Way back in December of 2018, I read the first part of Chainsaw Man in the digital Weekly Shonen Jump app. Back then, it was still doing a digital magazine version until it just switched over to its current catalog of Manga that updates constantly as it is now, in that second to last issue where were introduced to Denji, a poor teenage boy forced to work as a devil hunter to pay off his dead father’s debt to the Yakuza with his seemingly pet chainsaw devil puppy. The cartooning and writing by manga-ka Tatsuki Fujimoto was like a smack to the face of new hot fire comics. I knew from then that Chainsaw Man was the next one. I’d post about it like I was part of a secret society. Only the real ones knew about that real fire – that CHAINSAW MAN.
Denji aka Chainsaw Man in Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Fujimoto’s Manga became a global hit, and he took a break in 2020, around the same time as Demon Slayer ended, and I was like, damn, the game couldn’t take both being gone. It’s been back, and its popularity has only grown with its anime series produced by the animation studio MAPPA. The first season was released back in 2022 and has been dormant since completion until now with the next big arc of the story being released as a theatrical film Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, in which Denji who is devoted to his boss in the Public Safety Devil Hunter Division meets a manic pixie dream girl named Reze who turns his world upside down. He loves Makima, but this new girl likes him, and he doesn’t know how to feel. This leads to a lot of chaos, as not everything in Denji’s world is as it seems, as everyone wants the power that Chainsaw Man has.
The Bomb Devil in Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara and the many artists at MAPPA deserves all the flowers in the world for how they adapted this arc into such a captivating film. This film has some of the most dynamic and creative animation I’ve seen all year. There are times you can see the joy they had in taking the static images of the Manga and turning them into this moving spectacle. This film feels like an escalation of the work they’ve done on the TV anime. From the OP at the beginning through to the post-credit scene, each one has so much care from the drawings you see through to the use of sound.
Reze in Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
The use of color in this added so much to this for me, as in my memory, it is primarily the black and white panels. The colors in the film perfectly capture the emotions you see on screen from Denji’s attraction and infatuation to his heartbreak, and its shift to pure violence. For those who don’t know, Chainsaw Man is a violent story with gore and stakes to these battles as people are put in harm’s way as the Public Safety Division tries to protect them from these devils. If you don’t like seeing limbs cut off and people being exploded, this is not for you. Yet if you can get past that or love it watching Denji just desire to be loved and find connection, something he hasn’t had much of in his short life, you’ll have one of the best theater experiences of the year. Man, it’s a great year for Anime films in theaters.
Rating: A
Level of Enthusiasm: 95%
In theaters on October 24th, 2025