Plot
Chainsaw man took its time to establish the characters, their background and the world they are living in. In every episode we learn more about Denji, his powers and motives are made crystal clear. We also get to know how Public Safety operates: contracts with devils, the hierarchy and even the great cost of working there. As the show progresses, we see that it is not so much about Denji anymore but the group’s collective effort to defeat the Gun devil, a notorious devil that some Public Safety workers have beef with. The show takes us through the day to day task of defeating devils and Denji’s love life which runs parallel to his job. One of the main conflicts in the show is Denji’s desire to live a simple, normal life and the dangerous nature of the job which is veiled by this desire.

The pacing was a little slow at the start, especially the meowy arc. However, it mostly picked up in the last 4 episodes during the surprise attack on Public Safety. It was here when I felt Aki became more of a main character as he had to reflect that his life was at stake and his revenge was really worth fighting for. We can also see a sense of responsibility in Denji and Power as they strive to beat Kishibe to become better devil hunters. One thing that I found annoying was the slow moving scenes and stagnant frames which contributed to the slow pacing of the show and made it boring to watch at times. Nevertheless, a reason for this is to give it a cinematic experience as pointed out in other reviews. At the end of the day, the series ended on an action packed note. There were some random clips as post credits to keep us excited for a potential next season.

Characters
There were a variety of characters, not in terms of personality, but in terms of species instead. There were humans, half human, half devil, good fiends, bad fiends and nice pet devils like pochita. I particularly liked that they gave some of the enemy devils character and depth. For instance the bat devil and his “girlfriend”, the leech devil. This is what sets Chainsaw Man apart from other anime that involves devils or spirits. The show portrayed Denji as ‘down bad’ as possible and this heavily contrasted the serious nature of killing devils.

Makima intrigued me the most as she clearly wears an innocent mask and her true intentions are unknown. Knowing more about her is what I'm looking forward to in the next season. Nearing the end, we get a teaser of her powers and it is seen that she is incredibly powerful. Other characters, particularly the other devil hunters come and go. You might expect them to make the main cast but they eventually get killed off which is a little disappointing. As someone who does not read the manga, I did not see some of these coming.

Animation
The animation was alright and nothing extraordinary. The fight scene was done well and we were given the gore and blood that the show promised. Facial expressions of fear and terror were captured well, especially for Kobeni. If Billboard had a chart dedicated to anime, then Kick Back would definitely reign at no.1 for a good few weeks. The visuals also managed to encapsulate the chaos in the show as well as Denji’s lust. Chainsaw Man is one of the few shows where I never skip the OP. The EDs were very enjoyable too and each one matched the theme of that respective episode. The visuals for each ED were unique and you can tell a lot of effort was put into it. I even made a rank list for them here . These captivating EDs is what makes Chainsaw Man something more than just a typical shounen anime.

To be frank, I did not get the hype of the show but I feel it is a good watch. The show has its quirks thanks to the characters and the devils. Yet, it is able to include a serious tone which gives the show depth and meaning.