.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch CHAINSAW MAN Episode 4 – “Rescue”

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

What we have here today is a simpler and more straightforward episode of Chainsaw Man than the last few have been. It’s light on (although not absent of) more subtle characterization, and mostly serves to move us between a few key plot points. This is fine, though, because it looks great while doing it, and the fight scene that kicks off the episode proper might be the best-looking in the show to date. Manga-readers will of course be thrilled by the fact that, well, if they’re going this hard for material this early on, who knows what they’ll do later, but these basic visceral thrills are worth enjoying in their own right, too.

And they are visceral. After defeating the Bat Devil, Denji has to contend with his apparent main squeeze (or former main squeeze I suppose. It’s hard to have a gf if you’re dead), the Leech Devil. The Leech Devil is….pretty gross-looking, and the episode in general follows after that beat; it’s very bloody and gory, to an even greater extent than the past few.

Not obvious from this screencap is the fact that she has weirdly detailed udders. Why does she have udders? Leeches don’t have udders.

Denji puts in an impressive showing here, despite the fact that he’s lost so much blood that he’s really less Chainsaw Man at this point and more Man, With a Hint of Chainsaw. And hey, does it all while missing one of his arms, which really seems like it’d be a major plot point but, nope, he gets it back immediately afterward via a “blood transfusion,” somehow. A perk of being part-Devil, evidently.

It’s also worth noting that he doesn’t clinch the win all on his own; Aki, alongside Division 4, a group of characters very briefly introduced here who we’ll more properly meet next week, bail him out. This is notably also the first time we see that Aki is also contracted with a devil, mentioned here as being the norm for devil-hunters. His is the Fox Devil, whom he feeds pieces of his body in order to borrow her power.

Munch squad.

After this, Denji and Aki finally reach something of an accord. Mostly, Aki lets him off the hook in as much as he can because, true enough, Denji did actually save some people. And for not the last time in the series we do see a few members of the public remarking on how grateful they are….and the guy whose car Denji threw with him still inside it being pretty understandably pissed about that whole development. But, hey, nobody’s perfect.

Furthermore, in addition to housing Denji, Aki is now tasked with keeping an eye on Power, too. And he can’t exactly say no, because that’s an order from Makima, who puts in only a brief appearance in this episode but is as excellent and charismatic as ever. The report also contains a mysterious mention of “Gun flesh.” I’m sure we’ll find out what that is in due time.

Power is a predictably terrible roommate, and mention is made of the fact that she doesn’t really bathe, among other things. But, that ends up mattering little to Denji as soon as she offers to let him collect on the deal they made last week. The episode ends with Denji’s trembling hand reaching for Power’s chest, in a way that is truly, transcendentally dumb.

Down bad.

There will be better episodes of Chainsaw Man than this, and consequently this one does feel notably minor. But it is still pretty damn good. When you’re working on this high a level, you don’t really need to worry about hitting any snags. There aren’t any.

And now for the Bonus Power Screencap.

From today’s ED we have Super Shoutin’ Power. Use her to shut your enemies up, or just to cause general disruption in a place where things you don’t care about are happening.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch CHAINSAW MAN Episode 3 – Nyako’s Whereabouts

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

We don’t really use the term “antihero” too often anymore. I think perhaps, collectively, we were a bit burned out on it somewhere around the mid-2000s. But it describes Denji to a tee, so I hope you won’t mind if I pull it out here.

To wit; our boy’s primary motivation throughout this episode is, once again, to touch a boob. This time, Power’s, in exchange for helping her rescue her pet cat (a less easy task than it may sound, given that said cat is imprisoned by a powerful devil, but we’ll get back to that). It’s such an idiotically basic motive that the word “motive” itself almost seems too grandiose. But hey, after god knows how many years of anime protagonists who “want to be a hero” or other similarly abstract things, I at least appreciate a protagonist whose motives are understandable if not exactly noble.

