Tatsuki Fujimoto is a fucking genius.
He’s not for everyone, but his work is weird in a way that really vibes with me.
Chainsaw Man is filled with moments that go against the grain. It’s not just weird or different for the sake of shock factor.
Quiet moments are subtle and peaceful. Wordless scenes that run weirdly long and give insight into characters. Aki here is one of the series’ squarely just characters.
Conversely Makima is one of my favorite female leads of all time. She pulls off the gray-evil spectrum incredibly while being calm, threatening, and unbelievably charming. She manages to ooze charisma from an animated character, from her soul-crushing eye contact to her incredible voice acting.
Denji is often touted as too horny of a main character, an understably cliche anime trope that is normally a major turnoff for me. However, to boil down his character to only this is a shallow read on Denji’s personality.
If you really pay attention to the start of season 1, you’ll realize that Denji is a tragically stunted character whose childhood was stolen from him. Knowing only severe mistreatment and abuse, concepts like solid meals and real shelter are alien luxuries. He may be 16 years old, but he has the mental age of a much younger simpler boy that unsurprisingly centers on hormone-driven desires. While his childish nature is often used as a device for comedic relief, it’s actually pretty depressing.
As the series develops, you see Denji grow as a character and go through the same realizations and pitfalls we all did. As seen in the Makima clip earlier, his hormonal fixation on sex takes a backseat when he realizes that intimacy is 10x better when feelings are involved. This growth in character is really endearing to me.
And this is one of the prevalent themes as the story develops in the Chainsaw Man Movie. Amongst other plot points, Denji grows as a person as he learns the complexities of romance and has to come to terms with having feelings for two different people. Sure there’s stylish action, surprising horror, and witty humor too. But for me, it was a love story.
I mentioned before that I felt like it was a great time to be an anime fan—to have geeked out over action scenes in the early 2000’s only to have my mind blown as an adult now over the peak action animation of the Demon Slayer movie.
In much the same way, and yet so differently, the Chainsaw Man Movie is incredible. The action animation is top tier, though I think its action scenes draw out a bit too long and may not reach the same highs as the Demon Slayer movie. In every other metric however, Reze Arc is just better. Characters, plot, world building, style, dialogue—this movie made me feel an entire range of emotions.
I am so happy to have journeyed past the age of shitty cliche anime slop that has been flooding the market for the last decade—and arrived back full circle at artistic experiences like Chainsaw Man. The ambiance of Cowboy Bebop, the raw emotion of Gurren Lagann—anime hasn’t been that good in a long time, but I think we’re back baby.