Chainsaw Man Chapter 103, Denji Dream Review: Chainsaw Meets Octopus.

After two weeks of waiting, Tatsuki Fujimoto delivered what feels like the shortest chapter of Chainsaw Man Part Two yet, Chapter 103, “Denji Dream.”
However, “Denji Dream” being a short chapter does not mean it was uneventful.
Far from it because we finally got to see Denji in his human form, interacting with other characters.
In previous reviews, I theorized that we would only be seeing him as Chainsaw Man for a while, until Asa eventually meets Denji at school.
This chapter proved that theory wrong, with the opening scene building up to Denji’s reintroduction quite well.
Chapter 103 begins by showing the impact Chainsaw Man has had on the world.
The first few panels show off people wearing T-Shirts of him, using his likeness as a mascot for second-hand clothing, and there is even a blimp attempting to warn people about him by stating, “Chainsaw Man is a Man-Eating Devil.”
This conflicting public perception of seeing Denji as a saviour and a monster is reflected in the following TV interview panels, where numerous people give their opinions on Chainsaw Man.
Among these are some pretty humorous takes, like one man who believes Chainsaw Man is just American propaganda, a teenage girl who wants Chainsaw-Man’s number, and finally an elderly woman who believes he ate the cat that he saved in the previous chapter.
So, of course, the first panel on the following page is Denji looking offended at this old woman’s claim.
He then proceeds to defend his secret identity, before attempting to give Chainsaw Man’s number so the girl who spoke earlier would call him.
However, he is cut off by the cameraman who says he can’t give his phone number on television.
It’s funny that this cameraman is smart enough to know Denji is giving his own number so the girl will call him, yet is completley unaware of him being Chainsaw Man.
Next, the TV reporter has a crowd of Chainsaw Man supporters stand togethor and chant his name in support for the cameras, which Denji looks on at in pride, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest.
Way to be subtle about being Chainsaw Man, Denji.
Thankfully, before Denji can expose his identity, Yoshida shows up and we get our first encounter between Chainsaw Man and the contractor of the Octopus Devil since the International Assassins Arc… which Denji humourously acts like he does not remember.
Yoshida treats him anyway, taking him to a cafe where Denji orders an absurd amount of food.
Yoshida acts as if meeting Denji was a coincidence but Denji quickly deduces that he has been following him.
It’s interesting that, even though Denji is an idiot, he has quite a few moments of brilliance.
Yoshida comes clean, confessing that he is part of an organization that wants to keep an eye on Denji, who does not seem too bothered about his identity potentially being discovered.
Realizing this, Yoshida attempts to blackmail Denji into keeping his identity secret, threatening to withhold the utensils Denji needs to eat his cake.
Cue Denji having another moment of genius idiocy, as he uses his hand as a knife to cut the cake and then eat it.
Yoshida then attempts to use logic to dissuade Denji from risking his secret identity as Chainsaw Man by continuing to fight Devils, saying he does not seem the altruistic type, but Denji says he actually wants people to learn he is Chainsaw Man.
After this statement, the waitress comes back with the drinks the two ordered, and comedically seems to falter when she notices Denji eating with his hands, although Fujimoto does not show their face, so this is a subtle bit of humor.
When the waitress leaves, Yoshida questions why Denji wants his identity discovered and Denji declares that it is because then the ladies will be all over him.
Classic Denji.
Yoshida attempts to argue with this but stops mid-sentence, as if he realized Denji is sort of right about this.
The final panel then shows Yoshida staring at Denji, stumped at how to proceed, with Denji just continuing to eat his cake, a photo of a caged bird hung between them.
What the caged bird symbolises, I can only guess.
Usually, it would be some kind of representation for how the characters are trapped.
I am not sure how this would apply to Yoshida but maybe Fujimoto means to suggest that Denji is somehow caged by his antics as Chainsaw Man?
Or maybe the bird is symbolising Asa and Yoru, with Yoru’s devil form being that of a bird before she possessed Asa?
This could be hinting at them coming into Denji’s life.
Or maybe the photo of a bird is just a photo of a bird and I am reading too much into this?
As for Asa, however, I do think this chapter opens up a chance for her and Yoru to meet Denji.
Yoshida now knows Denji is looking for a girlfriend and Yoru did proposition him as Asa in Chapter 99, so maybe he could try to set the two up to get a leash on Denji?
Although, Yoshida seemed to notice that Asa was possessed by a devil when they met, so I don’t know why he would want to try and get her and Denji togethor, when he wants Denji far away from devils so he doesn’t expose his identity.
As for the unnamed secret organization Yoshida now works with, maybe this could be how we meet other characters who survived Part One, like Kishibe and Kobeni?
With Denji back, we also might see Nayuta soon as well and learn what their relationship is like.
Either way, it is good to have Denji back and I look forward to seeing how he will eventually meet and undoubtedly come into conflict with Asa and Yoru.
We might have to wait a bit though because it seems that Fujimoto is now sticking to a two week release schedule for Part Two, which makes sense, since he should not overwork himself.

House of the Dragon, Episode One, The Heirs of the Dragon Review: Return to Westeros.