The cat-hunting is more in the latter 2/3rds or so of the epsiode. Before that, the series goes some way toward establishing Denji and Power’s push-and-pull dynamic. Notably, right off the top, Power gets in trouble for killing the Sea Cucumber Devil at the tail end of last week’s episode, and her first instinct is to immediately—and badly—lie and try to pin the blame on Denji.

In general, Power is pretty interesting, and it’s worth pausing here to talk about why. One of the best ways to make a character distinct (South Park influence notwithstanding, go look that up if you’re curious), is to pile on enough small character tics that aren’t notable in isolation but add up to a peculiar whole. Power is rather slovenly, as conveyed by the hoodie that’s often half-hanging off of her shoulders. She’s incredibly violent and prone to lying. But she also intermittently speaks in a screwy, stilted dialect of Japanese that the sub track translates as spurts of weirdly archaic English. (Even in that screencap up there, note that she phrases it as “It was he who commanded me to kill” and not something like “He told me to do it” or what have you.) She also noticeably clams up around Makima, who she is comparatively deferential toward, and seems perhaps even afraid of. All of this sums up as a character who is really pretty unique in the current anime landscape, and, accordingly, she’s a lot of fun to just watch bounce around the screen.

She has one further quirk; a fondness toward cats. As mentioned, this episode’s main plot consists of Denji being convinced to help her rescue her pet cat Meowy. (Or Nyako. They mean basically the same thing.) Power, as a Fiend, is pretty broadly disdainful of humans and, really, most life in general. Cats though, she seems to have a fondness for. Later in the episode we get a flashback about her initially meeting Meowy and it’s genuinely very sweet despite the fact that Power spends the entirety of said sequence naked and covered in grime. (CSM is bizarrely good at putting emotional resonance into scenes that read as ridiculous on paper.)

Denji, ever the gentleman, is openly disdainful of this affection….until Power makes the aforementioned offer to let him touch her chest if he helps her recover Meowy. At which point, he’s suddenly fuming mad about “that fucking Devil” stealing poor little Meow-Meow. The soundtrack even revs up alongside him. It’s pretty funny.

Elsewhere, Makima gets a few spotlight scenes as well, which serve to add some further depth to her character. Also, they serve to sate my endless thirst for this show’s insanely good use of characters’ lines-of-sight as non-verbal tells about how they’re feeling. Aki, in his only real scene in this episode, questions Makima on the wisdom of having Denji in his squad. If you were only listening to the dialogue, you would take Makima’s response as fairly cool and natural. If you look, however, she visibly glares at him (from behind, so he can’t even see it) for a moment before replying. Somebody doesn’t like their authority questioned, is all I’m saying.

I think if someone who looked like this looked at me this way I’d die on the spot. But hey, I’d die happy.

Also of note; a meeting between Makima and her superiors is the first glimpse we get at the wider state of Chainsaw Man‘s world. This particular council of anonymous, vaguely military-types makes mention of “war hawks” over in America and The Soviet Union (!), and rumors of devils deployed for military purposes. How true any of this is, we don’t yet know. But it is worth making note of the fact that even this council refer to Makima’s underlings as “dogs,” in case you were wondering if the people she works for are any nicer than she is.

As for the whole cat rescue situation? Well, Power was lying. She had no actual intent to help Denji fight the Bat Devil or anything of the sort, instead offering him to the Bat Devil as a sacrifice, so that the larger devil might heal his wounds by drinking Denji’s blood. This ‘brilliant’ plan has several flaws.

Flaw 1: The Bat Devil is a dick.

As soon as Power shows up with a half-conscious Denji (who she’s whacked over the head with one of her bloodmallets), the Bat Devil collects his sacrifice and starts squeezing our boy dry in a decidedly unpleasant way. (Seriously, he vomits blood, and the Bat Devil drinks it. Chainsaw Man is not afraid to get nasty; remember this.)

