New Anime Brings Bloody Wounds and Bloody Noses to Fans
Long-awaited anime series satisfies the gory, action-packed and titillating standards of weebs around the world.
By Saya Fujii
Long-awaited anime series satisfies the gory, action-packed and titillating standards of weebs around the world.
By Saya Fujii
From the battles to the boobs to the outgoing main character, “Chainsaw Man” is a show which embodies everything that makes shounen anime what it is. Usually, that’s the very reason why I dislike so many battle-focused anime of that genre, but in this case, I might have to make an exception.
“Chainsaw Man” is a direct adaptation of the manga of the same name, centered on a teenager named Denji (Kikunosuke Toya) who is in a world that is battling devils. After dying in battle, he fuses with his pet chainsaw devil and acquires its powers.
The anime is a bloody, battle-filled show that follows Denji and his fellow hunters in their lives of fighting these terrifying monsters.
The amount of anticipation that “Chainsaw Man” has collected up until its release is probably more than any other anime released this year. It’s the only one I’ve been hearing about, even muffling the loud hype over recent shows like “SPY x FAMILY” and season six of “My Hero Academia.”
After all the Tuesdays of catching the newest episode, I think it is well deserved.
While a lot of anime and stories in general focus on “good” characters with a strong moral compass, “Chainsaw Man” is very different. The exception is the short-lived chainsaw dog Pochita, who is adorable and brings out the best in Denji. One of the show’s main appeals is actually that many of the characters are morally gray, and sometimes just morally bad. In other words, it’s realistic and makes you wonder if these are really the anime protagonists we were supposed to follow. This intriguing cast of characters includes the scary Makima (Tomori Kusunoki), the Megumi-like Aki (Shogo Sakata) and the determined main man Denji.
Denji is a character that I go back and forth on if he is a good person to cheer on or not. He is your basic anime protagonist but with a not-so-good addition: his great motivation for everything he does is, to be blunt, women’s boobs. This leads to a lot of fanservice, which for anime revolves around appealing to the male gaze, which I suppose many would disagree on because it could be seen as necessary to the plot and Denji’s immature character. However, shounen anime and manga have gone far too long without moving away from this sexualization of women. Because of that, I greatly dislike this fanservice that tries to appeal to a certain audience. Still, the silver lining in Denji’s current personality is that even though he is a character that has a lot of flaws, he can have more development and maturity. There has already been a sign of his ability to empathize when he saved Power (Fairouz Ai Kadota) and her cat because he related it to his relationship with Pochita.
The second major attraction of this show is the animation, the scenes are very well put together and the animation is smooth. I especially love the detail and focus on the characters’ eyes because that makes the tone more unsettling and adds emotion. All the battles and action sequences are flawless, taking good advantage of Denji’s chainsaw-powered movements as well as the devils’ attacks. The great quality of it has viewers mistaking some scenes for CGI, which no one can miss the opportunity to bash on. To be fair, there is definitely some use of 3D animation throughout these episodes, but it really isn’t that much and it’s something that is hated way too much.
“Chainsaw Man” is a show that is as great as it is running on potential. That’s simply because it is so early in the plot that it definitely has not reached its peak yet. From what I have heard, there is much to look forward to further into the story, where the background and build-up pays off. I’m counting on it as much as I’m counting on cute Pochita to get more screen time than boobs.
The first ten episodes of “Chainsaw Man” are now available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
“Chainsaw Man” is a direct adaptation of the manga of the same name, centered on a teenager named Denji (Kikunosuke Toya) who is in a world that is battling devils. After dying in battle, he fuses with his pet chainsaw devil and acquires its powers.
The anime is a bloody, battle-filled show that follows Denji and his fellow hunters in their lives of fighting these terrifying monsters.
The amount of anticipation that “Chainsaw Man” has collected up until its release is probably more than any other anime released this year. It’s the only one I’ve been hearing about, even muffling the loud hype over recent shows like “SPY x FAMILY” and season six of “My Hero Academia.”
After all the Tuesdays of catching the newest episode, I think it is well deserved.
While a lot of anime and stories in general focus on “good” characters with a strong moral compass, “Chainsaw Man” is very different. The exception is the short-lived chainsaw dog Pochita, who is adorable and brings out the best in Denji. One of the show’s main appeals is actually that many of the characters are morally gray, and sometimes just morally bad. In other words, it’s realistic and makes you wonder if these are really the anime protagonists we were supposed to follow. This intriguing cast of characters includes the scary Makima (Tomori Kusunoki), the Megumi-like Aki (Shogo Sakata) and the determined main man Denji.
Denji is a character that I go back and forth on if he is a good person to cheer on or not. He is your basic anime protagonist but with a not-so-good addition: his great motivation for everything he does is, to be blunt, women’s boobs. This leads to a lot of fanservice, which for anime revolves around appealing to the male gaze, which I suppose many would disagree on because it could be seen as necessary to the plot and Denji’s immature character. However, shounen anime and manga have gone far too long without moving away from this sexualization of women. Because of that, I greatly dislike this fanservice that tries to appeal to a certain audience. Still, the silver lining in Denji’s current personality is that even though he is a character that has a lot of flaws, he can have more development and maturity. There has already been a sign of his ability to empathize when he saved Power (Fairouz Ai Kadota) and her cat because he related it to his relationship with Pochita.
The second major attraction of this show is the animation, the scenes are very well put together and the animation is smooth. I especially love the detail and focus on the characters’ eyes because that makes the tone more unsettling and adds emotion. All the battles and action sequences are flawless, taking good advantage of Denji’s chainsaw-powered movements as well as the devils’ attacks. The great quality of it has viewers mistaking some scenes for CGI, which no one can miss the opportunity to bash on. To be fair, there is definitely some use of 3D animation throughout these episodes, but it really isn’t that much and it’s something that is hated way too much.
“Chainsaw Man” is a show that is as great as it is running on potential. That’s simply because it is so early in the plot that it definitely has not reached its peak yet. From what I have heard, there is much to look forward to further into the story, where the background and build-up pays off. I’m counting on it as much as I’m counting on cute Pochita to get more screen time than boobs.
The first ten episodes of “Chainsaw Man” are now available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.