Chainsaw Man Chapter 114, Endless Aquarium Review: I’m Seeing Double.

Not long ago, the Chainsaw Man anime wrapped up the Eternity Devil Arc.
Now, in the manga, we seem to be entering a very similar arc, with not only the same concept but very similar characters, leading to me seeing double.
Chapter 114, “Endless Aquarium” begins in the aftermath of Asa and Denji realizing that they are stuck in a loop inside the aquarium.
Well, at least Denji realizes it because Asa apparently refuses to belive it, marching along the hallway, looking for a way out, while refusing to believe Denji’s story of the loop being the Eternity Devil’s doing.
She states that she is in the Devil Hunter Club so she knows more about Devils than him, which is not true but is corroborated by Haruka Iseumi who is also revealed to have been stuck in the loop, alongside Seigi Akoku, the Devil Hunter who lost an eye to Yuko, another Devil Hunter Club member, and even Yoshida.
It is not surprising to see all these characters stuck togethor.
The Devil Hunter Club makes sense because they probably came with Fami, and Yoshida makes sense because he was probably tailing Denji to make sure he does not reveal himself as Chainsaw Man.
This job should be easy for Yoshida, considering that Haruka is there and he is most likely the fake Chainsaw Man.
Speaking of Haruka, there is a pretty good gag where he attempts to introduce himself to the others twice and is cut off both times.
First, by the arrival of Yoshida, and second by the final member of the Devil Hunter Club who freaks out and starts sweating and crying about being trapped in the loop, screaming that they only joined the Devil Hunter Club because their mother said it would get them a scholarship.
Sound familiar?
When I said that I was seeing double, I was not just referring to the storyline but also the characters because this new character looks and acts exactly like Kobeni, right down to the hair pins and moles on their face.
I actually thought this was Kobeni for a couple of seconds, before I realized that she was 20 in Part One so there is no way she would be in school.
This lead me to thinking that the new character is one of Kobeni’s many sisters, or perhaps her brother since this character is supposedly a boy.
However, Kobeni’s brother is said to be older than her so he should also not be in school.
As for this character being one of Kobeni’s sisters, again, the character is supposedly male due to the way I have heard he adresses himself in Japanese, plus he wears the male school uniform.
It is still not out of the question for him to still be related to Kobeni in some way, though.
Perhaps he is just an unmentioned brother?
I do have to wonder why Fujimoto would introduce a character who looks and acts exactly like Kobeni, though?
It just seems to be a bit of a weird choice.
In any case, after the interruptions, Hurka is finally able to introduce himself on his third attempt and asserts leadership over the trapped group.
This causes Asa to have a bit of dilemma, as she wonders if she should either turn Denji into a weapon so Fami will let them go or kill Haruka because she thinks he is the real Chainsaw Man.
While she ponders this, the group look around and, just like in the Eternity Devil Arc, find there is no way out of the loop.
Unlike that arc, however, they do have enough food and water to last a good while.
Not for Asa, though, because she says she cannot eat fish because they remind her of a dead animal.
This is probably due to her trauma from killing Bucky, yet it still earns her a lot of weird looks from the group, causing Asa to leave and then run into Denji, who reluctantly tells her of how he is taking 1,000 yen in a bag he found.
Asa calls him a theif, telling him he is not helping, leading to Denji accusing her of not being helpful either, humorously ending with the two screaming at each other to go to hell repeatedly, as Denji storms off.
Asa seeks reassurance from Yoru, temporarily forgetting that Fami took her away.
I liked this little moment because it shows that Asa is slowly learning to care about the War Devil and value her input, despite wanting her body back.
Realizing that she is on her own and feeling insecure about Denji’s accusation of her not contributing, Asa tries to figure out a way to help the group, only to remember she has a celluar phone from her mother.
She triumphantly reveals this to the group, who all cheer for her as she attempts to find a signal, only for her to typically fall over and break her phone, horrifying the group, except for Yoshida who gets a good chuckle out of it.
Haruka, on the other hand, is extremely disappointed, condemning her constant complaints, refusal to work with the group and now her ruining their one escape attempt.
Ashamed, Asa goes out into the hallway and sits alone, crumpling in on herself and bringing Chapter 114 to a close.
“Endless Aquarium” is a good chapter, overall.
It builds up some of the new characters well, like Haruka, who really came off as the self-aggrandising wannabe leader in this chapter.
However, I do think this arc is just way too similar to the Eternity Devil Arc, at this point.
Not only do we have the same Devil antagonist but pretty much the same character through a Kobeni clone.
It feels kind of like a retread, instead of something really new and interesting.
Let’s hope Fujimoto can add something to make this arc standout a bit in the coming chapters.

Chainsaw Man Episode 10, Bruised & Battered Review: A Brutal Training Arc.