Power demands Meowy back, but, surprise, the Bat Devil thinks Denji’s blood tastes terrible, and he takes out his frustration on Power by eating her cat in front of her. Then, while she’s having the flashback scene described above, he eats Power herself, too.

Flaw 2: There is no flaw 2. Flaw 1 got her eaten alive, what else do you want?

Anyway, this all makes Denji rather unhappy.

As far as battle cries go, it’s not exactly “you shall not pass,” but hey, whatever works.

The final act of the episode is a truly stunning fight scene; easily the best in the series so far. Denji and the Bat Devil tear a cityscape to pieces, ripping up chunks of concrete and twisted metal as they slug it out. And in what is arguably his first act of something vaguely like superheroics, Denji actually rescues a couple people. (He also throws a car at the Bat Devil with the driver still inside it, but, hey, nobody’s perfect.)

All told, this stands as probably the strongest single episode of CSM so far. It manages to keep a pretty noteworthy number of plates spinning, and it looks great while doing it. Here’s hoping to much more of that to come.

And now, making its grand debut, the Bonus Power Screencap, because I know what the fans like. This one is from this week’s ED. A simple Power, but strong, and bold.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

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Let’s Watch CHAINSAW MAN Episode 2 – Arrival in Tokyo

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

I didn’t point it out at the time, but last week, Denji’s then-boss described our hero thus; “the good thing about Denji is that he does what he’s told.”

Today, in the first part of its second episode, that point orbits around several times. With Makima, Denji has effectively traded one master he must unconditionally obey for another. One could argue it’s a slight upgrade, since, as we’ll see, Makima treats him materially much better than the old yakuza boss who ordered him around before this point, but his life still isn’t really his own.

He knows this, on some level. A very early scene here sees Makima describe Denji as her dog. This little smidgen of animal symbolism is probably Chainsaw Man‘s single most well-known thematic motif. Dogs, after all, generally do what they’re told as long as you take care of their needs. Denji is briefly angry about being treated like one, but upon Makima promising him a hot meal of whatever he likes, and offering him her coat to wear so he’s not walking around shirtless, his disaffection mostly evaporates. A few scenes later, and he is almost literally eating out of the palm of Makima’s hand.

It’s important to remember that Denji isn’t unique here. Most people will put up with a lot as long as their material needs are being met. Even given the line of work he’s being asked to take up, it is hard to imagine that many people, in his situation, would not do the same. (Some of you will say something like “RIP to him but I’m different” to that statement. We’ll get back to you as the show goes on.)

Not just an everyman, it’s important to remember that Denji is, too, a hormonal teenager. In addition to the obvious food and clothing benefits, Denji goes along with what happens here in part because he thinks Makima is hot. (Hot tip for the younger people who read my blog; you will never get with your boss.) Of course, Makima isn’t even remotely above picking up on and playing to that desire anyway, and it’s pretty obvious that she’s doing so.

Chainsaw Man is very good at subtle facial expressions as silent conveyors of intent. If you’ve already seen this episode and want to look for something neat on a rewatch, I would recommend going back through those early scenes and keeping an eye on Makima’s face specifically. She’s actually quite expressive and there are multiple points where you can almost see the gears turning in her head over various things.

In any case, as much as this episode is about Makima and Denji’s newfound working relationship, Denji doesn’t actually work directly under her. Instead, he’s assigned to one of Public Safety’s many devil hunting units. Specifically, an “experimental” one, lead by a ponytailed chain-smoker named Aki (Shougo Sakata).

King of Spades

Aki’s real introduction is one of the early manga’s most memorably goofy scenes, and for perhaps the first time, Chainsaw Man the anime actually sharpens the bent for crass humor in the original, rather than backing away from it.

