Warning: Spoilers for Chainsaw Man follow
Summary
Despite the infamy of its latest chapters, as a wholeChainsaw Manhas been struggling to make an impact. Compared to the ultra-violent yet precise series of events that makesPart 1 ofChainsaw Manso memorable, Part 2 feels aimless and meandering, while coasting on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s trademark irreverence, especially with its recent chapters. No amount of controversy can hide the problems that have hounded Part 2 from the start.
While Part 1 had a more formulaic “villain of the arc” structure, it may have been to its benefit. Part 2’s lack of a consistent villain - and therefore a goal - to gauge the story’s progress leaves Denji and Asa flailing in the wind, with no clear direction for them or the manga to go save shock and awe.
While the constant swerves and surprises of recent chapters have been amusing, it also feels like Fujimoto is treading water.
Chainsaw Man’s Constant Surprises Have Begun To Grate
No Amount Of Twists Can Make Readers Forget Pertinent Questions
Fujimoto has delighted in toying with readers, leading to theexplicitChainsaw Manchapter 167 that has shocked audiences. But even this is just an escalation of a repeated pattern where a chapter sets up a promise, and then invalidates it in the next, before having another character make another outlandish promise. Denji’s despair and unwillingness to fight leads to Katana Man offering to take him to a soapland. The soapland is revealed to have been burnt down, thus leading to Yoru simply offering to castrate Denji, which in turn leads to the two now infamously stumbling into a sexual encounter.
This Underrated Shonen Jump Manga Was Chainsaw Man’s More Hardcore Version
Fire Punch is the manga series that made Tatsuki Fujimoto famous, and it is even more brutal than Chainsaw Man.
Exacerbating this is a lack of definite threats to struggle against. Part 1 ofChainsaw Man’smost memorable arcs had excellent villainsto contend against, be it the early devils Public Safety hunted, or human enemies like Katana Man, Bomb Woman, or Santa Claus. Part 2’s antagonist role has kept trading hands, be it the Hybrids, the Chainsaw Man Church, or Hirofumi and Fumiko of Public Safety, none of whom have left strong impressions. Fami, meanwhile, now works with Denji and Asa, neutering her threat, while the Death Devil remains too distant to be significant. This leaves the cast with no clear goal.
Chainsaw Man’s Story Needs To Continue
The manga’s continued use of bizarre and ridiculous cliffhangers might fit its overall tone of irreverence and morbid humor, but it is coming with diminishing returns and growing impatience. Even Chapter 167 doesn’t feel like a pay-off, but Fuimoto just reaching further and further to fend off viewer boredom. The fallout from Denji and Yoru’s encounter could just be another return to the status quo, for the sake of “awkward laughs”, while ignoring the Death Devil and the prophesized apocalypse.Chainsaw Manneeds to stop stringing its characters and the readers along with false starts and instead sincerely resolve conflicts.
Chainsaw Man
Cast
Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a young man burdened by debt, who teams up with his pet devil Pochita to fight devils under the yakuza’s control. Released in 2022, the series portrays Denji’s struggle to achieve his dream of living a simple, peaceful life.
