If the strange and supernatural story of Chainsaw Man doesn’t catch your attention, then the beautifully action packed art and unique characters will. Chainsaw Man is a manga series published by Shueisha and is featured in the incredibly popular Shonen Jump Magazine. Other popular Shonens include My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Fire Force, Black Clover, and Jujitsu Kaisen. Chainsaw Man is a horror, supernatural, fantasy action and drama manga so for those of you uncomfortable with gore, graphic violence, and spooky imagery, avoid this series. But if you’ve got an iron stomach, then read away! The series is similar to Tokyo Ghoul in tone and genre. The author of the series, Tatsuki Fujimoto, both writes and illustrates Chainsaw Man. His captivating art and beautifully unique, but simple story telling perfect meld together to form Chainsaw Man.
In the world of Chainsaw Man, the fears of humans are manifested as real life devils. The main character, a young boy named Denji, lives in total poverty. With the assistance of his pet chainsaw devil, Pochita, Denji hunts and kills devils to work off his late father’s debt to the local Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia). Chainsaw Man doesn’t mess around, throwing you straight into its unique and unorthodox story as soon as you open up to the first chapter. The tone is immediately set as you watch Denji and Pochita brutally slay a bizarre looking monster before getting paid by a Yakuza member. Chainsaw Man stays unique and fresh and doesn’t fall into the tropes that many other Shonen series unfortunately do. There are no training Arcs or out of nowhere powerups. And the power of friendship holds no real power at all. Chainsaw Man is never boring, with it’s fantastic pacing and regular additions of new characters, devils, and important plot developments as well as plenty of twists and turns.
Tatsuki’s incredible art style and character designs are a joy to look at as well. Each character has a distinct and easily recognizable design. Denji is rugged and scruffy while Makima is smooth and doll-like. The monsters are all grotesquely unique as well, not one devil is the same as another. Pochita is small, cute, and fluffy, you almost want to pat his belly. Then there’s the gun devil, which is a massive and terrifying world ending calamity.
And finally, the unique way Tatsuki portrays his characters. As mentioned earlier, Chainsaw Man steers away from the typical tropes found in most Shonen series that are popular right now, such as My Hero Academia, Jujitsu Kaisen, or Black Clover. There are no impossibly powerful protagonists, cliched power ups, or grossly overused character cliches. Each character feels real, their personalities are distinct and believable, and all of them are memorable. Denji is uneducated and you can really tell by the way he acts and speaks. He’s brash, naive, and can come off rude in an almost childish way. But he has an incredible sense of empathy and will save anyone he can. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s got the biggest heart.
Part 1 of the manga series is finished at 97 chapters and part 2 is confirmed to be on the way. The manga can be purchased online at various online stores as well as book stores across the country. Studio MAPPA, an incredibly popular animation studio responsible for series like Attack on Titan and Jujitsu Kaisen, is adapting the series to the big screen. The anime is teased to release this fall. All in all, Chainsaw Man is a fantastic Shonen series that is definitely worth your time.