The result? Well, Aki takes Denji for a walk, briefly interrogating his motives. What he gets out of this conversation is that Denji is basically only in this line of work to get with Makima. That’s not good enough for Aki, so he takes Denji to an anonymous back alley and slugs him across the face, expecting the ass-kicking to teach the punk a lesson. To hear him tell it, this is his version of kindness; he’s seen people die from getting into the business for weak reasons, and as much as he doesn’t really seem to like Denji, he doesn’t want that to happen to him.

Denji responds to this particularly physical brand of thoughtful consideration by kneeing Aki in the nuts.

Repeatedly.

While a “ding!” sound effect plays every time it happens.

Immature as hell? Yes. Extremely funny? Also yes. Chainsaw Man is rarely afraid to get a little juvenile in order to take the edge off things. Probably a good call, all things considered.

Soon after this, Makima compliments Aki and Denji on “hitting it off” upon hearing what happened (a very dry sense of humor on that one), and then, in the same breath, makes it very clear to Denji that if he is ever no longer useful to Public Safety for any reason, he’ll be killed.

Your last first day.

Denji and Aki’s first mission together, to exterminate a Fiend—a devil possessing a corpse—goes awkwardly. Denji’s able to dispatch the thing very easily, with a single swing of a Public Safety-provided hatchet, but Aki is annoyed at Denji for not using his devil powers, thinking of it as evidence that the younger hunter isn’t taking things seriously. Aki, it’s established, lost his life to a devil attack. So it is pretty understandable that he’d be miffed by Denji seemingly treating the entire thing as a game.

None of that really gets through to Denji though, who begins instead thinking very hard about boobs again.

He’s such a gentleman.

In fact, his entire sequence here plays as a stone-faced parody of the usual shonen-protagonist-hyping-themselves-up internal monologue, albeit an affectionate one. Indeed, in episode two of his series, Denji has truly found his noble calling, the righteous cause he must fight for.

This is, of course, supposed to be silly. But it’s worth again remembering that when you’re this age, one does think of trivial things like “scoring” with a girl (as CR’s subtitles so lovingly render it) as matters of life and death.

In any case, even with this particular goalpost set, Denji’s life gets more complicated one more time in the final few minutes of this episode, when a different girl walks into his life. Introduced by Makima as his “partner” within Aki’s unit.

You probably already know her, but if you don’t, I kind of envy you.

Because getting to meet Power for the first time is fun as hell.

Queen of Clubs

Yes, that wonderful idiot. A fiend, not unlike the man in the apartment that Denji just killed, but one who is—after a fashion—able to be reasoned with, but that doesn’t really make her rational. She’s introduced with a galumphing, ludicrous carnival music backdrop in the soundtrack, and there’s a reason for that.

Ai Farouz, her voice actor, stands out amongst Chainsaw Man’s cast by being a comparative veteran. She hasn’t been in the industry for terribly long—her first role of note was only in 2017—but she’s had a number of prominent roles. (Notable to me personally, she was Cure Summer in Tropical Rouge! Precure last year.) She plays Power perfectly, swinging from a low growl to a smug mid-range conversational tone, to a whooping screech when Power’s really excited. All of CSM’s VAs have been great so far, but Farouz might take first place. Perhaps it’s a case of limited reference pools here, but she really does play the character like a demonic Cure Summer. It works astoundingly well.

Certainly, Power herself steals what remains of the show from the second she appears. We get a small bit of exposition during her and Denji’s first patrol together (and also more of his leering thoughts about titties), but much more important is her catching the scent of devil blood on the wind and sprinting full-force towards the devil in question, fast enough that Denji can’t actually keep up. She literally hammers the target—the Sea Cucumber Devil—to pieces with a massive mallet made out of her own blood. The BGM erupts in an explosion of pulsating techno thump, and as she smashes the thing to smithereens, she positively howls in triumph. On that note, the episode ends.

And normally I’d cut the article here, but I do also want to take a moment to point out that one of my favorite bands, ZUTOMAYO, did the ED for this episode. It’s cool to see them finally getting exposure via an anime.