After the two chaotic battle episodes, Episode 10 of Chainsaw Man, “Bruised & Battered” picks up in the aftermath.
Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, “Bruised & Battered” begins with Aki waking up in the hostpital to see Denji and Power fighting over an apple at his bedside, with Denji refusing to give her one because she skedaddled during their fight with Katana Man.
Aki interrupts this humorous fight with the somber question of how many others in Division 4 are still alive.
Denji tells him that only Kobeni and Madoka are, although Madoka quit.
After telling him this, Denji and Power leave to meet with Makima but Denji decides to leave Aki an apple, in a parallel to an earlier scene where Aki too gave Denji an apple in the hostpital.
Now alone, Aki takes out his nail sword and asked the Curse Devil how long he has left.
In the manga we only see the Curse’s mouth as it tells Aki he has two years left to live.
This was updated in the anime to have the Curse Devil actually appear over Aki’s shoulder, which was a nice and creepy change.
Having recieved this terrible news, Aki decides to have a cigarette, only for this to remind him of Himeno, which finally causes him to break down crying, something which Himeno admired him for and wanted him to do for her.
Denji is outside Aki’s room when this happens, since he planned to go back to get his dropped manga, but feels awkward about entering.
This leads to him realizing that he does not really feel all that sad about Himeno dying, even though they became friends right before it happened.
Realizing he would not feel bad for long even if Makima died, Denji begins to question his own humanity, only to comedically brush it off and go with Power to meet Makima at the Devil Hunter graveyard.
Upon arriving, she introduces them to Kishibe, Himeno’s mentor and the strongest Devil Hunter there is.
Kishibe asks them three questions, what did they feel when their comrades died, do they want revenge, and are they on the side of the humans or the devils?
Denji and Power’s following answers are both comedic and would raise serious questions for other Devil Hunters about their loyalty.
Not Kishibe.
No, instead he sees two trainees with a couple of screws loose, the perfect quality for a Devil Hunter according to him.
And since they are Devils themselves, this means he can go all out on them, which he proceeds to do when he sends Makima away, before breaking both Denji and Power’s necks.
He then revives them using blood and explains how their training will work.
Since they are mostly immortal, and he is the best Devil Hunter there is, he will continue to hunt both of them down until they can defeat him, eventually turning them into “serious badasses.”
Well, it will probably take a long time for that last step to happen because Denji and Power get absolutley destroyed by Kishibe in their first fight, in a bloody and well-animated fashion.
Since this was a smaller fight in the manga, I did not expect it to be so great to look at in the anime.
Yet, it was.
I think I just need to expect everything in the Chainsaw Man adaptation is going to have amazing animation at this rate.
Mappa just seem to be that dedicated to getting it right.
While Denji and Power’s brutal tortu-I mean training is happening, Aki is recieving coaching from Kurose and Tendo, who reveal to him that the Fox Devil will no longer work with him because he angered it by trying to feed it Katana Man.
They give him two options.
Either quit and enjoy the time he has left or stay and sacrifice more of his life with Devil contracts.
Aki decides to stay, still determined to avenge his family and now Himeno as well.
Speaking of Himeno, Aki is then visited by her little sister.
Thankfully, this meeting goes much better than Himeno’s with the families of her dead partners.
Himeno’s sister simply gives Aki a letter which gives both him and us as the audience insight into her life.
It also reveals to Aki that she was hoping to convince him to quit so he would live.
Unfortunately, Himeno’s death has only pushed Aki further down the path he is on.
Later that night, Kishibe calls an end to the days training with Denji and Power, leaving the two to recover.
And by recover, I mean Power bashing Denji’s head in until he comes back to himself.
Once restored, the two begin to walk home, dismayed over how much worse Kishibe’s extreme training will make their lives.
Suddenly, Power comes up with a genius plan to defeat Kishibe.
They will just use their brains!
Yep, with all two of their shared brain cells.
Impressive right?
We see this plan come to fruition the next day, as Denji and Power put on glasses to become smart and then initiate their attack on Kishibe when he arrives at their apartment.
It goes as well as you would expect.
First, Kishibe dodges and destroys Power’s blood spears with no effort, making her anemic from using too much blood.
Second, he kicks Denji to the ground after he sees his shadow when he leaps down to strike him a hatchet.
Regardless, Kishibe is impressed by their effort so he gives them the day off training.
Or that is what he tells them at least because, after Denji joyfully tells Power they have the day off, Kishibe throws a knife into his skull declaring, “Beasts shouldn’t trust anything a hunter says.”
All of Kishibe’s scenes in this episode were great, being perfectly animated.
And, I will say it again, Kenjiro Tsudya is just fantastic as Kishibe.
I honestly don’t think anyone better could have been cast.
After Kishibe’s final scene, the episode then ends on one of Aki’s as Kurose and Tendo take him to make a contract with the Future Devil.
Two other people have contracts with it.
One gave up half of their lifespan, the other his eyes, sense of smell and taste.
So things are not looking good for Aki with this contract.
The dread deepens as Aki enters the cell with the Future Devil and sees its eye peering out at him from the darkness, ending the episode on another cliffhanger, before transitioning to the tenth ED, “Dogland” by People 1.
“Bruised and Battered” is a solid Chainsaw Man episode.
While not as exciting as the previous two episodes, it is a good set up episode, and does a fantastic job of adapting Kishibe.

Manga Spoilers:
The episode ends right before we see the Future Devils form and personality so I am interested to see how many anime only viewers will react to that, along with it prophecising Aki dying in “the worst way imagineable.”
Along with this, I am also curious about where exactly the adaptation will end.
There is only supposed to be twelve episodes after all.
I originally thought it would end with Denji’s nightmare about the door after defeating Katana Man, bookending this part the way it began.
However, there may not be enough content for this, unless some scenes get cut.
No matter what gets adapted and what does not, though, I have full faith in Mappa to adapt the following chapters as excellently as they have the previous ones.
The future rules indeed.

Chainsaw Man Episode Nine, From Kyoto Review: POP Goes the Yakuza!

