Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review: An Emotional Tribute to Chadwick Boseman, Weakened by Future MCU Influences.

I really enjoyed the first Black Panther.
It provided a compelling story, with a great dynamic between its protagonist and antagonist, and made the country of Wakanda a character in its own right.
If Black Panther is not in my top ten MCU films then it certainly comes close.
So, obviously I was looking forward to the sequel from the moment I walked out of the theatre after seeing the first movie.
Most of all, I was looking forward to seeing how the story of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa would continue.
Unfortunately, as we all know, in August 2020, Chadwick Boseman passed away from colon cancer.
His tragic passing left director Ryan Coogler, and everyone else involved in the making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with the monumental task of paying tribute to Boseman’s legacy, while also crafting an interesting story without him.
For the most part, I believe they succeeded.
Indeed, Wakanda Forever does begin by honouring Chadwick Boseman by also honouring his character T’Challa.
The King of Wakanda passes away in the opening minutes of the film, and the weight of his legacy is felt immediately, with the following MCU logo being completely silent and only accompanied by footage of Boseman’s T’Challa.
It was a moving sendoff to both the character and the actor.

Boseman’s prescence is felt throughout the film, despite him not appearing, due to his tragic death.

From here, the film follows how Wakanda moves on from the death of their king, along with the consequences of the world now knowing about them and wanting their vibranium.
This leads Wakanda into the conflict with the hidden undersea civilization known as Talokan, lead by the the film’s antagonist Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
Namor is a compelling villain and he and the Talokan’s first scene is one of the scariest villain introductions in all of the MCU.

This leads you to be fearful for the fate of the characters we came to care about in the first film, like Shuri (Letita Wright), Ramonda (Angela Basset), Okoye (Danai Gurira), M’Baku (Winston Duke) and Nakia (Luptia Nyong’o).
Shuri especially is struggling with the death of her brother and the new responsibilities that are heaped upon her shoulders as Wakanda draws closer to conflict with Namor and Talokan.
It is Ramonda and Okoye who stood out the most to me, though, because of the incredible performances from Angela Basset and Danai Gurira.
One emotional scene they share togethor is the best in the movie, in my opinion, based off their acting ability alone.

Basset and Gurira did an excellent job portraying their characters’ emotions in this scene.

However, although all of this made Wakanda Forever a worthy sequel to Black Panther, there were a number of things holding it back, most of all the film’s reliance on setting up future Disney Plus shows and MCU films.
This is evident with the character of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who is basically dropped into the story to set up her upcoming show, Ironheart; plot holes surrounding her need to be in this movie be damned.
Worst of all, though, is the suplot with Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), which felt like a gigantic waste of time, with its only point probably being to set Fontaine up for a future Thunderbolts movie.
As for Everett Ross, his decisions in this movie felt oddly strange with how he characterized in prior films, politically speaking.

I am not sure that Ross’ depiction is completley accurate with how he is portrayed in *Civil War* and the first *Black Panther.*

The political decisions in Wakanda Forever are actually pretty hit or miss for me.
Sometimes I thought the characters were making good decisions, while other times I thought they were making bizarre ones.
Along with this, the CGI of the film is a bit questionable at times.
At least it never got as bad as it was in the third act of Black Panther, which is one of my few flaws with that first film.
It is the overreliance on setting up future stories that hinders Wakanda Forever the most, however; as it not only brings the story to a grinding halt at times but also takes away potential screentime from characters like M’Baku, who really needed it.

Overall, though, I would still say that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a good movie, despite its issues.
The character arcs of the Wakandan characters are solid, the acting is amazing, Namor is a great villain who I am interested to see more of and, most of all, the film does an excellent job paying tribute to the memory of Chadwick Boseman.
May he rest in peace.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 111, Aha Ha Ha Ha Review: An Imposter?

Going into Chainsaw Man Chapter 111, “Aha Ha Ha Ha”, I was expecting Fujimoto to lay the groundwork for Yuko’s story going forward.
Instead, in a typical Fujimoto move, we got the unexpected, as he proceeded to wrap up Yuko’s story in a satisying way but also a way that raises many interesting questions.
The chapter picks up from the cliffhanger of the last, with Asa opening the door to speak to Yuko, who has now turned into a Devil resembling a Fiend, although one with her mind still intact.
Asa asks if Yuko wants to eat her and the following exchange had me cackling.
“Oh, gosh. A little bit,” Yuko says, to which Asa replies, “Holy crap.”
I just love Fujimoto’s humor.
Turning away from Asa so she will not want to eat her, Yuko explains that she came to say goodbye to her, as she has a distant relative she plans to go to who is a Devil Hunter.
This reminds me of the old theory of her being related to Kusakabe but he’s dead so he can’t be the relative she is referring to.
It will be interesting to see if this relative becomes important, or if he is never mentioned again because of what happens later in the chapter.
After telling Asa what she plans to do, Yuko also reveals her reasons for accepting the Justice Devil’s power were not just to help Asa.
She accepted because she wanted to become liked like Chainsaw Man.
She helped Asa for selfish reasons as well because she was lonley and wanted a friend.
Yuko goes on to denounce her crimes while using the Justice Devil’s power and, when Asa attempts to console her over this, one of Yuko’s new tail-spike things wraps itself around her neck and begins to strangle her, without Yuko telling it to.
Realizing it is dangerous to stay around Asa, Yuko goes to leave.
Before she does, however, she tells Asa that the Justice Devil is still at the school.
It would seem that the Justice Devil is the main antagonist of Part Two.
The Justice Devil still being at the school does make me curious, though.
Does this mean that the Justice Devil was actually not killed with the class president in Chapter 98 and then reincarnated?
Is it just hanging out at the school, handing out powers to students, which is what we saw the class president and then Yuko using?
We have very little time to consider this question before Yuko prepares to leave, only to be stopped by Asa, who returns the shoes Yuko gave her, since she is barefoot.
Yuko tries to refuse the shoes but Asa throws her words from Chapter 100 right back at her.
“If you don’t need them, sell ’em. If they won’t sell, you can just throw them away.”
This beautiful moment really brings the friendship of Asa and Yuko full circle, and I was kicking myself by the end of the chapter for not realizing this was an obvious death flag for Yuko.
Yuko then says she can’t beleive she said something so embarassing, before the two friends laugh togethor, ending with Yuko accepting the shoes and promising to return them to Asa later.
It is a promise she will never be able to keep.
We then see Yuko jumping across the rooftops, startling a bunch of birds, before we get a line of panels of Asa, Denji and the bully girl in their beds.
The panel of the unnamed bully girl confirms to me that Fujimoto will make her an important character in the future.
Maybe she really does know Denji is Chainsaw Man, or maybe she will try to actually befriend Asa after seeing her try to fight him.
It will be interesting to see what Fujimoto has in store for this character.
Just as interesting is the panel of a sleeping Denji, whom is still keeping Makima’s dogs.
In the panel of him, we see a small mop of black hair just below his face.
This is almost undoubtedly our first look at Nayuta in Part One.
Hopefully, this means that Fujimoto will be showing us more of her.
The final panel in this line of sleeping faces is that of Yuko, whom appears to be sleeping out on a building, until the next page shows she has been decapitated, her body dangling in the arm of a Devil, whose shadow looks exactly like Chainsaw Man, bringing an end to the chapter.
This cliffhanger raises so many questions because it is pretty clear that the Devil who killed Yuko is not Denji.
We see him sleeping a couple of panels before Yuko is killed.
So who is this Devil and why does he look like Chainsaw Man?
I have heard various theories, from it somehow being Pochita, to another hybrid similar in appearance to Chainsaw Man, to it actually being a Devil born from the fear of Chainsaw Man.
Only Fujimoto really knows for sure at this point, though.
I do wonder if this imposter is the reason why there are so many rumors about Chainsaw Man eating people and animals?
Maybe the imposter is doing it?
Either way, Yuko’s death at the hands of a Devil appearing to be Chainsaw Man could be something to push Asa into helping Yoru try to kill him.
Chapter 111 is another solid Chainsaw Man chapter.
It has a lot of funny moments in the beginning and ends Yuko’s story well.
And, with the mystery of the Chainsaw Man imposter, the Justice Devil still being at school, the bully girl seemingly getting more focus, and the hints of Nayuta’s return, there are so many directions Fujimoto could take the rest of Part Two.
I am intrigued to see which direction he takes.

