Spoilers warn you there will be blood.
I haven’t watched anime in a minute. It’s an uphill battle to start a new season of a show that I used to watch and even binge without having to look up the cast of characters or the storyline. On the other hand, getting into a new show is a gamble. This one is definitely going to be gory, and I’ll explain why that is a good thing. There’s definitely a lot of horror and neo-noir elements in it, and it also has an ever-expanding cast. Perhaps it’s worth for you check it out.
Chainsaw Man (2022) is produced by MAPPA and directed by Ryū Nakayama and Masato Nakazono. The scripts are written by Hiroshi Seko based on the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Denji is a young man with little education and no income. To pay his deceased father’s debt to the yakuza he hunts down demons with the help of Pochita, a small Chainsaw Devil dog. Denji is set up to be killed by the Zombie Devil and left for dead. Instead, Pochita binds him in a contract so he may live as a devil-human hybrid capable of making chainsaw blades come out of his hands and head. Known as the Chainsaw Man, he’s soon sought after by the Public Safety Devil Hunters to join them in a fight against the devils that threaten humankind.
Now, if you create a character that is a human-devil hybrid that can manifest chainsaws from his body, there’s no way that you are not making this a bloody gory horror fest. On that it delivers and more. The rest of the characters are as interesting or even more intriguing that Denji himself. Many of the Devil Hunters end up having contracts with Devil themselves. As much as I could introduce them here, I think the experience of introducing each character without you knowing which one will stick around and which one ends up a bloody corpse later. There is an element of play in Denji and The Fiend (ok I’ll give you her, she’s a character to remember) as human-devil hybrids that seem mostly unaffected by the death surrounding them. Their inhuman callousness hopefully is a starting point for growth and not a stale point, but only future will tell.
Highly recommended with reservations. Its roots are in shōnen, so there’s this obvious overpowered feeling in the main character. At the same time, there is a vulnerability that hopefully builds up on human emotions and character development as time goes by. The characters that are introduced are also pinnacles of power with their own quirky traits, some will stick around some will perish. The gore and horror guarantees this one is not a casual watch, but it might be your cup of tea. Worth a watch.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 