After the insansity of Chainsaw Man truly began last episode, Episode Nine, “From Kyoto” continues this, with many moments I was excited to see from the manga being adapted excellently.
Directed by Takahiro Kaneko, “From Kyoto” begins by briefly recaping the previous episode through showing Himeno’s death, as she gives all of her strength to the Ghost Devil in the hopes of beating the mysterious girl, named Sawatari, and Katana Man.
As we know from “Gunfire”, this unfortunately fails as Sawatari uses the Snake Devil to eat the Ghost and Himeno vanishes entirely.
It seems like the Yakuza have won this fight until, with the last of its strength, the Ghost Devil pulls Denji’s ripcord, causing him to heal and transform into his Chainsaw form.
As he and Katana Man prepare face off, we hear “Hawatari 2 Oku-senchi” begin to play for the third time in this show.
Once again, the makers of the anime seem to really like this song and I, for one, cannot blame them.
It really is a banger and it suits the build up to Denji’s fight with Katana Man well.
We see the fight after the opening, brief as it is, and it is as exceptionally animated as the action in the previous episode.
Sawatari calls for backup and they eventually arrive but they only prove to be a hinderance as Denji takes one of the men hostage pretty easily.
The hinderance is a small one, however, because Katana Man is absolutley not concerned about killing his own men as he uses the same attack he used to defeat Aki, slicing both Denj and his own subordinate in half.
Katana Man then prepares to take Denji’s body to their van as his own hyrid form melts, before proclaiming that Devil Hunters are no match for guns.
Following this statement, we get a brief montage proving him right, as we see Arai and various other Devil Hunters who drank with Denji the night before have been killed.
Makima seems to be among them, until her assassins look back at her body, only to see she has somehow resurrected herself, in an exceptionally creepy shot.
At the train station where Makima was heading, two other Devil Hunters, Kurose (Kengo Kawanishi) and Tendo (Hitomi Ueda), are waiting for her arrival when they hear about the attacks on the Devil Hunter divisions.
They believe Makima is dead, until she steps off the arriving train covered in blood.
She lies, stating that she was not hit and the blood she is covered in is not her own.
That last detail is probably partially true because we then cut to an overhead shot looking down inside the train, where Makima’s would-be assassins have all been brutally killed with large holes seeming to have been blown through their stomachs.
Instead of heading to Tokyo, Makima instead orders Kurose and Tendo to gather 30 convicts with life sentences or worse and then take them to a highly elevated temple.
We then get an anime only scene of Makima preparing for her gruesome plan, as she redresses herself, while the convicts are brought to the temple, having what they do not know will be their final meal on the way.
The scene then cuts to back with Katana Man and Sawatari, as they and their Yaukza subordinates are loading Denji into their van, only for the subodrinates to start exploding in a bloody game of Pop Goes the Yakuza!
We then see exactly how Makima is making this happen.
Atop the temple, she has the prisoners, and Tendo and Kurose blindfolded.
This is so Tendo and Kurose cannot see what Devil she is contracted with and probably so the prisoners will not panic when they start dying.
Makima goes from prisoner to prisoner, ordering them to say the full name of each Yakuza member.
She then squishes her hands togethor, squishing the Yaukza and also killing the prisoner in the process.
This horrible ability is perfectly portrayed from the manga, displaying just how gruesome all of this is, with one shot of a gun laying in a puddle of blood being particuarly striking.
Just as unnerving is Makima’s demeanor after doing all of this, as she calmly declares that this is all she can do from here.
For whatever reason, Makima did not harm Katana Man or Sawatari, and they prepare to load Denji into their van, only to stop when they see an unexpected person approaching: Kobeni.
We then get the payoff to Himeno saying how skilled she was in the Eternity Devil Arc.
Sawatari sends the Snake Devil to kill her but Kobeni easily jumps over it and runs along the tail, jumping to slice off Katana Man’s hand, catch his gun in midair, and then shoot him with it without even looking.
She then uses Denji as a shield when Sawatari attempts to shoot her, forcing Sawatari to retreat with Katana Man.
Kobeni does all of this with her perpetually depressed expression, which is understandable given the trauma she just experienced.
In a flashback, it is revealed that when the old lady fired at Kobeni and Arai, Arai sacrificed himself for her, giving Kobeni enough time to get behind the old lady and make her shoot herself.
This unfortunately creates a lot of survivors guilt for Kobeni as, after apologising to Denji for trying to kill him earlier, she has a breakdown, laughing and crying over how she is apologising for attempted murder and how Arai died for her.
She declares that she will tell Himeno she quits the next time she sees her, doubling the tragedy because we already know Himeno is dead.
I wonder if anime only viewers will have warmed up to Kobeni now that she has had her big moment?
Many of them hated her because of her actions in the Eternity Devil Arc.
I did too when I read the manga but my negative opinion of her turned around after she saved Denji and I wonder if this is the same for anime only viewers?
The final scene of the episode then sees Makima meeting with Madoka, the sole survivor among the newly introduced Devil Hunters who went out with Denji and the others the night before.
Madoka announces that the divisions are being merged because of the assassinations, leaving Makima in charge.
He then quits his job because he believes its leave the Devil Hunting profession or die, before all but accusing Makima of knowing this whole thing was going to happen.
Makima, however, neither confirms nor denies this, stating she cannot share such information with civilians.
As she leaves with Kurose and Tendo, the two are obviously creeped out by Makima as well now.
They timidly try to get away from her by saying they are only staying in Tokyo briefly so they can train people.
Makima states that this is a shame because, “The dining in Tokyo is to die for,” bringing an end to the episode.
Way to not seem creepy, Makima.
After the episode ends, we get our ninth ED “Deep Down” by Aimer, which is right up there with “Hawatari 2 Oku-senchi” and “First Death” in terms of quality.
Overall, “From Kyoto” is probably my favourite episode of Chainsaw Man so far.
It perfectly adapts great moments like Kobeni rescuing Denji, Makima’s revival, and then her brutal game of Pop Goes the Yakuza!

