チェンソーマン, Chensō Man

Genre: Action, Comedy, Dark Horror, Fantasy

Written By: Tatsuki Fujimoto

Publisher: Shueisha/Viz Media

Magazine: Weekly Shonen Jump

Volumes:  13

SUmmary

It’s Maaaaaaanga Mondaaaaaay.

If you’re watching (or have finished) the first half of Chainsaw Man, you probably have seen some of the events in this volume. Luckily enough it does go beyond so there’s still some spoilers for anime only fans. If I remember correctly, the last time we left off was when Denji was preparing to go fight the Katana Devil. They had suffered some losses (Himeno, Akai) people were dropping like flies. Denji was also contemplating how he’d feel if Aki or Power died. I think this is a turning point for him because he’s reflecting on his connections with other people. Before he only thought about himself but now he might have to be more conscious of others.

The volume starts off Aki facing off against Sawatari who can now use Himeno’s Ghost devil. Aki now has the Future devil in his eye. The only upside is he can see a few seconds into the future. That’s it. Nothing else. I’d feel cheated, I don’t know. Fortunately for Aki, Himeno left a parting gift for him. The ghost devil seemingly stops listening to Sawatari and holds out a hand to Aki. Inside is a cigarette with the words ‘Easy Revenge!’ inscribed on it.

Cue flashback of Himeno basically trying to get Aki to smoke but he declines since he was a minor at the time (good boy). Back to present time, Aki walks up the Ghost devil after remembering Himeno told him how to defeat it. He stabs the devil in the head and cuts off its head.

Sawatari is shocked and tries to run but Kobeni is behind her with a knife to her neck. Aki asks Kobeni why she stayed on and she states it’s because it was the week they get their bonuses. I died laughing. Denji and Katana devil continue to fight. It’s pretty back and forth until Katana Devil starts to overwhelm him. They end up on this abandoned train and it looks like Denji is done. Then, out of nowhere, Katana Devil is split in two. Apparently, after thinking he got the advantage for slicing both his hands, Denji used a chainsaw on his foot to cut him up.

In the next scene, Denji has Samurai Sword tied up and he convinces Aki to join along with a competition. They’re basically going to torture him by kicking him in the nuts until he passes out. Remember, Denji is a child yall. We see Makima giving her briefing to an upper level hunter. She reveals that before they could get anything out of Sawatari, herdevil took her head off, a suicide. Supposedly she had made a contract with the devil in advanced to do so.

They all finally finish their long fight and Denji is asleep at Aki’s place. He has this dream where he sees a door because he hears Pochita’s voice. Asking Pochita to come out, the voice tells him not to open the door no matter what. When he wakes up, he realizes he was dreaming and sees Power in her partial devil form. Makima says that she gets her blood drained from time to time to prevent her from going full devil. Power seems scared to go with Makima, for obvious reasons, and in the meantime Denji has to team up with Shark Fiend.

The guy LOVES Denji and will do anything he says. Then, Makima asks Denji on a date. Turns out she is a movie geek and wants to do a theater hopping movie marathon. Honestly wanted to skip this whole “date” scene. Denji is just looking at everyone’s reactions and is a little drawn back when he realizes he’s not having the same ones. It’s not until the final movie where he cries and notices Makima does as well. At the end, Denji asks Makima if she thinks he has a heart. This stemmed from the Katana Devil saying he doesn’t since he didn’t feel bad for killing his grandfather. Makima, as creepily as ever, leans in to Denji’s chest and hears his heart, saying he does.

One day while out and about, Denji happens to get caught in the rain and is forced to take shelter in a phone booth. He also tells Shark Fiend to go away since he sticks out too much. A few seconds later, a girl enters the same phone booth, laughing at him and saying his face reminds her of her dead dog, like girl…huh? They get to talking and she reveals her name is Reze. She’s clearly flirting with him and Denji tries his best to stay a one-woman man but is swayed since a cute girl likes him.

In the next chapter, we get to see Angel Devil and Aki as partners. Aki cannot stand Angel. It’s also revealed that he is the strongest agent after Kishibe but he’s just too lazy. We get some background info on him, learning that he killed his entire village by siphoning all their life spans. He also can turn whatever he kills into weapons and Aki’s kitana is a product of that. Aki continues to proclaim his dislike for Angel. I see a blossoming friendship!

Reze invites Denji to see her school after dark. I guess she really wants to teach him chemistry *wink wink*. There’s a random guy that we see in the bathroom talking to the drain. Don’t do drugs kids! In actuality, he’s speaking with the Typoon devil and are plotting to take Denji’s heart. If that’s a metaphor for his literal heart or someone close to him we shall find out!

If you saw the ending of Chainsaw man, it teased Reze as she asks herself if she thinks Denji is a city mouse or country mouse. This conversation actually takes place between Reze and Denji and also Angel and Aki. Angel says he prefers to be the country mouse and he’ll pass on associating with someone as dangerous as Aki. These two love birds, aw. Denji prefers to be the city mouse because food.

The final scenes of the last chapter in this volume are of Reze and Denji jumping into water, naked and then Reze goes to the bathroom. This is where she runs into that man talking to the Typhoon devil and he tries to hunt her thinking it’d make Denji sad. Unbeknownst to him, Reze is more than capable of handling herself. While Denji is trying to decide who he should choose between Reze and Makima (my guy, really???) Reze is fighting for her life. As she draws the crazy guy outside in the rain she turns the tables by quickly overwhelming him and showing her passion for UFC. All the while singing what I guess is Russian.

The last scene is the Typhoon devil appearing and quickly noticing ‘Lady Reze.’ She tells it to get rid of the body and then she accompanies Denji to a festival she asked him to. They have fun and at the end, Reze tells him she doesn’t think it’s right that he’s being used to fight devils and hasn’t gone to school. She then asks him to quit his job and run away with her.

Annnnnnnnd scene!

Characters

Reze

She’s still a mystery but I love her already. I don’t fully trust her but I don’t trust anyone in this series. She’s about Denji’s age, which is good, he needs more friends his age. I’m going to say she’s probably an assassin or something.

Highlights

• Aki and Denji having the time of their lives kicking Katana Devil’s family jewels
• REZE
• Angel Devil and Aki interactions!
• The short story of Himeno once cutting Aki’s topknot when she was drunk, at the end

Conclusion

I mean each volume just gets better and better. I’m so engrossed in this story and I just wanna see Denji win! He just has poor taste in women and his judgement is questionable. Also, boo the lack of Power in this volume. Angel devil really intrigues me. Sadly, he seems to also be wary of Makima. Like yall need to take her out! Here’s to Reze being a decent woman in Denji’s life. That said, another 5/5 volume this week.

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