I’m so happy that Chainsaw Man exists in my lifetime. Devils are our fears personified. The more we fear something the stronger the devil produced. I love that idea of all the evil and dark thoughts of humanity crippling us and causing us to perpetuate that cycle. With such a dark and unsurmountable set of foes surely our protagonist has to be altruistic, a saint amongst saints. Nah. He just wants to cop a feel.
Trust me. Denji is a lot more innocent than he sounds. The beauty of Denji is he isn’t altruistic because this world would never allow that. He is clean cut because his life would never allow that. But he is honest because that is the only way he could ever live. Denji has nothing to lose.
Orphaned and alone on the streets, Denji owes a debt to the mafia that his dead father never paid off. Because of that Denji has had to sell his organs and lives off a slice of bread a day that he shares with his pet devil, Pochita. When a deal goes bad, Pochita gives up his life to let Denji live once more. When he comes to, a starter cord hangs out of his chest and if he pulls on it, he becomes….
God, I love this show! Chainsaw Man is irreverent and funny but also isn’t scared to get deep and intimate with the audience. Denji may seem brash and unruly at times but when you really get down to it he is a vehicle for an insanely human story. It is impossible to not resonate with Denji because we have all been Denji at one point. New to the world. Eager to experience things. Hopeful. He’s just like me forreal. Watch Chainsaw Man.