Game of Thrones is an interesting show to look back on.
In its glory days, it was praised as one of the greatest television series of all time, yet it has one of the most reviled final seasons in television history as well.
The last few seasons were so bad that there was a lot of bitterness when the spinoff was announced, House of the Dragon, based off George R.R Martin’s Fire and Blood, a history book about the Targaryen dynasty in Westeroes.
Specifically, the show will adapt a certain portion of that book, the best part of it in fact, known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Upon hearing that it was this amazing section of the novel that would be adapted, I became excited for this show and my excitement only increased with every subsequent trailer.
Well, after seeing the first episode, “The Heirs of the Dragon”, I think I can say that the hype was fulfilled.
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, and written by Ryan Condal, the showrunners, “The Heirs of the Dragon” is a fantastic start to the show, which seems to have already succeeded in getting those who were lukewarm about returning to Westeroes after the disastrous ending to return to the story.
The episode begins in 101 AC (Aegon’s Conqeust), where a great council is convened at Harrenhal to decide the successor of King Jaehaerys Targaryen, the longest ruling king in the history of Westeroes.
Two of his grandchildren are considered, the elder Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her younger cousin Viserys (Paddy Considine).
Because Viserys is a man, he is the one chosen to inherit the Iron Throne over Rhaenys, setting up one of the Dance of the Dragons’ main themes, this being the role of women in Westeroes.
It is also interesting to note a change from the book that occurs here.
In Fire and Blood, Rhaenys is passed over pretty quickly because of her sex, causing her son Laenor to be considered instead, but he is also passed over due to him coming from the female line as opposed to Viserys.
Personally, I like the change of Rhaenys being the main candidate for the throne along with Viserys because it puts the women’s rights aspect of the show front and center.
This entire scene is narrated by Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), the son of now King Viserys, known as the Realm’s Delight.
Nine years after Viserys becomes king, we see a younger version of her (Milly Alcock) riding the dragon Syrax around Kings Landing in some truly stunning shots.
The CGI for both the dragons and King’s Landing are top notch, and both also contribute to a nice piece of world building, as we see the citizens of the city walk about their daily lives while Syrax flies overhead.
It really shows how much has changed from where House of the Dragon begins to the events of Game of Thrones, 200 years later.
While the people of King’s Landing were terrified of the dragons in the original show (rightfully so), seeing them fly over the city is just a part of everyday life in King Visery’s time.
Rhaenyra lands Syrax at the Dragon Pit and meets up with her friend Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), daughter of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King.
The two travel to the Red Keep, where they meet Rhaenyra’s pregnant mother, Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke).
A brief exchange follows that will become horrifyingly significant later, as Aemma tells a reluctant Rhaenyra that as women the birthing bed is their battlefield.
She also mentions that Rhaenyra stinks of dragon, which is a fun little detail, continued when Rhaenyra visits her father’s small council and Viserys tells her the same thing.
I wonder what dragon smells like?
As for the small council itself, it is quite telling about its state that a joke the king is making takes precedent over Corlys Velaryon’s (Steve Touissaint) report about the rising danger of an alliance in Essos, known as the Triarchy, preparing to take over the Stepstones.
Speaking of Corlys, I absolutley love his characterization here, with him holding up his hand to stop Rhaenyra serving him alcohol, showing he wishes to have a clear mind in important meetings.
He is certainly taking the meeting more seriously than everyone else, but King Visery’s jovial attitude is understandable, since his child will soon be born, one he is certain will be a son because of a dream he had, which he later tells Aemma about.
Although, Targaryen dreams can often be misleading and this is proven true later.
After the small council meeting, Rhaenyra goes to the throne room after hearing that her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) has come to court.
Honestly, when I heard that Matt Smith had been cast as Daemon, I was a bit unsure about him.
I mean, I never really imagined Daemon as Dr Who.
Yet, after seeing his first scene, I was completley sold.
Everything about his introduction is perfection, from Smith’s performance, to Daemon and Rhaenyra speaking Velaryon.
But, by far the best part of his intro, in my opinion, is the first clear look at him we get, when Rhaenyra points out that the coming tourney is to celebrate Viserys’ heir, to which Daemon leans forwards and says, “As I said.”
Daemon is going to be a fun character to follow.
To some the greatest of heroes, to others the blackest of villains, as the books say.
We mostly see the villainy part in this episode, with Daemon’s command of the city watch, giving them the gold cloaks they come to be known for.
He then leads them on a raid on the cities “criminals,” cutting hands off “thieves”, gelding “rapers”, and beheading “murderers.”
The reason I used so many quotation marks in that sentence because, to me, it seems pretty ambigious if the people Daemon and his men brutalized were even criminals at all.
After all, we never saw these people do anything before they were attacked, so for all we know they could have been wrongly accused of being criminals and were unjustly punished.
It is the spectacle of the thing that Viserys and Otto take issue with, however, as the two storm into the small council to discuss the attack, only to find Daemon sitting right there.
What follows is a fantastic introduction to the rivalry between Otto and Daemon.
I specifically love how a lot of Daemon’s dialogue from Fire and Blood is adapted here, most notably his comments about his wife in the Vale, calling her his “Bronze Bitch.”
Following the second small council scene, we see Daemon in a brothel having sex with his favourite prostitute Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno).
It was actually kind of funny seeing this scene because news articles were reporting that House of the Dragon would have much less sex and violence than Game of Thrones.
Well, this scene and the one with the Gold Cloaks’ attack completley disprove those articles.
Further disproving them is the violence on the battlefields of the tourney and Aemma’s birthing bed.
As Aemma goes into labour, Viserys holds his tourney where multiple knights celebrate the fast approaching birth of the king’s heir.
The scale and cinematography displayed in the tourney are excellent, with Daemon eventually emerging to challenge multiple jousters, defeating Otto’s eldest son and recieving Alicent’s favor all to piss the Hand of the King off.
However, Viserys is called to his wife’s side right as Daemon is about to fight the low-born knight, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Unfortunately, Aemma’s telling Rhaenyra that child labour is like a battlefield has become terrifyingly literal, as her baby is breeched and the Grand Maester cannot turn it, requring a C-Section.
In today’s world, such procedures can be done without harming the mother but back in medieval times it was horrifying and fatal.
House of the Dragon translates this horror suitably, with the C-Section being probably the most disturbing scene I have seen on television in a while.
What makes the whole thing worse is how Viserys does not tell Aemma what is about to happen before she is even cut open.
He does not even ask her opinion on it.
Yes, Aemma would have died anyway but it was her life and she spent the last few moments of it in extreme agony, feeling betrayed by the man she loved.
This gruesome scene is intercut with Daemon’s joust and then fight with Criston, their battle intercutting well with Aemma’s death, as Daemon is eventually defeated by Criston, who then gains Rhaenyra’s favor.
Word of Aemma’s death begins to spread but, typically for the time, it seems that Rhaenyra is the last to be informed of it.
In the end, all the pain Aemma went through before she died was not even worth it, because her and Visery’s son dies anyway, and is cremated alongside his mother.
The funeral scene was quite touching, with Daemon comforting Rhaenyra, telling her she needs to be there for Viserys, only for Rhaenyra to say she can never be the son he needs.
Rhaenyra nearly crumbling when she has to give the order for Syrax to cremate her mother and brother is just as touching, with Milly Alcock doing a wonderful job.
Paddy Considine does just as amazingly in the following scene, where Otto tries to convince him to name Rhaenyra his heir, afraid of what Daemon will do if he becomes king, leading to an argument about the succession.
Viserys shouting out that his wife and son are dead and he will not “suffer crows that come to feast on their corpses” was very impactful.
It also may have been a refrence to the fourth book in the series, A Feast for Crows.
Unfortunately for Viserys, more feasting is in order, for Otto sends Alicent to comfort him, hoping to create a connection between the two and extend his family’s influence.
You really have to feel bad for Alicent, as she is clearly uncomfortable about the whole thing, and you have to wonder how her friendship with Rhaenyra will suffer because of it.
The episode does a really good job of showcasing this friendship in an earlier scene, as it has the best humor of the episode.
Aging Alicent down to Rhaenyra’s age to create this friendship will surely make where their relationship goes more interesting.
Just as interesting is seeing the “heir for a day” scene play out, with Daemon using the title to refer to Visery’s dead son.
Otto learns of this through his spy network, which I think we see spying on Daemon when he is having sex with Mysaria.
When Viserys is informed, he calls Daemon to the throne room and the two argue, with Daemon calling out Otto for using Viserys.
It is interesting how Daemon and Otto both hate one another for things they themselves are guilty of.
Otto warns of Daemon, stating that, “the gods have yet to make a man who lacks the paitience for absolute power.”
Otto says this when he wants power for his family, proven when he sends Alicent to seduce Viserys after Aemma’s death.
As for Daemon, he hates Otto because he is “a second son who stands to inherit nothing he doesn’t seize for himself”, which is exactly what Daemon does.
The two are so similar, yet they hate each other equally, making for a compelling conflict.
Just as compelling is Daemon himself because in Fire and Blood I was pretty certain that Daemon did most of what he did for power and did not care for most of his family, except for a select few.
This assumption is proven wrong with the show version of Daemon because he clearly cares about Viserys and Rhaenyra, shown when he worries that Viserys is being used because of his weakness.
It is true that Viserys is weak, since Otto is seeking to use Alicent to manipulate him, and even the throne seems to reject him, cutting him, which is the sign of a weak king.
Back to Daemon himself, his clear love for his family makes the “heir for a day” moment pretty ambigious, a staple of Fire and Blood.
For example, we do not see Daemon actually say it, it is only repeated by Otto.
Still, Daemon does not exactly deny saying it but, given how he looks somber in the scene where he gives the speech, I think it is possible he did not mean to call Baelon “the heir for a day” as an insult.
In any case, Daemon and Visery’s argument results in the king sending Daemon away and naming Rhaenyra his heir.
The latter is where my big issue of the episode comes into play.
Viserys informs Rhaenerya that Aegon conquered Westeroes because he dreamed of the White Walkers eventually invading.
The reason I have a problem with this is because the White Walkers turned out to be pretty easy to defeat in Season Eight.
Plus, the trailer for the next episode shows Rhaenyra reading about “the prince that was promised”, something which was never paid off.
I guess we’ll just have to think of this reveal in terms of book continuity rather than show continuity.
After all, the whole “prince that was promised” storyline may pay off in the Winds of Winter, whenever that releases, if ever (probably never).
Despite my issues with the White Walker reveal, the scene of Rhaenyra being declared heir is pretty great, especially with how it cuts from Viserys talking about the North to Lord Rickon Stark swearing fealty to Rhaenyra, alongside the other lords of Westeroes.
Not all look happy about this, however, is Boremund Baratheon, understandably so, since his own cousin Rhaenys is the Queen Who Never War, yet Viserys is now crowning his own daughter.
Overall, “The Heirs of the Dragon” is a fantastic start to House of the Dragon.
It sets up the characters and conflict well, with some excellent performances, set design, cinematography and CGI.
The story of Game of Thrones may be returning to its glory days once more.

