Dead Space Remake Review: Best Video Game Remake Since Resident Evil 2.

If you were to ask me two months ago which game I was more excited for, The Callisto Protocol or Dead Space, I would have undoubtedly said the former.
The Callisto Protocol was created by the man behind the original Dead Space and seemed set to be a spiritual successor to it, whereas The Dead Space Remake was being put out by EA, and we all know how negative their track record is, what with them essentially putting the franchise on ice for a time because of their bad decision making.
This is why I was so disappointed to find The Callisto Protocol to be a frustrating experience that almost never scared me.
Well, over a month later, The Dead Space Remake finally released and I was happy to discover that I was more terrified in its first ten minutes that I was in the entirety of my time with The Callisto Protocol.
Dead Space 2023 is a truly fantastic game and easily the best remake of a video game since Resident Evil 2.

Turns out the scariest version of *Dead Space* is still *Dead Space.*

Developed by Motive Studio, the game mostly follows the same story as the original.
We play as Isaac Clarke (Gunner Wright), an engineer sent to help fix the mining space station known as the USG Ishimura.
Accompanying him are the chief security officer Zach Hammond (Anthony Alabi) and computer specialist Kendra Daniels (Brigitte Kali Canales), but Isaac’s reasons for traveling to the Ishimura are far more personal than theirs because his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan (Tanya Clarke), is aboard.
However, this supposedly simple repair mission is turned into a horrifying fight for survival when Isaac and his crewmates board the Ishimura and are almost immediately attacked by the reanimated and transformed corpses of the ships crew.
These terrifying monsters are known as the Necromorphs and, although horrifying, Isaac is suited to deal with them, as the only way to defeat the Necromorphs is to sever their limbs.
Using a variety of engineering tools to dispatch these monsters, Isaac both desperately searches for Nicole and a way off the Ishimura.

Isaac explores a somehow infinitley more terrifying Ishimura than in the first game.

That is the premise of Dead Space in a nutshell, and the remake adapts it almost flawlessly, with numerous improvements to the original story.
For starters, Isaac now speaks, with Gunner Wright doing, yet again, a fantastic job as the character.
Many other characters are improved by rewrites in the remake, most notably Nicole and Challus Mercer (Faran Tahir), the latter of whom is quite intimidating in the remake.

Mercer’s introduction in the remake is a standout scene.

There is even an alternate ending that is unlockable in New Game Plus.
All in all, there are a lot of fun changes to the original Dead Space’s story.
However,, there are a few story changes where I felt the original did it better, especially in regards to a certain twist.
That being said, just because I found some of the original story to be better does not mean I consider the story changes to be bad.
I just like some of the original moments better and wish they were kept in.
So, the story is mostly fantastic but what about the gameplay?
Well, the gameplay is pretty much perfect, with every weapon having its own uses in dismembering the Necromorphs.
It is hard to beat the Plasma Cutter, however, and upgrading this and other weapons across the game was a lot of fun.

I never went anywhere without my trusty Plasma Cutter.

Upgrading certainly makes severing the Necromorphs limbs a lot easier too, which is much more gory this time around.
Necromorphs can literally be reduced to bone in this game, making for quite the horrifying sight as they advance towards you.
As if they weren’t already scary enough, with there being numerous examples of horrifying enemy variety.
Just as scary is the Ishimura itself, with it being incredibly atmospheric, thanks in large part to the incredible graphics and sound design.
You never know when a Necromorph is going to jump out of a vent or leap out of a floor grate to eviscerate you.
Certain gameplay segments aboard the ship are also much better than in the original game, mostly due to the update of the zero gravity sections.

The asteroid segment is much funner in the remake than in the original because of how zero gravity gameplay has been updated.

The only problem I had with the gameplay is one glitch I encountered a few times.
It happened when I tried to resume my play through after finishing for the day.
The game would start but the camera would just stay in place and not follow Isaac no matter what I did, meaning I had to reload the game to continue.
This was not a huge problem, however, because it only happened twice, and each time the issue was immediately fixed when I reloaded.
Overall, the Dead Space remake is already one of the best video games of the year.
It has interesting changes to the original story, fantastic gameplay, stellar graphics and sound design and, above all else, it is often terrifying.
I am highly intrigued to see what EA decides to do next with the franchise.
Will they remake Dead Space 2 or go off in another direction?
Either way, I am now along for the horrfying ride.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 119, Thief Review: You Had One Job, Yoru!