A Plague Tale: Requiem Review: More Rats, More Tragedy.

A few months back, I finally managed to get my hands on a PlayStation 5, and the first game I bought to play on the console was A Plague Tale: Innocence.
I had been interested in playing it for a while and since its sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem was coming out soon, I decided for it to be the first game I would play on the PS5.
Overall, I really enjoyed Innocence.
Sure, plenty of its mechanics seemed pretty dated, with the enemy AI in particular being quite stupid, but the game came from a smaller studio which still managed to make the game fun, despite its limitations, and create an interesting story with compelling characters to follow.

*Innocence* was a lot of fun, despite its limitations.

Over three years from that game’s release, the sequel, Requiem, has been released and, after playing it, I can say that it improves on its predecessor in a lot of ways.
The story is still set in Medieval France and once again follows Amicia (Charlotte McBurney), her little brother Hugo (Logan Hannan), their mother Beatice (Lucy Briggs-Owen), and young alchemist Lucas (Kit Connor), after supposedly stopping the Rat Plague in the previous game.
However, after multiple incidents, the Macula in Hugo’s blood begins to awaken again, plunging the country into an even larger rat infestation.
Desperate to protect her little brother, Amicia decides to take Hugo to a mysterious island he dreams of, in the hopes that there is a means to cure his affliction there, meeting another cast of compelling characters along the way, like Arnaud (Harry Myres) and Sophia (Ellie Haydon).

The cast of *Requiem* is just as compelling as *Innocence.*

The story of A Plague Tale: Requiem is another good one, with plenty of standout moments for almost every character.
I do wish that Melie from the first game had returned but the rest of the cast is just as interesting.
Chief among these characters is Amicia, whose journey to protect her brother is very compelling and results in a lot of tragedy along the way.
There is one moment in this game that actually had me tearing up and Asobo Studio did an excellent job at pulling on our heart strings.

There are a lot of tragic moments in *Requiem*, from beginning to end.

Another thing they did a great job at was improving the gameplay from the first one.
As I said earlier, the enemy AI in Innocence was quite poor.
You could literally just walk into a bush after being spotted and the enemy would instantly lose sight of you.
In comparison, the AI of Requiem is much better, along with the stealth mechanics.
Now, if you are caught, you don’t instantly die, and you also have a lot of new opportunities for stealth kills, like with the crossbow, which you can level up along with other mechanics.
You can even use Hugo’s ability to control the rats a lot more, which is fun to use.
Speaking of the rats, though, holy hell are there a lot of them in this game.
There are quite a few chase scenes with swarms of rats that number in the thousands if not millions.

It is amazing what Asobo Studio was about to achieve with the graphics of the rats.
The quality in graphics extends to the environment as well, both in beautiful and disgusting ways.
There were many times I stopped to look at the beauty of the world Amicia and Hugo were standing in, and there were even some times when I felt like I wanted to hurl when looking at the disgusting graphics of Amicia struggling through a river filled with rotting, fly-ridden corpses.
So, there were quite a few gameplay improvements with Requiem, although not everything is stellar.
Due to the limited combat mechanics, the numerous segments where waves of enemies were sent Amicia’s way felt very tedious.

The set pieces where you are forced into combat do feel a bit out of place at times,

At least it was not as bad as in Innocence, where the sling sometimes felt broken, often leading to an instant death way too many times.
Despite this, and a few other mechanical issues, I would say that Requiem is an enjoyable game and a more than worthy sequel to Innocence.
It improves the gameplay in numerous ways and provides a story that is both tragic and beautiful.
I looked forward to seeing what Asobo Studio does next.

Overlord Season Four Review: Only Evil Gets the Power of Friendship.

I quite enjoyed the first three seasons of Overlord, once I got around to watching them.
Based off the light novel by Kugane Maruyama, Overlord follows the story of Sataru Suzuki (Satoshi Hino), a salaryman who, while playing a video game, was isekaied into a fantasy world, along with various other NPCs loyal to his character, Ainz Ooal Gown.
Seasons One through Three followed Ainz’s journey to learn about the new world around him, while his NPCs misinterpreted this as an attempt to take over the world, practically steam-rolling every culture they came across due to being so overpowered.
Season Three saw Ainz’s conquest of the Re-estize Kingdom begin in bloody fashion and this follows through to become the main plotline of Season Four, with the CGI being being much more digestible than it was in that third season, where it was pretty terrible
The first and third act of this season are also great, with the first few episodes wrapping up storylines in the Baharuth Empire in humorous fashion, while also setting up the dark third act by introducing the colossal idiot known as Philip (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka).

Say hello to Overlord‘s stupidest character, Philip.

