Anime Review: Chainsaw Man Season 1

It almost feels like cheating for me doing this review since it’s one of those rare times I’m a manga reader first and an anime watcher second. When Chainsaw Man received a television anime, I knew that it would be good, so right off the bat, I can tell you it’s a banger show… or was it? One of the things that sometimes happens is a really popular manga gets a really bad adaptation (i.e. Tokyo Ghoul). So, when it comes to situations like these where I’m not going in blind… I can only hope and pray that the studio remains as faithful to the source material as possible.

Did Chainsaw Man’s anime do that?

Let’s roll!

The Story

Denji’s father passed away via suicide. He did so because he was heavily indebted to the yakuza. They basically took his father’s debt and placed it on Denji’s shoulders. They did so because, on the day of his father’s funeral, Denji meets Pochita… a cute little devil on the verge of death. He lets Pochita suck his blood which heals him. Together, they work for the yakuza as devil hunters as devil corpses fetch a good price on the black market. Denji is to work until he pays off his father’s debt.

One day, they call him out for a job in an abandoned warehouse. Here, we have the plot twist that the yakuza were under the control of the Zombie Devil and he happens to hate Denji (well, devil hunters, more or less) and wants him dead. The Zombie Devil gets his wish as he kills Denji and throws his dismembered body into a dumpster.

Pochita is in there, too, and ends up tasting some of Denji’s blood. This heals Pochita and causes him to remember a promise they made. If Denji were to die, then Pochita can have his body to live a normal life. Pochita fuses with Denji and brings him back to life but now Denji has a brand-new power… to grow chainsaws on his arms as well as from out of his forehead. And thus, Chainsaw Man was born!

From here, it’s party time! He slaughters everything in sight. All of the yakuza members were turned into zombies and the Zombie Devil himself. In the aftermath of the chaos, a girl with long pink hair and a couple of suits comes to kill the Zombie Devil but discovers that Denji beat them to the punch. She makes Denji an offer… to work for her in Public Service and kill devils!

From here, Denji becomes Chainsaw Man. He goes out on missions with his newly assigned partners… mainly Aki and Power, the former of them become Denji and Power’s caretakers much to his chagrin. While the story has its twists and turns, the overall story is that the Public Safety Division is trying to hunt down the greatest threat to humanity: The Gun Devil. Killing devils and searching their bodies for fragments of the Gun Devil is their path to him. The belief is that if enough fragments are gathered, they will gravitate toward the Gun Devil’s location.

The Characters

There are quite a few characters in this show but I’ll cover the main ones… otherwise, we’ll be here for quite a while.

Denji

First off… our main character and protagonist. Denji is about as loathsome and perverted as they come; however, he’s always very lovable because of it. He’s not shy about wanting to touch a boob or kiss a girl but he’s also had a pretty crap life. So much so that he takes almost everything in stride. Heck, he thinks jam on toast is a luxury dinner served only to the highest-ranking members of society. I mean… when you’re used to having a dollar or less for food for the month, anything looks like a 4-star meal.

Despite his lewdness, Denji does have a soft heart. Despite being a devil, he considered Pochita his one and only true friend in the world. Of course, that changes when he joins the Public Service Division but the love he had for Pochita was pretty heartwarming. Denji also does feel sentimental about some people, too. It’s not easy for him to get close but he tries. Most of the time, he just wants to achieve his dream of a simple life… freedom, food to eat, and a hot girlfriend. I loved his character in the manga and in the anime, it really came to life!

Power

Power is a devil who is working for the Public Service Division… well… she kind of has to. If she refuses, they will kill her. She has an affection for cats and tricks Denji into rescuing her cat Meowy from the bat devil. When the plan backfires, Power is kind of stuck in an awkward position. Over time, the two of them actually warm up to each other. So much so that you think that a Denji x Power ship is a lock but they’re just happier being friends.

Friends is a weird term to describe them because they often argue like siblings most of the time. Despite that, they end up forming amazing chemistry and they play off each other to near perfection. I don’t think I’ve seen a better pairing of characters this year… and yes… that includes Twilight and Yor from Spy x Family! (Here comes the hate mail). Power is the perfect sidekick for Denji as they just elevate each other whenever they are together.