Manga Spoilers:
One addition to the anime that I liked was the use of crows when the Yakuza began exploding.
We know from the manga that Makima can control various animals, like rats and crows.
The crows flying around when the Yakuza start popping show that Makima is using them to confirm that she is hitting her targets.
Either that or the crows play some role in the popping.
As for Makima leaving Katana Man and Sawatari alive, I am still curious about her reason for doing so.
Maybe it was so she could obtain their power later, as we see her doing so in the final couple of arcs in Part One.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 113, I Wanna See Penguins! Review: The Second Hand Embarrassment Devil is Real.

Chapter 112 of Chainsaw Man ended with Asa asking Denji out on a date so she could use him as a potential weapon to help Yoru take down Chainsaw Man, unaware that he is actually Denji.
Going into Chapter 113, “I Wanna See Penguins!” I am sure that many of us expected it would be Denji to comedically ruin their date, possibly with the help of Nayuta.
Thus, I was surprised at first to see that it was Asa who ruined it but this made complete sense given how she did it.
Asa actually looks pretty confident before the date, as the chapter begins with her getting ready for it, checking her outfit and reflection in the mirror.
Yoru wants her to add some flair to her appearance but Asa remains sure of her ability to get Denji to fall for her on their date at the aquairum.
Her plan?
To become a walking, talking wikipedia article on every single fish and animal in the aquarium.
The next two pages are of her monologuing to Denji on and on about sea anemones and star fish, to which Denji looks incredibly bored.
If there is such thing as a Second Hand Embarrassment Devil then I undobutedly made it stronger reading this chapter because I felt so embarrassed for Asa.
I will admit, it was impressive for her to remember all of those details after just studying about them at the library, however; one-way conversations are certainly not how dates should go.
Both partners need to have an equal standing for it to work and, most importantly, you don’t tell your date to shut up when they try to talk with you, which is exactly what Asa does after Denji constantly suggests they go and see the penguins.
Asa then states the worst thing she could have possibly said to Denji, “You don’t need to think about a thing.”
This statement obviously hits Denji deeply, when you consider his background.
In Part One, Denji gave himself over entirely to Makima, allowing her to think for him, and this lead to him opening the door, after which Makima killed Power.
Now free from Makima’s control, Denji definitley does not want to be under anyone’s thumb again and he tells Asa as much, stating that he has decided to think about stuff his own way.
He then storms off to see the penguins, since he has never seen them before.
Yoru wants Asa to go after Denji but Asa refuses, believing she did not do anything wrong.
This results in Yoru calling Asa “a total bore” for her prior rants, only making Asa angrier as she insists she did nothing wrong.
Yoru clearly does not agree but the mysterious girl who resurrected Yuko previously states that she does agree, appearing as if from nowhere.
As Asa stammers in shock at her appearance, the mysterious girl says that Denji is not someone who knows the difference between right and wrong, potentially hinting that she actually knows he is the real Chainsaw Man.
She then states that Asa is wrong to believe she could turn Denji into a weapon because she wants to do the right thing.
This made me wonder if Asa had actually purposefully ruined the date so she would not have to kill Denji.
Although, her being angry about Denji and Yoru not appreciating her monologues could contridict this, unless Asa ruined the date subconciously.
In any case, Asa asks the mysterious girl how she knows her power and the girl finally introduces herself as the Famine Devil, Yoru’s big sister, who perfers to be called Fami.
This confirms her to be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, alongside Yoru and Nayuta.
That just leaves the Death Devil.
Yoru panics about Fami’s arrival, telling Asa not to listen to her, only for Fami to teleport them away from Asa with a snap of her fingers.
Fami then telepathically speaks with Asa, telling her she will not allow her to leave the aquarium until she turns Denji into a weapon.
Due to this, and Fami potentially suggesting she knows Denji is Chainsaw Man earlier, it makes me wonder if this is all some big scheme to kill him?
If Fami is also the Justice Devil then she may be able to read minds like Yuko, which could be how she learned of Denji’s identity.
Then she created her own Chainsaw Man, Haruka Iseumi, hoping to replace Denji with him, all for whatever end goal she has.
This is just a theory about Fami’s intentions, though.
Back to the chapter; after Fami tells Asa that she can only leave if she turns Denji into a weapon, the man himself appears with a problem.
He and Asa are now stuck in the aquarium, as the Eternity Devil appears to have reincarnated from hell and trapped them in a loop.
Thinking about it, it does make a lot of sense that the Famine and Eternity Devil are working togethor.
Fami herself says that, “any human should be capable of abandoning their morality when they’re starving,” and, in the Eternity Devil Arc, many of Denji’s squad were afraid of starving in the loop the Eternity Devil trapped them in; a fear which would have made Fami stronger.
So now Fami has likely enlisted the help of the Eternity Devil to attempt to take out Denji again.
How the Eternity Devil intends to do this when it got absolutley obliterated last time, I have no idea.
We will just have to wait two weeks to see, when we get Chapter 114.
As for “I Wanna See Penguins!”, it is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, providing plenty of second hand embarassment for Asa, delving briefly into Denji’s trauma, and finally revealing the mysterious girl as the Famine Devil as many theorized.
It will be intereting to see how Denji and Asa get out of this situation in the coming chapters.

