Seriously, why hasn’t season 2 of Chainsaw Man been announced yet? I know a lot of you aren’t manga readers so let me give you some context. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into the story at all, just the structure of the manga if you will.
There are currently 12 volumes of Chainsaw Man that have been published as tankōbon, each consisting of 4 or 5 chapters except for volume 12 which has only 3 longer ones. There are also 13 more chapters that have been published but not collected into volumes yet. In total, that’s 113 chapters.
The story so far has been split into two arcs. The first one, which is currently the subject of the anime is the Public Safety arc. It ends neatly in volume 11. In fact, the wrap-up is so complete that I thought for a while that the manga ended there. But it picks up again and we are now in the School arc.
As for the anime, this episode puts us in volume 4, chapter 30.
What I’m saying is that there is tons of material already available for adaptation. And they should at least complete the Public Safety arc. At the rate, they are going we might make it roughly to the halfway point. So where’s season 2? This should actually have been a split cour if you ask me.
I rambled quite a bit in my preamble. Sorry about that. Let’s get to the episode. We finally catch up with Power and Aki. Man, I felt bad for Aki. He’s always looked a bit depressed but now it’s like his entire persona. I get it though. It’s not like he doesn’t have a good reason. But it’s a sharp contrast o Denji and Power. Those two sure know how to comfort a guy!
The screencap I took doesn’t do it justice. The curse demon looked absolutely fantastic with his entrance. Not just the design, the movement was spot on! I have a question for you guys, does finding out that Aki only has two years left make you feel worse or better for him? You know things ae rough when someone can ask that question seriously.
As for Power, she’s surprisingly craven, isn’t she? Or maybe reasonable is the right word here. Out of all the devil hunters, except maybe for Kobenie, she’s the one that seems most likely to cut and run. Just one more thing to love about Power.
Obviously, Denji has changed. We knew it, even Denji knew it, the stop to think about it. Don’t forget then he’s just 16 years old. And up until recently, his life was so filled with hardship that he really didn’t have time to stop and think about these sorts of things. Then he died. So you know, he just had other things on his mind. However sooner or later, he’s going to have to think about what he is now and what he wants. Maybe I’m not being fair though. He already knows what he wants. Three good meals and a warm place to sleep and possibly maybe a girlfriend at some point. Nice and simple. That has always been Denji’s strength.
Still, it can’t be easy not knowing what you are anymore. One minute you’re just an ordinary kid working hard to repay your father’s debt to the mafia and then before you know it you’re a civil servant. Life sure can take some crazy turns sometimes.
For some reason, this guy, Scarface or teach or whatever, really reminds me of Jujutsu Kaisen. The two shows have been compared quite a bit, and with some reason. They both share a lot of elements and themes. And they both feature a lot of blood. Although I’d argue that Chainsaw Man is much gorier. In any case, teach really recalls Jujutsu Kaisen for me. I think it might be the character design.
I also think the character is kind of fun. I should probably revisit what I consider fun. Everyone we have met so far seemed a little unhinged. That’s probably a prerequisite to working as a devil Hunter. However, this is the first time that we have someone so just directly confrontational would Denji and Power. I mentioned last week that then he really isn’t all that strong and as you can see this one hunter doesn’t seem to have much problem in taking both of them out. I hate to say it but I think we’ve been finding some very weak demons so far.
Although Power and Deji hate him at the moment, I think they could be really good friends. His whole idea was that since he’s the strongest devil hunter if they learn how to defeat him they’ll become the strongest devils. This is an overly simple super naive way to teach someone and exactly the sort of plan either Denji or Power would have come up with in his place. I think they’re all really a lot alike.
Back to Aki. To add insult to extremely grievous injury, he now lacks the power to continue seeking out the revenge that’s been driving him all this time. Because the big fox is mad at him. I’m sad that we won’t get to see the Kitsune anymore but honestly if the worst that happens to Aki after making such a powerful spirit mad is that he gets ignored for a while, I think he got away easy.
There was something extremely cold yet deeply human about this scene. How the Kyoto agents were trying to convince him t quit because he was no longer of use to the agency. It’s cruel to rush a man out the door while he’s still in a hospital bed but that’s how an organization survives. The Public Safety bureau must have all sorts of HR and funding issues. They probably secretly have a party whenever someone quits of their own accord when they can’t fight as well anymore. Of course, Aki can’t quit. He has nothing else.