I have said it once and I will say it again, “God damn it, Yoru!”
I was excited for Chapter 119 of Chainsaw Man, “Thief”, because all signs pointed to it being the chapter where Nayuta would return to the story.
This turned out to be the case and Tatsuki Fujimoto certainly did not disappoint with her reintroduction.
“Thief” begins with Denji and Asa arriving at his apartment; a building named Tatsuki Apartments, named after Fujimoto himself.
As Denji lets Asa in, he informs her of the rules which will get her killed if she does not follow them.
However, rather than these rules being absurd, the first two are pretty standard stuff: Don’t open any other apartment doors and don’t open the fridge.
The third rule is that Asa should not make out with Denji in front of Nayuta.
This rule in particular is strange because how would Denji know that him kissing a girl is something Nayuta would freak out about?
Has Denji maybe had another girlfriend in the timeskip who Nayuta did not take kindly to?
As for Asa, she is obviously embarrassed by Denji’s insinuation that she wants to make out with him so goes on the offensive, claiming to hate him.
We know this is not the case because she then uses this as an excuse to tell Denji to stay away from her or he will wind up dead.
If Asa did not care about Denji at all then she could just leave him to Yoru.
Asa’s lie about hating Denji causes him to have a bit of downward inner spiral, as he begins to wonder if he stinks like a wet dog.
He turns to ask Asa this only to find that he is not looking at Asa.
The next panel can only be described as a jumpscare, as a grinning Yoru leans in and kisses Denji in what is undoubtedly another attempt to turn him into a weapon.
Yoru screwed up big time, however, because she breaks rule three just as Nayuta shows up after walking the dogs and she sees her making out with her brother.
Nayuta’s response?
To point at Yoru, call her a thief, and send one of the Control Devil’s chains straight through her head, bringing an end to the chapter.
It was great to see Nayuta again and her attack on Yoru was certainly in character.
Of course, the reincarnation of the Control Devil would see Denji as a possession, wanting to keep any girl from stealing her big brother’s attention.
Nayuta even looks like Makima here, with the hair braid.
Yoru really should have followed rule three.
She had one job and she blew it.
The outcome of this will definitley be interesting to see because Yoru will have to recognize Nayuta as the Control Devil now and will certainly have questions about why she is in Denji’s care.
Denji will also probably learn that Asa has a Devil sharing her body when he sees that she survived Nayuta’s attack.
I am eager to see what will happen in two weeks time, when the next chapter is released.
“Thief” was yet another fantastic Chainsaw Man chapter.
It was short but it had a lot of funny little details, like Denji and Nayuta counting their farts each month.
However, it was Nayuta’s return that was the standout in this chapter and I cannot wait to see how she will factor into the future of the story.

Bocchi the Rock Review: Relating to Introverts Everywhere.

A few months back, one of the most hyped up anime of the year, Chainsaw Man, began airing.
While Chainsaw Man certainly did live up to its massive expectations, what was surprising was that there was another anime airing around the same time that seemed to be getting the same level of buzz, despite not having the amount of hype beforehand.
This anime was Bocchi the Rock.
Based off the manga by Aki Hamaji, it felt like this show came out of nowhere, becoming one of the most talked about anime of the year.
Having heard this discussion, I decided to check it out and discovered a charming and often hilarious story that relates to introverts everywhere.

It was surprising to see just how talked about *Bocchi the Rock* became, until I watched it.

Bocchi the Rock follows Hitori Goto (Yoshino Aoyama), a teenage girl who suffers from extreme anxiety when it comes to social interactions.
Wanting to make friends, she decides to learn how to play the guitar, in the hopes that this will provide new opportunities for her to meet people.
Unfortunately, due to her severe introversion, she is unable to approach people for years, until, in a twist of fate, she is approached by drummer Nijika Ijichi (Sayumi Suzushiro), who is desperate for a third member to join her band, known as Kessoku Band.

Nijika quite literally drags Bocchi into being social.

Now with a chance to make friends, Hitori joins the band, meeting the third bandmate, who is the bizarrely aloof Ryo Yamada (Saku Mizuno).
Later being joined by the upbeat Ikuyo Kita (Ikumi Hasegawa), Hitori earns the nickname Bocchi and struggles to fight her introversion in her efforts to help the band to succeed.
These efforts often result in some gut busting humor, including plenty of hysterical fourth wall breaks.

The fourth wall humor in this anime is excellent.

I often found myself pausing at least once per-episode so I could have a good laugh before continuing.
What really shines about Bocchi the Rock, along with the humor, is how relatable Bocchi is as a character.
Having struggled with a bit of social anxiety myself (although not to Bocchi’s extent), Bocchi’s journey to becoming more sociable through Kessoku Band was easy to become invested in and I know this was the same for a lot of other viewers as well.
Bocchi’s relatability makes the high moments of the show shine even brighter, which is most apparent in Episode Eight where one performance had me on the edge of my seat.

The performance in Episode Eight is the best scene in the anime so far.

These performances of Kessoku Band come with some quality animation, which often changes style to suit the situation, whether that be serious or goofy.
The comedy in the goofy style of certain scenes is helped by the voice performances, especially Bocchi’s voice actor, Yoshino Aoyama, who has a truly impressive range.

It’s very impressive that Bocchi’s voice actress managed to do this scene without any voice editing required.

