I can’t call myself an anime superfan, but I do enjoy the occasional series, especially when they are batshit insane and have a fantastic premise. One of those recent shows I watched was CHAINSAW MAN, which is based off the manga of the same name. So when the movie was announced and playing near me, my brother, my nephew and I got in the car and headed out to a 10pm showing.
CHAINSAW MAN–THE MOVIE: REZE ARC follows the next part in the manga, after the fight with Samurai Sword and subsequent partying done by Denji (the man with a chainsaw heart who can turn into Chainsaw Man), Power (a blood demon) and Aki (a member of Public Safety and their warden of sorts). They wake up the next morning and Power has new horns on her head, which means she drank too much blood and needs to have it drained. Denji is assigned a new partner in the meantime, Beam the shark fiend, who happens to be a chainsaw demon superfan. Makima, his boss at Public Safety, invites him on a movie date where they watch 10 movies in a day and Denji questions if he has a heart, which she assures him he does.
On patrol the next day, Denji is caught in a rainstorm and meets a girl named Reze, who invites him to visit the cafe she works at. He does, and despite his feelings for Makima, Denji finds himself falling a bit for Reze as they begin a relationship as friends and possibly more.
Meanwhile, Aki is training with Angel, his new partner as they try to locate the Gun Devil, who if you watch the series know is the main bad guy. They don’t particularly like each other as Angel is pretty lazy, but Aki is determined to kill the Gun Devil and will do whatever it takes to get there.
But is Reze just a normal girl finding love with a demon, or is there something sinister afoot? And who is the strange psycho that is after Denji and will he threaten the budding relationship before it can become anything more?
What follows is probably more romantic comedy than you would expect from a movie with a main character named Chainsaw Man. But it is a heartfelt exploration of emotion and dating and trying to find a connection with someone else and how confusing and messy that can be. It also ends in probably the greatest fight ever put to screen once everything comes to a head. Seriously. The animation in the battle sequence is next level and it breaks my brain a bit to try and figure out how they even storyboarded all of this. I’m fairly certain MAPPA is run by a bunch of mad gods at this point.
People who aren’t fans of the show might have a little bit of a curve in figuring everything out, but the movie offers enough even for newcomers to enjoy. It’s a beautiful movies and the voice acting on the English dub is on point. I wasn’t sure how I would like the new additions to the cast in terms of Beam and Angel, but they pull their weight and even though they are annoying at first, they grow on you and make you care for them in the end. I really loved the character of Reze, too. She seems like a bit of a manic pixie dreamgirl but has more depth than that and watching her relationship with Denji blossom is a treat. I also love her design since it reminds me a bit of Miku Nakano from the Quintessential Quintuplets.
The movie was definitely worth the wait since it’s been about three years since the show was on. I hope it isn’t another three years before we get the next installment of the Chainsaw Man saga as it is just too much fun and I can’t wait to see more of Denji and the crew in action.
Check it out.