First Power and Denji are one of the best odd couples in anime. I’m not even sure if they qualify as an odd couple. It figures that these two would get along. Let’s say one of the best buddies in anime. Intellectual Power and Denji just brings their duo up to a whole new level. And of course, they would both scrounge up glasses to wear. That’s not optional. If you’ve been following along, as fiends or half devils, they regenerate and so even if they had had bad eyesight at some point, they don’t now.
Either they went out of their way to find glasses with no prescription. They went to a cosplay store the night before and getting the glasses was 30% of their plan. OR they just found/stole a couple of pairs of glasses and they are prescription so they were fighting with their vision all blurry because intellectual plans MUST be executed with glasses. Both options please me greatly!
I wish they had shown us Himeno’s sister. I read somewhere that In a Q&A, Fujimoto did confirm that Himeno was originally written to be Aki’s younger sister. That would have made this episode even worse! Nit that Aki needs any more survivor’s guilt. He’s pretty much the poster boy for it.
So Aki’s now going to make a contract with the Future Devil. And this scene just filled me with questions in the best way.
Contracts are very important in Chainsaw Man. Devils cannot break them and neither can humans really unless they suffer the consequences. No one ever questions that. I certainly didn’t. But contracts are a human thing. We made them up. It’s just this vague idea because we figured we wouldn’t get too far as a species if we constantly lied and took advantage of each other. Ironically, contracts more often than not help one side take advantage of the other but that’s another story. Why would devils even understand the concept of contracts? What’s the deal there?
On a completely different line of thought, the Future is something we all fear to a certain point. On a basic level, everyone is afraid to grow old and die. In a more concrete way, most people have had times in their lives when they were really afraid for the next day. Certainly, a Future Devil should be more powerful than most. Lots of people LOVE guns and refuse to think they could be harmful. But time will get us all in the end.
However, this devil is detained by Public Safety and even agrees to make contracts. I’m thinking that the Future is too abstract a fear. Sure everyone has a certain apprehension about it but it’s not as immediate or visceral. Maybe the type of fear matters when it comes to creating powerful devils.
Having him represented as just an eyeball floating in a sea of black was a good move. It’s a very striking image. I can’t wait to see what he can do!
Previous Posts
- Chainsaw Man ep1 – A Normal Life
- Chainsaw Man ep2 – The Power
- Chainsaw Man ep3 – Motivations
- Chainsaw Man ep4 – Little Dreams
- Chainsaw Man ep5 – House of Mirrors
- Chainsaw Man ep6 – Power for President
- Chainsaw Man ep7 – The Sane Die Young
- Chainsaw Man ep8 – The Pact
- Chainsaw Man ep9 – The Dining in Tokyo is To Die For
Not that bad a teacher, actually. He gives Denji feedback and then a practical lesson in not letting your guard down.
I’m curious about the fox not answering the call (“because she’s mad”?) I mean, compare this to ghost who initially refused but then when Himeno gave it all she used her last energy to activate the Chainsaw. I sort of wonder if someone interfered, so there could be a reason for another contract.
The glasses might have been Aki’s reading glasses? I’m not entirely sure, but I think we’ve seen him with a pair at some time? I could easily misremember; it’s very vague memory I don’t trust at all.
Both pairs of glasses?
I think the fox is way more powerful than ghost and therefore more likely to be picky and prickly. I could be wrong.
I love the big battles as much as the next person. The high tension, the violent spectacle, the surprising twists. Plot & character, audio & visual, all sublimated into a carefully orchestrated crescendo. At their best, these scenes can make your jaw drop with awe.
Still, I tend to prefer the interludes that come after. The quiet moments when the characters take stock of what just happened to them. Time moves on, for good or bad, and it ain’t waiting for nobody. You gotta look deep into your soul, patch yourself up as best you can, and figure out your own way forward. The route you’ll set down upon won’t always be the best one. But if it’s true to who you are, I can only tip my hat & wish you well.
At the end of the day, characters are what make me care for a story, not flashy fights. For me, this episode may have topped the previous two, as impressive as they were.
