Chainsaw! Chainsaw! Chainsaw!

As the crowd cheers the hero on, the end of the beginning starts to close the curtain of the brutality inside the Chainsaw Man universe.

Tatsuki Fujimoto has served us his latest work of art. We see the engaging story through the eyes of Denji with all its honesty, tragedy, and the simplicity of a man. He was first recognized by his works such as Fire Punch and a collection of one-shot stories which was recently being made into a Tankōbon, Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshū: 17-21.

Published within the Shōnen Jump+ imprint, Chainsaw Man was garnering a lot of attention as it delivered an engaging and exceptional story of a young man trying to achieve his dreams. Denji comes along with his set of ideal that underlines an act of simplicity and naivety which contrasts the world of havoc and pure chaos.

Amidst the chaos and ultra presence of male energy throughout the story, moments of honesty and truth among these characters are just worthy of read.

With Tatsuki’s drawing that seems more matured since Fire Punch (2016), a fusion of Dorohedoro’s (Hayashida, Q 2000) aesthetics and the sensibility of Tatsuki’s own style seems to be working well with the readers as the story progresses.

Denji and Akira

Chainsaw Man presents so much more than just a story focused on the young adult. This is the first time that Shueisa has released a story which includes elements of darkness, chaos and intense violence.

Taking examples from its previous predecessor, Devilman (Nagai, Go 1972), which centers around a supernatural being, Chainsaw Man has the same element, but in a much more theatrical viewpoint, with a few slice-of-life elements being thrown out here and there.

Chainsaw Man starts up as dark as it could be. Even as a little kid, Denji already has to face the harsh realities of life. The difference between Denji and Akira is, they both grew up differently character-wise.

Akira grows up to be more arrogant and more sadistic albeit still on the side of humanity. Denji on the other hand, stays true to his core belief, being good in nature, and picks himself up again and again through hardships and struggle.

We can instantly draw a lot from both of these characters, in which the struggle to face their inner demons whilst smiling in the face of an apocalypse seems like a walk in a park for them.

We can see both of these characters take opposite paths. One has to learn from scratch what it means to be more human, whilst the other is losing that part of them in the process. Both characters are considered as main characters in their own universes. Although they have the same ability to turn into a devil, both characters walk different paths.

Gore for the sake of the art

While violence & gore has been used as an agent of change, it has never before been this explicitly to depict humanity inside us through manga as a medium. With a blend of light-hearted and dark-comedy, Tatsuki’s method of actually using a lot of taboo elements, and left-field lifestyle that’s being depicted through his story, is actually working really well to explain its character traits.

Denji shows his child-like nature by playing around with chainsaws. Aki is cursed to not be able see future ahead from vengeance. These are all the imagery of the characters through abilities and skills that the story provides. At the end of Part 1, we see that the ultimate truth of Denji’s affection and feelings towards Makima was all part of her abilities as well.

What attracts us most to Tatsuki’s characters are the facts that his characters are so perfectly round up, well made, and relatable. In a storytelling sense, what Tatsuki offers us is an amalgamation of the absurdity of its world, existentialism, and most importantly, his weird sense of comedy.

The End of the Beginning…

As of late 2020, Chainsaw Man has come to its conclusion. In Tatsuki’s editorial note, he mentions that he is really proud of what he has written and produced. Plus, the second part of the series is approved.

Early summer this year, the long-awaited trailer of Chainsaw Man is finally here. It provides a brief introduction about its universe and its core characters such as Aki, Power, Makima, and of course Denji.

This manga contains the elements of darkness, violence, and chaos, thus it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Nevertheless, Chainsaw Man has made a big splash and come out on top, in terms of overall designs, characters, power structure, and story progression.