Chaotic with surreal comedy, gore scenes and sexy moments : the long awaited anime adaptation of the Chainsaw Man manga created by Tatsuki Fujimoto has finally been fully released ! Thanks to the marketing efforts of Mappa along with the strong precense of the fanbase, the Chainsaw Man anime was extremely hyped before it's release. Putting aside the rising overhyped/overrated or underhyped/underrated debate, I'm going to try to talk about every important aspect of the Chainsaw Man anime in a review format divided in multiple parts. I deeply think this show has way more depth and meaning than it may seem on a surface level so it'll also be an analysis. Spoilers all the way.

VISUALS

Due to Fujimoto's artstyle and panneling, it must have been a real challenge for the studio to adapt the manga. Some people would say that the downpart about the clean visuals is that it's really different from the source material where the drawings shows folded chlothes, tangled hair, it's a messy artowrk and it looks more dirty compared to the neat and perfect visuals of the anime. What I'd say is that the brilliant part about the animation is the counterbalance they used to arrange the difference between the manga and the anime's artstyle. When you read it, you quickly realise that the Chainsaw Man manga is more than just a manga. It's serialised in the Shonen Jump magazine but it feels out of place, it's cases and bubbles yet it feels cinematographic. It is heavily inspired off western pop culture, using plot devices from totally different demographics (horror movies, budddy movies...). If you look at Fujimoto's work in general this becomes even more obvious. Goodbye Eri barely looks like a manga.
The animation in Chainsaw man looks clean but also weird? There's a lot of motion, even when the characters are just talking or doing something in the backgournd there's always motion, so much that's it's a little uncanny. There's rotoscoping, 2D, 3D/CGI. So much use of different techniques and styles to create one thing...Do you see where Im getting at? I think it makes sense for the anime to use such different things to create one unique thing for a manga that uses such different tools to create one unique story. I'm not justifying bad animation. I admit that there's moments where it looks a bit off, what I'm saying is that it makes sense that the overall visuals looks weird within the context of the source material.

The openning is the litteral and perfect embodiment of this.

OPENNING AND ENDINGS

I've seen it, we've all seen it. The number of inspirations to make the openning was huge. I think that not only it's a tribute to Chainsaw Man but also to the author. It perfectly encapsulate the variety of references in Fujimoto's mind he uses to create his pieces of work (my earlier point exatcly). I wouldn't be suprised if we learn Mappa asked him his top 10 movie or something to make the op lmao.

Obvisously, the music is great and very fitting. It is sang by the talented and popular Kenshi Yonezu, which is yet another proof that Mappa put the small dishes in the big by hiring such a big shot. Well, it's not the most surprising thing Mappa did since they litteraly hired 12 differents band for each ending. Clearly, no other anime has ever done this, it's wild and waiting for the new ending each week was a such a cool experience. The visuals for each of them are mastefully done. The first ending isn't an ending its a film credits wether we're talking about the song or illustrations. The use of different things outside the realm of manga and anime is an exceptionnal addition that perfetcly fits Chainsaw Man.

Side note : it's kinda sad that because of the quantity, a lot of endings will be forgotten, some of them could have been absolutely legendary but ig the fact that they're only one-shot makes them special in a way.

SUBVERSITY AND SUBSTANCE

Chainsaw Man is kind of an anti-shonen and it heavily deals on the dominance of the state upon its inhabitants.

I think this is more proeminent in the manga but what many thought after watching the first seconds of Chainsaw Man was "what the fuck" ? One of the first line litteraly is "sold my right nut for 100 000 yen". Chainsaw Man is weird. The gap between what is being told and how it's being told is the one thing that really disturbed me discovering the story. Something terrible is explained in a careless fashion thus you don't know how to react. Again, I think this is more true for the manga (at least the first episode) because in the anime, Denji and Pochita are seen as martyrdoms. Due to the osts, pacing and colorimetry (whatever you call it), you HAVE to feel bad for them. Their story is seen as a tragedy, which is true, what happens to them is sad but in the manga it was really up to you to see it that way. Because of how it was told you even thought it was comedic at some point. The first time I read the manga, I remember that at some scenes I legit didn't know how to react. Was it supposed to be funny? Sad? Tragic ? I was thrown off by how weird it was and that was what made me like it in a way. The room for interpretation felt big while the anime be like this IS supposed to be sad and that's it. This is the thing with adaptations, it will always be a reinterpretation of the source material but I dont really have something against that since I only really felt like this for the first episode.