Spoiler Section:
I have decided to put a spoiler section at the end of every one one of my House of the Dragon reviews, so I can talk about things from Fire and Blood, without spoiling the show.
For this first review, I do not have much to mention, merely that Rhaenyra and Alicent being made best friends will make them becoming enemies more impactful.
Along with this, I would like to talk about the sexual tension between Daemon and Rhaenyra in the throne room scene.
Yep, those two are going to end up togethor and yep, they are uncle and neice.
Targaryens, am I right?
In all seriousness, the moment Daemon wrapped the necklace around her neck was very uncomfortable due to that sexual tension and we’ll definitley be seeing more of that in the show because of the Targaryen’s incestuous ways.
I will probably have more book spoiler moments to talk about as the season progresses.

Nope Review: A Unique and Horrifying Take on the Alien Invasion Movie.

I had been excited to see Jordan Peele’s Nope ever since the first trailer.
It is one of my all time favourite trailers, since it made me want to watch the movie while revealing very little about its plot.
Even though I think the second trailer showed a bit much, I was still excited for it, especially since it’s a Jordan Peele film.
He is certainly one of the most inventive directors working today when it comes to story ideas and social commentary.
I loved his first film Get Out and, while I did enjoy his second film Us, the third act broke my suspension of disbelief.
So, going into Nope, I was hoping for an experience more akin to Get Out than Us.
My wish was granted, since my time with Nope was the exact opposite of Us.
Driving home from watching Us at the movies, I kept realizing a bunch of problems and things that did not make sense when I was driving home.
But for Nope, when I was driving home, I realized a lot more things I loved about it.

There’s a lot of interesting details in *Nope,* which should make a second watch more than worth it.

There is so much I want to talk about with this movie but a lot of it is spoilers, so I will keep that part of the review at the bottom, while this section remains spoiler free, apart from the premise.
Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings, OJ and Emerald Haywood, the descendants of the black man who starred riding a horse in the very first assembly of photographs used to create a motion picture.
Now owning a ranch, OJ and Emerald begin to realize it is a hot spot of potential extraterrestrial activity that is targeting their horses.
The two seek to obtain proof of the aliens now haunting their land, what they call “the Oprah shot”, to recieve fame and fortune from the spectacle.
Nope is a film about the dangers of such endeavors with not only OJ and Emerald being at risk but also the characters of theme park owner Ricky “Jupe” Park (Stephen Yeun), tech assistant Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) and cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), as they also seek their own forms of spectacle.
Such spectacle is not the only focus, however, because Nope also discusses exploitation, primarily that of tragedies and animals, and I think it does this exceedingly well.

Both of *Nope*‘s primary themes, those of spectacle and exploitation, are handled excellently.

Some have argued that a certain plotline does not work cohesively with the main story of the movie.
This is a criticism I can understand because the farthest this plotline goes in connecting to the actual story is providing an understanding of Jupe’s motivations and actions.
However, when you look at the themes of exploitation and the danger of fame seeking spectacle, this plot line serves as a perfect parallel to the events of the main story; a story which is both funny and terrifying.
The terror, especially, stands out, with there being three specific scenes that had me constantly whispering “Nope!” to myself while watching.
One of these horrifying scenes ties into the spin Peele pulls with the alien invasion storyline, which is easily the most unique take on aliens I have seen put to film in a long time.
It was a clear step up from Us, where the explanation for what was going on raised many plot holes for me.

*Nope’s* reveal made me appreciate the film even more.

As for my criticisms of the movie, I do feel like some of the characters were a bit underutilized to the point that their actions and intent needed to be explained a little better.
This was particularly the case for Antlers Holst’s character, since something he does in the third act had me scratching my head a bit.
I do think this action works with the film’s themes, and Antler’s dialogue does seem to explain it, but I still needed a little more explanation about what drove him to come to the mindset which caused him to make such a choice.

It felt like some scenes showcasing Antler’s mindset were cut, making his later actions lack some context.

This was only a minor issue though.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Nope.
It is a unique take on the alien invasion movie, is terrifying at times and, like most of Peele’s films, has compelling themes.
I would say it is currently my second favourite Jordan Peele film, right behind Get Out.

Spoiler Section:
Now for the part of the review where I can speak freely about spoilers because, oh, boy, do I have things to say.
For starters, I absolutely loved the twist that the UFO was actually the alien.
It actually redeemed a prior part of the movie for me, which was the aliens in the barn scene.
This scene was so unnerving, at first.
I remember seeing the alien stand up in the theatre, and then seeing another one pop out, causing me to constantly whisper “Nope!” to myself
Then, it was revealed to be a fake out, with Jupe’s kids playing a prank on OJ and I felt letdown.
The scene was so tense and then it lost steam instantly with that reveal.

The alien scene went from creepy to disappointing the moment it was revealed to be a fake out.

This is why the reveal of the UFO being the alien saved this scene for me.
Had the film actually been about little green men, then it would have been just another alien invasion movie.
The actual reveal brought a unique spin that I have not seen before in an alien movie, and quite a horrifying spin at that.
Watching Jupe, his entire family, and their audience get sucked up into the alien, called Jean Jacket, to be eaten alive was horrifying.
The slow realization that they were all being sucked into a claustrophobic digestive track had me wincing.

What makes the whole thing even more tragic is how it ties in perfectly with Jupe’s past.
The Gordy attack (based off the very real and horrifying attack from the monkey Travis) plays out as a perfect parallel to Jean Jacket’s massacre.
Gordy, a wild animal, was exploited on the set of Gordy’s Home, leading to him mauling the stars and traumatising Jupe.
Then, decades later, Jupe repeats the same cycle, attempting to exploit Jean Jacket, but it gets him, his family, and dozens of innocent spectators violently killed.
As for Jean Jacket, I like how Peele leaves so much about it unexplained, since it allows the audience to come to their own conclusions.
In fact, I don’t think Jean Jacket is even an alien.
I think it’s just a species of animal that evolved like a chameleon to avoid detection so it can stalk its prey.
Every real UFO sighting is just another one of its species on the prowl, mistaken for flying saucers.

One detail that could point to Jean Jacket being an animal rather than an alien is that its look and movement when it unfurls is supposedly based on animals like the jellyfish, giving it connections to Earth.

There being more Jean Jackets out there also makes for quite the horrifying thought, as you have to wonder how many missing people have been killed by them?
If one were to see what they thought was a UFO, then they would naturally try to get a good look at it, which would then be seen as a sign of aggression, causing them to be eaten.
That’s why Jupe and the spectators were eaten and it’s probably why the two missing hikers went missing before the movie started as well, with their belongings then being shot down onto the Haywood ranch by Jean Jacket, resulting in the Haywood siblings’ father’s death.
That last detail is one Peele left evidence for throughout for the audience to connect the dots, rather than outright confirming it.
It was details like this I picked up on during my drive home from seeing Nope in theatres and I am sure that there will be more hidden details to find on subsequent watches.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 102, Save the Cat Review: A Darker Spider-Man.