Until next time, anime fans.

(I haven’t said that in a while, have I? Well, there you go, a nice return to form.)

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Let's Watch

Let’s Watch CHAINSAW MAN EPISODE 1 – “Dog & Chainsaw”

Let’s Watch is a weekly recap column where I follow an anime for the course of its entire runtime. Expect spoilers!

Depending on who you are, it may not be obvious just how big of a deal the Chainsaw Man anime is. More than simply a popular shonen manga, Chainsaw Man is that rarest of things; a mainstream work of popular fiction, widely liked, that completely earns every ounce of praise it receives. Chainsaw Man, the manga, has been running for years at this point, and is on its second “book” of sorts, after an utterly massive Part 1 that ran from 2018 to 2020. The still-early-on by comparison Part 2 picking up earlier this year. (You may remember me covering it. Suffice it to say; that article, but not this one, contains massive spoilers for the entire series. Probably don’t read it if you care about that kind of thing.)

It’s easy to paint Chainsaw Man as a total anomaly; an outpost of bleak, world-hardened cynicism against a sea of its blankly chipper Shonen Jump contemporaries. In truth, this isn’t entirely fair, and there are precedents for this sort of thing going all the way back to the dawn of the shonen format. Likewise, while there is certainly the usual din of manga ride-or-dies chomping at the bit to claim that “anime-onlys ain’t ready,” the truth of the matter is that Chainsaw Man is Chainsaw Man; this is an adaption that would have to fumble the ball in a truly astounding way to be anything less than excellent. And having watched it, I have to admit I’m actually a little jealous of people who get to start the series this way.

That’s not to say that CSM’s diehard fanbase isn’t well-earned, though. I took the plunge myself earlier this year, and I loved it almost immediately. Chainsaw Man is arresting like very little else is. To put it another way; this hype train hauls cargo, no smoke and mirrors here. It says a lot that in an anime season that includes the return of both Gundam and Bleach, this still might be the most-anticipated premiere of them all.

So, the obvious question. Does it live up to the hype?

Well, maybe we should hold off on that for a bit, but here’s what we can say.

The show’s opening minutes are metal rusting and wood rotting in the rain; a cold downpour drenches the first act of the first episode, and colors everything that takes place in a frigid shade of gray. Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), our hero, is an ordinary teenage boy in every meaningful sense, but his life is defined by a crushing, oppressive poverty. He’s in debt to the yakuza, you see, and works off what he can of the negative numbers hanging around his neck by plying the only trade he knows; devil-hunting. (Devils, of course, are demonic beings that rise as personifications of human fears. I’m sure you knew that part already, it’s just common sense.)

King of Diamonds

Denji devil-hunts with a devil of his own; the diminutive Chainsaw Devil, Pochita (Shiori Izawa), who is more or less a small dog-pig with a chainsaw blade on its face. For some number of years, beginning when his father kills himself to escape his own debt, and thus passes it on to his son. Only meeting Pochita offers him even the slightest bit of recourse, after he saves the tiny devil’s life from a fatal wound by offering it the only thing he has left; his own blood. In return, he becomes a devil hunter. This continues, until he is the teenager we see at the start of this episode.

This is Denji’s life; get up, kill a devil, give the boss his cut. After however many arbitrary fees, he is left with pitifully little money to work with for even basic necessities like food and water. The case we see in the episode’s opening minutes leaves him with only 1800 Yen—about $12—to his name, to last him a whole month. (In the manga, there was a smidgen of coal-black humor in the way this was presented. That’s not really the case here, the anime plays it a lot straighter.) Denji isn’t happy, certainly, but he’s accepted this grim lot to an extent. His only real luxury is sleep. Even then; the hunger in his stomach and the anxiety about repaying his debt often steal that much from him, too.