It is the second act of the season where things falter a bit, though, as the Dwarf storyline did feel pretty rushed to me compared to the other ones.
Along with this, there were two whole volumes cut from the anime after the Dwarf arc, so there was a bit of confusion surrounding some events in the third act.
However, we will still be getting an adaptation of the cut volumes in a movie, so we have that to look forward to.
As for the third act, it does a great job of bringing the season together, especially with how it handles its characters.
Ainz continues to both be funny and cruel, Pandora’s Actor (Mamoru Miyano) finally gets more screen time, and the other Floor Guardians also have their moments.
It is the side characters I was most impressed with this season, however; specifically Renner (Kiyono Yasuno), Zanac (Kouji Fujiyoshi) and Brain (Koji Yusa).

The side characters really stand out in *Overlord* Season Four.

Renner continues to be the entertaining psychopathic yandere that she is, with her manipulations being fun to watch play out.
Brain has a great standout moment in the last few episodes.
As for Zanac, he really surprised me with his heroism this season.
When we were introduced to him in Season Two, I expected to hate him but, much like Ainz, I had a newfound respect for him after this season.

Zanac went from another suspicious noble to the future king his kingdom deserves.

Coming back to Ainz and the Floor Guardians, if viewers somehow did not get we were following the villains after the third season, they should definitely realise it now.
As I mentioned in my review for the first few seasons, Ainz and his crew are so overpowered that all we can do is hope that the heroic characters can survive their genocidal actions and, sometimes, they do not.
At least there is plenty of humor to provide levity for following such evil characters.
And if there’s one thing we can always count on Overlord for, its providing a good OP.
Season Four’s, “Hollow Hunger” by OxT, is another excellent one that I never skipped throughout.

Overall, Season Four is a pretty good one for Overlord.
The quality of animation is much better than Season Three, the beginning and ending of the season are great, and side characters like Renner, Zanac and Brain really shine.
Now, I am just curious about where the anime goes from here?
Maybe we will get an idea when the movie finally releases?
I have heard from Light Novel readers that the volumes the movie will adapt are some of the best in the entire series so that it exciting.

Chainsaw Man Episode Five, Gun Devil Review: Manipulative Makima.

Mappa’s adaptation of Chainsaw Man is still going strong with its fifth episode, “Gun Devil.”
Directed by Yōsuke Takada, “Gun Devil” begins by immediately following up the cliffhanger from Episode Four, where Power confronted Denji in the bathroom to follow through on her promise to let him fondle her breasts three times.
From Denji’s thoughts declaring Power “an angel”, you would think that this would satisfy him completley.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for Denji.
First, Power is humourously revealed to be wearing breast pads after the first squeeze and then the other two squeezes produce nothing special for Denji, leaving him to wonder “that’s it?”
Denji’s emotionally stunted reaction continues into the next day, leaving him in the perfect state to be manipulated by Makima.
She all but seduces him, biting his finger and allowing him to touch her own breast.
Denji’s reaction to this is particularly hilarious, as he falls to the ground with a hand over his heart, gasping as he looks up at the hand Makima had allowed him to touch her with.
If you showed this short clip to anyone out of context, they would believe Denji was having a heart attack.
Instead, he is freaking out because he touched Makima’s breast.
Now having gained Denji’s full attention, Makima moves in for the kill, offering him any one wish he wants if he kills the Gun Devil for her.
Makima is pretty devious in her manipulation of Denji, using sexual attraction to manipulate him into taking on a dangerous Devil.
We then see just how dangerous this Devil is in a flashback.
After a terrorist attack in America involving guns (because of course it would be in America), guns became feared, making the Gun Devil incredibly powerful.
It then struck around the world, killing 1.2 million people.
Among these victims were Aki’s family.
We see the flashback from his point of view, as he has a snowball fight with his little brother, before sending him back to get a baseball glove.
Aki’s house is then struck by the Gun Devil, killing his parents and little brother.
This creates immense guilt for Aki, since he sent his little brother into the house, and also creates his drive to kill the Gun Devil, which we see when he and Himeno take down a Devil to retrieve flesh of the Gun Devil.
Makima explains to Denji that these flesh parts make other Devils stronger and can help lead to the Gun Devil.
So, Denji’s goal is to kill the Devils that have consumed pieces of the Gun Devil, which will eventually lead him to it and, upon killing it, will allow him to ask any wish of Makima.
If he survives fighting the Gun Devil, that is.
Still, Denji is determined to win his wish from Makima, completley ignorant to how he is being used by her.
It is not long before Denji gets his first chance to take on a Devil which has consumed flesh of the Gun, as he, Power, Aki, Himeno, Kobeni and Arai are sent to a hotel to take out such a Devil.
Following some comedic beats between Denji, Power and Aki, Himeno starts joking around, offering a kiss to anyone who kills the Devil.
Denji, however, remembers his wish for Makima so refuses, saying he has to kill the Gun Devil for her, drawing Aki’s attention.
Himeno is prodded further by Denji’s refusal, offering to kiss him with tounge,
This promise causes Denji to forget all about his Makima wish, as he runs down the hotel hallway to fight the Devil and earn his kiss, with Arai running behind to stop him.
Aki and Himeno use this time to discuss their new recruits, with Himeno commenting that Arai is not very competant yet is motivated, while Kobeni is timid but talented.
This causes Aki to remember his first meeting with Himeno and we see a very different person from the seemingly upbeat woman Himeno was previously.
The man who trained Aki introduces them at a Devil Hunter graveyard, where Himeno reveals that Aki will be her sixth partner, telling him not to die like the others.
The shot composition for this moment is great, as Himeno’s position and posture in the flashback when she tells Aki not to die is the exact same as in the present.
Going back to that present, the group finally locate the Devil they were hunting, which is just a head with two feet attatched.
It lunges at Kobeni but is stopped in the air by Himeno and then taken out in bloody fashion by Power.
As expected, Power’s narcissism drives her to believe the Devil froze in midair because it was afraid of her, so Himeno explains that it stopped because Himeno used the Ghost Devil’s power.
In exchange for this power, Himeno gave the Ghost Devil her right eye.
Power questions the logic of Himeno telling her all about her power, threatening Kobeni, only for Himeno to reveal this as a non-issue by threatening to strangle Power with the Ghost Devil’s hand.
Due to the dead Devil not creating any reaction from the Gun Devil flesh, the group decide this is not the Devil they were hunting, so they go up the stairs to search the ninth floor… only to emerge onto the eighth floor.
Arai notices this and runs back down the stairs, quickly emerging at the top of the eighth floor stairs, confirming to everyone that they are in a loop, as Kobeni timidly stammers in horror, bringing an end to the episode with the next ED, “In the Back Room” by Syoudo.
Overall, “Gun Devil” is another solid Chainsaw Man episode, with plenty of funny moments and excellent animation throughout.
Some of the shot composition was also great and, as for the story, Chainsaw Man seems to have finally introduced its main big bad of the Gun Devil.
I am looking forward to Episode Six, where we will see the explanation for why our characters are stuck on the eighth floor.

