Chainsaw Man Chapter 149, Devil’s Choice Review: Murderous Wholesomeness.

In Chapter 148 of Chainsaw Man, we finally saw Asa and Yoru get some big development after a while.
Going into Chapter 149, “Devil’s Choice,” I was hopeful that we would see more of them.
Unfortunately, Fujimoto decided to leave them out of chapter but what we got with Denji and Nayuta was just as good.
The chapter begins with the mad preacher we first saw in Chapter 101 preaching to a crowd who is now much more inclined to listen.
With a burned Chainsaw Devil’s corpse laying in front of him, the preacher urges the crowd to join him in destroying the Chainsaw Man army.
As the crowd chants “Burn Chainsaw Man!” Denji, Nayuta and Fumiko are watching from a nearby alley.
Denji is not concerned, stating he can just transform into Chainsaw Man if the crowd see them but Fumiko points out that this would just turn the people against them.
She promises to protect him and Nayuta but the latter views this as unnecessary because she is strong enough to protect herself, even being willing to kill humans.
Given who Nayuta was in her previous life, this obviously concerns Fumiko, who asks Denji what he has been teaching her.
Denji replies whatever is on educational tv, and the thought of television makes him and Nayuta concerned about their apartment and the pets they have inside.
Fumiko is against them going back, knowing the mob will have gathered outside Denji’s house by now, but Denji and Nayuta completley ignore her.
Fumiko tries to stop them, wanting to shelter them at Public Saftey, only for Nayuta to go on the attack, using her powers as the Control Devil to compel a random elderly woman to attack Fumiko.
The only thing that saves Fumiko is Denji stopping Nayuta… by tickling her.
Nayuta may be the Control Devil but she is still just a child and it is darkly humorous to see Denji stop her murderous actions with such a childish tactic.
Fumiko escapes at Denji’s behest and he then questions Nayuta about whether she really would have killed her.
Nayuta responds that it is normal for Devils to kill humans, suggesting that she and Denji join the Devils so they can live as they like.
Denji attempts to ask about his friends at school but stops himself, instead asking about Nayuta’s.
Denji’s hesitation shows that he really does not have any friends at school, which makes his life pretty tragic when you think about the life he had with Aki and Power before Makima cruelly took it away from him.
Nayuta responds to Denji’s question by saying she is all he needs, her controlling personality coming into form again.
Denji hesitates and this makes Nayuta realize he is thinking about Asa.
Denji says he is thinking about her because they kissed.
Nayuta obviously thinks this is absurd, although it would be pretty par the course for Denji.
His actual reasons for thinking about Asa are pretty sympathetic though.
He reveals to Nayuta that the reason he is thinking about Asa is because their kiss was the only one where he did not get hurt.
This whole situation is actually tragic because what Denji does not realize is that it was Yoru who kissed him, not Asa, and it was to use him.
It will be a pretty tough pill for him to swallow when he inevitably comes to this realization.
After Denji explains his reasoning to Nayuta, she asks him how much she loves Asa, to which Denji measures the distance with his hands.
When Nayuta asks him how much he loves her, Denji’s extends his hands even wider.
Nayuta’s following smug smile is adorable, as is the way she jumps into Denji’s arms, creating a wholesome moment for a character who just tried to murder someone a few pages ago.
The chapter then ends with Nayuta declaring she will not kill humans, telling Denji to “mush!” back home, like one of the huskies they own.
This chapter really illustrates why Kishibe was right to task Denji with raising Nayuta.
With the simple act of loving her, he is able to convince her to let go of her murderous ways, providing the connection that Makima had always wanted.
As for what will happen next chapter, I expect there will be a fight when Denji gets to their apartment, since Fumiko said the mob would be waiting for him.
Granted, I do not know how this fight will play out considering that Fujimoto seems to be holding back on Denji’s transformation for something significant.
Although, maybe Nayuta could just use her power to control the crowd into leaving.
However, if Barem is leading the mob this will make the whole situation much more difficult.
As for Asa and Yoru, I am still interested to see what they are up to.
Yoru will probably be having a field day with her newfound strength and plenty of Chainsaw Man substitutes to kill.
I am eagerly awaiting the moment they reuinte with Denji and he learns of their true nature, whether that happens now or much later in the story.
“Devil’s Choice” is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which provides one of the most wholesome sibling moments between Denji and Nayuta.