Aki Hayakawa

Aki heads up a special division that works directly under Makima. Under normal circumstances, one might think that is a high honor; however, Aki’s squad is just filled with misfits and experiments. It’s more of a headache than it’s worth but someone has to do the job and Aki is the man to do it. Although things are a bit troublesome for Aki, his squad handles pretty high-profile cases. You wouldn’t really know that after Denji joins because Aki seems to be reduced to a stressed-out parent.

Aki’s demeanor is very flat but easily agitated. He has his reasons for taking his job seriously and, for personal reasons, takes pleasure in hunting down devils. He’s very cold towards Denji at first and even wants to drive him out the Public Safety; however, after he’s forced to be his caretaker, he slowly begins to understand him and trust me… I mean SLOWLY. Aki would like nothing more for Denji to just disappear but as time marches on, there is a certain level of respect that develops. Overall, Aki is a bit of a complex character but the complexity makes him very interesting… even if his seriousness is sometimes used for comedic effect.

Makima

Man… being a manga reader, I really need to tiptoe around this one. I’ll just say that Makima took Denji into the Public Safety Division as one of her pets… and trust me… she’s a woman who REALLY likes her dogs. That’s about as much of a hint as you’ll get from me. Outside of that, she is the object of Denji’s affection and she knows it. She will use that affection to talk Denji into doing jobs and missions for her and, well, it works. I mean… if it’s effective…

Makima seems like a legend in Public Safety. She has a very high reputation and she is very much trusted by the higher-ups. In fact, she’s such a threat that there is even an assassination attempt on her during the show! I wonder why? Hmmm…

Without spoiling anything.. Makima ends up becoming one of, if not, the most interesting character in the show, and I’m saddened that it ended before it could finish adapting the manga. We better get a second season because you all really need to see what becomes of her!

Art & Animation

Okay… MAPPA… you need to calm down. If Chainsaw Man had ever become an anime, this is exactly how I would have envisioned it. The animation, the high-quality artwork, the level of detail, the fact that every episode had its own ending theme, the fight scenes, the voice acting, and the personification of the characters… all of it was handled extremely well! Everything from the gore to Denji involuntarily becoming a vomit depository… they skipped no detail! This anime was a labor of love for Tatsuki Fujimoto’s work! MAPPA really did the manga justice in terms of production. They truly captured the spirit and essence of the series and, as I said, this is exactly how I would envision the anime being.

The opening sequence was also pretty nicely done. So many pop culture movie references were sprinkled throughout and for those who recognized them, it was a treat. For those who didn’t, the opening was just pure randomness but still, the chaotic nature of it works for a show like this. While I didn’t really jive with the opening song that much, I do have to appreciate the art form that this opening was. Great job on that aspect of it!

Overall Thoughts

Okay, so Chainsaw Man and MAPPA did an honorable job keeping faithful to the source material. The only complaint I have is that there was no second season announced! I was pretty shocked about that given the level of hype this show received before it even aired. Hell, the moment it was announced as an anime, the internet lost its collective mind over it. Non-manga readers were salivating at the mere sight of the trailer. Millions upon millions of people waited for any new information about the show leading up to its release and then… it was reported that sales in Japan weren’t as high as they predicted them to be.

What? HOW!?

Was this just a mega-hit with us gaijin? Is it not resonating with Japanese audiences? If not, then that’s a problem. Very rarely does an anime get a second season just based on foreign interest. If it bombs at home, that could seal our fate. Only time will tell since manga and blu-ray sales often skyrocket after the anime finishes airing so any hope for a second season will be determined within the next couple of months… either that or it is already in production and, for whatever reason, they are withholding the announcement.

Either way, the first season absolutely rocked, and regardless of whether you’ve read the manga or not, you should do yourself a service and check this show out. It’s fun, serious, action-packed, and heartwarming all at the same time. Easily an anime of the Year contender!

Until next time…

Ja ne!

Chainsaw Man Season 1 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.