One night, when it doesn’t, his boss does that directly instead, rousing him from his slumber to go hunt a devil in the middle of the night and earn what one could charitably call his keep. To make matters worse; he pukes up a nasty slick of blood, wondering out loud if the same heart disease that evidently killed his mother is coming for him, too.

Our real plot starts here; because there is no devil. Or at least, not one that the yakuza boss intends Denji to hunt.

Instead, he’s lured into a trap. His boss has contracted with a devil, too. The Zombie Devil, because he’s envious of Denji’s power. Denji tries to fight the devil’s minions off, but he’s overwhelmed by the zombie horde before too long. And for a moment, if you’re not familiar with this story, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that our protagonist is going to end his journey here and now, rotting, chopped to pieces, in a dumpster.

That, of course, does not happen. Instead, Pochita, the little Chainsaw Devil, and Denji’s only real friend at this point, offers up its own life in order to restore Denji’s. A flashback inside of a drop of blood—a drop running down a stack of old money, it should be noted—transmogrifies into a dream sequence, and before long, Denji is reborn; sans Pochita, plus one ripcord embedded in his chest. All Pochita asks for in return for its sacrifice is that Denji “show [it] his dream.” His dream to live a normal life, as a normal teenager.

We’re a long way from that, as what follows illustrates nicely.

He may be grateful to be alive, but realizing what—who—he’s lost in the process makes our boy very angry, and as he challenges the zombie horde to a rematch, they try to pile on him. This does not work, and he arises; transformed.

He is reborn in a flurry of blood, with sawtooth limbs, LED eyes, and iron teeth. He absolutely wipes the floor with the Zombie Devil and its minions, in an action scene that is a frankly pretty stunning mix of 2D and 3D animation blended almost seamlessly. Denji fights like someone self-taught, with full-body commitment to wild swings of his arms, and, indeed, the chainsaw blade that now protrudes out the middle of his head. But really, when you’re a living tornado of whirling metal and death, do you really need finesse?

The Zombie Devil isn’t the only victim; while he’s at it, Denji takes out the zombies themselves, too, including his former boss. He cackles like a madman, gleeful that now he doesn’t owe them anything. It is cathartic as fuck to watch; I am sure no small amount of Chainsaw Man‘s audience—target or not—wishes they could hack their worst boss into tiny pieces. I may or may not be including myself there, I’ll leave that up to your imagination.

After the violence, he stands statue-still. Perhaps content to simply rust as time passes.

But, as one master dies, another is born. Into the scene of the massacre, out of a black car, walks a trio of devil hunters affiliated with the Public Safety Bureau, the branch of Japan’s government specializing in devil killin’. Two are nameless goons. The third—just to disclose my biases upfront, here—is one of my favorite characters in anything.

Ever.

Queen of Hearts

This is Makima (Tomori Kusunoki). She will become very important, in many ways, over the course of this anime’s run, and in its eventual subsequent seasons. We’ll get to that, but for now, she does one main thing, which is pretty important in of itself. She offers Denji a choice; she and her backup could kill him—he is part-devil, at this point, after all—or, he can come work for the Safety Bureau. He takes the obvious choice; actual employment, a real bed, hot meals, a warm embrace.

There’s a lot I haven’t gone into. Note the way the weather changes over the course of the episode, for example; rainy for most of it, a moonlit, partly-cloudy night when Denji is lured into the Zombie Devil’s trap, and finally, sunlight parting the clouds and illuminating the grisly bloodshed, and shining a light of truth on it.

There are the vocal performances, too; excellent across the board despite Denji’s VA being, here, in his first role of any note, and Makima’s being known mostly for minor roles until quite recently. (Speaking of Makima’s voice, it is genuinely incredible, and I cannot fathom how people were unhappy with Kusunoki being cast. Her voice has a subdued, vaporous quality that just makes Makima sound all the more commanding; a sort of ambiguous sweetness that could as easily mask real warmth or deadly poison in equal measure.)

