“This isn’t what I was expecting.” That’s what Denji, the protagonist of Chainsaw Man, says as he sits in a dark theatre watching a film alongside a mysterious, beautiful older colleague, Makima. It’s also what you might end up thinking while watching the long, drawn-out battle in the second half of the film, following the tender and well-crafted setup in the first half.
Chainsaw Man is the story of a teenager trying to make the best of his bleak existence while those surrounding him take advantage of his naiveté. Reze, the character introduced in the film, is the latest entrant in Denji’s life who attempts to do the same.
Mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto does the inconceivable — he subverts the expectations of what a traditional shounen protagonist is supposed to be — charming, helpful, selfless, and chivalrous. Denji is anything but. He’s unpolished, crass, and will only help people if there’s something in it for him (or if he’s tricked into believing there is). He’s honest, and brutally so — he will voice his thoughts no matter how inappropriate they are. His goals aren’t noble either. Growing up in abject poverty, he’s prepared to do anything to get a roof over his head, a warm meal, and maybe, if he’s lucky, a hug from a pretty girl.
So how does a character like this become so likable that those who follow his journey end up rooting for him?
The answer lies in the parallels between Denji and his dog, Pochita (who you only hear as a voice at the beginning of this film). Denji, like Pochita, is a stray looking for a home. Feed him table scraps, a smidge of affection, and a place to stay, and he’ll be willing to lay down his life for you. Like Hachiko, he waits for Reze to come back to her café, despite the fact that she may not return, and even though she has attempted to kill him and has already killed many of his comrades.
A Public Safety Devil Hunter, Denji spends his days hunting devils while living in a matchbox apartment in the heart of Tokyo with his two fellow Hunters. When he ducks into a phone booth to avoid the summer showers, he meets Reze, a green-eyed girl who works at a café. Instantly smitten, he takes her up on her invitation and follows her.
Beneath her petite, soft-spoken exterior, though, Reze is actually the Bomb Devil. Sent to honeytrap our hapless protagonist, her moniker fits her job description of a cherry bomb. She presents Denji with an unattainable ideal — a normal carefree life of a sixteen-year-old; going to school, hanging out together, attending festivals, and stuffing your mouth with sticky blue candy floss.
Cherry bombing her way through the first half, Reze literally bombs her way through the latter part, with explosions galore.
The first season of Chainsaw Man (2022) didn’t get the same amount of traction as the manga, which was a massive hit. There were two main reasons for this, especially among the Japanese fanbase. Firstly, the art direction —the anime adapted a realistic style with fine lines, muted colors and heavy shadows, as opposed to Fujimoto’s messy, albeit arresting and colorful spread that we see on the manga covers. Secondly, the anime’s approach to the story was more melancholic and serious. Chainsaw Man is a manga that is steeped to the bone with absurdity, humor and chaos.
The film is essentially a rebrand of the Chainsaw Man anime that takes the audience’s criticisms into consideration. The art style for the film is markedly different from the first season and more along the lines of the source material.
Kagenashi (shadowless) is the animation technique, whereby shadows are eliminated to give it an experimental, surreal style, laying more emphasis on facial expressions and emotions. The lack of intricate shading or details leaves more room for fluid animation, saving time and leading to better production quality. The characters are more saturated and not as washed-out, making the scenes really pop in technicolor on screen.
With Ryū Nakayama, the original director of the first season, stepping down, Tatsuya Yoshihara takes over the helm. Yoshihara was the action director of the first season, and his preference for fight scenes is particularly evident in the second half of the film, which is entirely just that — an excruciatingly long fight sequence.
It’s jarring in comparison to the first half of the film, which manages to capture Fujimoto’s trademark symbolism.
This is seen when Reze gives Denji night swimming lessons in the rain under a full moon. In the luminous waters of the school pool, the camera cuts to a spider slowly entangling a large yellow butterfly, the drops of water glistening on the threads of the web like Reze’s arms around Denji. It’s in a little girl’s candied apple, crushed under the feet of the festival crowds as Reze bites off Denji’s tongue, shattering his own hopes for her.
The first half is where the cinematography is also at its best. The blurring of the faces and backgrounds in Denji’s eyes as Reze leads him through the stalls of the summer festival really drive home the point —he’s only got eyes for her and her alone. The red-orange-yellow color palette that extrudes warmth and catches the soft glow of the festival lights contrasts strongly with the successive palette of dark tones in the latter half of the film.
Kenshi Yonezu returns to compose the main theme Iris Out. He had previously composed the opening theme for season one, “Kick Back”, which received the platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in September this year. In 2023, it was certified gold, making “Kick Back” the first song with Japanese lyrics to get both certifications. The rest of the soundtrack that plays throughout the film is enough to get the chainsaws revving — it’s eclectic with even a haunting Russian lullaby sung by Reze as she puts a serial killer to eternal sleep.
Fujimoto’s approach to paneling and storytelling is more akin to a Tarantino film than a traditional manga, which makes the title Chainsaw Man so apt for a film. The ‘Reze Arc’ (chapters 39-52) is set up and executed in such a way that it lends itself to the screen really well.
The formula of anime films making big bucks on the big screen, popularized by the Demon Slayer films, has resulted in many more anime arcs being adapted for a film than a TV run. These films draw a larger crowd and keep the ball rolling for the studios to greenlight the successive season. The Reze Arc is cohesive and condensed, making it a perfect opportunity for Chainsaw Man to slash his way to the top.
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