Chainsaw Man Episode Eight, Gunfire Review: Let the Insanity Begin.

Directed by Shōta Goshozono and Takeshi Satō, Episode Eight of Chainsaw Man, “Gunfire” begins with an anime orginal moment that is very reminiscant of the scene where we followed Aki on his morning routine in Episode Four.
Just like that scene, “Gunfire” begins with us seeing Himeno’s nightly routine, before she makes a sexual advance on Denji.
The shots of her preparing a shower for herself and then later grabbing a beer are all just as well animated.
The episode then picks up from the last one, with Himeno propositioning Denji.
Again, the shots are well animated here, although with one exception.
There is a bird’s eye view shot looking down on the both of them which did look quite off to me.
However, this shot only lasts about five seconds or so, so it’s fine.
For a little while, it looks like Denji is actually going to sleep with Himeno, until she finds a chupa chup in his pocket.
This was given to Denji by Makima in the form of an indirect kiss, making Denji realize that he wants his first time to be with Makima, so he refuses to sleep with Himeno, instead taking the floor while Himeno passes out drunk on the bed.
The next morning, she and Denji have breakfast togethor.
Not remembering what happened last night, Himeno asks Denji if they had sex and is relieved to learn that they did not stating, “They toss you in jail for doing that kind of thing with minors.”
Yeah, not gonna lie, the whole Himeno making moves on Denji while she’s drunk is pretty creepy.
At least with Makima it was treated more sinister, since she was clearly manipulating him.
With Himeno its treated more like a joke.
This unintentionally creepy moment is thankfully moved on from quickly, as Himeno now offers to form an alliance with Denji.
He will help her get togethor with Aki, and Himeno, in turn, will help Denji get togethor with Makima.
Well, someone had better tell the assassins planning Makima’s murder to hold off then… oh, wait.
As a manga reader, it was pretty funny to watch the reaction of anime only viewers when Makima gets unexpectedly assassinated on a train to Kyoto.
Now they have a better idea of Chainsaw Man’s crazy pacing.
Often times, scenes will seem like slow build up, only to flip on a dime to absolute insanity.
In other stories this eratic pacing would be a problem but Tatsuki Fujimoto is such a good writer that he makes it work and the adaptation follows through on this.
After Makima is killed, the episode then shows that her assassination was not a one off, as other attempts are made on the lives of Devil Hunters across Tokyo.
Among the potential victims are Kobeni and Arai, who are unexpectedly targeted by an old lady but we do not see if they make it or not.
We do, however, see what happens to Denji, Himeno, Aki and Power, when they meet togethor for food.
They are confronted by a mysterious man, who just randomly inserts himself into their conversation, going on about his murderous yakuza grandpa.
The pieces slowly start coming togethor until the man pulls out a picture of him with his grandfather and we that it was the yakuza boss who had pretty much enslaved Denji in the first episode, until he was turned into a zombie by the Zombie Devil and then finished off by Denji.
Now supposedly working for the Gun Devil and out for revenge, the man takes out a gun and fires at the group, hitting Denji, Himeno and Aki.
Only Power manages to dodge and punch the man back, more than earning her noble prize.
Power’s attack gives Aki enough time to unleash the Fox Devil, which eats the man, only for him to reveal himself to be a hybrid devil like Denji, named Katana Man (Daiko Hamano).
With Denji out of comission and Himeno mortally wounded, Aki is left with no choice but to use the sword which drains some of his life to defeat Katana Man.
What follows is a fantastic fight sequence, as Aki stabs Katana Man with his nail blade three times, resulting in the Curse Devil intervening and supposedly killing him.
As Aki prepares to have Himeno taken to a hostpital, he is shocked to realize Katana Man used a gun, which should be impossible to get.
However, while Aki is talking about this, there is a piece of rubble in the way of his mouth, so we cannot see his lips move.
Rather than a stylistic choice, this came off to me as if they did not have the budget or time to animate his mouth moving after the fight scene so put this in the way until they could fix it later.
I may be wrong about this though but, if I’m not, then I do hope it is changed later because it is a little weird.
This is a minor moment though and it is easily forgotten when an unknown woman (Yō Taichi)shows up to help Katana Man to his feet, since he can revive just like Denji.
The mysterious girl orders Katana Man to kill Aki, which he certainly makes a good attempt at with an attack that causes quite the jump scare with the delayed blood splatter from Aki.
The girl then tells Katana to finish Aki off.
Desperate to save him, and with no other option, Himeno makes a final contract with the Ghost Devil.
She will give the Devil all of herself in exchange for using its full power.
The Ghost Devil’s true form then appears and Himeno directs it to attack Katana Man, all the while thinking about how Aki still cries for Devil Hunters who die.
Himeno’s last words to Aki are that she wants him to live so he can cry for her.
The Ghost Devil is then eaten by the mysterious girl’s Snake Devil and we see that Himeno has completley vanished, only her clothes remaining.
And so “Gunfire” comes to an end with Himeno’s sacrifice.
We then get the ED, “First Death” by TK.
Given TK’s reputation, like with his brilliant Tokyo Ghoul OP, I knew this was going to be a fantastic ED and he did not disappoint.
“Gunfire” was yet another fantastic Chainsaw Man episode.
Katana Man and the yakuza’s ambush was handled excellently and, aside from a few weird animation moments, I would not have had it any other way.