It is not just Bocchi who shines through the comedy though because many of her bandmates also get their funny moments, with Ryo being a standout.
Overall, it is the relatability of Bocchi and how she grows as a character that got me really invested in this show.
Hopefully a season two will be greenlit so we can all cheer Bocchi and Kessoku Band on, while simultaneously laughing at the excellent humor of this anime.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 118, Saying Goodbye Review: Control Incoming.

Chapter 117 of Chainsaw Man had one of the most intriguing cliffhangers of Part Two so far, as we were left wondering if Yoru would succeed in turning Denji into a weapon.
My theory was that she would and that this would lead to a comedic reveal for her and Asa learning that Denji is Chainsaw Man, when he manages to survive being decapitated and turned into a sword.
Another theory that was thrown around was that nothing would happen to Denji because it seems he is unaffected by Devil powers, like with the Doll Devil back in the International Assassins Arc.
This latter theory seems to have been the correct one because indeed nothing happens to Denji in Chapter 118, despite Yoru’s attempts to weaponize him.
Fujimoto definitley attempted to scare the readers into believing that this would be Denji’s end, however, as he titled the Chapter “Saying Goodbye”, and the first panel is of a murder of crows flying away in a moment that seems like sinister foreshaowing, only to cut to Denji staring at Yoru, incredibly confused.
What follows is multiple panels of an also incredibly confused Yoru screaming “Denji Spinal Cord Sword!” repeatedly.
In typical Denji fashion, he misinterprets this as some kind of weird goodbye from Asa, so places a hand on her head and shouts, “Asa Spinal Cord Sword!” before leaving.
Yoru is very confused about not being able to weaponize Denji and Asa speculates that it is because Denji does not have feelings for her yet.
I am curious to see if this is actually the reason or if it was because of Denji’s immunity to Devil curses, as I stated earlier.
If it is the former then there is still a possibility of Yoru weaponizing Denji in the future.
Asa, however, wants to focus on Fami but Yoru is dismissive, simply stating that her big sister is crazy and Asa should steer clear of her, before comedically flopping down onto Asa’s bed and falling asleep immediately.
Yoru falling asleep quickly seems to be a trend with her.
As for her relationship with Fami, I am curious to see why Yoru considers her to be crazy.
As Yoru lies sleeping, Asa thinks about Denji and seems depressed that Denji seemingly does not like her, before this depression humourously transforms into indignaiton.
Unfortnately for Denji, this leads to Asa acting rather coldly towards him the next day as he lays out a plan for their date.
Rather than agreeing to go on a movie marathon with him, Asa instead demands they use his VCR at home to watch movies.
Denji panics about this but in the end he agrees on the condition that Asa follow all of his house’s rules because if she does not then she could die.
Dear god, what kind of house is Nayuta running?
In all seriousness, I am now incredibly excited for the next chapter because we will probably finally be reintroduced to Nayuta and see how her personality has been reshaped from Makima after the end of Part One, and if Yoru will recognize her.
I am also curious to see why Haruka is now stalking Asa and Denji.
It is probably because he recognized Asa’s power somehow in the previous chapter but exactly what he recognied about it remains to be seen.
It’s going to be a long two week wait to see what will happen next.
“Saying Goodbye” is another great Chainsaw Man chapter which hypes up the return of Nayuta well.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Review: Revolutionary Girl Suletta.

The Mobile Suit Gundam series is an anime well known for its war commentary, explosive fights, and traumatic deaths.
My first exposure to the series was Iron Blooded Orphans, which I highly enjoyed and definitely met the criteria I just laid out.
Initially, this appeared to be the same for the latest Gundam series, The Witch From Mercury, with the prologue having plenty of war commentary in regards to corporations, quite a few well-animated Gundam fights, and a tragic death that the series is so well known for.
Imagine my surprise when the first few episodes of Cour One for The Witch From Mercury set this anime up as something more akin to Revolutionary Girl Utena than a Gundam series.

*The Witch From Mercury* starts off quite differently from other *Gundam* shows, making it unique.

Directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi The story follows Suletta Mercury (Kana Ichinose), a socially awkward girl sent to the Asticassia School of Technology, along with her Gundam, Aerial.
After defending the honour of fellow student Miorine Rembran (Lynn), the daughter of Delling Rembran (Naoya Uchida), the head of the powerful Benereit Group, in a duel, Suletta unwittingly finds herself engaged to her and must protect this engagement through dueling her other suitors.
Sounds very similar to Revolutionary Girl Utena, right?

This is how I imagine some *Gundam* fans reacting to this show’s set-up being different.

