STUDIO MAPPA has been pumping out one anime after another with unyielding quality for the past few years, and the latest, Chainsaw Man, is no different, even if it doesn’t surpass the current standards for anime or even MAPPA’s other productions.
Based on the Japanese manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man is focused on the story of Denji, a young man that has spent his early life attempting to clear his deceased father’s debt to the triad by fighting demons plaguing Japan.
At his deathbed – in the first episode – Denji makes a contract with his devil dog Pochita, absorbing it and gaining the ability to become a ‘devil’ himself with, chainsaw blades on his arms and through his head.
The series’ first season then explores the character being recruited by a government agency to fight other ‘devils’, while introducing key supporting characters, establishing the lore behind Fujimoto’s rich world and setting up its villains.
The first season’s 12 episodes adapts the manga’s first 38 chapters. It may sound like a lot of condensing, but the anime moves very fluidly despite having a lot of moving parts.
As someone that only became aware of the source material through this anime, everything was easy to understand.
Though technically a shonen anime, which are traditionally targeted to audiences aged from nine to 18, Chainsaw Man is much more adult, in themes, subject matter and of course, the action.
Denji – due to circumstances in life – has had no social development growing up beyond his interactions with the dog. This becomes quickly apparently after being recruited into the agency and being forced to cooperate with co-workers, who have their own goals and motivations, while Denji has no goal beyond “being fed three meals a day”.
Though the first season doesn’t really show Denji growing out of his anti-social, nihilistic shell, it does a great job in progressing him just enough, particularly with developing the foundation and relationship with other supporting characters in a realistic, mature way.
Even the show’s juvenile sex jokes are palatable due to the contextual framing by Fujimoto through Denji’s eyes.
Circling back to the action like the chainsaws on Denji’s limbs, Chainsaw Man is bloody. It is almost gratuitous how much the anime pushes the boundary of violence in the show, and because the studio behind the show is MAPPA, the action sequences are also highly cinematic on top of being a kinetic splatterfest.
The title – Chainsaw Man – makes it quite clear the series isn’t a “Punchy McKick” anime, and the fights aren’t protracted and dragged out across several episodes. Every interaction and fight sequence opens and ends timely, just like this first season.
