The first season of Chainsaw Man is a captivating new anime that pushes boundaries while maintaining a high level of polish and taste. Some of Chainsaw Man's high points come from the creator's willingness and ability to quite faithfully adapt the source material with all of its language, sexual content, gore, and death. I haven't read the manga myself, but it is a well-loved and popular story from what I have seen and heard. Although I don't usually binge TV series, I plowed through Chainsaw Man's first season in only two days. The stakes are incredibly high in this series and the main characters have unique motivations that feel very human, and are evidently pathos within the dire setting of a devil-ridden world. Being raised in this kind of environment, the characters are fully aware of the ephemerality and uncertainty of everyday, but are usually motivated to push on regardless. Motivation and sacrifice are two key themes in Chainsaw Man, and I will explore them in this post.

Before getting into that, here is a synopsis of Chainsaw Man:

Synopsis

Denji is robbed of a normal teenage life, left with nothing but his deadbeat father's overwhelming debt. His only companion is his pet, the chainsaw devil Pochita, with whom he slays devils for money that inevitably ends up in the yakuza's pockets. All Denji can do is dream of a good, simple life: one with delicious food and a beautiful girlfriend by his side. But an act of greedy betrayal by the yakuza leads to Denji's brutal, untimely death, crushing all hope of him ever achieving happiness.

Remarkably, an old contract allows Pochita to merge with the deceased Denji and bestow devil powers on him, changing him into a hybrid able to transform his body parts into chainsaws. Because Denji's new abilities pose a significant risk to society, the Public Safety Bureau's elite devil hunter Makima takes him in, letting him live as long as he obeys her command. Guided by the promise of a content life alongside an attractive woman, Denji devotes everything and fights with all his might to make his naive dreams a reality.

Synopsis from MyAnimeList

Subjectivity of Freedom

Denji joins the Public Safety Bureau without much of a choice. Upon being rescued by Makima, he is faced with the option to serve the bureau loyally or to be killed by Makima. It's interesting that although Denji is essentially being forced to join the bureau, he has no issue with his supposed lack of agency under the circumstances. Denji has been in debt for pretty much his whole life, and was forced to have a very low standard of living because of it. He has no family, so his ambitions were mostly to get out of debt, and to feed and house himself. Following Denji's 'death', his debtor is killed; this solves one of his life-long goals. Then, after being found by Makima and the devil hunters, Denji is offered three meals a day and a place to sleep in exchange for working for the Public Safety Bureau. Now, all of Denji's goals are fulfilled. This creates an interesting shift that happens a few times throughout the first season: our protagonist is forced to find something new to work towards. Amidst the over-the-top, blood-spewing action and sometimes absurd comedy, the matter of motivation is a very human element of Chainsaw Man. Most of all is the ability to derive meaning and purpose from, and for, life and living.

Now that Denji is in full swing with the Bureau, he needs to find a dream to chase after. One other thing that Denji always wanted was a girlfriend. Because of his unique circumstances, Denji isn't really in a place to settle down in any sort of normal relationship. He is a busy devil hunter fighting in a cruel world, after all. Denji can stand in the face of death, and assert his will to live on what could be considered simple human pleasures such as kissing a girl or fondling a pair of breasts. Some viewers will be turned off by this sort of childish entertainment of a boy's sexual fantasies, but I view it as more of a metaphor and message to find hope and beauty in the face of hardship and despair. Denji is a very powerful devil hunter, and his existence and contributions invariably aid the Bureau and humanity as a whole, therefore it is an inarguably positive thing for Denji to carry on and keep fighting. Thankfully, Denji has a set of mostly noble morals and is well-meaning and totally tolerable. Chainsaw Man handles its characters with care, and all of the main characters strongly represent great features of the human condition.

Characters - Devil Hunters in a Cruel World

Left to right: Denji, Makima, Power, Aki: Image by MAPPA

Something that I really like about the main characters in Chainsaw Man is that they all fall in the gray area between being simply good or bad. The 'good' guys often give the viewer a strong reason to question or even doubt that they are good at all. The devils, on the other hand, are pretty clearly bad, so the contrast falls between ambiguously good (I think) to definitely bad. This skewed spread of good and bad, light and dark, makes for a really interesting concoction. This is on display from the forefront: the protagonist literally spawns a chainsaw from his face, with which he obviously spills some major blood. He even heals from drinking blood; so yeah, Chainsaw Man is intense.

Makima is an elite devil hunter who takes the protagonist, Denji, in and becomes his commander. She is a highly skilled fighter with a stoic demeanor and an unwavering commitment to her job. Despite her serious demeanor, Makima has a playful side and often teases Denji. She possesses the ability to control and manipulate others, making her a formidable opponent. As the story progresses, Makima's true motives and allegiances become increasingly unclear, adding to the intrigue and suspense of the plot.