Well, despite this, the anime is still very much a Gundam series, with plenty of dark moments scattered throughout the first cour.
As for the slice of life moments that dominate a lot of the episodes, they were very welcome, delivering a lot of great humor and also endearing the characters to the audience.
Suletta and Miorine are both fun and relatable characters with great romantic chemistry that is interesting to watch grow.
The other characters are just as fun, from the Earth House kids, like ChuChu (Miyu Tomita) and Nika (Yume Miyamoto), to those in power at the school, like the emotionless Elan (Natsuki Hanae), shady Shaddiq (Makoto Furukawa), and Miorine’s previous fiancee Guel (Yōhei Azakami).
Guel, in particular, was a surprise because he started off as such an unlikeable character and yet, by the end, he is one of the most sympathetic characters.

Speaking of the end, boy, does it get dark, showing that the next cour will probably be much more in line with the grim tone of other Gundam anime.
There are also many questions raised in this first half that I am interested to see answered, like just how the prologue relates to everything that is happening, what exactly is going on with Suletta, and how her incredibly suspicious mother, Lady Prospera (Mamiko Noto), ties into that.
This and the seemingly inevitable darker tone Cour Two will have has me very excited for it but also dreading it because it is all bound to be tragic.

The ending of Cour One does not bode well for the light-hearted tone seen in much of the anime, previously.

The first cour of The Witch From Mercury does a fantastic job of setting up its story, getting us attached to the characters and mysteries, while also providing plenty of excellently animated Gundam fights.
Prepare for Cour Two where our hearts will inevitably be crushed under a Gundam’s hand.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 117, Penguin and Weapon Review: Damn it, Yoru!

The cliffhanger for Chapter 116 of Chainsaw Man raised a lot of questions about what would happen next.
Well, the cliffhanger for Chapter 117 “Penguin and Weapon” just topped that with the best cliffhanger for Part Two of the manga so far.
“Penguin and Weapon” begins with, well, a penguin.
While Asa uses the one million yen to buy the endless aquarium in her mind, Deni begins to have an internal debate, remembering that he decided to stop mindlessly obeying girls, yet still pondering continuing to do so because Asa offered him anything he wanted.
However, Denji is distracted from his inner thoughts when he sees a penguin and grabs it just as Asa transforms the aquarium into a weapon, freeing her and the rest of the captives from the Eternity Devil’s hold.
What follows is an epic panel of Asa facing off against the enraged Eternity Devil who calls her a moron for thinking she could buy an aquarium with just a million yen.
He then goes to attack her, while cursing Fami, only for Yoshida to interfere with the Octopus Devil, giving Yoru enough time to take control of Asa’s body.
Yoru then proceeds to give the aquarium back to the Eternity Devil, chucking her weapon at it, which launches a whole school of fish and sharks through the Eternity Devil’s stomach, killing it.
As Yoru revels in her victory, we get some interesting reactions from two of the other characters.
The first of these is Haruka, who seems to recognise Asa and Yoru’s power.
This would make sense if he knows about Fami being a Devil.
Much more interesting, however, is Yoshida, who spies Fami looking down at Asa in disappointment.
Yoshida and Fami then have a brief stare down.
So Yoshida definitley knows who Fami is.
This and his mention of the Death Devil in a previous chapter make him the most suspicious character in the manga, right now.
I am incredibly curious to see exactly what he knows and what his motives are.
In the aftermath of their escape, Denji is sadly forced to part ways with his penguin before walking Asa home.
Denji then decides what he wants from Asa; another date, as he will teach her how to have great ones.
Of course, in typical Fujimoto fashion, this wholesome moment is interrupted by something screwed up.
Yoru appears and senses that Asa now has feelings for Denji and proceeds with her plan, taking control of Asa’s body, placing a hand on Denji’s head and saying, “Denji spinal cord sword.”
Damn it, Yoru; they were having a moment!
The chapter then ends on this massive cliffhanger of Yoru trying to weaponize Denji, like she did Asa’s teacher.
Just like with the Chapter 116 cliffhanger, the question is, “will this work?”
It would be pretty awkward for nothing to happen, as Denji just stands there thinking Asa’s weird.
However, I think it will work, and Yoru will make a weapon out of Denji’s decaptiated head and spinal cord.
That being said, Denji is definitley not dying.
We have seen that he is pretty much immortal in Part One of the manga.
I think only removing Pochita’s heart can truly kill him.
So next chapter, I would not be surprised to see Yoru boasting about having a new weapon, while Asa freaks out, only for Denji’s decapitated head to also start freaking out, this causing Yoru to join Asa in freaking out.
In one promotional image for the manga, we saw Asa holding a chainsaw, and I think this was symbolising her and Yoru weaponizing Denji’s chainsaw abilities while he is still alive due to his immortality.
Once this whole debacle is over with, I can definitley see Denji, Asa and Yoru working togethor to fight Fami, and maybe Yoshida if he turns out to be against them.
This is all assuming that Yoru’s attempt to weaponize Denji works, though.
Maybe Fujimoto has something else planned.
After the cliffhanger, I am eager to see what will happen in Chapter 118.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Review: Humorously Relevant.