One reason for that is Aki. I know where his head’s at. I understand how it feels to lose almost everything, after deliberate acts of violence. How profound the pain is, how isolating the experience. Losing those who loved you unconditionally. Losing friends who shared the same aspirations you did. Losing other folks with whom you only shared the loosest bonds — some worth preserving, others not so much. But these were your bonds, damn it, yours alone! Nobody should ever have the right to cut them for you.
Now you’re all alone. And there’s no point to share your feelings with outsiders, because nobody cares. Even if they did, would they truly understand? People may know grief. There’s grief, yes, but there’s also guilt. Guilt that you’ve survived over others, who maybe deserved it more. Guilt that you didn’t pay enough attention to your close ones, and now they’re gone because of your selfish choices. There is a brutal sense of powerlessness, a sense that the cosmos is mocking you for your irrelevance. Above all else, there is a blinding hatred, for the people who caused this.
Aki’s a sensitive, serious soul. In another world, maybe he’d be the founder of soup kitchens, or a scientist working on nuclear fusion, or a diplomat trying to end wars. Blend his sensitive nature with a single-minded focus in pursuit of a higher goal, and you get someone who can achieve great things. In the context of this show, however… This is a terrible, terrible combination. For himself, first & foremost.
Random thoughts:
– I read the scene with the Kyoto duo very differently. I don’t think they were gently pushing him out the door. On the contrary, they dangled his uselessness in his face, paving the way for him to accept the alternative they were pushing for all along: a costly deal with a dangerous devil, for someone who would likely accept. Makima sent them there, after all. Why throw out a loyal pawn she can still use?
– Being surrounded by folks who are indifferent to your pain is one thing. It’s another thing altogether, to have people knowingly exploit it for their own purposes. Not that Aki would care. As far as he’s concerned, they’re a godsend. The room became much warmer in their second scene together. But he should beware. When the Kyoto trainers casually mentioned a contract with a stronger devil, the camera took a position from outside the room. It had the window frame split the duo from Aki — their faces hidden, their shadows long & striking, and your vision of them imperfect due to the glass panel in between. On the other hand, Aki’s side of the window seems open. He’s easily visible, reflecting his singular clarity of purpose.
– You can see stinging contrasts between this episode’s first hospital scene, and the previous one with Denji. We can talk about their narrative functions, color palettes, or whatever. Of all things, what hit me most was the goddamn apples. Compare the care Aki put into making apple bunnies for Denji, with the two cretins fighting for ownership of the whole basket… It’s a little bit sad.
– A little bit sad, but pretty funny too. I’ve said it before, but their bratty behavior is increasingly becoming sibling-like. They will pick petty fights over dumb shit, to mark their territory. Even so, they’ll still cooperate against figures of authority. And crucially, this change of gears is quick & unspoken. You can feel a certain shared familiarity, a sense that their lives are tied even. Out of convenience, perhaps. But that’s also how siblings think. A line I quite liked, was when Power asked Denji if they should escape the Bureau together. I think the translation omitted the word “together”. I’d have included it.
– Another golden line, courtesy of Denji: “I’ve always wanted to fight like those smart characters in manga!” 😅
– My God, the glasses… 🤣
– With all the pathos in the episode, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was all gloom & doom. But somehow, I thought this was the funniest episode of the show so far. I haven’t laughed this hard since the first few episodes of Akiba Maid War.
– On a world-building note, the news announcer mentioned eye-witness reports that humans fought against devil hunters. Not sure what to make of it.
– Aki is the world’s worst devil-hunter, if you go by drunk-sensei’s criteria. Speaking of the latter, his voice actor has that distinctive nasal baritone. He plays another idiosyncratic teacher in Nanami, probably my favorite character from Jujutsu Kaisen. Oh, and also the Black One, from To Your Eternity.
– Pairing the Future demon, with a man who lacks any. Poetic.
– Bring on episode 11.
Loved the apples. They were threaded through the scenes, with the punch line (are you eathing that) as a punctuation mark. It feels like something David Lynch might have done, for example. Great fun.
Nicely said. Although the Lynch reference is lost on me 😇
I’m excited to see how people react to the future devil. So much interesting dramatic build up going on here.
But so few episodes left!
So true.
That’s true. I’m sure it’ll be shown there is another season when the final episode of this cour appears. No way it doesn’t get a sequel.