Manga Spoilers:
Okay, now that I am in the spoiler section, I can stop acting like the Gun Devil is the big bad.
The story does a great job with the misdirect, however, as it is introduced through Makima, the true antagonist of Chainsaw Man Part One.
It was also nice to get out introduction to Kishibe this episode, though he is not named.
Kishibe is one of my favourites from the manga so I am looking forward to seeing more of him, and Kenjiro Tsuda was definitley a great choice to voice him.
Another interesting detail in the episode is the first instance of the town and country mouse story.
We see Aki’s parents read this story to his brother before their deaths and this story is important because of how it relates to Denji.
Denji was a “country mouse”, living a life in squalor, wishing for bigger things.
So, he became the “town mouse” moving to the city and becoming a Devil Hunter for a better life, despite the extreme danger of the job.
The symbolism of this story will be further explored when we eventually get to the Bomb Girl Arc, which will introduce Reze.
We will probably have to wait for the next season to see this, though, since I think this one is only supposed to have twelve episodes.
If the high quality of animation continues, however, you certainly will not hear me complaining.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 110, A Ring in the Night Review: A Part One Callback.

When reading Chapter 110 of Chainsaw Man “A Ring in the Night” it was funny to see that one of my theories about what would happen in this chapter was correct.
This confirmation occurred within the first couple of pages of “A Ring in the Night”, when Yoru finally confronts Denji.
As I predicted in my review for Chapter 109, Denji is too distracted by Yoru being half naked to take her creating a Yuko Leg Sword seriously.
Then, Denji is distracted further when the bully girl he saved emerges from under Yuko’s guts.
Denji’s immediately prioritizes the girl, probably hoping to convince her to be his girlfriend by revealing himself as Chainsaw Man.
One thing that did confuse me about this moment was how Fujimoto seems to imply that the girl actually does not know Denji’s identity.
I thought that she saw him transform in the previous chapter but, looking back, the girl did close her eyes in fear before Denji shows up and the next time we see her with them open is when Denji has already transformed.
So Denji’s identity is probably safe for now.
As for Denji himself, he is typically too distracted by trying to reveal his identity to the traumatised girl to notice Yoru about to attack him.
It is up to Yoshida to save him, as he drags him away using the power of the Octopus Devil.
This frustrates Yoru, who yells at Chainsaw Man to show himself.
It is also quite darkly humorous to think about what the bully girl is probably thinking in this moment.
She just watched her friends get killed by a Devil, was nearly killed by that same Devil, was saved by Chainsaw Man, and now the girl she bullied is standing in front of her, half-naked with a leg sword, screaming about obliterating Chainsaw Man.
I would be questioning reality.
While this is happening, Denji is dragged into a classroom where Yoshida is waiting to remind him that he said he would stop him by force if he had to.
The last we see of Denji this chapter is him crying out in despair, “But that was such a natural reveal!”
It is a great comedic moment that immediately turns dark as Fujimoto details the public’s reaction to Yuko’s attack.
It is revealed that four students died, meaning two of the bullies and probably the student Devil Hunter who got impaled.
I am not sure who the final one is, though.
What is especially surprisingly, however, is the reveal that Yuko actually somehow survived and escaped.
I was so sure that Denji had killed her last chapter.
This reveal flows into the final scene, beginning with Asa having a nightmare, once again focusing around her guilt for killing Bucky, as she runs through an alleyway full of dead chickens.
After waking up from the nightmare, Asa goes get some water, only to be interrupted by a knock at her door from Yuko.
Asa goes to open it but, in what feels like a callback to Pochita telling Denji not to open the door in Part One, Yuko also yells at Asa not to open the door, explaining that she has become a Devil and does not want to eat Asa.
Asa opens the door anyway and we see that the horns of the Justice Devil have grown into Yuko’s face, as the chapter comes to an end.
Yuko’s appearance in this final scene honestly reminds me a lot of a Fiend.
However, the Fiends from Part One were all Devils who had taken over a dead body.
Yuko is still very much alive and seems to be in control of her body.
Maybe this has to do with some unique quality of the Justice Devil, like how Yuko said she only “recieved” from the Devil earlier, instead of exchanging something in a contract.
I am curious about what Yuko’s role will be in the future of this story.
In a prior review, I said that Yuko was probably too far gone, after killing so many people.
I am intrigued to see if Fujimoto will attempt to redeem Yuko or have her double down on her actions.
“A Ring in the Night” was a good chapter of ChainsawMan, with quite a few interesting reveals and funny moments.
Hopefully, the next chapter will go into detail about what exactly is going on with Yuko and maybe also the identity of the Devil who resurrected her in Chapter 108.

House of the Dragon Episode Ten, The Black Queen Review: The Dance Commences.

