As otaku, we are pretty open about our likes/dislikes in the anime world. We like women with huge oppai, tsundere, and pantsu to name a few. Enter Denji, our main man in Chainsaw Man. Denji is forced to pay off his father’s huge debt and thus enters the devil-killing business alongside his dog-like devil partner, Pochita. Able to make a “living” off killing giant devils with his chainsaw dog, Denji tries to see the bright moments in life…that is until he is betrayed by his once debtor and is nearly killed. Fusing with Pochita, Denji is able to transform into the Chainsaw Man and from there enters a new life where he tries to make his dreams a reality…such as getting lucky and grabbing oppai.

Probably one of the most striking elements of Chainsaw Man isn’t the cool devils and special abilities—though we will be talking about those things in a brief moment—but the fact that Denji is very relatable despite his unique powers. The same can be said for the rest of the cast of Chainsaw Man who all have reasons for being devil hunters and working alongside the same beings they try to kill on a daily basis. Seriously though, Denji has become an inspiration to many otaku—just type his name into Tik Tok—and we can’t lie…we kind of like his simple reasons for wanting to live.

From Power, the blood-wielding devil-woman, to Aki Hayakawa, a man who uses a nail as a sword and literally seems to scream Mr. Cool, and Makima, whose powers are a spoiler but are so butt-kicking she barely needs to lift a finger… Yeah, the cast of Chainsaw Man are pretty amazing. What really makes these men and women stand out though, is their abilities which all are extremely interesting and have weaknesses. No one character in Chainsaw Man is OP—well maybe Makima—making each battle kind of unpredictable. You could assume someone will survive an encounter with a devil because they are one of the main Public Safety Organization members—the main group Denji joins as a professional devil hunter—but you’d be wrong. Chainsaw Man’s cast are powerful and unique but they all have weaknesses that are rare for a shonen.

If you are a huge shonen fan then you usually can name the big ones like One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, and My Hero Academia. Chainsaw Man is also a shonen despite having some extreme violence, subjective themes, and adult content. Denji literally gropes Power, Aki smokes and our eye-patch Public Safety Organization Himeno tries to take advantage of Denji in their drunken state. Chainsaw Man might be considered shonen but we think it’s very close to being seinen.

For those who want beautiful animation, then you’ll be happy to know MAPPA pulled out all the stops with Chainsaw Man. Every fight is a visual treat and every character mirrors their manga counterparts with surreal levels of detail! When Aki uses his fox-like devil or when Denji goes berserk in Chainsaw Man mode, your hands will be taking screenshots as fast as possible as every moment of this series is wallpaper worthy. Studio MAPPA never fails to blow away our expectations but Chainsaw Man might be one of their best works!