[SPOILERS AHEAD! THIS REVIEW COVERS A BUNCH OF MATERIAL FROM THE FIRST ARC OF CSM AS SEEN IN THE ANIME AND MANGA! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!]

The Story/Narrative:

Being that this is both a sequel to the anime and an adaptation of the arc from the manga, as someone who's watched the series and read everything from the first arc, which represents him blocking out the guilt of killing his father in self-defense, I'd say this is, overall, a solid, nearly one-to-one adaptation of the arc as a whole. Denji's nightmare about the door, which symbolizes him locking away his guilt of murdering his father, Denji and Reze's brief little fling, Denji and Beam getting acquainted, Denji and Makima getting a little closer, Power's four-horn lore, Aki & Angel building up a proper partnership together, and Tokyo Public Safety Headquarters and the Devil Hunters scrambling to deal with Reze the Typhoon Devil, it's all accounted for here. The main focus overall is on Denji and Reze's fling, which I get since her name's in the movie, but it is a shame we didn't get a little more screentime for the other characters.

Overall, honestly, given the constraints of being a movie, the writers did an excellent job fitting as much in as they could while keeping a decent pace to the arc so that it doesn't feel too rushed in any way. It's pretty solid overall, and while I still think the manga does a better job at giving more time to everyone shown here, this is more than sufficient for those coming from the anime. It's just more exciting for manga readers like myself, who just get to see some of the iconic moments on the screen and fill in the blanks from there.

A- overall, if only because we didn't get a little more of the side plots.

The Characters:

Well, this issue ties back into what I was saying earlier, but the cast for this movie is surprisingly small compared to the anime, which is both a good and bad thing, I would say, because it means we can focus more on the characters, but as a result, it means we focus more on the characters that we DO have and notice how Kobeni got shafted, heck Violence Devil has more screentime than she does. Aki and Angel talking, though, was nice, and as someone who was really fond of their friendship by the end of the arc, it was nice to see that get built up for later when Aki has to save Angel during the Typhoon Devil fight.

That being said, I really enjoyed the moments with Denji hanging out with Reze and Makima and getting to know them better, which also helps set up his personal conflict that follows him throughout the movie. It felt more like I was watching a really good love drama that also happens to be an off-the-wall thriller simultaneously. I think it works pretty well in the movie's favor overall because it also has some tension throughout, especially with the school build-up with Reze, where we know full well Denji's in trouble once we see her snuff out the Mysterious Man. Basically, the movie did a great job introducing and fleshing Reze out and making her an absolute menace.

The writing for them's pretty great too, we can kind of see how something's definitely off with Reze when we're first introduced to her now, based on HOW she speaks to Denji as well as her body language and movements, most rational people would see her being overly flirty as a red flag to stay away from her. However, for someone like Denji, who doesn't have a lot of meaningful interactions and relationships with many people in his life, he just goes with it because he doesn't know what else to do. It's the little things that add more depth to these characters, and it's interesting to see how they adapt and add onto what was in the manga in a more engaging format that can convey more to people than a manga panel may to some.

A- here for me.

The Visual & Sound Design:

Once again, Mappa absolutely killed it here with the visuals. The mix of various colors and styles, like the manga styling at the beginning of the moment, the usage of depth to convey ominous feelings in certain shots, and the blurring really convey how fast and frantic the action is; it's all really nice. The Pool scene, of course, stands out because of just how well-drawn it is, and it just adds to the serenity of the scene as a whole. The usage of color was also effectively done; the entire sequence of Denji getting his tongue bitten out is somehow even eerier, combined with the red and the score. There are some issues in some places where you can tell that things may have been a little rushed or maybe cleaned up a little more; heck, even a couple of angles in the pool scenes, for example, did look a teeny bit off. At the very least, you can tell people worked on it, and that's more than can be said for some movies nowadays, but I figured it was something to note.

Back on the subject of the score, it's great! Love the music during the Pool Scene, and I actually didn't mind the reuse of some of the openings from the anime (like HAWATARI NIOKU CENTI, for example, when Denji and Reze are fighting at the chase scene with everyone in the car.) The score itself is done by Kensuke Ushio, who composed the also amazing soundtrack for the anime, so it's no surprise that he does a great job here once again. Again, that scene with Denji and Reze with the fireworks is just...something else with that score, so much terror and tension in that scene that it's brilliant! It blends seamlessly with the tone of the movie, just like it did with the anime, and it just feels...perfect, like a hand in glove. The opening and ending songs are just as infectiously catchy and wonderful as the openings from the original anime, too. 'IRIS OUT' is definitely gonna be stuck in my head for a while, and hearing Hikaru Utada tied to something Chainsaw Man-related is surreal but awesome to see.

A+, by far my favorite aspect of the movie, next to the character writing.

The Verdict:

Well, it shouldn't be any kind of surprise that the Chainsaw Man fan who's read both the manga and the novel and watched the anime would've liked this movie. But yeah, it's a no-brainer if you're a fan of the anime or the manga; it's absolutely worth the price of admission to a theater. Something about watching Chainsaw Man in a theater, of all things, just...feels right.

So yeah, if you watched the anime, read the manga, or both, give it a go. It's pretty solid for what it is, and I hope that we'll get to see everything in the first arc adapted with hopefully as much, if not more, love than this film did here, whether it's another anime season or two or more movies.