Manga Spoilers:
If I was excited for anime only viewers’ reactions to this episode then I am doubly so for the next one.
I cannot wait to see how they will react to Makima’s revival, her supernatural attack on the yakuza and Kobeni rescuing Denji.
Will they think Makima is the Gun Devil because of this, like I did, and will this be the start of them warming up to Kobeni, like it was for me?
Only time will tell.
Either way, the next episode will be another action packed one that I am very excited to see.

Chainsaw Man Episode Seven, The Taste of a Kiss Review: Worst. First Kiss. Ever.

After Episode Six, I was greatly anticipating Episode Seven of Chainsaw Man, “The Taste of a Kiss.”
Oh, it was not because I was excited to see the end of the fight between Denji and the Eternity Devil, although I was looking forward to seeing that.
No, what I was most excited about was finally seeing Himeno vomit in Denji’s mouth while kissing him… wow, that’s a sentence I never expected to be writing down.
Directed by Masato Nakazono, “The Taste of a Kiss” delivers this hilarious yet incredibly disgusting moment well, showing anime only Chainsaw Man viewers just what type of humor they can expect in this anime.
The episode begins where the previous one ended, with Denji jumping into the Eternity Devil’s mouth.
Kobeni thinks it is finally over, only for Denji to bust through with his chainsaws and begin attacking the Devil, accompanied by the music of the third Ending, “Hawatari 2 Oku-senchi” by Maximum the Hormone.
It seems like the makers of this episode realized how good of a song it was so decided to play it when Denji was decimating the Eternity Devil.
This decimation does not last long, however, because, as Power points out, Denji is losing too much blood so soon his chainsaws will retract.
We see that this is very much the case after the OP, as Denji is caught in a bloody hold by the Eternity Devil and the chainsaws in his arms do end up retracting.
However, Denji is able to bring the chainsaws back and free himself after drinking the Eternity Devil’s blood, before declaring that its scream makes its horrible blood taste like strawberry jam.
He then breaks off into a fit of maniacle laughter, sounding like a lunatic, which naturally cuts into Himeno’s following flashback of her master, Kishibe, saying that the Devil Hunters Devils fear the most are the ones with a few screws loose.
The two are at the Devil Hunter graveyard visiting the graves of Himeno’s partners, while Kishibe rants and drinks.
He says that Himeno’s partners were afraid, which made the Devils stronger, but there is no telling what a crazy person thinks, which is why the Devils fear them.
Himeno knows this does not match with her and Aki, so she is afraid for her partner’s life as he pursues the Gun Devil.
This leads to her suggesting that they take a safer job in the private sector but Aki turns her down, still determined in his mission of revenge.
Not wanting to lose Aki, Himeno decides to stay with him, but believes that if Aki manages to track down the Gun Devil then he will die because he is normal like everyone else.
We then see who exactly is not normal, as the flashback ends and we see Denji fall, supposedly defeated by the Eternity Devil, only to be revived by Himeno’s Ghost Devil, which pulls his ripcord.
Denji then has a erueka moment, realizing all he has to do is keep drinking the Eternity Devil’s blood and he can keep fighting, declaring that he has created a “perpetual motion machine.”
With this creation, he dubs the nobel prize to be his, beating Power’s idea outright.
Denji’s insane declaration causes Himeno to realize just how crazy he is, fitting into Kishibe’s explanation of a great Devil Hunter perfectly, and she beleives that Denji may actually have what it takes to eventually kill the Gun Devil.
Three days of gore later, Denji finally manages to defeat the Eternity Devil who, just as planned, offers its heart up to be destroyed by Denji, since it is in too much pain to resist anymore.
Denji destroys the heart, killing the Eternity Devil, freeing everyone from the eighth floor, and retrieving a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh.
Some time later, Himeno suggests to Aki that they go out for drinks with everyone, partially to convince Kobeni and Arai to stay with Public Saftey, since they are thinking about leaving due to the trauma of what happened and their guilt over trying to kill Denji.
A comedic moment follows, when Aki points out that Himeno tried to kill Denji too and Himeno declares that kids these days are “so sensitive.”
Aki insists that the party will need to be this week so they can invite Makima, since she is going on a buisness trip to Kyoto soon.
This causes Himeno to bring up how suspicious it is that the Eternity Devil wanted Denji’s heart, wondering if Makima knows why.
Himeno sees the party as the perfect oppotunity to get Makima drunk so they can convince her to tell them the truth.
The scene then cuts to this party, where various humorous moments occur, such as Denji instantly forgiving a drunk Himeno for the promise of a kiss, Power boastfully exagerrating her intellgience, and Makima outdrinking everyone.
The second funniest moment of the scene is when Makima questions Denji about the kiss Himeno promised and he denies it, only to loudly confirm it when Himeno drunkily questions if the kiss is no longer happening.
It is this kiss that is the funniest moment of the scene and the entire episode.
Although, as I said, it is also its most disgusting.
As Himeno makes out with Denji, in quite a bit of animated detail by the way, Denji tastes something odd in his mouth.
At first, he thinks it is her tounge, only to realize, much to his horror, that its her vomit.
This moment becomes even more disgusting when Denji swallows the vomit because his hard life has taught him to swallow anything of nutrional value.
The disgusting nature of this infamous joke aside, I do find it kind of funny how the vomit was censored, given that the episode had absolutley no problem depciting Denji brutally tearing apart the Eternity Devil at the beginning.
As for Denji, he understandably has to do some puking of his own after his odreal, with Arai unexpectedly helping him.
Afterwards, the party ends and Denji is dragged away by a still wasted Himeno.
It would seem that the alcahol in Himeno’s vomit made Denji blackout drunk as well so he is pretty disorientated when he wakes up in Himeno’s apartment.
Himeno then stumbles into the bedroom in another moment that is exceptionally animated, for just being a character walking.
She then kisses Denji and offers to have sex with him, ending the episode and making this the second cliffhanger where a character offers Denji a sexual favour.
Overall, “The Taste of a Kiss” is another solid episode for the Chainsaw Man adaptation.
Its opening fight with the Eternity Devil is intense, the drinking scene has plenty of funny moments, and the puke scene is just as disgustingly hilarious as I remember it being in the manga, actually making me feel sick watching it.
“The Taste of a Kiss” shows anime only viewers just what kind of humor to expect going forward.
As for the next episode, well, that one shows the anime only viewers just what to expect for the story’s pacing, and in the most insane way possible.