The first season of House of the Dragon has come to a close with its tenth episode, “The Black Queen”, and I do not know how I am going to be able to wait until 2024 for Season Two.
Directed by Greg Yaitanes, “The Black Queen” was a fantastic way to end the season.
The episode begins, rather fittingly, with Lucerys.
He is still having doubts about his future inheritance of Driftmark, yet Rhanerya seeks to console him, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Rhaenys who has brought word of Visery’s death and the Green’s coup.
What follows is a tense scene between her, Rhanerya and Daemon, with Rhanerya being understandably distraught, while Daemon is enraged, believing the Greens have murdered Viserys.
Him coming to this conclusion is natural, given that we saw how suspicious he was of Viserys recieving milk of the poppy in Episode Eight.
There is even some suspicion around Rhaenys, due to both her unlikely escape and the fact that she did not burn the Greens with Meleys.
In the end, Rhaenys advises that Rhanerya leaves Dragonstone, before the Greens come for her and her children.
This is not possible, however, because Rhanerya’s grief and shock causes her to go into a horrific early labor.
Daemon proves himself to be quite the poor husband, as he immediately starts planning for a war, instead of being by Rhanerya’s side.
Although, he is rather smart about it, threatening the two Kingsguard on Dragonstone to swear fealty to Rhanerya or die by Caraxes’ flames.
As for Rhanerya, the stillbirth scene that follows is arguably even more graphic and disturbing that Aemma’s C-Section in Episode One.
First, there is the way that Rhanery’a screams are mixed with Syrax’s, once again showing the connection between Targaryens and their dragons.
Most of all, though, are the horrifying visuals of the stillbirth, with the amount of fake blood and prop of the baby itself being absolutley haunting.
This then leads into the funeral scene for the baby and the devestated feeling transforms into a hopeful one with the arrival of Erryk Cargyll, who stole Viserys’ crown.
And so, with Ramin Djawdi’s epic Rhanerya theme, Rhanerya is finally crowned as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
The planning for the Blacks’ war then begins, with the painted table on Dragonstone being lit up in a fantastic shot.
We can clearly see that Rhanerya and Daemon are on opposite sides, with Rhanerya being more cautious while Daemon wants war.
When it comes to dragons, the Blacks do have the advantage, and if they can sway the other lords of Westeroes to their cause then it will also boost their chances.
Before any decision can be made, Otto arrives with a delegation from King’s Landing to offer Rhanerya peace.
This is clearly Alicent’s gambit, since she won control over Aegon in Episode Nine.
Had Otto won this would have been an assassination attempt rather than a negotiation.
The meeting on Dragonstone perfectly mirrors the one from Episode Two, as Otto arrives to confront Daemon, only to be interrupted by Rhanerya and Syrax.
Only now, she stands with Daemon, and Syrax blocks the Greens’ escape as a serious threat.
Otto offers Rhanerya and Daemon control of Dragonstone, Lucerys of Driftmark, and high places at court for Aegon the Younger and Viserys.
That last one would make them, in effect, hostages and Daemon clearly picks up on this stating, “I would rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry shields and cups for your drunken, usurper c**t of a king.”
A classic Daemon line.
Rhanerya is not swayed by Otto’s offer, throwing away his Hand of the King badge.
However, she is convinced to think on it through Alicent’s gesture of good will, the page Rhanerya tore from their book when they were younger and closer, recalling a happier time between them.
The choice of the writers to make Rhanerya and Alicent childhood friends was an excellent one, as it creates much more compelling drama.
Alicent’s touching gesture is enough to get Rhanerya to consider the offer, angering Daemon further.
Rhanerya does make some good points in saying that relenting her claim to the throne would create peace as her father wished for.
She even brings up how this could eventually lead to the fulfilment of Aegon’s dream, thinking Daemon would understand.
Instead, Daemon grabs Rhanerya by the throat while berating Viserys’ obsession with prophecy, stating, “Dreams didn’t make us kings. Dragons did.”
This causes Rhanerya to realise that Viserys never told Daemon.
Essentially, the grief Daemon feels for Viserys’ death makes him lash out at Rhanerya when he learns that his own brother never trusted him with such vital information.
On another note, it is kind of funny that some people were annoyed by Daemon choking Rhanerya, saying he would never do something so cruel.
They seem to be forgetting that Daemon murdered his wife.
Daemon has never been a good person.
Interesting?
Definitley.
A good person?
Absolutley not.
Following Daemon and Rhanerya’s confrontation, a recovering Corlys arrives at Dragonstone and is attended to by Rhaenys.
What follows is a tense conversation between the couple as Rhaenys condemns Corlys for leaving her alone for six years, following the deaths of their children.
Their relationship is much healthier than Rhanerya and Daemon’s, however, as, upon learning of Vaemond’s death, Corlys admits his weakness for ambition, resolving to be a changed man and retire to Driftmark with Rhaenys.
Unfortunately, this has come much too late, as Rhaenys points out that their grandchildren will still be in danger with war looming, and Rhanerya being the only one showing restraint.
And so, Corlys enters the meeting room to decide which side he will choose, if any.
It honestly feels as though Corlys was still considering, right up until he looked upon his grandchildren and saw that they had chosen to stand by Rhanerya and her family.
This makes Corlys side the Blacks, revealing his control over the Stepstones means he can block all trade with King’s Landing.
Once this is done, all that will be needed is to confirm Rhanerya’s allies among the great houses and then they can force the Greens into abdicating power without the need for bloodshed.
At Jace’s suggestion, Rhanerya decides to send her sons to confirm her allies, rather than ravens, sending Jace to the Eyrie and Winterfell, and Lucerys to Storm’s End, making them swear not to fight on their missions.
As this is happening, Daemon is attending to the unclaimed dragons on Dragonstone, among them the Bronze Fury, Vermithor, King Jaehaerys’ dragon.
Singing a High Valyrian lullaby, Daemon soothes the old dragon, as it breaths fire across the room, showing the strength the Blacks could have on their side if they could just find riders to claim these dragons.
They will certainly need it because of what happens next.
Lucerys flies to Storm’s End to treat with Lord Borros Barethon, only to find he is not the first one there.
In an intimidating the shot, the head of Vhagar rises above the castle walls, like something out of a giant monster movie.
Despite the danger, Lucerys enters the castle to treat with Borros, finding that Aemond is already there, having brokered a marriage pact between himself and one of Borros’ daughters in exchange for Borros’ support.
Lucerys gives Borros Rhanerya’s letter (leading to a humorous moment where Borros needs a Maester because he cannot read, which is true to Medieval times) but he refuses to fulfill his father’s oath, since Lucerys has nothing to offer because he is already betrothed to Rhaena.
Lucerys then attempts to leave, only to be stopped by Aemond who wants him to cut his eye out as payment for his own.
Aemond removes his eye patch, revealing that he has stuck a saphire in his eye socket, in a great adaptation from the book.
Before Aemond can attack Lucerys, Borros orders Lucerys removed, not wanting blood shed beneath his roof.
Lucerys is taken back to his dragon, Arrax but, chillingly, sees that Vhagar is gone.
It is at this point that I would like to commend Elliot Grihault for his performance as Lucerys.
He plays the character’s fear well and his High Valyrian is excellently pronounced.
Lucerys takes to the sky but the stormy weather keeps Vhagar out of sight, allowing the massive dragon to fly overhead in a terrifying shot that shows just how outmatched Arrax.
Aemond then ambushes Lucerys with Vhagar, intent on taking Lucerys’ eye.
Thanks to Arrax’s small size, Lucerys manages to manuvere him through a cliff face, allowing them to temporarily escape Aemond.
However, as Viserys said in Episode One, “The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion” and this is proven in the most disastrous way possible.
First, Lucerys loses control of Arrax, as he breaths fire at Vhagar.
This agitates Vhagar to the point that Aemond cannot control her.
In an effort to escape, Lucerys flies Arrax high above the clouds.
Unfortunately, this leads to Vhagar jump-scaring them and the audience, as she flies up out of the clouds and rips Arrax apart with a massive bite, also killing Lucerys.
Aemond clearly did not wish for this happen, as evidenced by his commands for Vhagar to stop.
This is different from the book where Aemond supposedly murders Lucerys.
Although, this version of events was just from second hand accounts, and the only one who would know what really happened is Aemond.
In any case, the horrified look on Aemond’s face shows that he clearly realizes the magnitude of what he has done as he flies back to King’s Landing, fully aware that he has started a war.
This is all but confirmed in the final scene of the episode, which sees Daemon tell Rhanerya of Lucerys’ death.
The hopeful note of Rhanerya’s theme then turns dark as Rhanerya turns towards the camera, her grief and rage obvious.
Emma D’Arcy does an excellent job of portaying Rhanerya’s feelings in this ominous moment.
They do an incredible job across the entire episode as well, from the horrifying stillbirth scene all the way up to this grim ending that has me especially excited for Season Two.
“The Black Queen” is a fantastic ending for the first season of House of the Dragon.
As for where I would rank the episode, it is definitley among the top three, including Episodes Seven and Eight.
However, at this point, I am unsure if I would rank it above or below either and will probably need a few more rewatches to decide.
Nevertheless, House of the Dragon has been a fantastic spin off to Game of Thrones, redeeming the series after the horrible Season Eight, and I cannot wait to see more.

