Chapter 151 of Chainsaw Man ended on the ominous note of Denji laughing after finally transforming into the titular Devil.
The disturbing feeling this cliffhanger left us on definitely builds well into Chapter 152, Massage, where we see Denji’s complete mental breakdown.
The chapter begins with a panel showing off Chainsaw Man in his demented glory, before revealing that there were plenty of witnesses to the transformation.
These witnesses think Denji is just another Chainsaw Man wannabe, but I think this impression is definitely proven wrong to them by the end.
Having got what they wanted, the Weapons release Fumiko and begin their own transformations.
As this is happening, Nayuta tries to get Denji to run away with her, but he callously tells her to get out of his way.
The panel of Nayuta’s shocked expression when Denji says this is excellently drawn by Fujimoto.
Nayuta is led away by a woman in the crowd and Denji begins talking to Pochita again.
He states that he is the worst because, despite his apartment being burned down with his pets supposedly inside, he still feels “like a million bucks’ because he gets to be Chainsaw Man again.
What follows is, unfortunately, a messily drawn fight.
Before this point in the chapter, the art was actually really good, but when it gets to the action it is pretty hard to tell what is going on.
Perhaps Fujimoto wanted to make the fight chaotic to show the danger of Denji’s transformation?
If that was his intent, I would say that he did too good of a job.
Still, despite this fight being hard to understand in certain panels, I would still not call it bad because we can get the general gist of it.
Denji is stabbed from behind by the Spear Hybrid but then bisects the both of them so he can start to eat him.
When the Whip Hybrid tries to intervene, Denji does the same to her, while she begs Sugo to help.
It is kind of funny seeing the Weapons be so overconfident in the previous chapters, only to now be dealt a hand of extremely bloody revenge.
Sugo does attempt to fight Denji, but this goes as well as you would expect, with both impaling each other, although this clearly affects Sugo more than Denji.
Nayuta tries one more time to convince Denji to flee with her, but Denji instead says she should not be around him anymore, resulting in another gutting panel of Nayuta’s reaction.
Denji then compares the fight he is having to a massage, “where it hurts just right, and damn do I feel good!”
A chapter then ends on Denji’s maniacal laughter for the second time.
“Massage” is yet another great chapter for Chainsaw Man.
My only issue is that some of the action is hard to follow.
Otherwise, it delivers both satisfying karma for the Weapons, and gut-wrenching moments of Denji pushing Nayuta away.
This likely will not end well, considering it was Denji’s influence which stopped her from becoming another Makima.
There is also the question of what will happen to the Weapons.
Barem is still yet to jump into the fight, and the Whip and Spear Hybrids could be in danger of disappearing forever.
Keep in mind that Chainsaw Man’s power is to erase what he eats from history, and Denji did start eating them.
However, he ate Makima and this only reincarnated her, so we will have to wait and see what happens to the Weapons.
As for Denji, he seems to have completely lost his mind and is powered up by the public’s fear of Chainsaw Man.
This would be the perfect time to bring Asa and Yoru into the conflict.
They could be drawn in by the sound of battle and be the only ones capable of fighting Denji, considering they have also been powered up by the fear of war.
We will have to wait and see if this happens though.
Overall, “Massage” is another good chapter, which delivers satisfying, if a little hard to follow action.