Tatsuki Fujimoto has made it no secret that he is a massive fan of movies.
Refrences to both films and the filmmaking process litter his works.
Thus, it makes it quite easy to believe that Fujimoto was inspired to name Chapter 102 of Chainsaw Man, “Save the Cat”, after Save the Cat! The last Book on Screen Writing You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder.
Only the act of saving the cat is much more literal in Fujimoto’s case.
The chapter begins with Asa and Yuko running for their lives from the Bat Devil, who quickly knocks the two of them down, along with another passerby.
Unlucky for the passerby beause this results in the Bat Devil devouring them but it does give Asa enough time to plan her next move, after seeing Yuko’s leg has been impaled and that she has been knocked unconcious.
Typically, Yoru jumps right on the “kill her” option, wanting Asa to turn Yuko into a weapon to save themselves.
Although, I’m not sure if Asa could do this since in the last chapter it was revealed that Yoru cannot take control of her body when her host is terrified, which she should still be.
Regardless, Yoru continues in her attempts to goad Asa into killing her new friend, revealing that Asa did not feel sorry for killing Bucky but felt sorry that other people saw her, leading to her further isolation.
Yoru assures her that no one is watching and reminds her of how she promised to live her life more selfishly before Yoru revived her.
A succession of panels follow where Fujimoto shows us Asa’s flashbacks of Bucky’s death, her being isolated because of it, the class president and teacher being reported dead and Yuko befriending her.
Intermingled with these panels are ones of the Bat Devil approaching and Asa reaching for her axe, seemingly considering Yoru’s proposal to kill Yuko to save herself.
In the end, however, Asa chooses to save Yuko, much to Yoru’s dismay, carrying her friend in her arms as she flees from the Bat Devil, only to trip, much like Kobeni would in this situation.
This causes Asa to recall all the times she has tripped in her life, from at a Birthday party, to a race, to the day her parents died.
It is revealed that her parents were killed in an attack by the Typhoon Devil.
At first, I thought this confirmed my prior theory that Asa’s parents were killed in Denji’s fight with the Typhoon Devil and Reze, giving her reason to want Chainsaw Man dead.
However, upon closer inspection, the Typhoon Devil is clearly different from the one in the Bomb Girl Arc, since the new one has a moustache while the old one did not.
So, it is clear that the Typhoon Devil killed Asa’s parents after it reincarnated, meaning Asa hates Chainsaw Man just by association for him being a Devil.
However, while the Typhoon Devil may have been responsible for the death of Asa’s parents, she certainly does not entirely see it that way.
No, she blames herself the most for their deaths because of a decision she made on that day.
While fleeing from the Devil, Asa saw an injured cat and bent down to save it while running for her life.
This caused her to trip and her mother then pushed her out of the way from a flying car, sacrificing herself for her.
The owner of the cat then arrived and thanked Asa for saving it, making the whole situation worse because it causes her to blame herself, since had she never saved it then her mother might still be alive.
This flows into the next flashback, where Yuko gave Asa her shoes but Asa initially refuses, saying Yuko should not try to save her, seemingly harkening back to her parents’ death but under the guise of being dismissive of Yuko.
Yuko, however, quickly dismisses these protests, saying that even if she makes mistakes then her heart will be in the right place.
Back in the present, Asa connects with this, deciding to keep her heart in the right place and save Yuko.
Yet, this resolve is not enough to save them, as the Bat Devil quickly catches up and swallows them.
What is enough to save them is Chainsaw Man himself, as Denji arrives on the scene, lauching the Cockroach Devil he was fighting into the Bat Devil, killing it and saving Asa and Yuko.
This was one of the possibilities I suggested for how Asa and Yuko would be rescued in my review for the previous chapter.
In that review, I stated a theory that in Part Two we would intially see Chainsaw Man before Asa meets him as Denji.
Well, this theory has been proven correct, as Chainsaw Man unintentionally saves Asa and Yuko, before fighting the Cockroach Devil in some gloriously gory full page spreads from Fujimoto.
The super hero influences are obvious, with even the Cockroach Devil calling them out, and giving Denji the option of saving a car full of elderly people or a young highschool student.
This seems to be a clear homage to the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie, where the Green Goblin gave Peter Parker the choice to save a group of children or Mary-Jane.
However, while Spider-Man managed to save both Mary-Jane and the children in the movie, Denji saves none of the hostages when killing the Cockroach Devil.
Instead, much like Asa, he saves a cat.
Along with being darkly hilarious, this moment also once again points to the parrallels between Denji and Asa, much like the first chapter did.
While Asa saved a cat and regretted it because it lead to her mother dying, Denji let people die to save a cat and is praised for it by the media at the end of the chapter.
It’s kind of morbidly humorous that they don’t mention the people Denji did not save.
However, this may be a tactic to make people fear Devils less, resulting in less deaths as a result.
As for Denji himself, it was great to see him back again, and him saving the cat honestly reminded me of Power looking after her cat.
I wonder if Denji purposefully saved the cat in rememberance of her?
Like I have stated earlier, though, I do not expect to see Denji himself for a little while.
We will probably just keep seeing him as Chainsaw Man before Asa meets Denji.
Overall, “Save the Cat” is a fantastic chapter and one of the best of Part Two so far, along with the first one.
It had amazing character devlopment for Asa, reintroduced Chainsaw Man in a classically gory fashion, and had some darkly humorous homages to both Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screen Writing You’ll Ever Need.
The next chapter drops on August 31st.

Berserk Chapters 368, Devourers Review: A Punch in the Guts (Pun Intended).

On May 6, 2021, mangaka Kentaro Miura, the beloved author of Berserk, passed away.
Along with the mourning for his passing, there were also many questions about the future of his iconic story.
Would it end with Miura, or be finished by another?
Whatever was going to happen, many did rightfully conclude that Miura’s wishes had to be respected.
After many months of wondering, it was announced that Miura’s longtime friend Kouji Mori, and Studio Gaga would be continuing his legendary work.
Personally, given that Mori was a close friend of Miura for over 40 years, I believe that Miura is being respected with this continuation and the chapters we have been gifted with since Berserk started again have proved that to me.
Sure, the art does not exactly match Miura’s amazing style completley but did any of us expect it to?
It was clear there would be some differences between Miura’s Berserk and Mori and Studio Gaga’s continuation of it.
Still, some of the differences did leave me a bit concerned, most notably Guts’ lack of dialogue in the past few chapters after Griffith reappeared.
It kind of felt like Mori and Studio Gaga were playing it safe by having Guts only yell, maybe because they’re still trying to figure out how to write him.
On the other hand, I could be misinterpreting this and Guts only screaming at Griffith could be because of his murderous rage directed towards, which is certainly justified.
Either way, I cannot deny that the most recent chapter of Berserk, Chapter 368, “Devourers”, is the first chapter in the manga’s continuation that has truly wowed me the way Miura’s Berserk did.
“Devourers” begins with Guts in the chasm he fell into in the previous chapter, now surrounded by countless of the restless spirits that appeared in the Conviction Arc, which is really bad news for Elfhelm.
The chapter then continues by showing how the other central characters are dealing with these spirits.
Isidro, Serpico, Isma and Danan are surrounded but rescued by the Skull Knight, with Isidro deciding to fight beside him, despite the Skull Knight’s insistance, which is definitley not the best idea.
Yet, Skull Knight does ponder that man’s will to resist may also be a part of fate so that could be a good sign.
Meanwhile, we finally get our first look at Roderick in the continuation, who is preparing to evacuate Elfhelm because the mermaids warned him of the incoming disaster.
Magnifco, however, wants to stay and honestly I would not really mind that because I find him to be pretty insufferable, so he would be no loss.
Before anything can happen, however, the spirits converge on their location and brutally consume some of Roderick’s men, ripping the skin off their bones.
Roderick and his men are then surrounded but his main concern is Farnese, who last we saw was with Schierke, near Guts, when the ground caved in.
I hope this is not hinting at Roderick getting a heroic sacrifice to save Farnese because it would be a shame to lose him.
We then cut back to Guts in the chasm and it is here that the moment which truly wowed me like the classic Berserk occurs.
Before Guts can deal with the spirits around him, he looks up and sees Guts carrying Casca away on Nosferatu Zodd.
All Guts can do is look on in horror and despair as the woman he loves is kidnapped by the man who betrayed them.
What makes it worse is Griffith’s hand is on Casca’s breast when he is taking her away, a detail that I am sure was intentional by Kori and Studio Gaga.
I am not saying that Griffith will assault Casca again (god, I hope not) but it certainly brings that disturbing image to both the reader and Guts’ minds.
It made me feel absolutley devestated for the both of them and it feels just like Miura would have written it.
It honestly would not surprise me if Miura had made specific notes about this scene, that is how good it is.
As for why Griffith is kidnapping Casca, I think it’s pretty clear that he does not want to be drawn away from his kingdom when he transforms into the Moonlight Boy, so has taken her to prevent that.
Unfortunately for him, this will once again put his fate on a direct collision course with Guts, as he and his friends go to rescue her.
However, I do hope that Casca’s kidnapping does not rob her of her recently returned agency.
It will be extremely traumatising for her to be in Griffith’s presense but I have my fingers crossed this will not make her a damsel in distress just there to be rescued.
Give her a big moment where she stands against Griffith, please.
Back to Chapter 368, after the impactful moment of Casca’s kidnapping, we get the ending cliffhanger, which sees Puck witness the ground around the Spirit Tree begin to collapse.
I hope Puck being one of the focuses in the cliffhanger points to him having a bigger role going forward because, in my opinion, he has become a caricature of his former self in the last 100 chapters or so.
As for the Spirit Tree being about to fall, this points to the end of Elfhelm itself.
It’s just a matter of how many characters will survive it, before Guts begins what will probably be his final journey to save Casca and kill Griffith.
Overall, “Devourers” was a fantastic chapter of Berserk, and the first one from Kori and Studio Gaga to have a moment that devestated me like in Miura’s writing.
That moment of horror when Guts sees Casca being carried away by Griffith will stick with me for a while.

