Well, that was quite the theatrical experience! Due to how new the film is (at time of writing), most of this review will be entirely hidden due to dealing with plot details out of order.
Following off a lackluster arc in the show, the movie exploded in front of me like a bomb (!!) of exquisite visuals and audio. I really enjoyed how it continued to develop Denji's character through an interpersonal story which a far smaller scope. In a sense, after his previous relationships with women, falling in love with a girl his age was the natural next step, and one could argue the culmination. I don't think any other fight in the series had as much stakes as the main fight here because of how deeply Denji and Reze became involved with each other. It was a character drama in every sense of the word that used ample blood and nudity to convey this story of extremes. I didn't have any many issues with the movie, but I found it interesting Power was written out of the film. It was for the best, however. 9/10
I'll discuss the actual plot from here on out. Please read at your own risk
Spoiler, click to view
One of the first things in the movie is Denji going on a date with Makima. I like this since follows up Makima's promise and maintains her grip over her pet dog. This is especially true since the way she reassured Denji that he as a human heart is by continuing the grooming. I also liked how the similarities between Denji and Makima are brought to focus by their emotional reactions to each movie they see being the same.Spoiler, click to view
I knew Reze's nature going into the movie unfortunately, but I felt like at least the fact she was using Denji was really obvious, not only because that's what this story is about, but no girl would hide in a phone booth with a guy they don't know, and then immediately strike up conversation the way she did. She was coming onto him from the very beginning. It was obvious to me since I'm not like Denji and don't just see girls as, well girls lol. But I think much like how seinen manga like /manga/86635/kaguyasama-love-is-war and /manga/112981/kubosan-wa-mob-wo-yurusanai build off the fact much of their target audience has already gone through those stupid high school butterflies for us to laugh at nostalgically, the contrast between the obvious nature of Reze's actions and Denji's enthusiastic embrace of them is intentional to draw attention to Reze. Some of the scenes with Reze after this have some eerie elements, such as the cutaways to a spider slowly dining on a butterfly. This is one instance where my reading of this series being commentary on sexual abuse women experience through the lens of the opposite gender having it being done to them, is seemingly proven. The spider was dining on a butterfly after all, an extremely common symbol of feminine beauty, not unlike Reze in Denji's eyes. It was fascinating how something so normal as typical teenage romance could have such a dark undertone given the previous experience Denji had with being used and Reze's ultimate nature. As a massive fan of romance fiction, I found it particularly intriguing.Spoiler, click to view
During their nighttime "rendezvous" at a school is when some interesting ideas are brought up. Denji and Reze are only sixteen and so it is natural they should be at school and not fighting devils. This is not super unique. Any work of war fiction worth their salt featuring child soldiers, such as of course /anime/80/mobile-suit-gundam will touch on this. But this is not something Chainsaw Man has previously brought up, and so I hope to see more of it in the future. During this time, the contrast between Denji's upbringing and his perception on his life and situation, and that of ordinary Japanese people is a big focus. This is something that's very important, and I like how it has been addressed in a sort of subtle way thus far. Now since the story is focused on just Denji and another character, it's brought up more directly. With the knowledge from the end of the movie that Reze was orphan victim of the Soviet Union's experiments (which may have turned her into a devil, and I'm curious to see if more cold war stuff will be a focus since Japan was against them too), she probably had a similar tough upbringing to Denji. This is not only quite sad, but also really puts that classroom scene in a different light. She really was using Denji the whole time, but at least it may have made him think about all this all the same (he probably wouldn't tho)... Tangentially related to all this is the assertion that they're still kids doesn't make it any less normal in Japanese eyes to have her ass hanging out in the battles, and Nomo's (Aki's friend in Tokyo Division 2) interest in her body. I don't mind the nudity in the film really at all — it is intended to make teenage boys like Denji excited and making them think is literally the point of this story — but adults shouldn't be lusting after someone who's considered a child in the narrative. It's a small issue, but I do think it undermines that assertion. I've seen worse where sexual content undermines characters, plot, and themes however.Spoiler, click to view