Knives Out was one of my favourite films of 2019, with director Rian Johnson delivering a smart mystery with an all-star cast.
When I heard news that he would be returning to direct more films revolving around the eccentric detective Benoit Blanc, played magnificently by Daniel Craig, I was all for it.
Well, now the sequel Glass Onion has released widely on Netflix and I can say that it definitely lived up to expectations.
I do prefer the first film but Glass Onion is a more than worthy sequel with plenty of exciting twists and turns, along with great comedy to keep viewers entertained.

*Glass Onion* has a great mixture of drama and comedy to its mystery.

The film follows Blanc as he is invited to the private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) for a murder mystery game.
Joining him are all of Bron’s scummy friends, including scientists Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), governor Claire DeBella (Kathryn Hahn), men’s rights YouTuber Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), and dim-witted fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson).
The one invited guest who is not scummy is Cassandra “Andy” Brand, Bron’s former business associate, who had a falling out with Bron and the rest of his so-called Destructor friends.
She is played excellently by Janelle Monáe and ends up being the most interesting character in the film, playing a similar role to that of Ana de Armas’ character in Knives Out.

Monáe does a fantastic job playing Andy, a character whose motives you are interested in from the first moment she appears.

Once all these characters, both scummy and not, arrive at the titular Glass Onion, the murder mystery begins but it is far from a game, delivering a fun, compelling mystery with plenty of interesting twists that make subsequent viewings more fun when you notice all the foreshadowing.
Even the commentary brought about by the story is interesting, given how much Miles Bron’s character resembles real tech billionaires, like Elon Musk with the whole Twitter fiasco (although this happened after the making of the film), making Glass Onion humorously relevant.

It’s funny how Bron resembles many tech billionares, putting up the persona of a genius while actually being a complete imbecile.

Speaking of the humor, Glass Onion has plenty of hilarious moments that made me pause the movie so I did not miss anything because I was laughing so hard.
Another thing that really stuck out to me about this film was the costuming, which says a lot because that is not usually something that catches my eye, yet the outfits were so fantastic in this film that I could not help but notice.

There are a lot of great costumes in this film.

As for issues, I do think there are some minor plot holes holding the film back when it comes to the backstory of the Destructors.
This is only minor though and it hardly matters when Glass Onion builds to a highly satisfying conclusion.
So, despite not being as good as the original Knives Out, Glass Onion is still a worthy follow up with great twists and turns, plenty of fun comedy, and surprisingly relevant commentary about how we should stop worshipping dumb tech billionaires like Elon Mus-I mean Miles Bron.
I look forward to seeing more Knives Out films in the detective work of Benoit Blanc.

Chainsaw Man Episode Twelve, Katana vs Chainsaw Review: The Contest to End All Contests.