Many things that happens in Chainsaw Man can be viewed as comedic or tragic. It's deeply cynical, sometimes you'll think somehting traumatic is too ridiculous to think of it as sad and sometime a "funny" scene will be way too real for you to laugh at.

On the paper the story isn't anything original, it's a typical nekketsu shonen but...every rules and norms of the demographic is applied in an extremely real way. Denji is practically an hobo who lives in a garden shed. He barely eats anything and the way his earnings get eaten away by the debts weirdly reminds me of taxes. Shit happens, he's forced to become an official to survive and he starts working for the state, he accepts it because he wants to eat three times a day, confort and stability (getting a little too real, eh?) He develops a new dream, which is touching boobs and he's ready to do anything to accomplish it, even if that implies him losing his freedom and make higher ups earn profit for his work. You can apply the shounen formula to this story because of how it's done but can you apply such a realistic summary on another shounen?
I'll quickly connect this to another work of Fujimoto. In Fire Punch, pop culture is a sort of new religion. It is a way for people to disconnect from a sad and bleak reality for something dreamier and more inspiring. Link this to shounen : When you read a nekketsu shounen manga, it isn't supposed to make you think of real life like Chainsaw Man does. It's a little moment of escapism in the week where you see teenagers fighting for their goals. It's inspiring, it makes you dream. It does touch real-life subjects but it's supposed to make you forget your everyday life and embark on an amazing world. Chainsaw Man makes me think of real life. Why's that?

Look at Denji, Makima is explaining to him the conditions of his well being and establishes the price of his submission to the system as well as all the inconveniences but he isnt even listening to her, why ? Because he's too focused on the advantages. He's blinded by what he will get despite what he looses. He's a litteral dog to the state as he sacrifices his freedom and life to serv it but is satisfied with it and even waves his tail as long as he gets food, sexual pleasure and comfort.

Look at Kishibe, bro is basically like "Well this job is shit, life is shit but I'm an alcoholic and being an alcoholic in this job allows me to hold out plus it pays my drinks"

Aki, Kobeni, Arai, Denji, Power, Himeno and Arai litteraly risked their lives and almost went insane for their jobs but are satisfied with it because they're rewarded by a party financed by the office.

Kobeni is broken and almost crazed from working in this job and when you ask her why the fuck is she still there she answers that there's a prime at the end of the month.

How cynical is that?
It is too ridiculous to take it seriously but too real to laugh at. Aren't we like them, accepting getting f*cked by the matrix if it means fulfiling our goals and needs?

I know this sounds complotist af, but it's interesting really, how much influence we let the state/matrix have influence on us and how much we obey and serve it without realising it. "Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt." To solidify this idea I think it's interesting to think about how the state in Chainsaw Man uses people's fears (=devils) to keep them check and control them. For starters, why do you even obey the state? Answering by another question : what can your consumer self even do without the state? Without it you have no protection against people. You're not even guaranted to find food and by extension to survive. To sum it up, you'll live without comfort, sense of security or even primal needs like warmth or food and it's not easy on anyone to be a total outcasted and not relying on the system. You'll live in aboslute fear. It's not me being paranoid when Makima basically says that mafia gangs aren't necessary evil, something that can be destroyed by definition isn't necessary, she is the necessary evil, her and the people she's with AKA the state. What would a world without the security and control of states be like? A fearful world for sure. It'd be similar to a world without Public Safety Devil Hunters who fight the litteral incarnations of fears in Chainsaw man. The state dishoneslty use our fear to their advantage but it's necessary. A necessary evil.

Keep in mind the source material is published in the Shonen Jump Magzine. In a somewhat conspirationist perspective, just like the pop culture cult in Fire Punch, the Shounen Jump magazine allow us to forget real life. It also undeniably makes you think that accomplishing dreams and goals is one of the most important thing in life if not the most important thing as long as it's righteous. To make your dream come true you have to fight hard everyday. If by exemple, your dream is to become a doctor, do everything you can to become one because this is what you want. Study everyday, attend school, do what you're told and work hard. You see where I'm getting at, right? Consciously or not, it justifies perfectly obeying the state as long as your dream is fulfilled. Not only does Chainsaw Man tell you that shounen are lying to you and that the truth is you'll never become a hero, just another random with casual goals and that even when you'll emancipate from your parents or whatever you'll still lose your freedom to the state for a comforting life and you won't be able to leave this situation precisely because of this comforting life but it also tells you that your dreams possibly implated by things like Shonen Jump and such are meant to justify your devotion to the state.

