- Mangaka : Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Publisher : Viz Media
- Genre : Action, Adventure, Demons, Shounen
- Published : October 2020
Chainsawman Introduction
Everybody has their own stuff to inherit from their parents. It could be material hand me downs, priceless life lessons, tons of wealth, or humongous amount of debt. Unfortunately, not everybody is born sucking a silver spoon. Some were born sucking a rotting dog’s toenails. Add in the wicked imagination of a mangaka and an opportunity to make the saddest, darnest story, and here we are sitting for the next few hours digesting the first volume of Chainsaw Man.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
The strongest, coolest superheroes always have a cool backstory. For example, sending the only remaining child of a dying planet down to Earth. And it just so happened that that child is insanely strong, can fly, and can send energies out of their bodies. Yeah, that’s basically both Superman and Goku. For Denji, the titular chainsaw man, his starting point is nowhere near that grand. He was merely forced to form a contract with a dying devil, his pet devil-dog Pochita. After the contract, Pochita allowed him to use it like a chainsaw to do menial tasks and kill other devils. However, when he was betrayed and literally got chopped up by the Yakuza, Pochita made another contract with him, which then led to the birth of the Chainsaw Man.
1. A Story That Made Us Crave More
Chainsaw Man started off light. We’re not kidding you guys, but the series literally opened with Denji talking about how much he made from selling one of his balls. However, just when we were under the impression that the series will make us laugh our asses off, the story took a sudden dark turn. Denji’s backstory was revealed. His father committed suicide, which left a huge amount of debt to his name. Not only that, he was indebted to the yakuza. Heck, Denji and Pochita’s first encounter was when they were both on the verge of death. After reading that, we just couldn’t help it but crave for more.
2. A Plot Darker Than Dark Chocolate
As we’ve already said, Denji had more than one encounter with death. Heck, even when he was pondering about his earning from selling one of his balls has a dark side to it. Just to pay a small fragment of his debt, he was forced to sell one of his nuts, eyes, and kidney. The punchline may be good, but the context sure is heavy. In addition to that, Denji even had to die just to awaken his badass chainsaw powers. Although, that one is probably worth it after what he gained post- transformation.
1. Chill-inducing Gore
Not everybody likes reading humans get mutilated, and Chainsaw Man doesn’t lack that. Given that the premise of the manga is humans hunting devils and vice versa, there are enough gory scenes to last us for a few weeks. These scenes were not even censored or something. In fact, there is even a panel featuring a chopped up Denji, decapitated head included. If you are the type with a bit of a sensitive stomach, then skipping this one might be a good option.
Final Thoughts
Chainsaw Man definitely came in strong. Although we can’t speak for the entire series from the first volume alone, we’re definitely left craving for more. We were left wondering what happened next. The story has a perfect mixture of light and dark that spices the series a whole lot more. More so, the bond between Denji and his devil-dog Pochita made us want to snuggle our pets, although making a contract with any sort of devil is surely not recommended.
Author: Christian Markle
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