Chainsaw Man Trailer 2 Reaction: Gore Galore.

Chainsaw Man fans are really eating good right now.
Not only has Part Two of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga been great so far but Mappa also recently released a second trailer for the upcoming Chainsaw Man anime adaptation.
This trailer does a great job of hyping up the anime, gifting us with a good look at the animation we can expect, and revealing the voice actors and release date.
Releasing in October of 2022, the adaptation has Kikunosuke Toya as Denji, Tomori Kusunoki as Makima, Fairouz Ai as Power, and Shogo Sakata as Aki.
I cannot claim to to be familiar with many of these voice actors, with Tomori Kusunoki being the only one I remember, having voiced Neiru in Wonder Egg Priority.
Despite my lack of knowledge about them, I would say that, from the brief look we get of their performances in the trailer, they look to be the right choices.
Fairouz Ai, in particular, sounds like a perfect match for Power.
I am particularly interested in the choice to cast Kikunosuke Toya as Denji, since it appears that the only prior voice acting roles he has are background ones.
So, Denji will be his first time voicing a main character and this will come with added pressure since Chainsaw Man is so popular.
Still, it shows how much faith Mappa must have in him, to cast him as Denji, despite having only prior minor roles, and he sounds great in the trailer.
This could very well be his break out role.
Along with the voice acting, the trailer also provides us with a look at the quality of animation we can expect from the anime.
Once more, it looks like Mappa has knocked it out of the park, animating even small details, like how the blood stays on Denji’s chainsaw head after it bursts out of his skull.
Speaking of, wow, was this trailer gory.
I had heard that the Chainsaw Man adaptation would not be censored, like other anime such as Attack on Titan, but I still had my doubts.
Well, this trailer killed those doubts, with various brutal shots, like the already mentioned moment when the chainsaw bursts out from Denji’s head, followed by him eviserating the Bat and Leech Devils, along with the opening shot of the countless dead zombies Denji killed.
And all of these are just shots from the first ten chapters, so you have to wonder what amazing shots Mappa has in store for us going forward with the anime?
I am curious to see how far they will actually adapt the manga.
Will they adapt all 97 chapters of Part One in a single long season, or will they split it up into multiple seasons?
If they do decide to do all 97 chapters in one go, however, they would need a lot of episodes to do so, at least 30, I would think.
Then, there’s the matter of the opening.
I think it would be awesome if Mappa could get SiM to do it, just like they did “Rumbling” for Attack on Titan.
They already have a perfect song for it, with “Devil in Your Heart”, after all.
Although, this song being the opening is not a necessity.
It’s just something I’m hoping for but will probably not happen.
In the end, no matter what opening we get and no matter how far Mappa decides pace their adaptation, this trailer made me even more excited for the Chainsaw Man anime.
The animation looks stellar, the voice acting seems great, and there will be gore galore with apparently much less censorship than seen in other manga adaptations.
I am eagerly anticipating seeing the final product in October.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 101, Afterschool Devil Hunters Review: Na na na na na na na na Bat Devil!

Tatsuki Fujimoto is still going strong with his fourth chapter of Chainsaw Man Part Two, Chapter 101, “Afterschool Devil Hunters.”
The chapter begins the day after Yuko gifted Asa with her shoes because bullies covered her old ones in raw meat.
Despite Yuko’s kindness, Asa is still uncertain about this new friendship, as proven by her refusing to look Yuko in the eye and her giving the shoes back, her excuse being that they were too small.
Yuko is undeterred, however, and suggests the two of them go Devil hunting after school which, again, I am not sure why the school allows.
Later that day, as the two are eating togethor on a bench, Yuko brings up how Yoshida was not at school, wondering if he is serious about joining the Devil hunting club.
Little does she know that Yoshida is already a Devil hunter, meaning he probably did not attend because he has an important job.
Or maybe he is tailing them in secret to keep a closer eye on Asa, since he probably suspects her after seeing the War Devil take control of her body in Chapter 99.
Yuko wondering where Yoshida is then leads Asa into asking why she joined the club and Yuko replies that she wants to become a Devil hunter to earn money and also to avenge her parents, who were killed by a Devil, like Asa’s.
Yuko’s parents being killed by a Devil could earn credence to the theory that she is Kusakabe’s daughter, since she looks quite similar to him.
Either way, both of their parents being killed by Devils creates a stronger connection between Asa and Yuko, with Yuko saying they should become Devil Hunters and partner up as buddies because they are, “kinda like manga main characters.”
Well, Yuko, to be the main character of a manga, you kind of have to live a while and, given that you are in a story written by Tatsuki Fujimoto, I am not sure how long you’ll actually last.
This worry of mine increased when Yuko left to go to the toilet, only for the War Devil to appear before Asa again and suggest killing Yuko.
As an aside, I really liked how Fujimoto went about paneling Asa realizing the War Devil was there.
First we get a panel of her watching Yuko leave, a rare smile on her face, which is followed by a few small panels of her eating, then the last panel of the page, where Asa looks beside her and the smile vanishes.
On the next page we then see the War Devil sitting next to Asa, announcing in bold that they should kill Yuko.
The War Devil explains that the guiltier Asa feels about killing someone, the more powerful that person’s body will be as a weapon.
This gives off a frightening visual, since the War Devil was already quite powerful when it used the teacher’s body in Chapter 98, so imagine how powerful it could be if it used Yuko, who is actually friends with Asa?
It presents quite a morbid usage of the power of friendship trope.
Asa is, of course, disgusted with the idea of killing Yuko, and this causes an argument between her and the War Devil, resulting in multiple people and a cat staring at them.
Asa and the War Devil are not too bright at keeping their identity a secret.
First the War Devil foolishly exposes itself to Yoshida and now Asa is shouting at the War Devil, which is invisible to everyone else, and even calls it by name in public.
Way to be subtle, girls.
Speaking of which, Asa has grown tired of the War Devil referring to her as “girl” so, in the hopes of changing the subject from killing Yuko, tells the War Devil to call her Asa instead.
The War Devil hits back by telling Asa that she never uses its name either, and Asa responds that War Devil is a weird name to use.
This causes the War Devil to relent, despite knowing that Asa is trying to change the subject, since it knows her every thought.
The War Devil then tells Asa to call it Yoru, which is interesting because it means night, the exact opposite of Asa’s name, which means morning.
The two then seem to come to an agreement, now calling each other by their names.
Asa also finally seems happy, as she admits to herself while walking with Yoku that she does not care about killing Chainsaw Man now that she is having fun with her friend, which she has not felt in forever.
So, now that Asa is happy, of course something has to go wrong.
The scene cuts to a street preacher, who is ranting to the passing populace about the dangers Devils pose, stating that out of a random twenty people, seven will be killed by Devils.
If this is an accurate number then it presents a horrifying reality that the people of the Chainsaw Man world live in, made even scarier by the following page, which shows Asa and Yuko running into the Bat Devil, which is currently killing a bunch of people.
The Bat Devil actually appeared in Part One, being one of the first big Devils Denji fought and killed.
So, it seems that the Bat Devil was eventually killed in hell and has now reincarnated on Earth again to wreck havoc, and in a disturbingly artistic way, at that, because Fujimoto appears to have drawn the Bat Devil eating a man to resemble the 1800s painting Saturn Devouring his son by Fransisco Goya.
As Asa looks on in terror, Yoru appears before her again and humorously tells her she has bad news and more bad news.
The first bit of bad news is that they are not strong enough to defeat the Bat Devil the way they are.
The second, and most important, bit of bad news is that Yoru has just found out that she cannot take over Asa’s body when her vessel is scared, making them essentially powerless in this situation.
The way Fujimoto colours the panel revealing this is also great, with it being much brighter than the other, darker panels, highlighting this reveal’s importance and the terror it holds for Asa.
Yoru advises that Asa slowly back away from the Bat Devil, only for her and Yuko to bolt, causing Yoru to call her an idiot, bringing an end to the chapter.
So, how are Asa, Yoru and Yuko going to get out of this one?
Well, I see three possibilities.
The first is that Asa manages to overcome her fear so Yoru can take over her body, kill Yuko, and use her body as a weapon to kill the Bat Devil.
However, I think this theory is the least likely because we have only just met Yuko and I feel that if Fujimoto is going to kill her off he would want to give her more page time so her death will hurt us more.
The second possibility is that Yoshida shows up to save them.
As I said earlier, he could be tailing them because he is suspicious of Asa, so this could be a good time to reveal him as a Devil Hunter to Asa, Yoru and Yuko.
The final possibility is that Denji shows up as Chainsaw Man to kill the Bat Devil.
Along with serving as the return of Denji, this happening could also be used for comedic purporses, as the Bat Devil could cry out “Not again!” before it gets killed by Denji and sent back to hell.
This could lead to us seeing Chainsaw Man a few more times before Asa meets him officially as Denji at school, while potentially being unaware that he is Chainsaw Man.
Knowing Fujimoto’s writing style, however, I would not be surprised if Asa and Yuko are saved in a different way, which none of us have thought of.
It will be interesting to see what he does in Chapter 102, which will be released in two weeks time, since Fujimoto is taking his first break for Part Two.
“Afterschool Devil Hunters” is another great Chainsaw Man chapter, which has me excited for what will unfold next.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 100, How to Walk Shoeless Review: Short, Slice of Life.