Manga Spoilers:
There were plenty of good hints to future reveals in this episode, the first of being the Eternity Devil’s own words.
I enjoyed the foreshadowing of Pochita’s true strength when the Eternity Devil declares that Denji is weaker than before, meaning Chainsaw Man before he was turned into Pochita.
Another, more sinister hint, is Makima staring daggers at Denji being kissed by Himeno, right before the vomit reveal.
This could understandable be misinterpreted by an anime only viewer to mean that she is jealous.
However, us manga readers know that she is most likely adding Himeno to her kill list so she can destroy Denji emotionally and release Chainsaw Man.
Finally, there is Kobeni, who says she is contracted with a Devil but refuses to name it.
We still do not know what Kobeni’s devil is in the manga and I wonder if we will ever know.
The most prominant theory I have heard is that it is something akin to a Bad Luck Devil, where she brings bad luck to everyone around her while she miraculously survives everything.
If Kobeni does make a return in Part Two then I expect we might find out.
Although, given how Fujimoto just loves to destroy us all emotionally by killing off characters, maybe it’s better that Kobeni stays away and safe.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 112, Between Cat and Criminal Review: Weapon Target Aquired.

Chapter 111 of Chainsaw Man appeared to introduce a Devil who was impersonating Chainsaw Man, with Yuko being killed by one whose shadow looked exactly like him.
I wondered how long it would take for Tatsuki Fujimoto to continue with this strange plotline and it seems like he has followed up on it pretty much immediately with Chapter 112, “Between Cat and Criminal.”
The chapter begins at the school, where Asa and Yoru are looking at the remains of Asa’s uniform sword, which she used to take Yuko down before she was revived by the mysterious girl, theorized by the fandom to be either the Death or Famine Devil.
Asa remembers this girl and how she called her “little sister.”
She then asks Yoru if she knows the girl but Yoru says she does not.
So Yoru is either lying to Asa or she really does not know, which would be strange if the Devil girl is Famine or Death.
Well, speak of the Devil and she shall appear because, as Asa is wondering if the girl could be the Justice Devil, she is approached by the girl and rest of the Devil Hunting Club.
The leader of the club is the student council president, named Haruka Iseumi.
He reveals that they lost two members of their club, with one dying and the other leaving, probably refrencing the guy who was imapled and the girl who was thrown out the window.
Akoku is the only one of those three to have survived and stayed, and has talked to Iseumi about Asa’s talents so Iseumi wants to invite her into the club.
When he asks Asa if she has any questions, Yoru takes over and once again refuses to be subtle, outright asking if Chainsaw Man is in the Devil Hunting Club.
This makes Iseumi laugh before he pulls up his shirt, revealing a rip cord on his chest, just like Denji, supposedly confirming himself to be the imposter Chainsaw Man who killed Yuko.
It does feel a bit too easy for Iseumi to be the imposter, though, so I am wondering if he is a red herring?
Then again, Denji was stupid enough to try and reveal his secret identity to Asa so maybe Iseumi is dumb enough to do that too.
If Iseumi is the imposter, however; I definitley think his powers came from the Devil girl who revived Yuko.
Like Asa theorizes, it would make sense if she is the Justice Devil.
After all, the Justice Devil has been handing out power to students so she could have given Iseumi a power resembling Chainsaw Man.
Maybe she is a combination of the Justice Devil and Death or Famine Devils?
After all, death can be seen as a form of justice for those who deserve it.
I am not sure how this would tie into famine, however.
Guess we will have to wait and see which of these the girl turns out to be, if any.
After Iseumi reveals himself to Yoru, she takes her leave and Asa questions why she did not fight him if she is so sure that he is Chainsaw Man.
Yoru states that she is not strong enough to kill Chainsaw Man yet, needing a stronger weapon to do it.
She threatens Asa to make a weapon again, and Asa agrees so she can get Yoru out of her body and will not drag anyone else down with her, probably thinking about what happened to Yuko.
This causes Yoru to smile like a little girl, as Asa says that she would even turn a person into a weapon to succeed.
When Asa says this, the panel shows her nightmare of stomping on a chicken’s dead body, once again highlighting her guilt for killing Bucky.
Later, Asa and Yoru are on a balcony, overlooking a crowd of people, as Asa debates which person to turn into a weapon.
A cat approaches and Yoru suggests making it her pet to turn it into a weapon but Asa would rather kill a person than a cat.
See?
She and Denji have so much in common.
Asa wants to pick a criminal to turn into a weapon so she will at least be killing someone who deserves it but Yoru says this will not work because, in order for the weapon to be powerful Asa, has to feel guilt for weaponizing it.
Asa still refuses to weaponize the cat and so Yoru provides the suggestion of finding someone between a cat and a criminal, as the most powerful weapon probably lies somewhere in between.
The cat then moves and who else should Asa see but Denji?
He is walking the streets, picking up cigarette butts.
This causes Asa to think that Denji is a good person, despite being a loser, while she is thinking about murdering someone.
Asa is then confused to see Denji make new cigarettes out of the littered ones and follows him out of curiosity.
She then spies on him selling these worthless cigarettes to the homeless.
This is a terrible thing for Denji to do but he becomes more sympathetic when you consider he has Nayuta, Meowy and a pack of dogs back home to provide for.
Now with a negative view on Denji again, Asa thinks about how he perfectly fits between a cat and a criminal but she is still reluctant.
Yoru again pressures her, stating that she should think of it as a necessary evil to put an end to a nightmare, making Asa remember Yuko.
Asa then approaches Denji, questioning him about the cigarettes he is using to rip off homeless people.
Denji hits back that he’s doing it because, as a student, he is apparently not allowed a part-time job.
This once again makes him sympathetic when yout think about who he is providing for back home.
Asa then makes her move, asking if Denji is busy tomorrow.
Hostile, Denji yells that he is, until something clicks and he asks why she wants to know.
Asa’s sheepish face is pretty funny, along with the following panel where she actually asks Denji on a date.
She looks so nervous and embarassed, and her voice is clearly shaking as evidenced by the unnatural shape of her speech bubble.
We can also see that Denji is nervous about this as well because he is blushing in the final panel when he accepts the date, seemingly forgetting that he just said that he was busy tomorrow.
So, there you go; Denji and Asa are finally dating, although not because they actually like each other.
Denji is just desperate for some happiness in his life and Asa wants to kill Denji and turn him into a weapon.
That makes Asa, what, the third or fourth girl who has dated Denji with the secret intention of killing him, eventually?
Denji just cannot catch a break.
If Asa does eventually weaponize Deni, however; I think he will be fine.
Denji is immortal, after all.
In fact, we see Asa in one preview image for Part Two holding a chainsaw.
Maybe this is hinting at her and Denji working togethor in the end, with Denji allowing Asa to weaponize parts of himself to fight?
That would be cool.
As for Denji and Asa themselves, I could actually see a relationship between the two of them working.
They do have a lot in common and many parallels.
Although, Tatsuki Fujimoto is writing this so you can certainly expect him to put both characters through the ringer.
Either way, I am interested to see how the relationship between Asa and Denji progresses.
It should certainly provide some good laughts, at the very least, if Chapter 104 is any indication.
We will have to wait a bit to see such interactions, however, because it seems that Fujimoto is returning to releasing a chapter every two weeks, starting with Chapter 113.
“Between Cat and Criminal” is a great Chainsaw Man chapter that delivers on setting up a lot of interesting things with the imposter Chainsaw Man, the mysterious Devil girl and, of course, the beginning of Denji and Asa’s relationship.

