Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man (Japanese: チェンソーマン, Hepburn: Chensō Man) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from December 2018 to December 2020, with its chapters collected in eleven tankōbon volumes. A second part has been announced and will be serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ online magazine. In North America, the manga is licensed in English by Viz Media, for both print and digital release, and it is also published by Shueisha on the Manga Plus online platform.

An anime television series adaptation produced by MAPPA has been announced.

As of June 2021, the manga had over 11 million copies in circulation. In 2021, the manga won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category. Chainsaw Man has been overall well received by critics, who have highlighted its storytelling, violent scenes and dark humor.

Setting[edit]

The story is set in a world where Devils are born from human fears. Devils are usually dangerous and malevolent, their power proportional to the fear they incite among humans. However, humans can form contracts with them to use their power, and there are individuals specializing in hunting and employing them, called Devil hunters. Devils originate from Hell, and exist in a cycle between Earth and Hell: they migrate to Earth when killed in Hell, and vice-versa. Dwelling in Hell are extremely powerful Devils called Primal Fears, which have never been killed. Transit between planes appears to be overseen by the Hell Devil.

A Devil may, in certain conditions, inhabit the body of a dead human, gaining some of their memories and personality; such a creature is called a Fiend. Devils who naturally have a humanoid form are said to be benevolent to humans.

The events of the story take place in 1997, in an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union still exists, and many events such as the Holocaust appear to be erased from history.

Plot[edit]

Denji is a young man trapped in poverty, working off his deceased father's debt to the yakuza by working as a devil hunter, aided by Pochita, his canine companion and Chainsaw Devil. Denji is betrayed by the Yakuza, who kill him for a contract with the Zombie Devil. Pochita makes a contract with Denji, merging with him and reviving him as a human-devil Hybrid, under the condition that Denji have a "normal life". Denji massacres the yakuza, and is approached by a team of governmental devil hunters, the Public Safety Division, led by Makima, who persuades him to join their ranks. Agreeing, Denji is partnered with Power, the Blood Fiend, and Aki Hayakawa, a self-destructive Devil hunter. Makima promises Denji any favor, provided he kill the Gun Devil, perpetrator of the greatest massacre in human history.

Denji's group encounters another hybrid, the Katana Man, a vengeful yakuza seemingly allied with the Gun Devil, who kills a great portion of the Division. Denji and Power are trained by Kishibe, a master Devil-hunter who distrusts Makima; Aki makes a deal with the Future Devil, who foresees a "horrible death" for him. The Division launches a counter-attack against the Katana Man, capturing him.

Some time later, Denji begins a romance with a woman named Reze, who is actually the Bomb Woman, a Hybrid spy for the Soviet Union, sent to capture him. Though returning his affection, she attacks the city, with the Division barely saving Denji. After recovering, Denji fights her, and accepts a proposal to leave Japan together; before they can reunite, Makima secretly captures her. Denji's fight with the Bomb Woman reveals his existence to the world.

The Division learns that four assassin groups are targeting Denji: Chinese hunter Quanxi; a mysterious enemy of Makima called "Santa Claus"; three American brothers; and a Russian woman teaching a pupil, Tolka. Denji is outfitted with a security detail. Though the brothers are repelled, and Quanxi initially stalls, Santa Claus uses their Puppet Devil powers for a large horde attack. After a follow-up by Quanxi sends Denji running, Tolka's master reveals herself as the true "Santa Claus", and has all parties transported to Hell, where they are attacked by the Darkness Devil. There, Santa Claus makes a contract with the Darkness Devil that empowers her.

Makima retrieves the group from Hell. Quanxi, revealed as a Hybrid, helps Denji defeat Santa Claus; Makima dispatches her afterwards. After Denji recovers, Makima reveals that the Gun Devil is actually a geopolitical asset, with many factions controlling pieces of it. As Aki begs Makima for Denji's safety, an attack is sprung: the president of the United States orders the Gun Devil to attack Japan in fear of Makima, revealed to be the Control Devil. Makima confronts the Gun Devil and wins. Aki dies in the attack, and the Gun Devil takes his body as a Fiend. Denji is attacked by the Gun Fiend, and, helped by civilians, kills it; Aki's death devastates him. While seemingly consoling him, Makima kills Power, revealing herself responsible for Denji's losses, having plotted to void his contract with Pochita by crushing his dreams of a normal life.

Kishibe attacks her, supported by the Hell Devil, and she calls for "Chainsaw Man" to save her. Controlling Denji's body, Pochita assumes his true form and dispatches it. Makima explains her goals: to use Pochita's power to eliminate concepts from reality by eating their respective Devils to create a world without suffering; to this end, she was empowered by the government with immortality. Fighting the Chainsaw Man using the brainwashed Hybrids, she wins, as Denji's heroic deeds have weakened Pochita. Power reforms from a remnant of her blood, escapes with Chainsaw Man, and, mortally wounded, restores Denji's will to live, having him promise to find her when she is reborn in Hell.

Invigorated by public support for him, Denji confronts Makima and defeats her; to bypass her immortality, he eats her body. Kishibe later reveals that Makima was annihilated, but the Control Devil resurfaced in the form of a little girl, now named Nayuta. He asks Denji to look after her, and Pochita reaffirms this mission in Denji's dreams. Part I ends with Denji now frequenting school.