One of the most anticipated anime series of the year is finally here. Acclaimed animation studio MAPPA adapts Tatsuki Fujimoto‘s massively popular series, bringing its quirky blend of humor and ultra-violence to the small screen. If the premiere episode is any indicator, expect a wild and extremely gory road ahead for the inaugural season of Chainsaw Man.
Denji (Kikunosuke Toya) isn’t your average teen. Not only has his father’s debt left him in an impoverished state, where he’s selling his body parts to pay it off, but he’s also made a pact with an adorable chainsaw devil, Pochita (Shiori Izawa). When not selling off his bits and possessions to survive, Denji earns cash selling the corpses of other devils. When Denji gets betrayed and left for dead, he gets a second chance when he’s revived as “Chainsaw Man” – a man with a devil’s heart.
©Tatsuki Fujimoto/SHUEISHA, MAPPA
The pilot episode, directed by Ryū Nakayama and written by Hiroshi Seko, sets a peculiar tone. It’s a sweet tale about a boy and his chainsaw puppy, only slathered in a thick coat of viscera and grue. There’s a very lackadaisical demeanor about Denji. All Denji wants is to be free of debt, where he and Pochita can enjoy the finer things in life, like bread with jam. Slicing through the entrails of a demon for a quick buck doesn’t faze him. Denji doesn’t care about much outside of a hot meal or his loyal chainsaw devil dog, Pochita. It’s his temperament and simple motivations that provide the offbeat sense of humor.
Offsetting the quirky comedic tone, or matching it, rather, is the hyper-violent and gory action. Denji is a Devil Hunter for hire, and his weapon of choice is, you guessed it, a chainsaw. Chainsaw Man blends action and horror. In Denji’s case, it’s a little bit of body horror as he undergoes a few physical changes. The Devil designs are unique, from the cute to the monstrous. Denji revs through everything from giant tomatoes to zombie hives. Yusuke Takeda‘s art direction and Kiyotaka Oshiyama‘s Devil designs add style.
©Tatsuki Fujimoto/SHUEISHA, MAPPA
The premiere ep whizzes by at a breakneck speed, presenting just enough to get you hooked. Its economical and efficient storytelling establishes Denji and his powerful bond with Pochita and instills enough worldbuilding to serve as a practical introduction. It teases gore aplenty and ends with an inciting event that sets Denji on a season-long mission. The genre-bender keeps its emphasis on the monster mayhem and bloodletting, which at least promises a carnage-filled road ahead for this charmingly oddball series.
The premiere episode was screened at the NYCC Chainsaw Man panel.
Chainsaw Man will be available to stream on Crunchyroll starting October 11, 2022, at 9:00 AM PST.
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