There’s also the soundtrack, which can offer quietly contemplative ambience in more downtempo scenes, sinister drones in those where something is definitely off, and can equally-well explode into splintering breakcore when things need to ratchet up a few notches.

All in all; this is a truly top-shelf production adapting one of the best manga currently running. It is, in all senses, a dream scenario. Yes, this is absolutely, obviously, completely and totally, a worthy adaption of Chainsaw Man, the manga. Incredibly, it might actually elevate the material in some ways; not an easy thing to do when you’re working with such great source material. Whether you’re a new fan or you’ve been onboard since 2018; strap in. Things are only just getting started.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in Manga, New Manga First Impressions

New Manga First Impressions: CHAINSAW MAN Revs Again

New Manga First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about the first chapter or so of a newly-available-in-English manga.

This column contains spoilers for Part 1 of Chainsaw Man.

Content Warning: The material covered here contains depictions of extreme violence.

Two weeks ago, I had no working relationship with Chainsaw Man whatsoever. But sometimes, the stars align, and something grips you like it’s trying to choke you out and just doesn’t let go. Sometimes too, that happens just before a long-awaited follow-up is about to start. They say timing is everything because it is, and sometimes that timing works out in your favor. Hence this going up mere hours after the opening chapter of Part 2 drops on MangaPlus.

Suffice it to say we’re bending the rules here, too, since Chainsaw Man Part 2 is only a “new” manga with a fair bit of definitional stretching. (MangaPlus doesn’t even count it as a different series than Part 1.) So if you’re not caught up with the first Chainsaw Man arc, if you’re in the position I was in barely a week ago, I recommend closing this column now and go giving it a read, because I’m about to spoil the hell out of it.

It’s lurid, violent, bleak, coarse, and profane. The medium; a world where humanity’s fears materialize into living beings called devils, and of course, where humans called devil hunters must stop them. A story about bad people dying in worse ways that is not afraid to kill off even major characters sometimes suddenly and without warning, but never feels like it’s doing so for simple wanton shock value. It’s pretty fucking fantastic, easily a best-in-genre for the new decade without much in the way of competition. Part 2 has much to live up to.

The end of Part 1 marked also the end of the so-called “Public Safety Arc.” Denji surviving, nearly totally alone, after a wave of death and disillusionment that saw him shed whatever naivety he may still have had. But he’s come out the other side a better person regardless, even as he was one of just three named characters (four if you count Pochi) to survive the often-brutal first part of the manga.

It’s clear that some amount of time has passed, although perhaps not much. The main point to note here is the continued lionization of Chainsaw Man himself, Denji’s hellish heroic alter ego who now serves as both a source of inspiration to the general public and, going by the Curry Man buns we see in this chapter, marketing revenue. (That’s capitalism, babey.)

But anyone who’s main draw to the manga is Denji himself may be disappointed with the opening of Part 2. Instead, we follow a new character entirely, whose comparative mundanity is almost certainly a deliberate contrast to Denji’s dire circumstances at the start of his own story. Perhaps more importantly, like all of the best Chainsaw Man chapters, the opener for Part 2 begins with some off-the-wall crazy shit.

The logic behind this devil being weak is that no one is really scared of chickens. I feel like enough people have read Fourteen for there to be at least something there? Maybe not. It’s not like I’ve read it.

Our real POV character here is Asa Mitaka. An antisocial, and thus, profoundly normal, high school girl. The only real wrinkle here is that her parents were killed by devils, but that’s not particularly unusual within the context of Chainsaw Man. So the notion of the ordinary high school girl remains.

Don’t worry, she doesn’t stay ordinary for very long.

Mitaka seems to spend most of her days being vaguely annoyed at her classmates and, it’s pretty obvious even before it’s said out loud, jealous of their normal, healthy friendships with each other and, eventually, with Bucky, whose absolutely god-awful chicken puns inevitably endear him to the rest of the class. Meanwhile, the class president tries to get Mitaka to socialize a bit more and open up to the rest of her schoolmates.