Going into Chapter 100 of Chainsaw Man, “How to Walk Shoeless”, I wondered if Tatsuki Fujimoto would commerate his 100th chapter with a big event, like other mangakas do when they reach such a milestone.
Instead, Fujimoto opted for a short, slice of life chapter that works perfectly well by building up relationships between the characters, specifically the growing friendship of Asa Mitaka and Yuko, the girl who was placed in Asa and Yoshida’s devil hunting group at the end of the last chapter.
Picking up from where “Two Birds” left off, Chapter 100 begins with the three of them walking the halls at their school, searching for devils, weapons in hand.
That last detail makes me think the devil hunting club really is serious about sending potential members after dangerous devils, and I am still wondering how the teachers feel about it?
This is not relevant to the chapter, however, which sees Asa, Yoshida and Yuko introduce themselves to one another as they walk the halls.
Yoshida and Yuko both confess to being fans of Chainsaw Man, but Asa dodges the subject by saying she likes him “as much as the average person”, all the while stewing in embarrassment over being paired up with Yoshida, after the War Devil failed in asking him out.
And it certainly does not help that Asa is now in a group with two people who say they are fans of Chainsaw Man, who she dislikes.
Unfortunately, things get more uncomfortable for Asa, as she passes some of her classmates, who begin to talk bad about her behind her back, being disgusted by the War Devil asking Yoshida out after Asa accidentally killed Bucky.
At first, this had me disappointed in Yoshida because I thought he had told everyone about Asa asking him to be her boyfriend but his confusion at what they are talking about made me remember that the War Devil was not exactly quiet when she propositioned him.
So, it makes sense that these students overheard and now have further motive to hate Asa, sadly leading to bullying, where Asa finds they have stuffed raw meat in her locker when she runs away from Yoshida and Yuko.
How messed up would it be if that raw meat was chicken?
An insult to Bucky’s memory is what it is.
Joking aside, Asa then leaves the school where the War Devil surprisingly offers to take care of Asa’s bullies.
Asa refuses and this is probably for the best considering that the War Devil’s way of helping things would probably be to blow them up with hand grenades made of literal hands.
Although, Asa would need friends in order for the War Devil to transform them, so they could be used as weapons.
Fortunately for Asa and unfortunately for Yuko (if the War Devil plans to use her as a weapon), the latter shows up to support Asa, offering her one of her shoes, since walking without shoes must make her feet hurt.
Asa is reluctant, so Yuko leaves the shoe with her, forcing Asa to chase her home, the two of them in constant, humorous, minor pain as their bare feet race across the sidewalk.
Upon reaching Yuko’s home, she gifts Asa with the other shoe, allowing her new friend to walk home with shoes.
Yuko really is proving herself to be a good friend, which is exactly what Asa needs, now more than ever.
However, as I have stated, this may not turn out to be a good thing in the end because then the War Devil could end up killing her and using her body parts as weapons to take on Chainsaw Man.
Speaking of Denji, I have heard a really weird theory that Yuko is actually him in disguise.
At first, I thought this theory was a joke but it seems there are some readers who buy it somewhat.
Personally, I think this theory is incredibly unlikely to be the case.
I mean, I do kind of think there would be a resemblance if Yuko took off her glasses, but not enough to convince me.
Along with this, given what we know about Denji’s character from Part One, I highly doubt he would work well undercover.
There are also plenty of general plot holes with this theory, like why Yoshida would allow Denji near Asa, who he probably suspects of being a devil at this point, and, most obviously, why would Denji be pretending to be a girl in the first place?
So, safe to say that the Yuko being a disguised Denji theory is as dead as Bucky.
Too soon, I know.
Let Yuko stay her own character who slowly becomes Asa’s friend, breaking down her walls until the War Devil literally breaks her body to make a weapon out of it.
I’m joking about wanting that last thing to happen.
Back to Chapter 100, after Yuko gives Asa her shoes, we get the cliffhanger, which is a simple yet comedic exchange between Asa and the War Devil.
When Yuko gives Asa the shoes, she suggests Asa sell them if she does not want to wear them, to which the War Devil concurs when they are alone, only for Asa to ask if they are an idiot.
This brings the relationship building Chapter 100 to a close.
Overall, “How to Walk Shoeless” is a good chapter that plays off well with the first two.
Since we did not see Denji in this chapter, it is most likely we will not see him for a while.
We may even get an entire arc without him.
But, as I said in my previous review, I actually like this.
Denji being absent for a while will give us more time to become attached to Asa, the War Devil, Yuko and Yoshida.
A long absense will also make Denji’s return more epic when it happens.
Although, Fujimoto being Fujimoto, he could also introduce Denji in the simplest way imagineable, like just having him randomly bump into Asa.
Either way, I am looking forward to the next chapter.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 99, Two Birds Review: Return of the Octopus.