Episode Twelve, “Katana vs Chainsaw” is the final episode of the Chainsaw Man adaptation’s first season, and what a fantastic point to end it on.
Directed by the series’ overall director Ryū Nakayama, “Katana vs Chainsaw” picks up with the fight between Aki and the Ghost Devil the previous episode ended on.
Aki is currently being strangled by the Ghost Devil and passes out, only to hallucinate a prior exchange with Himeno, where she offered him a cigarette, only to take it back when she learned he was underage, promising to hold onto it for him.
When Aki opens his eyes, the Ghost Devil is holding out a cigarette with “EASY REVENGE” written on it.
Some part of Himeno seems to have survived inside the Ghost Devil and, remembering what she told him about the Ghost Devil only being able to see through fear, Aki uses this to climb the Devil and decaptitate it, leaving only Sawatari to deal with.
Before Sawatari can call on the Snake Devil, however; Kobeni sneaks up behind her and puts a knife under her throat.
Aki asks why she stayed with Public Saftey, causing Kobeni to humorously respond that it was because their bonuses are coming up.
While this is happening, Denji and Power are riding up in an elevator to confront Katana Man, only to stop on a floor full of zombies.
Rather than take the elevator up away from them, Power instead launches herself into the zombies, crying out for Denji to watch her slaughter them.
Instead, Denji takes the elevator up, while an oblivious Power continues to obliterate the zombies
Eventually, Denji reaches Katana Man, who explains that he is prepared to give up so long as Denji allows himself to be killed by him.
Denji refuses and Katana Man attempts to manipulate him, again bringing up Denji not feeling empathy because he apparently lacks a human heart.
Denji may not be smart but he is clever enough to see through this and he cheerfully refuses again, leading to the final fight between him and Katana Man.
The two crash out of the building, eventually taking the fight atop a train with some truly excellent CGI.
They eventually crash inside the train, with Katana Man using his speed ability to cut both of Denji’s arms off before demanding he apologise for his grandfathr’s death.
This was Katana Man’s mistake, however, because Denji uses this to lure him into another attack, drawing his attention to his head while Denji uses a chainsaw in his foot to cut Katana Man in half.
“Didn’t the geezer teach you that beasts shouldn’t trust anything a hunter says?” Denji shouts, showing exactly what he learned from Kishibe and how much his training paid off.
When Katana Man regenerates, Deni ties him up to the train tracks.
However, much like Katana Man wanted satisfaction by killing Deni to avenge his grandfather, Denji too wants satisfaction for Himeno’s death so he decides to hold the contest to end all contest.
Aki then arrives and Denji gives the rules of the contest.
He and Aki will kick Katana Man in the nuts until the police show up and whoever gets the loudest scream wins his family jewels.
Aki is reluctant, until he again looks at the “EASY REVENGE!” cigarette and decides to compete.
Watching Deni and Aki kick Katana Man in the nuts over and over again to wholesome music was absolutley hilarious.
I like to think that Aki got the loudest scream as Katana Man’s screams serve as a reqiuem for Himeno.
The credits then begin to roll, with Makima reporting on the events of the raid and what they learned, primarily that Sawatari’s deal with the Gun Devil was to obtain Denji’s heart.
However, before they could find out why, Sawatari was killed by the Snake Devil in an apparent suicide part of her contract with the Gun Devil.
Makima then tells her superior that the Gun Devil parts they recovered have begun to move towards the main body, although the ED, “Fight Song” by Eve, begins before we can learn which direction it has started to move.
The ED shows Denji, Power and Aki going about their daily life after the Katana Man raid and it was a good final ED to end on.
Pretty much all of the ED’s are high quality, with them having great music and visuals, showing just how much care went into this anime.
After the ED, we get another anime original scene of Aki, as we see him go outside and smoke the “EASY REVENGE!” cigarette in what is probably his final goodbye to Himeno.
As this is happening, Denji is having a nightmare about the mysterious door, just like he did in Episode One, tying the opening of Season One up with its ending.
Just as Denji approaches the door, he hears Pochita on the other side, ordering Denji not to open it.
The episode then ends with a teaser, as an unseen female character walks through an alleywar towards a cafe, stating, “Tell me Denji, between the country mouse and the city mouse, which would you rather be?”
To anime only watchers, this tease will not mean much but, as a manga reader, it makes me incredibly excited for whatever follows, whether that be a Chainsaw Man Season Two or a movie to cover the next arc.
Overall, “Katana vs Chainsaw” was a fantastic final episode, delivering incredibly well animated fight and nut kicking scenes, alongside excellent music.
It is absolutley apparent that the people who made this anime love Chainsaw Man, as this is easily one of the best adaptations of a manga out there.
Hats off to you and your team Mappa.
I cannot wait to see what comes next for the Chainsaw Man anime.

Manga Spoilers:
As a manga reader, it was exciting to see Reze get teased at the end of the episode.
She is one of the best antagonists in Part One and brings up one of the big themes of the story, which is the whole country mouse vs city mouse argument.
I am curious to see if the Bomb Girl Arc that centers on her will be adapted as a movie or in a Season Two.
After all, the Bomb Girl Arc is short enough to be contained in a movie.
Although, it might be better for the pacing of the series overall for it to be kept for a Season Two.
Season Two could be the Bomb Girl and International Assassins Arc, and then Season Three could be the Gun Devil Arc and the Control Devil Arc, before moving onto Part Two.
Whichever it turns out to be, though, either a movie or Season Two, I will eagerly anticipate the return of the Chainsaw Man anime because of how amazing this adaptation was.

Chainsaw Man Episode Eleven, Mission Start Review: The Future Rules!

