Fans hyped up Chainsaw Man for years before the Chainsaw Man Season 1 anime release. The series is the herald of a new golden age of anime. The anime was the prophet telling of fantastic times to come. Chainsaw Man was supposed to change everything.
Unfortunately, it did not happen.
The manga was released, got hyped up, and became a series known more for style than substance. The first season is a perfect example of the latter. But an abundance of style does not mean the series is not effective.
Chainsaw Man is effective. The first season sets up the plot, establishes the main characters, and shows the primary conflict in the story.
In between each blood splatter, lewd joke, and emotional moment, there lies something special. It’s an artistic twist on realism.
Rarely do we find a shonen that is both effective and special, especially in the first season.
A Fresh Take on Shonen
Chainsaw Man is a manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Since December 2018, the story has been published in Weekly Shonen Jump. The series is ongoing. In Fall 2022, the anime was released.
There are twelve episodes of Chainsaw Man season 1. The series streams on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Prime Video. The fan consensus for Chainsaw Man was that it was a solid ride with a winding plot filled with gore and psychological manipulation. The series, by throwing out the shounen trope manual, is worth remembering. Critics like the series’ darker nature, characters, and storytelling.
Denji is not your typical teenager, even by shonen standards. He lives with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. His father amassed an extreme debt load. The burden of debt passes down to the children in this world. As such, Denji must devote his life to paying off his father’s burden. It’s not a simple life. Denji spends his days repaying the debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita.
Episode 1 opens with our protagonist trudging off to work. Denji sums up the amount of money raised to pay off the debt he inherited from his parents. He still has over 38,000,000 million yen to go or about 260,000 USD at October 2022 exchange rates. He fights a Tomato Devil for his latest job and wins. But after the debt payments and various other nonsense fees and bills, he is left with about $18 for himself.
The story takes a dark turn when the yakuza debtor lures Denji into a rundown warehouse. It is revealed that the yakuza made a deal with a zombie devil, and they proceed to slash and stab Denji to death.
As his consciousness fades, Denji makes a contract with Pochita, his Chainsaw Devil companion. This contract revives Denji as “Chainsaw Man”—a man with a devil’s heart and a chainsaw to grind.
Following his transformation, Denji is captured by the government. What follows is a tale filled with debauchery, suffering, and treachery.
While still keeping roots in the shonen genre, Chainsaw Man crafts its own path—mostly for the better. The anime continues this trend.
And I’m here for it.
Animation & Music
MAPPA Studio’s choice to use 2D and 3D to craft animation that is neither was a genius move. Foreground characters pop with added depth of field. Close-up shots give the series a grinding, gritty feel. The force of each attack reverberates out of the screen.
The animation is a bloody mess in the best way possible.
Some might say the result is because anime animation improved over the years. Chainsaw Man’s success results from lessons learned from two decades of hit-or-miss anime. Also, MAPPA Studios tested a similar approach with Attack on Titan. That attempt did not go well. But you experiment and learn. This time around with Chainsaw Man?
You see the benefits of the experiment lessons.
You can tell the care that went into the animation.
You feel the intensity of each character’s interaction.
This is the definition of live, learn, and adapt.
The music enhances all these traits.
Admittedly, heavy metal or rock isn’t my cup of tea. Yet I listen to the full OST for this series. A consistent rock theme permeates the music of Chainsaw Man. It’s hard not to get revved up by Denji slicing into Devils with the blaring soundtrack. There is almost an hour of music. Each episode ends with a different track. Most of it is high energy.
This choice may not be unique to Chainsaw Man. I want to see other series adapt it in the future, but.
Chainsaw Man Season 1 Revs Up
For shonen enthusiasts, Chainsaw Man is a series that you simply can’t miss.
Chainsaw Man is the type of edgy anime shounen needed. Chainsaw Man lacks common shonen tropes—a protagonist with dreams, the pursuit of peace, an asexual male lead, and a conflict in a world where the sun always shines.
Denji, in particular, is a commentary on modern life. It’s simple pleasures amid pain and struggle. Denji above all else shows that those without a big dream or goal end up as the pawns of others. Denji goes from one master to another—his parent’s debt to the mafia to the government. Fortunately, he is a simple guy who wants basic instinctual things.
I wonder if we pursue simple things in life because we want to. Or do we pursue simple things because society has limited our options and paths to success and we settle for less? Or even maybe most people just want a simple life with simple pleasures and the media has pushed the grandiose life we are told to pursue.
Chainsaw Man does not give an answer to these questions in Season 1. Just as in real life, the characters don’t question the macro. They just go about their lives and enjoy their simple pleasures with a devil-may-care attitude.
Killing devils is a job, not a noble act. The characters are regular people making deals with the devil for a taste of power.
Modern life for too many is a dank, dirty job.
It is refreshing that anime has begun to reflect real life.