Book Spoiler Section:
In regards to what Aemond will do when he arrives back at King’s Landing, I can definitley see him acting like he meant to kill Lucerys.
Aemond is in a no win situation.
He either claims he murdered Lucerys, which will make him known as a kinslayer, or he admits that he lost contorl of Vhagar, which will make him seem weak.
Given how we saw that Aemond being bullied as a child lead to him compensating by claiming the largest dragon in the world, I cannot see him owning up to weakness.
He would rather be known as a kinslayer than weak so he will act like killing Lucerys was intentional.
Alicent will no doubt be horrifed by her son’s actions as this has ruined any chance for peace between the Greens and Blacks.
Westeroes will be plunged into civil war in Season Two, and I am excited to see many of the events from the book unfold.
I think Season Two will end either with the Battle of the Gullet or Rhanerya taking King’s Landing.
If I am right, this means that we will also see Blood and Cheese, the death of Rhaenys, and the introduction of the Dragon Seeds in Season Two.
Of all these events, I am excited for the Sowing of the Seeds the most.
Characters like Nettles and Addam Velaryon are some of my favourite characters in the entire Dance so I am very excited to see how they will be portrayed.
Although, I have heard theories that the show will replace Addam and Nettles with Laenor and Rhaena.
To be honest, I would absolutley hate it if the writers did this because it could ruin so much of the story going forward or, at the very least, lessen the impact of numerous scenes.
I do not mind if Laenor and Rhaena have more scenes but make their characters seperate from Addam and Nettles.
However, this is just a theory at the moment and hopefully a wrong one at that.
There is no reason to be concerned until there is actually evidence of this happening.
In the meantime, there is so much to be excited for in Season Two.
It’s just a shame that we have to wait until 2024 to get it but I am sure the wait will be more than worth it.
House of the Dragon has pulled me back into the world of Westeroes and I will eagerily await its return.

Chainsaw Man Episode Four, Rescue Review: Meet the Gang.

Just like Episode Three of Chainsaw Man ended with an incredibly animated action scene, Episode Four, “Rescue”, begins with an incredibly animated action scene.
Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, the episode begins with an anime original scene of Power grossly killing and consuming various animals before coming across Meowy, leading into the Bat Devil taking them hostage.
We see how desperate Power was to save Meowy, running so fast that she trips up, as she reflects on how wanting to save Meowy is foolish.
This ties back into her relationship with Denji in the present as, after her and Meowy are rescued by him, she questions why he would save them, only for Denji to point at her breasts and then do a fondling motion with his hand.
Much like how Power concluded running to save Meowy was a “foolish reason”, she also concludes Denji saving them to cop a feel is also a “foolish reason.”
Nevertheless, she agrees to honour her part of the deal, to which Denji celebrates, only to have his hand cut off by the Leech Devil mid-cheer.
The Leech Devil was the girlfriend of the Bat Devil and is wanting to kill Power and Meowy in revenge but is willing to let Denji go since she considers him cute.
Determined to cop his feel, Denji refuses.
The big fight of the episode then begins, and it is just as excellently animated as Denji’s fight with the Bat Devil in the previous episode.
It is also well adapted from the manga, with various new moments to the fight, like Denji hiding under the Bat Devil’s guts to launch a surprise attack.
In the end, though, the result is the same, with Denji being impaled with the Leech Devil’s tongue, ending their “dream battle.”
Thankfully, Aki shows up as uses his contract with the Fox Devil to save Denji.
“Kon” he says, forming a fox symbol with his hand, causing the Fox Devil to appear from nowhere and bite the Leech Devil’s head off.
It is in the aftermath of this fight where we get a brief look at the gang of Division Four.
We of course have Aki, then the eye patched Himeno (Mariya Ise), and new recruits Kobeni (Karin Takahashi) and Arai (Taku Yashiro).
Their introduction is brief, we do not even hear the recruit’s names, but the introduction shot of them does highlight their future importance.
On a side note, I will also say that I do really like Karin Takahashi as Kobeni so far.
I know she only said one word but she displayed it so timidly that it really sounded like Kobeni to me.
In any case, Aki then takes over the battle scene, helping an injured Denji to his feet and sending Meowy off to a veternarian for a checkup.
Later on, Denji awakens in the hostpital with his arm reattached.
Aki arrives with an apple for Denji and provides us with another lore dump, explaining that Devil Hunters make contracts with devils in order to fight them.
Aki is contracted with the Fox Devil, which eats a bit of his skin in exchange for him using its power.
As for Aki himself, he is still conflicted by Denji, shown by him holding off on giving Denji the apple pieces when he attempts to cover for Power, despite Denji reaching out for them.
But then Aki remembers all of the conflicting reports he heard about Denji from his fight with the Bat Devil.
Among those were the woman he yelled at to run if she did not want to get eaten, and the man who Denji injured by throwing his car at the Bat Devil with him in it.
Along with these, is the father and daughter who Denji saved.
Like I said in my Episode Three review, these two are actually from Chapter Two of the manga, where Denji saved the girl from the Muscle Devil.
This was cut from the anime but the father and daughter characters were kept and moved to the Bat Devil fight for Denji to save.
This was a good way to remove the Muscle Devil scene, yet retain its impact because the father and daughter still come to talk to Aki about Denji helping them.
In the end, Aki decides to work with Denji if he follows his every order, to which Denji does agree.
Aki then leaves Denji’s room and has Power freed, much to Himeno’s concern.
Following this, we get an anime original scene of Aki reporting to Makima.
Before he knocks on her door, however; he stops and then checks himself in the window, showing his crush on her.
While speaking with Makima, Aki also curiously mentions something about both the Bat and Leech Devils having “no traces of Gun flesh.”
After he finishs his report, Makima is rightly suspicious of how convenient Denji and Power’s side of the story is.
Aki covers for them by chalking it down to them being “unbelievably stupid”, which, to be fair to him, is not exactly wrong.
Makima also calls out how flexible Aki is being with the rules, correctly deducing Denji’s influence, to which Aki denies.
The anime original scenes continue, with the next one being Aki’s morning routine which, again, is extremely well animated.
Mappa really is going above and beyond with this adaptation, putting so much effort into the smallest of details.
Aki and Denji’s simple morning is quickly interrupted by the chaotic arrival of Power, whom Makima has assigned to live with them.
Aki protests until Makima compliments him, to which he ascends.
He probably quickly regrets this, though, because what follows is a comedic segment, of Power refusing to eat vegetables, refusing to flush the toilet, and refusing to bathe, things which are even too much for Denji to suffer through.
However, although Aki is suffering under the chaos his new roomate is causing, things are looking up for Denji because Power corners him in the bathroom to follow through on their deal, allowing him to touch her breasts three times.
Once for saving Meowy, a second time for killing the Bat Devil, and a third for lying about her to Aki.
This causes Denji to internally declare her an angel, bringing a comedic end to the episode.
This is followed by the ED “Jouzai” by TOOBEE; another fun ED with a lot of fun visuals of Power.
“Rescue” is another great episode of Chainsaw Man.
Like Episode Three it has an incredibly animated fight scene, the quality of which also extends to the quieter moments.