You're a slave and no escapism will ever change that. When other shounen makes you forget it, Chainsaw Man brings you back to reality. Insipring characters with values ? Hell nah here are selfish bastards that are purposeless and fight for stupid reasons. An imaginary world? Hell nah this is actual real life. A big flashy dream? Hell nah the dreams of the main character are what we already take for granted. Chainsaw Man always disappoint us in the good way. This isn't being edgy for being edgy when it tells a message and when it makes sense within the story (more on the next section)

“Your necessary evil…is just an excuse to justify your own crimes. Those excuses are unnecessary to society. The truly necessary evils…are always collared and controlled by the state.”

CHARACTERS

The characters in Chainsaw Man are brutally honest and whithout any filters. They lack empathy, just like people in real life but people in real life pretend otherwise to look good, Chainsaw Man isn't trying to look good. The characters are honest about their dishonesty. Human empathy is terribly flawed because humans themselves are flawed. Most of us really only care about ourselves and the people we care about (duh), we're only interested in something else when it concerns or will concern us or if it's interesting enough to pick our attention.
The first reaction of Public Safety devil hunters Yuutarou and Michiko when they learned that there was a shooting in Makima's train was "ughhh so we're waiting for naught?". This is sad but when there's an inconvenience we mainly only care about how it'll affect us rather than thinking about the root problem and everyone it affects. How the selfishness of each character is used is very interesting. One of the main point of episode 6 was to create a cohesion between the group. If humans can form bonds in adversity as well as create groups based on values they also simply team up by interest. In a life or death situation, the selfishness of the characters got highlighted. Kobeni wanted to save her life at any cost, Aki wanted to save Denji because he knew he needed him to kill the Gun Devil, Himeno wanted to protect Aki, Denji didn't want to be indembted by Aki and little by little, all their self interests aligned up and concluded into Denji fighting the Eternity Devil. This the moment where they became a team and agreed on the same thing. Human's selsfhiness isn't just a bad thing it, can evolve into something good and in real life, combining multiple self interests is the key to clear a situation. The characters aren't just good to be good but they're not total assholes just like in real life.

Chainsaw Man also deals with love and affection through it's characters relationships. Inconditionnal love and conditionnal love : if Denji and Pochita's relationships represent inconditionnal love then what about Denji's other relationships? He didn't like Power at first but he considered her as an angel when she gave him what he wanted. Even if it was comedic, at this point of the story, his affection for her depended on the advantages of their relationships. Is it the same for everyone else ? From what we know, Makima only cares about Denji because of his potential as a Devil. I'm not saying she feels absolutely nothing for the individual but the basis or their relationship is Denji obeying to her. If this clause isn't repspected then their relationship would end. The world of Chainsaw Man is a world of contracts and conveniences where everything has a price and when you think about it, both the devils and the state only care about Denji's heart and not him. The opening also raises the question "is love submission" to depict Denji and Makima's relationship. Because of mere lust Denji sacrifices something supposedly pure, his first kiss. The vomit is his punition for doing that, sacrificing "love" for straight up lust always leaves a disgusting aftertaste and that's a representation of how the kiss tasted. Like puke.

With it's characters, Chainsaw Man explores human nature and relationships.

The dynamic between Aki and Denji really is well done and it conveys a lot of themes and messages. From an outisde perspective, it sounds great how Aki's dream is to kill a devil in honor of his family and to protect humanity but we discover more about it, this dream is just based on negative feelings such as frustration and selfish reasons such as revenge . The word dream is just a convenient title and cover to satisfy one's desire. It's just like Denji's dream, he was ready to do anything to touch some boobs and the funny thing is that he actually did great good for humanity just to touch some. From an outside perspective he could be seen as a savior, the hunter of those disgusting monsters that threatens humanity when really he only did it for disgusting reasons. How is Aki"s dream better than Denji's when they both use the concept of dream to satisfy their negative feelings and lust ? Can we really compare dreams? This theme is also tackled in the Denji vs the Leech Devil scene. In shounen, fights between the protagonist and antagonist are always ideological. By exemple, when Luffy beats Crocodile, it means that Luffy's world perspective and dream are superior to Crocodile's, they fight with fists for their ideals and the better one wins. As he says it himself, if Denji wins against the Leeche Devil, it will mean that the dream of the Devil was inferior to the mere dream of touching boobs. Yet another way to dismiss the idea of a dream ranking and that someone is better than someone else because of a dream.