Episode Eleven of Chainsaw Man, “Mission Start” picks up from the cliffhanger of Aki going in to make a contract with the Future Devil.
The cliffhanger made the Future Devil out to be an incredibly scary devil so there is a lot of comedic catharsis to see it is a hip Devil who constantly screams “The future rules!”
Directed by Masato Nakazono and Takeshi Satō the episode opening follows this comedic reveal, and then continues to detail Aki’s coversation with the Future Devil, who demands Aki say “The future rules” as well.
Instead, Aki tells the Future Devil he has come to make a contract, deflating the Future Devil’s excitement.
In all honesty, though, it was probably not a smart idea for Aki to refuse to play along with the Future Devil after learning it has such a hefty price for its contracts.
If it were me, I would have been screaming “The future rules!” right along with the Devil.
Aki’s lucky that the Future Devil decided the terms of his contract by reading his future, and his terms are quite generous at that.
The Future Devil will allow Aki to see a few seconds into the future when fighting, and, in return, Aki will allow it to live inside his right eye.
Aki is understandablly suspicious of the generous contract but the Future Devil explains that it saw Aki’s death will be the “f***ing worst,” and it wants a front row seat.
There was originally a mistranslation of this line, as the Future Devil said Aki’s death would “f***ing rule” so it is good that they changed it to be closer to the original meaning.
As for Aki himself, he is not bothered by the Future Devil’s prophecy, instead demanding it get in his eye to complete the contract.
Meanwhile, Kishibe has finished killing Denji and Power for what is probably the hundreth times by now.
Only, this time, they appear to have landed a blow on him, as Kishibe wipes away the blood from a cut on his cheek.
Impressed with their efforts, he decides to only train them once a week, before telling them that tomorrow they are going after Sawatari and Katana Man.
However, he does warn Denji and Power that if the mission goes bad then he will have to kill the both of them.
Unperturbed by this, Denji explains that if he fights Kishibe then he will spare him because his training increased his chances of hooking up with Makima.
Speak of the devil, the next scene is between Makima and Kishibe, who meet up for drinks.
Makima thanks Kishibe for training Denji and Power but Kishibe says he is sick of them already because he has come to care about them, and every time someone he trains and then cares about dies he ends up drinking more.
Kishibe then accuses Makima of knowing the attack against the Special Divisions would happen and not doing anything to stop it.
However, he says he will let such actions slide as long as her actions benefit humanity.
Makima then goes on a speech about how her actions will achieve just that, only for Kishibe to call her a liar, to which Makima’s small smile returns.
This is one of my favourite Kishibe scenes because it tells us plenty about his character.
His incessant drinking is caused by the guilt he feels for lost pupils, yet, despite this guilt, he is willing to let them die so long as it benefits humanity as a whole.
He is also one of the few to actually call Makima out on her manipulative actions.
The next morning, we see what the Yakuza is up to, with Katana Man and Sawatari preparing for Division Four’s attack.
The boss of the Yakuza has been moved but Katana Man and Sawatari plan to stay, and use their zombie army left over from Katana Man’s grandfather’s contract with the Zombie Devil to deal with Division Four.
At the same time, Aki is returning with Tendo and Kurose, the later of whom berates him for his unrealistic mission to kill the Gun Devil.
Aki counters this by stating that he knows it is unrealistic but he could not go on without that mission, telling Kurose he is free to laugh at him if he loses and dies against the Gun Devil.
This seems to earn Kurose’s respect, as he tells Aki he is routing for him, delivering the same advice he was given, “Everyone who works in the Special Division is crazy, so watch yourself.”
He and Tendo then leave, presumably for Kyoto.
As for Makima, she is meeting with the yakuza boss that was spoken of earlier, along with his men.
The boss explains that it was Sawatari who roped Katana Man and the others into dealing with the Gun Devil and is cooperative until Makima requests the names of those contracted with the Gun Devil in other crime families.
This causes the boss to go on a familiar rant about “necessary evils,” which Katana Man spoke of in his introduction in refrence to his grandfather.
The boss compares himself to a Devil Hunter, protecting Japan from other Mafia families, like how the Devil Hunters protect people from the Devils.
Makima, however, rightly points out that this is just to justify the boss’ own evil actions.
She goes on to state her belief that the only true necessary evil is one where “the nation itself is holding the lesh and maintaining control.”
This is why she is so horrifying calm when she presents the yakuza boss and his underlings with the eyes of their loved ones, using their return as blackmail to get what she wants.
While this exchange is happening, Division Four finally begins their raid on Katana Man and Sawatari’s base of operations.
Outside, Kishibe debriefs the police, explaining they need to be on the lookout, not for escaping yakuza but escaping fiends and Devils who work for Division Four, just in case they get loose.
We then get a showcase of these creatures in an action sequence, meeting the Shark Fiend (Natsuki Hanae), the Violence Fiend (Yuya Uchida) , the Spider Devil (Saori Goto) and the Angel Devil (Maaya Uchida), all of whom take on the zombies in well directed and bloody action.
Denji, Aki and Power fight alongside them, resulting in Aki and the Angel Devil interacting, where Aki is brave enough to get closer to the Angel Devil, despite the fact that physical contact will drain his already short life span, and the Angel Devil then saves Aki’s life from gunfire.
Aki decides to leave the zombies to the fiends, while he, Denji and Power split up to search for Sawatari and Katana Man.
While searching, Aki is able to incapcitate one yakuza member, probably thanks to his new future sight power, but quickly finds himself overwhelmed, only for Makima’s help to come in key again, as the men all slump to the floor dead with bloody noses, just as the yakuza who threatened Makima earlier did.
Makima emerges from the yakuza boss’ base, the fate of the boss and his underlings unknown.
We then get the final scene of the episode, as Aki locates Sawatari, only for her to have the Snake Devil spit out the Ghost Devil, which Aki is forced to fight using his future sight in more extremely well animated action.
There are too many limbs for Aki to keep track of, however, and he eventually ends up getting caught, with Sawatari ordering the Ghost Devil to strangle him to death.
The episode then ends with things looking pretty grim for Aki, closing off with the ED “Violence” by Queen Bee.
All in all, “Mission Start” is another great Chainsaw Man episode.
Going into it, I was actually wondering if it would adapt enough content so the next episode could end with finishing the Katana Man Arc.
This concern was unfounded since the next episode did end with the conclusion of that arc, along with some hints for future arcs, which I am excited for.