Last week, Chainsaw Man returned with a bang, as Chapter 98, “Bird and War”, introduced us to a brand new and interesting character, Asa Mitaka.
“Bird and War” then ended with a typically Fujimoto style of crazy, as Asa was taken over by the War Devil, who intends to make Chainsaw Man vomit back up nuclear weapons.
Chapter 99, “Two Birds” is a great follow-up to this ending, opening by highlighting the situation Asa is in, as she wakes up wondering if the horrific events of the night before were just a dream, only for the War Devil to appear before her.
Rather than the strange owl form, which many theorized was based off the owls of the Greek Godess Athena, the War Devil has taken the form of Asa, only with the scars the Justice Devil left on her, along with the Makima-like eyes.
After some comedic moments of Asa constantly pinching herself to see if she is dreaming, the War Devil informs her that it took over half of her brain so it can control her, allowing Asa to see it as a hallucination when it is not in control.
As Asa walks to school, the War Devil informs Asa, and the reader, that it took over her body so that it could go to her school because it knows Chainsaw Man goes there, since a devil he killed was clutching a button from the school’s uniform.
The reason the War Devil left half of Asa’s brain in her control is because it does not know how to blend into human society, so it needs her to do that.
I do think this is partially true but I also think there is more to it than this.
The contract the War Devil laid out to Asa in the last chapter was, “If you want to live, you’re body will be mine.”
Part of their contract was allowing Asa to survive, thus it left half of her brain for her to exist in.
This is why I think the War Devil’s constant threats to kill her are also a bluff because this would break their contract, and Himeno informed us in Part One that if a Devil breaks a contract then they die.
Therefore, the War Devil’s threats to kill Asa are solely used to convince her to cooperate.
However, this does not exactly turn out in the War Devil’s favor because Asa is still so isolated at school, due to the Class President making her kill Bucky, that she says she would rather die than go to school.
This embarassing isolation is made even worse by the following interaction she and the War Devil have with a certain someone, this being Hirofumi Yoshida.
It is understandable if people who have read Part One of Chainsaw Man do not remember this character, especially if they read it a while ago.
Yoshida had a very brief stay in the manga before, only appearing in the International Assassins Arc, where he was tasked with protecting Denji with his Octopus Devil, and proved himself to be stronger than most, when he was able to go toe to toe with Quanxi in a fist fight for a while.
After this arc, he went back to high school and did not appear for the rest of Part One.
His sudden disappearance and Fujimoto making a point to mention that he was in school, made many theorize that he would be a big part of Part Two because high school is where Denji would be next.
Well, that theory has seemingly been confirmed with Yoshida’s arrival, as he approaches Asa to ask if she is okay, clearly noticing her hunched over and talking to herself.
After he approaches, the War Devil quickly proves that it was telling the truth to Asa when it said that it did not know how to blend into human society because it chooses that moment to take control of her body, making the scars abruptly appear on Asa’s body and even more abruptly asking Yoshida if he knows anything about Chainsaw Man being at school.
Yoshida clearly notices the suddenly appearing scars, yet brushes them off quickly, and explains that since he just transferred here, he doesn’t know anything about Chainsaw Man being at school for certain.
However, he did hear a rumor that he was attending a devil hunting club.
The War Devil take this at face value but Yoshida is clearly playing it like a fiddle.
For one thing, we know from the International Assassins Arc that Yoshida is an exceptionally attentive person, having quickly discovered one of the assassins and killing them, along with deducing that one of the assassins was innocent because he puked after seeing a dead body.
Sure, he was wrong about the last one because he did not know that last assassin was new to the job, but his reasoning was still sound.
Therefore, the idea that he would see scars suddenly appear on a girl’s body out of nowhere and just immediately dismiss this is not in character, so he clearly suspects that Asa is a devil.
Him just having transferred to the High School is also probably to protect Denji again because of the Justice Devil’s involvement in the deaths of both the Class President and Mr Tanaka.
Since he is probably protecting Denji and also most likely noticed Asa is a devil, he would want to keep her as far away from Denji as possible, so he lied about Chainsaw Man being in the devil hunting club to isolate her.
Honestly, I see Denji being in something like the cooking club more than the devil hunting club.
Yoshida’s suspicions of Asa are also probably one of the main reasons why he turns down the War Devil’s offer to be her boyfriend, which also again confirms the War Devil’s inneptitude when it comes to interacting with humans, as it only adds to Asa’s embarassment.
After Yoshida leaves, Asa demands to know why the War Devil would ask him out and the War Devil explains that it has, “the power to turn what’s mine into weapons”, so was aiming to do that with Yoshida.
This explains why the War Devil was able to turn Tanaka’s head into a sword last chapter because he was planning to groom Asa, so his gross lust for her made him the War Devil’s weapon when it took over her body.
The War Devil having this power also causes problems for Asa’s future because, when the Justice Devil killed her last chapter, her last thoughts were of wishing she had lived more selfishly, having friends and maybe a boyfriend.
However, if Asa were to make friends and get a boyfriend, then this would mean the War Devil could turn them into weapons, robbing her of them.
This clearly does not matter to the War Devil at the moment, however, as it explains to Asa that it wants to obtain as many weapons as possible to go to war with Chainsaw Man.
Asa appears to be slightly swayed by the notion of fighting Chainsaw Man, as her fists unclench but she quickly goes back to being concerned about her dire situation, wanting to contact a Devil Hunter, only for the War Devil to threaten her again since it can read her thoughts.
The War Devil says it will return Asa’s body when they have defeated Chainsaw Man, demanding that Asa sign up for the devil hunting club, where they now believe Denji is.
Upon arriving at the club, the leaders tell all of the attendees that only those who kill a devil can join.
I found this to be a rather strange detail, since devils can be notoriously dangerous.
Would the teachers at the school really be okay with the students risking their lives like this?
Or maybe the students are deliberately sent after harmless devils like Bucky?
Guess we’ll have to wait for the next chapter to find out.
In any case, the leaders split everyone into groups of three to go devil hunting, putting Asa in a group with Yoshida, much to her embarassment, and a cheerful girl with glasses, who many readers have pointed out looks a lot like Kusakabe.
He was a character who first appeared and then died in the International Assassins Arc, so it would be interesting if she were related to him.
Although, it could be a little too convenient to have someone related to Kusakabe be randomly placed in the same group with Yoshida, who worked with Kusakabe before his death.
Maybe she’s just a character who happens to look similar to him?
Either way, it will be interesting to see if she is a character who will become important or is just canon fodder for the devils.
If she befriends Asa, I can’t see it ending well for her, though, considering the War Devil’s abilities.
It clearly would not have a problem with killing any of the friends Asa makes, so long they can be used as a weapon against Chainsaw Man.
Speaking of which, when are we going to see Denji again?
Fujimoto appears to have made a joke about his absence at the the beginning of the chapter when a news reporter says, “Chainsaw Man has yet to appear this week.”
Well, we might just see him next week because the following chapter will be Chainsaw Man‘s 100th chapter and big things tend to happen in a manga’s 100th chapter.
Although, this is not a must.
If Denji does not appear in the next chapter, then I honestly don’t see him showing up for a while.
In fact, I think this may actually be for the best because it could allow us to get more aquainted with Asa, Yoshida and potentially the new girl so, when Denji finally does show up, we are able to care about these new characters as much as him.
One thing I think could be interesting is introducing Chainsaw Man before Denji, meaning that Asa could see him fighting in his Devil Hybrid form, before officially meeting him at school.
As for Denji’s location at the school, as I said, he is almost definitley not in the devil hunting club.
That was probably just a ploy for Yoshida to keep a close eye on Asa, since he probably suspects her of being a devil.
He may be a bit out of depth, though, considering that the War Devil is one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, up there with Death, Famine and Conquest, who many people consider to be Makima, now Nayuta.
It will be interesting to see if we go on to meet the Death and Famine Devils in Part Two.
As for Chapter 99, “Two Birds”, it a good follow-up chapter to the previous one, setting up the high school setting well, along with the War Devil’s connection with Asa, and the return of Yoshida.
I am eagerly anticipating to see where all of this goes.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 98, Bird and War Review: Chainsaw Man is Backaw!

