Chainsaw Man both as a manga and as an anime I've held close to my heart for a while now, it was one of the first mangas that I had picked up and truly enjoyed, and to see now almost 5 years later where it's at now, is something that any fan is happy for. To me Chainsaw Man has what little other shows have, that perfect line between full force action and the sonorous beauty that evokes emotion within the viewer.
I don't consider myself to be a pro film critic by any means, this is my first review after all (I was inspired by a certain someone here to start writing reviews, you know who you are). But you don't need to be a pro to feel moved by something, to truly look at something and enjoy it on a much deeper level. I simply write how I feel.
The Reze arc is a story about what? Love and betrayal, Good versus evil, A spider and a butterfly or even chainsaws and bombs. It tells a story that can be as intricate as the viewer wants it to be, as for me I see it as a love story torn by the hands of death bringing the viewer back into the harsh world the author put us in, damn you Fujimoto.
As a huge fan of Fujimoto’s other works such as “Fire Punch”, “Goodbye, Eri” and “Look Back” I still think there's this ambiance that's present between the action in Chainsaw Man that's just isn't there in his other works (not to put his other works down as I believe his other works are great in their own ideas and context).
I like to think that being a true fan of something means being able to criticize it in some way or form to which I normally would have for Chainsaw Man’s previous 12 episode season However I've found it pretty hard to find criticism in the Reze arc when analyzed solely on its own.
Overall I found the continuity of animation, character design and character development to be top tier. The film sets a great tone that evolves over the course of an hour and forty minutes. I believe there is enough exposition and context that one could enjoy it without having seen the previous season (Although I would not recommend this).
Even after all this time I haven't really gotten over the movie. It was the first time I ever watched a movie 3 times in theaters. It gave me a chance to really experience the film and to see things I hadn't seen before on a previous watch.
One part that I really want to touch on is the sound design & music. Sound plays a huge role in any great film, It's the ambience for scenes with no words, It's the height at the most climactic scenes, It's the soothing sounds reminiscent of a melancholic past. And sometimes it's the sound of rain that will blossom a flower, the calm before the storm so to speak. The music by Kenshi Yonezu & Hikaru Utada honesty brought the whole film together and just would not be the same without them.
You can really tell that the Reze arc as a film was truly a passion project, a feast for the eyes in various different ways and an emotional rollercoaster that I think everyone should experience at least once.
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