Manga Spoilers:
While I was glad to see that the mistranslation of Aki’s death got cleared up, I still think the manga translation of Aki dying “in the worst possible way” is better.
It later ties in with the Future Devil saying Aki died “in the worst possible way… for the chainsaw boy.”
Although this line could still be made to work.
Maybe the Future Devil will say, “Your death was the f***ing worst… for the chainsaw boy.”
Speaking of allusions to the future, though, the scene where the yakuza boss says that the Gun Devil required money for a contract is interesting, considering that it is later revealed that the Gun Devil has already been defeated and parts of its are held by different countries.
So, rather than the Gun Devil requring money for the contract, its whatever shady government organization which required money to sell the guns through Sawatari.
The last spoiler detail I would like to talk about is Aki’s character development, or rather the setup for it.
He tells Kurose in this episode that without his unrealisitic desire for revenge against the Gun Devil, he would have nothing.
This makes Aki’s character arc one of the best in the story, given where he ends up as, by his conclusion, he is willing to throw away his mission to kill the Gun Devil entirely so he can keep Denji and Power safe.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 116, Taste of Starfish Review: Endless Wholesomeness in the Endless Aquarium.

In my review for Chapter 114 of Chainsaw Man, one criticism I had was that it felt too similar to the Eternity Devil Arc.
Well, Chapter 115 began to fix this issue by having fantastic character build up and interactions.
Now, Chapter 116, “Taste of Starfish”, has completed this fix, delivering a wholesome experience in the endless aquarium.
“Taste of Starfish” begins in the starfish tank where Denji offered Asa a starfish to eat in the previous chapter’s cliffhanger.
The Kobeni clone is now there and licking the glass in a state of delirium but Asa and Deni ignore him.
Asa points out which of the starfish are edible and also explains the problem that they would have to boil the starfish to avoid their toxins.
Leaving and sitting down in a room with a lot of gathered hats, Asa and Denji cook the starfish.
As they cook, Asa questions Denji about the hats and he explains that he gathered them so he could sell them all.
No doubt remembering Denji ripping off homeless people for money and stealing money from the handbag, Asa questions why Denji wants money so bay.
Denji replies that he has a “Sorta-friend… sorta-little sister”, obviously referring to Nayuta.
He believes that she is smart enough to go to college so is trying to get the money to pay for it all, wanting her to live a good life.
There is a lot to read in Asa’s expression in the following panel, and I think she is showing a mix of surprise and guilt.
Surprise at Denji’s reason for ripping people off being such an understandable one, and guilt at how she was planning to weaponize him for a time.
The two then eat their starfish but something about her interaction with Denji gives Asa the courage to try fish as well.
The revolted faces she pulls as she eats causes Denji to laugh, declaring that she is fun to watch, despite being a bore.
Denji’s compliments cause a massive boost of self confidence in Asa, as she shouts that she is an interesting woman and glad he noticed, while blushing.
This self-boasting is very reminiscent of Power and Denji notices this too as he tells Asa that she “reminds me of an old friend.”
Asa asks if this is a good thing but, before she can get a response, she is distracted by the endless amount of hats Deni gathered and this leads to her thinking of a plan to get them out of the aquarium loop.
The first step in her plan is an unusual one: collecting money.
What follows is a wholesome montage of theft as Denji and Asa run across the aquarium in a panel very similar to Asa and Yuko running togethor in Chapter 100.
The two steal money and laugh as they go, until they have collected over a million yen.
Asa then tells Denji to give her all of the money for the next step in her plan.
Denji outright refuses, until Asa promise to grant him any request once they’re out, to which Deni instantly sells out.
Oh, Denji.
You may have had a lot of character development but some things about you just never changed.
Now with the money, Asa tells Denji to stand away and close his eyes.
Once Denji has done this, Asa again urges herself to be confident.
She then walks over to one of the tanks, places her hands upon it, lays down the money, saying she is using it to buy the aquarium, and then says “Aquarium Spear,” bringing an end to the chapter.
So Asa’s whole plan is to “buy” the aquarium with the money she and Denji stole, making it hers, and then turn it into a weapon, which will generate an endless amount of weapons due to the loop, which will they will then use to somehow kill the Eternity Devil.
It’s an incredibly creative plan that is pure Fujimoto.
As for whether it will work, I think the Aquarium Spear part will.
Like Asa said, “It doesn’t matter how crazy the logicis. It’s a matter of my own perception.”
Asa may not be capable of actually buying the aquarium but her performing a fake transaction could be enough to create the perception of the aquarium being hers, allowing her to weaponize it against the Eternity Devil.
It will be interesting to see how this weapon is used in the next chapter.
What I am more interested in, however, is the chance to see Denji and Asa interact again.
Their banter and growth this chapter was endless wholesomeness and really made me think Fujimoto might be going down the romantic route for the two of them.
Time will tell.