Manga Spoilers Section:
“Rescue” had a lot of great hints towards the future of the story, most of them concerning Makima.
First, there is her interest in Denji influencing Aki, which is shown in the anime original scene.
This is a great addition because it subtly hints at her trying to create a family unit between them, just so she can rip it away from Denji to make Chainsaw Man hers.
Her having complete control over Aki is also foreshadowed by him immediately agreeing to house Power when Makima compliments him.
It is a funny moment now but it will become much more sinister when Makima is revealed to be the Control Devil.
The anime original scene also gives us an earlier mention of the Gun Devil, which will add to the reveal of what it is in the next episode, along with Aki’s backstory, which I am excited to see.

Chainsaw Man Episode Three, Meowy’s Whereabouts Review: All to Cop a Feel.

The first two episodes of Chainsaw Man started off Mappa’s adaptation excellently but, in my opinion, it is Episodes Three and Four where the quality really gets into high gear.
Directed by Hinori Tanaka, Episode Three, “Meowy’s Whereabouts”, prepares us for the excellent quality of animation we are going to see right from the get-go.
“Meowy’s Whereabouts” begins simply, picking up in the aftermath of Power destroying the Sea Cucumber Devil.
Makima is disappointed in Power for killing the devil since it was already being taken care, and in Denji for not controlling Power.
Makima then questions if Power is cut out to be a Devil Hunter.
This scares Power, who attempts to place the blame all on Denji, causing an argument, which comes to an end when Makima calmly asks them to quiet down.
Despite the calmness of this request Power is again terrified into submission, as she timidly agrees to work with Denji.
Although this opening scene is a simple one, animation wise, I was still amazed by simple details like Makima resting her face in her hand.
Even little details like her fingernails were much more detailed than in other anime, preparing us for the fantastic animation that is to come when Denji eventually faces off against the Bat Devil in the back half of the episode.
“Meowy’s Whereabouts” then goes about setting that fight up with its next scene, as Denji and Power are hanging around some vending machines.
A cat approaches Power and she uses this as an opportunity to talk about her own cat Meowy, who was kidnapped by a devil.
Denji seems uninterested, focusing on his goal of touching boobs.
This results in a good laugh when Power manipulates Denji into helping, saying she would let him touch hers if he saves Meowy, causing Denji to act outraged that the devil stole the cat and vowing to save it.
Yet, he is completley unaware that Power has just lured him into a trap.
Although, so is the audience, at that point.
Following the intro, Denji and Power head off to save Meowy, with Denji attempting to relate to Power by talking about Pochita, saying he is sad he cannot pet him because he lives in his heart.
However, much like Denji dismissed Meowy before Power made her offer, Power too dismisses Pochita, believing Denji is just saying that as a way to get through his grief.
It is interesting how despite having a similar love for their pets, Power and Denji still do not get along at this stage and dismiss each other’s feelings, something that will be resolved as the episode progresses.
Before that can happen, however; the scene cuts to Makima being interviewed by her bosses about her squad, to which she describes Denji as “interesting”, while she and her bosses use plenty of dog metaphors for him again.
On the drive back, Aki questions Makima about finding Denji “interesting”, and it is here that we get one of the first big lore dumps of the series, as Makima describes how devils work.
She states that every devil is born with a name and how much that name is feared determines how strong the devil is.
So, for example, a coffee devil would be rather weak but a car devil would be pretty strong since there is a common fear of being run over.
Therefore, a Chainsaw Devil would have to be powerful as well, which is the implication Makima gives for why she finds Denji so interesting.
Aki still insists on Denji being unhelpful and what happens next initially proves him to be right.
As Denji and Power approach the abandoned house where Meowy is being held hostage, Denji wonders why Power is approaching with him because she said the devil would kill Meowy if she got close.
This causes Power’s entire story to fall apart and, once Denji realizes he has been lured into a trap, he lunges forward, only to be too slow as Power whacks him over the head with a hammer made from her blood.
She then drags the injured Denji inside the house where the Bat Devil is waiting for her.
The Bat Devil’s arm was cut off by a Devil Hunter so he uses Denji’s blood to revive himself, only to be disgusted by the taste.
Therefore, he decides to punish Power.
By this point, one could be forgiven for thinking that Power had lied to Denji about Meowy but it is revealed she was telling the truth as the Bat Devil has taken Meowy hostage.
His punishment for Power is for her to watch as he swallows Meowy hole, while she looks on in horror.
We then get a flashback to show how the bond between the two formed.
After the Blood Devil became the Fiend known as Power, she killed and ate everything she came across.
This was until Meowy found her, after Power had killed a bear.
However, Meowy was skin and bones so Power began to feed them in the hopes of fattening them up so she could eat them.
What she did not count on, however, was becoming attatched to Meowy.
It was after she had this realization that the Bat Devil took Meowy hostage, ordering Power to find him a human to eat to save her cat.
Power ran off to do so, only to be eventually captured by Makima off screen.
With the flashback done, the scene changes to present day, where we finally get the first moment of conciliation between Power and Denji, as Power states that she now finally understands how Denji felt when he said that he could no longer pet Pochita.
The Bat Devil’s punishment for Power continues, as he eats her next.
He probably should have chewed, however, because seeing Power and Meowy trapped in the Bat Devil’s stomach makes Denji rush to save them by catching a ride on the Bat Devil.
“Gimme my tits back!” He humorously shouts, calling back to his deal with Power.
But Denji’s reasons for trying to save Power does not fully conform with this dream as he also wants to save her because he has finally come to sympathise with her, just like she did him.
As Denji pulls the rip cord on his chest to unleash his chainsaw powers, he recalls a time when he lost Pochita and became scared that he had eaten by a devil, only to find him when he came back home.
He and Pochita then slept beside each other and Denji remembers how relieved he felt, before wondering how scared Power must have been sleeping while knowing the Bat Devil had Meowy.
This thought concluded, Denji begins his rescue attempt for Power and Meowy in spectacular and gory fashion, as the chainsaw rips through his own head as he transforms.
He then cuts off the Bat Devil’s arm again, causing the two of them to fall from the sky, crashing into a building, nearly hitting a woman.
Denji urges the woman to flee before she gets eaten.
A gloriously animated fight then follows between Denji and the Bat Devil, during which Denji also saves a father and daughter, both of whom should look familar to manga readers.
This is because they are the father and daughter from Chapter Two who were cut from the anime.
However, even though Denji does save them, he could care less about other people, as he throws a car at the Bat Devil with a man still inside.
The man barely manages to get out in time, thankfully.
Afterwards, the Bat Devil seems to be put an end to the fight, defeating Denji with a sonic sound wave, which has great sound design, by the way.
The Bat Devil is then about to begin feasting on humans once more, only for Denji to emerge from the rumble of a building, angrily declaring how mad he is about not being about to cop a feel yet.
It is quite hilarious to hear Denji’s voice actor, Kikunosuke Toya, scream so passionately about this.
The Bat Devil is also stunned by this because it causes him to drop the person he was about to eat.
The question is if he dropped the man out of fear for Denji or because he was stumped by how stupid Denji is.
My money is on both.
Denji then easily kills the Bat Devil in bloody fashion, ripping him open, as blood rains down on him in a killer shot that brings an end to the episode.
We then get our third ED “Hawatari 2-oku Centi” by Maximum the Hormone, which is my favourite so far, with its visuals and foreshadowing for the future.
The entire fight between Denji and the Bat Devil this episode was absolutley excellent, with incredible animation throughout.
I am extremely glad that it was Mappa who was chosen to animate Chainsaw Man because of how great of a job they have been doing and I cannot wait to see more.