The next couple things I want to address are things separate from Denji and Reze, before wrapping up plot discussion with stuff about the end of their relationship. I really liked every scene with Aki and the Angel Devil. It really read as someone who turned into Himeno in some ways. Himeno was absolutely disillusioned and broken after losing buddy after buddy, until Aki entered her life. She wanted nothing more than to continue to be with Aki. She wasn't the best person, filled with grays as do most people in this story, much like Aki, but the relationship she and Aki had was something really special. Himeno's passing really broke Aki and it was honestly difficult to watch. It felt like some stuff was skipped, but now Aki's new buddy is the Angel Devil. Aki is at first absolutely adverse to working and becoming friends with him. He hates devils and the Angel Devil is seemingly against everything Aki believes at a fundamental level. But over time they grew at least a little closer. Until at the end, the Angel Devil could have died since he had nothing to grab onto without touching Aki in the face of the Typhoon Devil's winds. Despite the fact contact with the Angel Devil sucks your lifespan away from you, Aki grabs onto his arm as he flies away, asserting strongly that he does not want to die. He then hugs the Angel Devil from behind saying he really did not want to lose someone again. I found myself tearing up here. I didn't even feel this sad when Himeno herself died, but I find Aki to be a very sad character so it must have resonated with me. After this, the Angel Devil is seeing giving a civilian a painless death, something he hated to do but now willing after being touched by Aki, which I found to be quite touching.Spoiler, click to view
The last set of side things I want to address is that of Denji's temporary buddy during the film, the absence of Power, and then her grand re-entrance in the post-credits. Due to Power being written out of the film, Denji was assigned a new buddy by the name of Beam the Shark Fiend. He was a fun new character and served his purpose. He demonstrated Denji's growth of character in that he can actually make friends with new people and learn to trust them. It demonstrated that Denji can have relationships without them being one sided and disadvantageous to him, or one of necessity where either side benefits for their own selfish reasons. Beam just legitimately really likes Denji, and by the end Denji came to really like Beam. In the face of everything that happened in this film, it is honestly quite heart-warming. I don't think this Power was a good fit for this film and writing her out was for the best. I do like Power as a character a lot honestly, and I felt like the post-credits scene was a fun and satisfying way of using her.Spoiler, click to view
And now finally, I want to address the ending. I personally think Denji is remarkably stupid for trying to give Reze another chance and wanting to run away with her after the battle, but I think this is really good for his character. It demonstrates that he does have a human heart since he's able to forgive her. It may not be a smart decision, but it demonstrates that he wants to live a normal life, a girlfriend really badly, and that he has empathy in his heart. It does also represent that he's continually being strung along, but Makima taking charge to slay Reze I think represents this more. Makima will control every aspect of her dog's life, even as the dog continues to learn valuable lessons with great difficulty, since he keeps falling hook line and sinker.To end off, I want to address aspects aside from the plot such as the music and animation. I really enjoyed the theme songs and insert songs. The Kenshi Yonezu opening theme song was a decent song with well used visuals. The ending theme song featuring Hikaru Utada (famous for the theme music in the Kingdom Hearts video game series, and the Rebuild of Evangelion films) was a delightful surprise and a phenomenal song. The insert songs however have spoilers tied to them.
Spoiler, click to view
The song sung by Reze was also quite interesting and I really enjoyed that scene. I didn't expect it to be a hint at her Russian origin, but my final guess for the language was correct lol.Spoiler, click to view
I really enjoyed the fight between Denji and Reze on the streets. The beginning where Denji lets his heart out to Reze underscored by the use of "HAWATARI NIKU CENTI" by MAXIMUM THE HORMONE, which was used as ending 3 in the TV series, was a phenomenal use of the song. I'm a fan of MAXIMUM THE HORMONE so I would just enjoy hearing them, but I like how the beginning part of the song represented his anger towards Reze for using him. And then the softer section, in which the original animation featured an angel Makima tempting Denji, was used when Reze tempted him. The strong use of music (and smart reuse of the budget they arguably wasted with the show) really elevated a battle that already had such great emotional weight that I who typically gets bored during shonen battles was on the edge of my seat.Lastly, I want to touch on the animation a little. I really enjoyed both the subtleties and the dynamic animation on the display. In particular, I really enjoyed the use of color such as the reds highlighting Reze's true nature (and of course human blood), the blue of some devil blood contrasting with human blood, and some scenes (and even still frames) of artistic color usage featuring a great number of purples and greens, really evoking the manga covers. This film truly was a delight to the sense.
All in all, despite flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed how this movie used a simple premise to elevate the characters, and I hope future arcs will meet my expectations and not be like the Katana Man arc from the end of the show.
