#Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories Review
This book is supposed to be read after the Part 1 of the manga which covers the first 11 volumes, this means that this review will have spoilers not only for the LN but for the Manga too (I'll point out the exact chapter the story takes place / can be read). At the end it'll be a little conclusion spoiler-free
This is a review about the Light Novel that covers some stories that were implied in the manga as well as a new original story about a mission of Power as a Detective.
This is my fist LN so that might affect the score. I also am a big fan of the manga so I may be biased towards the characters.
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#First Chapter: The Great Detective Power and the Assistant Denji
Chapters to read: Any
I love how the personalities of everyone remain intact, seeing Power back with the stupid stuff like the earlier chapters makes me shed a tear. She is my favorite character after all. Also, the new character was fun, It's the typical human character, he's exactly how I'd react in that situation.
The humor is very similar to the original manga with the same kind of jokes, though the "Power's a liar" can get pretty repetitive after some reading.
The story is very simple yet enjoyable, I was able to see the plot twist very early but still, it was satisfying how they (Kenzo) figured it out. And the conclusion was pretty good imo.
Overall, a 9/10
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#Second Chapter: Nine Years Savior
Chapters to read: 61
This is my fav, basically the story is that Quanxi is training a new member of Public Safety but Kishibe is noticing that she is treating the new trainee in a different way than the former students. The Story is around 4 weeks before the extra panel in volume 8 explaining more in detail the relationship between the Mad Dog and Quanxi.
The characters are as good as the manga, being Kishibe my favorite in the story, how they still manage to work together despite the love/hate relationship it's pretty fun. And Minami to complete the love triangle (no... a perfect failure to communicate) was pretty entertaining.
Still the only problem I got it's the same as the last story, the jokes about Kishibe hitting Quanxi get boring after some pages in, but it wasn't that big of a deal as the first story.
Overall, a 9.5/10
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#Third Chapter: The Day They Became Buddies
Chapters to read: 72
This was a very good chapter. I've always wanted to see more of the backstory of Aki and how did she manage to befriend Himeno and this story delivered.
Spoiler, click to view
The battle with the Lonely devil was predictable (the mystery not the nature of the devil himself) but I still liked how the personalities clashed.I don't personally have a strong opinion about Himeno in the manga but in this story, she was pretty likeable. As for Aki, is still welcome to see more of him. In conclusion this is a perfect story for those people who wanted to see more of this duo before the events of the manga.
Overall, a 9/10
#Final Chapter: Enoshima: Island of Dreams
Chapters to read: 93
This one was the one i was hyped the most, because it's about the trip that we never got to see in the main series, and the LN created a pretty good story where you see how everything feels like a dream, yet it's still fishy somehow.
Spoiler, click to view
My favorite part was the events of the beach when you see Power acting like herself while still making kinda clear that she fears Makima. Then you can see that all of that was a dream as Denji wakes up in the events of volume 11You can see the differences between the characters interaction between the first and third chapter and this one, because of the development of the main story and how Denji sees them now that he knows the truth.
Overall a 9.5/10
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#Conclusion
The stories presented in this book are quite enjoyable if you are a Chainsaw Man fan, the characters feel like the same in the manga and the anime, the interactions are enjoyable and for most of them expand the universe and made the lector realize something they might missed on the original manga. Some little problems can be found in all the stories, but they are so minor that you can just ignore them.
A must-read for any CSM fan.