The separate developpement of Aki and Denji complement each other. Denji lives for nothing in particular while Aki has a reason to live, a reason greater than himself. The fact that Denji never had anything makes him enjoy all the little things in life. I wouldn't say that Denji isn't affraid of dying but since he always live his life to the fullest he can die with no regrets. Aki can't totally enjoy life because he's sacrificing it for the sake of his goal. He refuses happiness and sacrifices his life for vengeance, meaning his vengeance is more important than his life, what was the point of his life if he died without accomplishing it then? You would think Denji has a better way of living but it depends on the perspective. At least Hayakawa has something to live for, he's not like Denji who just lives detached from everyone and everything and merely floats around life without having an actual purpose. Still, in episode 10 Denji's mindset seems better. In a situation where he fears he can't enjoy life anymore (Kishibe said he'll train them everyday) Denji choses to try to find a solution that will allow him to elevate himself from his situation into a better one that fits him. In the same episode Aki just resigns himself into getting in an even worse situation. He can't go back, he has nothing else to live for it's the only way he can keep on living. He decides his revenge is more important than his own life so he metaphorically and litteraly sells his life to the Devil of Future. Fun thing is that if he keeps on making contracts like that, more and more parts of him will become those of devils as he tries to kill his individuality to become a robot only serving his revenge. If he keeps on going he'll be nothing more than his revenge. Do you see the "becoming the monster you're fighting" paradox? It's also symbolised by how he purposely walk into the lion's den to meet the Future Devil.

Now his eyes see the future so he can only keep on going. In parallel, Denji develops more and more reasons to live with his new relationships. I'm not saying he feels like he has to live for them but he wouldn't really enjoy a life where he's absolutely alone and have no one to talk to wouldn't he? Though, associating with people ultimately hurt him because living with people is necessary but hard. What if "Chainsaw Man" had a meaning ? The saw cuts and the chain enchains people between them meaning that by trying to link himself to people he's just hurting himself ? This would basically be the hedgehog's dilemma. The hedgehog's dilemma is a metaphor about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs seek to move close to one another to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp spines. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid. This would be a beautiful way to explain Denji's life and encounters as I don't think the scene where he wonders why he isn't crying for Himeno, resulting in him thinking he doesnt really care about anyone overall and then go like "anyways, my manga mags" is meant to be taken too litteraly. I think it's more Denji not understanding his feelings as he never had relationships with people. I'd say the fact that he tries to deflect his thoughts as soon as they could possibly hurt him tells more about his psychology than anything else.

I have no transition but I really wanted to talk about the most intriguing character of Chainsaw Man. Obviously, I'm talking about Makima. This woman is a mystery. All the enigma around her is absoluetly fascinating and alluring. She's the only one to break the golden rule of Chainsaw Man characters. She has a filter on. We can't know what she's thinking about and we know nothing of her true intentions. She's like a superiror existnece above everyone else in Chainsaw Man. Her aura and charisma are undeniable and the anime accentuate that very well. Her voice is warm, calm and smooth, listening to her is soothing yet the fact that the tone of her voice never changes is uncanny. She always has a cute, reconforting smile but the fact the she always smiles is unsetling and make her seem unreal. With episode 9 everything changes. What was charming and fascinating
becomes terryfing and eerie. Who is she and what does she want? In terms of pure characterization I think she's the best character.

CONCLUSION

As you could probably tell, I think Chainsaw Man is absolutely great, well written and hilarious. It's one of the best adaptation I've seen and it looks so goddamn great. It's one of these shows that seems stupid and non sensical that are actually ingenious and incredible. It's unpredictable and unique. I'll probably go back to this review and add things since I haven't talked about everything I wanted to.
I'm very hyped for next season !