Look in the sky: it’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a man with chainsaws coming out of his head and arms riding a shark through the air?
On March 4, 2019, the first volume of Chainsaw Man was published, and it quickly grew in popularity. From its art style, plot, action, characters, and sense of humor, the author Tatsuki Fujimoto has his work cut out for him.
To summarize, Chainsaw Man takes place in Japan in 1997, where devils are very apparent. There are all types of devils, from a blood devil to a bat devil and even a devil with Chainsaws. Humans are terrorized by devils every day, so to combat them, humans have put together organizations of devil hunters to fight against them.
Now, these humans can be your standard person with a weapon at their side trying to fend for their life, or if you want to have a chance at fighting back against devils, devils and humans can make contracts with each other. In exchange for a human using a small amount of a devil’s power, the devil takes something in return, such as a body part, or perhaps shortens your life span.
The story follows protagonist Denji, who just wants to live a simple life that consists of eating three meals a day, having a roof over his head, a way of income, and possibly a girlfriend. However, his life has been anything but that since he was a kid.
Denji’s father borrowed money from the Yakuza, and when he couldn’t pay it off, he committed suicide, and the debt fell onto Denji to pay off. At his father’s funeral, Denji finds a small, dog-like devil with a chainsaw protruding from his head named Pochita. Denji heals Pochita by allowing him to suck his blood in exchange; Denji wants help from Pochita.
After that point, the two become great friends over the years. Denji becomes the Yakuza’s devil hunter using Pochita as a weapon, and in his spare time, he chops down trees to make a quick buck. Everything seems to be going somewhat well for Denji until the Yakuza backstab Denji and kill him.
The Yakuza make a deal with a zombie devil to become stronger than they are now, and they become strong all right; however, the zombie devil tricked the yakuza into becoming the devil’s mindless puppets. The zombie then kills Denji because he hates devil hunters.
As Denji is about to die, Pochita makes a contract with him. In exchange for Pochita’s heart, Denji can live as long as he lives out his dream of a simple life. Denji accepts these terms, and the Chainsaw Man is born.
What follows is Denji taking revenge on the zombie devil, joining an official organization of devil hunters, where he meets friends, has some love interests, eats well, has a roof over his head, and lives the life he always wanted.
The manga series recently got an anime adaptation from the animation studio MAPPA. The first season is set to have 12 episodes airing once a week. There are five episodes out at the time of this publication, and I love the show so far.
Many fans of Chainsaw Man who had read the manga were worried when the teaser trailers for the anime were released, voicing concern for the animation and art style. The fans wanted a good story to have a good anime adaptation. However, studio MAPPA did not disappoint.
The animation is crisp, the voice acting is on point, and the art style is excellent. There isn’t a thing I would change about the show so far.
There are currently 11 published volumes of Chainsaw Man, with the 12th being in development. As someone who has read all the books thus far, I am intrigued to see how the author will continue the story.
I want the story to continue, but the last book could have been the end of the story if the author wanted. Everything ended somewhat nicely and neatly. I am not sure what direction the author will take with the next book, as it will be a new arc in the storyline for Chainsaw Man, but whatever it is, I’m sure I will love it regardless.