Power is a devil hunter who has the ability to transform into a humanoid devil. She is a member of the Special Division 4 and is one of Denji's allies. Power is often portrayed as reckless and impulsive, and she is not afraid to speak her mind. Despite her tough exterior, Power cares deeply for her friends and is willing to put her life on the line to protect them.

Aki is a devil hunter and a member of the Public Safety Bureau's Special Division 4. He is known for being serious and dedicated to his work, and is often seen as cold and distant by his colleagues. Aki has a unique ability to summon and control a devil called the "Future Devil," which allows him to see glimpses of the future. He is initially skeptical of Denji's abilities, but comes to respect him as a valuable member of the team. Aki's motivations are driven by his desire to protect innocent people from devils, and he is willing to make sacrifices to achieve this goal. He is a complex character with a tragic backstory that is explored throughout the first season of Chainsaw Man.

Anime Adaptation

The creator of the original Chainsaw Man manga is Tatsuki Fujimoto. He wrote and illustrated this series starting in 2018 is continuing to do so as of 2023. Fujimoto's vivid world-building provides an illustrious playground for the anime. MAPPA studio (the team behind Chainsaw Man and many other acclaimed Anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan Season 5+, Dororo, and many more) are some of the most talented artists in the world of animation. Many were excited that this was the studio taking on the project. I think they nailed all aspects of interpreting a story to the small screen: from art direction and tone, to music and sound, to action and comedy and everything in between.

Here is a list of some of the production staff that worked on Chainsaw Man:

• Studio: MAPPA
• Director: Ryuu Nakayama (Jujutsu Kaisen episode director)
• Series Composition: Hiroshi Seko (Dorohedoro)
• Character Designer: Kazutaka Sugiyama (Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu)
• Prop Designer: Tomohiro Kishi
• Color Designer: Azusa Sasaki (Sword Art Online: Alicization)
• Art Director: Yuusuke Takeda (Vinland Saga)
• Director of Photography: Yusuke Tannawa
• Editing: Masato Yoshitake
• Sound Director: Akiko Fujita
• Music: Kensuke Ushio

Source: MyAnimeList

Art Direction and Animation

Sharing Perspectives

Something that really showcases how great the pacing in Chainsaw Man is how big events tend to culminate at the end of an episode. The significance can be inferred by the viewer, with their jaw dropping to the floor over what's just happened and what this could possibly mean for the remainder of the series. After rushing to start the next episode in anticipation of what is to come, Chainsaw Man cleverly takes a deep breath and slows things down by retelling the ending of the previous episode all over again. The event and setting of this retreading is always very similar, but offers a slightly unique perspective. This could be as simple as repositioning the camera angle or introducing a new somber song to portray a different emotion. It's interesting that new information isn't revealed in these moments. That is not the point.

This happens for a number of critical episodes in the first series, especially in the latter half as stakes rise again and again. Like rewatching a movie you loved or rereading a great book, this second opportunity to experience a usually profound moment in the show is something that goes a long way. This structure is unique because it's showing you two instances of the same event, in what's usually the span of a couple minutes, depending on the viewer's watch pace. Still, it serves much less as a recap, and more like a second chance to soak up what's happening on the screen. These were the moments I found myself sitting in front of the TV shaking my head in pure awe and appreciation for the show and medium.

Exemplary Animation - Talent and Frame Modulation

The animation in Chainsaw Man is something to behold. While doing some research on the making of this anime, I found a cool Reddit post about just how MAPPA's adaptation of Chainsaw Man executed so damn well.

Reddit user gamerunglued says:

Look, really well animated shows and movies aren't doing anything unique or special compared to other shows and movies. Animating purely on ones is extremely rare because it's frankly just not desirable. Chainsaw Man utilizes frame rate modulation to emphasize and de-emphasize certain things. Some moments are animated on 1's, some on 2's, some on 3's, some on 4's. I'm sure the series uses some automated in-betweens, but those are fairly normal nowadays. There's no such thing as hand drawn CGI (it doesn't even make sense, CGI stands for computer generated imagery and computers aren't generating things with the hands they don't have).

The reason Chainsaw Man looks so impressive is really simple: it has a team of incredibly talented animators who are working under a schedule that is flexible enough to allow them to do their best work. The key to great animation isn't special techniques or high frame counts, it's time and talent. When you give masters of their craft enough time to perfect their work, you get something like Chainsaw Man.

Original Reddit post

Image by MAPPA

Looking Forward to More

Season 1 of the anime covers the first four arcs from the manga:

• Introduction arc
• Bat Devil arc
• Eternity Devil arc
• Katana Man arc

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As of writing in March 2023, there are four more arc in the first saga (the Public Safety Saga), and the Academy Saga is being developed and is only early in the release phase. It's likely that MAPPA studio will release a second season spanning much, if not all, of the remaining arcs in the Public Safety Saga. I look forward to enjoying more Chainsaw Man in the future! We don't know for how long the manga or anime will run, but the future is bright for Tatsuki Fujimoto's beloved creation.