Manga Spoilers Section:
One thing I enjoyed about how “Meowy’s Whereabouts” adapted the manga was how well it translated Power’s fear of Makima.
From the animation of her reaction, to Fairouz Ai’s voice performance; all of this does a great job at foreshadowing how Makima is bad news.
Another nice detail was the inclusion of the father and daughter from Chapter Two, who are saved by Denji from the Bat Devil here, instead of the Muscle Devil.
This meant that they could be used for an Episode Four scene, where Aki flashes back to them talking about how Denji saved them.
I will talk about that scene in the review for that episode, which I will be releasing alongside this one.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 109, The Easy Way to Stop Bullying Review: They Finally Meet.

Going into Chapter 109 of Chainsaw Man, “The Easy Way to Stop Bullying”, I was excited to see what Fujimoto would do with the new devil (either Death or Famine) he introduced last chapter.
It was for this reason that I was slightly disappointed to see that this devil had mysteriously vanished.
That said, what we got in this chapter was still quite good, and it is not as if Fujimoto is dropping this character he literally just introduced.
I just need to be a bit more paitient for him to reveal more about the new character.
“The Easy Way to Stop Bullying” begins with the now resurrected and overpowered Yuko destroying the school in the hopes to put an end to bullying once and for all.
Nobody tell Yuko that bullying can also take place outside of school.
Yuko’s attack is temporarily halted by the recently arrived Devil Hunters who were definitley not prepared for a devil this strong, as Yuko easily kills them, declaring them bullies.
She is clearly way too far gone, at this point.
That being said, Yuko still does have some sympathetic qualities, as she becomes concerned when she sees Asa unconcious on the floor.
Despite her sense of justice being entirely warped, some human part of Yuko cares for her friend.
Unfortunately, this results in violence as she finally finds the last of Asa’s bullies and prepares to kill her.
A good thing that Chainsaw Man is here to save the day because Denji emerges and puts on his heroic act, before finally revealing himself as Chainsaw Man and saving the girl.
Predictably, Yuko is not prepared at all to fight him, even though she recently had a power-up.
Yuko does have one ace up her sleeve, however: her mind reading ability.
But, Denji being Denji, he is not thinking about the fight at all.
No, instead he is thinking about how to naturally expose his secret identity.
Honestly, I’m not sure if this is unintentional genius on Denji’s part or just his stupidity saving him again.
Either way, it’s incredibly funny.
As for Denji himself, though, I do want to briefly touch upon his physical appearance.
There has been a theory flying around about him being depressed and I buy this theory more with every chapter I see him.
In Part Two, Fujimoto has drawn Denji to look rather tired, with bags under his eyes.
He is probably under a lot of pressure, caring for Nayuta, Meowy and Makima’s dogs.
This could be why he is so desperate to expose himself as Chainsaw Man so he can get a girlfriend, as it’s just to make himself feel better about his life.
Quite sympathetic if this is the case.
After Denji concludes his fight with Yuko, Asa wakes up, only to look up and see Chainsaw Man.
Yoru then takes over and we finally get our first confrontation between the two, which has been hyped up right from the beginning of Part Two.
The chapter then ends with the two staring each other down as Denji stands over Yuko’s body… head?
Whatever.
As for the cliffhanger, it would not surprise me if it had some kind of comedic follow up.
Yoru is half naked after all and Denji being Denji I would not be surprised if he became distracted during their confrontation because of this.
Also, Yuko is almost definitley dead now so Asa is clearly not going to be happy about that.
One thing that also interests me just as much as the first confrontation between Denji and Yoru is the fate of the girl Yuko almost killed.
As far as we know, she is still alive and she definitley saw Denji transform, unlike Asa who was unconcious.
So, either this girl is going to die to preserve Denji’s identity, exposes him, or she will stay quiet about it.
If she lives, I wonder if this will make her a recurring character?
There are quite a few ways this could all be followed up on in Chapter 110 and I am interested to see what Fujimoto goes with.
“The Easy Way to Stop Bullying” is another good Chainsaw Man chapter, which ends on an exciting cliffhanger for next week.