Chainsaw Man is one of my favourite mangas and is written by my favourite mangaka, Tatsuki Fujimoto.
Therefore, I am obviously very excited for its anime adaptation and was even more excited for Part 2 of the manga, the first chapter of which just dropped.
Chapter 98, “Bird and War” was honestly not how I expected Chainsaw Man’s second part to begin but, given that this is Fujimoto we’re talking about here, I definitley should have.
A headless Chicken Devil named Bucky, who constantly makes terrible chicken puns, being used as an experiment to teach a highschool class about the sanctity of life is classic Fujimoto craziness.
The concept alone had me laughing hysterically right from the get go, and this was certainly not the last time I would be doing so when reading Chapter 98.
While every student in the class seems excited about spending time with Bucky, there is one exception, a loner girl named Asa Mitaka, the protaganist of the chapter.
Mitaka seems to despise everyone at her school, only tolerating the class president who makes an effort to befriend her.
It is when the two talk for the first time in the chapter that Fujimoto gives us a little bit of worldbuilding for the area they live in.
First, there is the bun the class president is eating, with the packaging it comes in reading, “Chainsaw Curry Man.”
This is a good bit of worldbuilding, showing the impact Denji’s popularity as Chainsaw Man has had an effect on Japan’s marketing companies.
The next bit of worldbuilding comes from Mitaka herself, who describes the city they live in as corrupt, with buildings being constructed illegally, a mayor with a DUI, along with Chainsaw Man himself.
This exposition is a little ham-fisted, since Mitaka is saying things that the class president would already know but it gets the information across to us readers well enough.
At the end of their conversation, the class president attempts to comfort Mitaka by saying that Bucky will be killed in 100 days, yet Mitaka wishes that both the Chicken Devil and Chainsaw Man would die sooner.
Mitaka’s hatred for Chainsaw Man is interesting when you look back and see the class talking about her parents being killed by a devil.
Does she hate Denji just by the assosciation of him being a devil, or does she hate him because her parents were killed in one of his big city fights?
Maybe her parents died in the fight with Reze and the Typhoon Devil, for example?
That’s just a theory for now, though.
Following the conversation between Mitaka and the class president, Fujimoto then delivers a montage of the 100 days the class spends with Bucky, growing closer and closer with him, while somehow tolerating his awful chicken puns.
Although, I suppose I did make just such a pun in the title of this review, so I shouldn’t be one to judge.
By the end of the 100 days, Mitaka is ready for Bucky to be killed, sporting a smug little grin, only for the class president to announce that everyone in the class has become attatched to Bucky and they now want him to live.
The teacher, Mr Tanaka, is overjoyed for his students, as he was hoping that they would come to this conclusion, now declaring that Bucky can live with their class and cancelling math so they can all go play soccer.
The entire class takes part, except for Mitaka, who Mr Tanaka and the class president attempt to coax into playing.
Surprisingly, it is Bucky who convinces Mitaka, jumping into her arms and asking her to come and play, by name.
This is the first time we hear Mitaka’s name in the story and it was a good call from Fujimoto to have this be the case, because it helped isolate us readers from her somewhat, until we learn with Mitaka that, despite her self isolation, she was jealous of the friendships everyone has.
Now feeling hopeful thanks to Bucky’s help, Mitaka holds him in her arms and walks towards her classmates, ready to come out of her shell and begin a new future at the school by making friends… only for her to trip and crush Bucky so hard that his intestines burst from his stomach, killing him.
Cue another burst of laughter from me at this classic use of dark comedy from Fujimoto.
Unfortunately, Mitaka accidentally crushing Bucky to death leads to her being isolated, only this isolation is no longer self-imposed.
Things start to look up, however, when Mr Tanaka and the class president come to take her to Bucky’s Grave to apologize for what happened togethor.
Clearly, Mr Tanaka and the class president are good people who will stand by Mitaka through thick and thin… right?
Well, actually, no, because it turns out that the class president is responsible for tripping Mitaka, causing her to kill Bucky, and has made a deal with the Justice Devil to kill her.
Why did she do this?
Because she was having sex with Tanaka but he wanted to pursue Mitaka, so she got jealous.
Yep, Mr Tanaka is a groomer and the class president only made friends with Mitaka because he asked her to so he could get close and, since then, she has become a devil possessed psycho.
I really like the way this creepy truth is exposed, with Tanaka agreeing with Mitaka that they should stop at red lights, clearly an attempt to begin grooming her in retrospect, and this causes the class president’s jealousy to explode, causing her to finally decide to kill Mitaka.
It is interesting to that the Justice Devil of all devils is the one to make a contract with the class president, since, in her mind, Mitaka deserves a punishment for “stealing” Tanaka away from her, when, in reality, Tanaka is at fault for being a creepy groomer.
However, despite liking the logic of the Justice Devil being the one to attack Mitaka, I will say that I think that its design is a little lacking.
This is not to say that it is badly drawn but most of the devils in Chainsaw Man have designs that perfectly reflect their name, like the Darkness Devil, for example.
The Justice Devil’s form doesn’t really seem to resemble justice in any way that I can see.
Although, maybe there is some meaning behind it that I’m not getting and, even if there isn’t, this is still a very minor gripe, nothing major.
One thing I can highly praise, though, is the amount of thought Fujimoto clearly put into the reveals of the class president and Tanaka because, if you go back and look at a lot of their actions earlier in the chapter, it takes a sinister turn.
The panel right before Mitaka trips obscures the class president from view and in the next panel she is standing right beside the fallen Mitaka, making it clear on rereads that it was in the prior panel where she was obscured when she tripped Mitaka.
Back to the present, as a mere human, Mitaka obviously stands no chance against the Justice Devil but, before she dies, we get a brief look at her thoughts on her life, as she realizes that she is not the only one who is jealous.
Everyone holds some jealously towards another person and, if she had just realized that sooner, she could have had a happy life, making friends and maybe even getting a boyfriend.
Oh, and accompanying these tragic thoughts is some of the most brutal gore we have seen in Chainsaw Man.
Seeing Mitaka’s face get torn apart in slow motion and the horrific aftermath was absolutley brutal.
Almost as brutal as what comes next as, in the instant before she dies, Mitaka sees a strange bird-like devil with the eyes of Makima watching over her from a stop sign.
The devil says that if she wants to live then her body is now its own.
Seemingly in an instant, Mitaka arises from death, now sporting a cool scar and marches over to Tanaka, deservedly decpitating him and sprouting a sword from his head, calling it the “Tanaka Spinal Cord Sword.”
There is already so much gore in Chainsaw Man‘s second part and I am all for it.
It only gets more brutal, as Mitaka announces herself as the War Devil, taking on the Justice Devil, cutting off its arm and transforming it into a hand grenade.
She then slices the Justice Devil in half, before throwing her Tanaka Spinal Cord Sword at her, prompting the class president still inside the Justice Devil to make out with the decapitated head.
I wonder if that’s an Attack on Titan reference?
In any case Mitaka declares this “a happy ending”, throwing the grenade over her shoulder, where it explodes, killing the Justice Devil, as Mitaka walks away in apparent slow motion in what is a clear omage to Fujimoto’s oneshot Goodbye Eri.
Speaking of which, Goodbye Eri is also amazing and if you have not read it yet then you definitley should.
“Bird and War” then ends with Mitaka seeing a poster for a Chainsaw Man Calling Party, and then, resting on the Justice Devil’s corpse, declaring, “Just you wait, Chainsaw Man! I’ll make you vomit nuclear weapons back up!”
This crazy final line from the War Devil controlling Mitaka perfectly spells out its motives, in my opinion.
During the final arc of Chainsaw Man Part One, Makima revealed that whenever the Chainsaw Devil eats another devil, it erases the memory of whatever that devil represented from everyone’s minds.
One of these devils that was killed, wiping its memory from humanity’s existance, was the Nuclear Weapons Devil.
Today, nuclear weapons are the thing we most fear when it comes to the terrible prospect of World War Three.
However, if nuclear weapons never existed, there would be less fear of war.
Not saying the fear would completley vanish, that would be stupid as war should always be feared, but it would be significantly less scary than it is now because without nuclear weapons there would not be a risk of destroying the entire world.
So, imagine the impact removing the memory of nuclear weapons would have had on the War Devil, knowing that devils are only as strong as humanity’s fear of what they represent.
It would have made the War Devil signficantly weaker.
This makes the War Devil’s motives abundantly clear, I think.
I believe that he deliberately took over Mitaka because of her hatred for Chainsaw Man, hoping to use her to kill him, potentially causing all of humanity to remember the fears that he killed, including nuclear weapons, thus returning the War Devil to its original power.
It will be interesting to see, if this theory is correct, how willing Mitaka is to go along with this plan.
We know she hates Chainsaw Man but there are some questions about why, as I have mentioned.
Not only this but we have to wonder how in control Mitaka was of her body when she made a contract with the War Devil.
It seems like the War Devil was completley in control when Mitaka killed the Justice Devil, so will she remember what happened when or if she takes control back and what will she think about her situation?
Would she be willing to kill Chainsaw Man if she knew it would increase the War Devil’s power and bring the world ending threat of nuclear weapons back?
I am intrigued to learn what she will think of all this in the coming chapters.
Another thing I am certain of though, along with the War Devil’s plan, is how Mitaka will attempt to track Chainsaw Man down.
She will do so by attending the Chainsaw Man Calling Party on the fifth of December, as the poster she looks at states.
We also know she and Denji will be at odds because of the promotional material we have got, with one piece showing Denji chainsawing Mitaka’s head open, while she glares at him in defiance.
Speaking of Denji himself, it is interesting to see that he is seemingly not the main character of Part Two.
I wonder what he has been up to, along with the other surviving character from Part One, like Kobeni, Kishibe, Nayuta and Yoshida?
Overall, Chapter 98 of Chainsaw Man “Bird and War” was an eggcelent start to Part Two… I know, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist the dumb chicken puns.
In all seriousness, I am incredibly impressed about how Fujimoto made me invested in Mitaka and her story in just a single chapter and I am excited to see where she goes as a character, whether as a protaganist or antaganist or anti-hero.
The chapter was so good that the only criticisms I have of it, those being some of the exposition delivery and the Justice Devil’s design, are so minor that they are barely an issue, showing how great this start was.
The future of Chainsaw Man is looking bright and I am looking forward to more crazy, gory and introspective scenes from Fujimoto