Now, anyone familiar with Chainsaw Man would be easily able to tell that something was going to go south here, but I think a lot of people will mistakenly pin the suspicion on Bucky himself. Deliberate misdirection? Maybe. But maybe we’ve just been conditioned to be suspicious of devils over the course of the series’ run so far. Either way, he’s actually a genuinely affable sort by the look of it, and for a brief, split second, you can, if you want to, squint and pretend this is a happy manga where people are allowed to have personal realizations about themselves without an accompanying wallop of massive pain and loss.

Moments after this, she trips and falls, crushing the weak little devil to smithereens. It’s all rather nasty.

The fallout is immediate and predictable, and Mitaka takes this about as well as you’d expect.

The class president, as well as the two’s teacher, Mr. Tanaka, get the idea to visit the poor little hell-chicken’s grave. Tanaka is perhaps under the notion that this will make Mitaka feel better, but the class president quite quickly reveals herself to have a rather different motive, and things promptly get all sorts of gnarly.

In the fractions of a second Mitaka has before this monster—the Justice Devil, per the class president’s own admission—slashes her head in half, she feels relieved, because the president brags that she tripped Mitaka, so Bucky’s death wasn’t really her fault. Implicitly, she’s also relieved that she won’t be hurt anymore. That’s the kind of weapons-grade depressing you can expect from Chainsaw Man.

But it also wouldn’t be Chainsaw Man without some bolt-from-the-blue insane twist, and wouldn’t you know it, even with her head doing its best impression of a rotting pumpkin, Mitaka has just enough presence of mind to witness—and hear—a devilish owl perching on a nearby stoplight.

We don’t hear Mitaka think ‘yes’, but what happens next implies that either she did or the owl even asking was a formality. Not a page later, Mitaka—or at least, something in Mitaka’s body—rises back to her feet, only a truly wicked scar where her head was previously carved in half.

The natural questions follow; “Didn’t you just die?” “What the hell are you?” etc.

Reborn, “Mitaka” replies by doing this.

And introduces herself as The War Devil. What follows is, of course, an absolute show-stopper. Hyperviolence on a level that is hard to even describe with words; somewhere in there between the spinal cord longsword and the hand grenade reconstituted from the Justice Devil’s own actual arm, is the kind of bloody poetry that you really just can’t get outside of comic books. It all ends in an explosion and a shower of gore, because obviously it does, this is Chainsaw Man, remember? This kind of casual “I’m back, bitch” flexing is, if anything, hugely welcome in a medium that is only very rarely kind to even its superstars. This is mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto in a braggart mode he’s earned every right to be in.

Bring your own Black Sabbath.

The chapter’s last page establishes that everything we’ve just seen, if it weren’t already obvious, is an origin story. It’s never a safe bet to call any character’s longevity in Chainsaw Man, but Mitaka (or the War Devil? Or both? It’s a bit hard to say) seems like she’ll stick around for a long while. In the very closing moments here, she makes a comment about nuclear weapons that should be tossing up all kinds of red flags for any long-time Chainsaw Man readers; it’s been established before that those were among the concepts “removed” from reality by Makima’s makimachinations. (On that note; Makima is probably my favorite character in the whole manga, and I think about the only thing this chapter was missing was an appearance by her reincarnated self in the form of Nayuta. But! That will come in time.)

Trying to forecast almost anything about Chainsaw Man is a fool’s game, so I won’t pretend I’ve got anything sussed out. For me, the wait between the old and new Chainsaw Man was only a few days, and even I’m mostly just super happy to have it back. I find it difficult to imagine enduring the whole year-ish hiatus, so I know for sure I’m far from the only person who’s glad to see it again.

Chainsaw Man may well appear here on Magic Planet Anime again in the, ultimately, not-too-distant future, but until then, manga fans.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.