Chensō Man, チェンソーマン

Genre: Action, Comedy Horror, Dark Fantasy

Written By: Tatsuki Fujimoto

Publisher: Shueisha/Viz Media

Volumes: 11

Summary

Hey everyone, it’s been a loooooong time. I apologize for that but between work getting busy and my birthday, I could barely find time to sit down and type, edit, and post. However, I didn’t just not watch anything or read anything so in an attempt to get my “Manga Monday” back on track, I finally got around to getting the fourth volume of Chainsaw Man up!

So much happened in this volume but you know me, I don’t want to miss anything. We’re starting from the events of the last volume where we were introduced to the Samurai Sword guy and the girl with the hoodie. I don’t know if I mentioned it in my last review but Samurai Sword guy is the grandson of the Yakuza guy that Denji used to work for. But anyway, we start off with pretty much Division 4’s squad being taken out. Denji is still fighting against Samurai Sword, doing great work might I add. However, he’s just not quite at that level yet and gets taken out.

Arai is also dead from what appears to be a gunshot to the head and so are the other devil hunters. We see Makima also still down and out but I kid you not about 2 pages after she’s up and running. I TOLD YALL she was fine. She gives me major villain vibes so I foresee her being around for a good bit of time. While we’re still in Kyoto, we get to see two new Devil Hunters, Kurose and Tendo. Their purpose was to come help but the plan has significantly changed. Then, we see that somehow Makima wasn’t the one who got shot but instead the others on the train. Maybe her powers have to do with body switching?

Next chapter focuses on Makima with Kurose and Tendo in Kyoto. Now this is where things get very confusing and slightly terrifying. Makima orders them to find a shrine at the highest altitude and also 30 convicts serving life sentences or worse….

So the, I don’t know what to call them Samurai Sword gang, is trying to get Denji out of there but then one of them just combusts. Blood is everywhere, no bones just clothes. Everyone’s confused and freaking out and then we see Makima going up to the convicts, who are blindfolded, and tells them to recite a name. If you put two and two together, you’ll realize it’s the name of each person combusting. So again, this is why I’ve concluded part of her power is she’s a human death note. Except you don’t die of a heart attack, you explode.

After Makima pretty much decimates the bad guys, we get to see what happened with Kobeni and Arai. This elderly lady aims for Kobeni but Arai jumps in front and gets shot instead. Kobeni shows up to confront the bad guys and we get to see a tiny bit of her powers. I have to admit, I’d never rooted for her so hard until that moment. The hoodie girl calls for her Snake devil but Kobeni doesn’t even blink. She moves like a cheetah on crack and slices Samurai Sword guy’s arm before shooting him. The hoodie girl tries to shoot back but Kobeni uses Denji’s body as a shield (now sis I was rooting for you) and then they retreat.

Finally, we get to see the amazing trio! Aki is recovering in the hospital while Denji and Power are eating all his apples and reading manga with their 1 shared brain cell. Once Aki listens to them argue, he asks about who else survived in their division. Denji lets him know only Kobeni and Madoka, who in the last chapter handed in his resignation because he was really not about that life, and Aki realizes that his partner, Himeno is truly gone. In a sad development, Aki asks his curse devil how many years he has left to which it replies ‘2 years’. That means he’s used a significant amount of his life span making these contracts and that also means he’s on borrowed time.

Aki then tries to light his cigarette and fails, remembering how Himeno used to hold out her lighter for him and he breaks down. Denji is standing outside awkwardly outside and this starts his inner monologue. He wonders if the people around him died, would he be sad? He thinks he’d might be sad for a max of 3 days but then he’d get over it. His priorities are 3 hot meals, a bed, and a warm bath. For some reason, I actually love that response from him. I think people forget when I say Denji was in the trenches, he was deep in there. Right now, he wants to keep the happiness he has and unfortunately, these people are new to him and haven’t exactly been the best.

Kurose and Tendo visit Aki while Denji and Power go with Makima to meet their new trainer, Kishibe! He asks them three questions; What did you feel when your teammates died, Do you want to get revenge, and humans or devils-which side are you on? Answering them perfectly the way he wanted, he tells them they passed and he will train them. The training starts then and consists of him hunting them since he’s the most powerful devil hunter. His logic is if they can defeat him, they can defeat anyone. Also, it’s mainly just the two of them getting close to seeing Jesus after each match because he kills them at least 20 times.

In the next chapter, it’s mostly just Power and Denji getting beat up by Kishibe. We circle back to Aki in the hospital and we learn that he can’t use his fox devil anymore. Somehow, he must have over exerted it and pissed it off because it now it won’t listen to him. The two new devil hunters are going to be doing some career coaching. It’s around this time that Kurose gives Aki the option to call it quits and live out his life in peace or continue to hut the Gun devil. We all know which one he’s choosing.

Aki follows Kurose and Tendo who take him to meet another devil he can make a contract with. This one is the Future Devil. All he has to do is put his head in his belly and the devil will see his future. It’s sort of ominous since we already know he’s got 2 years to live and then the devil tells him he’ll die in the most horrible way ever. Oh and he also offers to work with him if he can live in his right eye. At this point Aki won’t have a body left to bury.

The last chapter is just them preparing to go against the Samurai Sword and Snake girl. We get to meet some more devils, the shark Fiend who can swim in any surface and can take a devil form for short periods of time, Violence fiend who is apparently OP and had to put on a mask to control some of his power, The Spider Devil who just looks creepy, and the Angel Devil. If you touch them your life span demolishes, lovely. The chapter ends with Aki confronting the snake girl who also has the Ghost devil now as well. How will things turn out? Stay tuned until next time!

Characters

We were able to meet, briefly, some new devils!

Madoka

He was formerly a Public Safety Devil Hunter but quit after the Gun Devil’s associates attack.

Yutaro Kurose

One of the Public Safety Devil Hunters from Kyoto.

Michiko Tendo

The second Public Safety Devil Hunter from Kyoto

Spider Devil

She has the power to appear as a normal human being but she gets upset if someone as so much as looks at her weird.

Shark Fiend

He has the head of a shark and can swim through any surface. He can also take the form of other devils but for only a short moment. He’s also one of my favorite characters!

Angel Devil

The Angel Devil looks like an angel with wings and all but if you touch them, your life span is siphoned.

Highlights

Makima’s power reveal
The Future rules!!!! (You’ll understand if you read the volume)

Conclusion

Another action packed, eye opening chapter. I feel like we learned a lot, specifically that making contracts with devils is a horrible, horrible idea. Also, this is giving me Akame Ga Kill vibes so right now I don’t count on any of the main cast being around in the end the way they’re just chopping up characters. Makima still hasn’t given me any reason to trust her. If anything, this chapter showed just how menacing she can be. Even Kishibe doesn’t seem to trust her. I love a smart man. Denji and Power were hilarious and I love their sibling energy. They relate to each other more than they think. Out of all the characters though, I feel for Aki the most. He just seems to be on a revenge journey that is not going in his favor. I also don’t like the idea of him trying to make a contract with any and every devil just to succeed.

If you’d like to purchase this volume, please click the link below!