Chainsaw Man Episode Six, Kill Denji Review: A Nobel Prize Deserving Episode.

Episode Six of Chainsaw Man, “Kill Denji” is the best episode in the history of anime and one could even call it a nobel prize contender.
No, this review is not written by Power.
In all seriousness, the Shun Enokido directed episode is another great one, delivering a fantastic adaptation of the manga with as usual stellar animation.
“Kill Denji” picks up from the cliffhanger of “Gun Devil”, where Division 4 found themselves stuck in a loop on the eighth floor of an apartment building.
The opening of “Kill Denji” follows this up by showing how this loop works, using Kobeni.
First, Himeno has the terrified woman make a peace sign and then runs down the stairs of the eighth floor, emerging at the top.
She sees Kobeni still pulling the peace sign, meaning that there is no illusion going on.
Aki then invesitgates the rooms and learns that the windows connect to the rooms on the opposite side of the apartment, leading back into the eighth floor hallway.
They are well and truly trapped.
Following the opening, the squad debriefs in one of the rooms, establishing that even trying to go through the ceiling leads back to the eighth floor.
The situation is grim and Kobeni is certainly not helping matters, being on the verge of hysterics.
Arai tries to motivate her by mentioning how she joined the Devil Hunters to put her brother through college.
This does the exact opposite of calm Kobeni down because she revealed her parents forced her to get a job to put her brother through college, when she wanted to go too, giving her the choice to either become a Devil Hunter or a sex worker.
A tragic backstory, which Power finds to be utterly hilarious, as she breaks into laughter at Kobeni’s terrified face.
Denji and Power are the only ones in the group not alarmed by their situation as, when Aki says time may be frozen so help is probably not coming, Denji is happy about this because it gives him plenty of time to get some sleep.
He actually manages to do so before being awoken by Himeno.
In the time that Denji has been asleep, Aki has been constantly searching for the Devil, Arai has since locked himself in his room in a panic, and Kobeni tried to drink out of a toilet so Himeno knocked her out.
Most disturbing of all is Power who, in a fit of madness, reveals her plan to win a Nobel Prize so that she can raise sales taxes by 100%, just to see humans suffer!
Oh, wait, no, that’s just how Power always is.
My bad.
True to form, Power is disappointed that Himeno is so calm, and Himeno explains this is because Aki is working hard, revealing that she was the one who introduced him to cigarettes.
Bad Himeno.
We then flash back to Himeno and Aki working togethor as partners, where Himeno tried to convince Aki to start smoking so they could get along better.
Aki refused because “it’s bad for your bones.”
Good Aki.
Himeno explains that most Devil Hunters take up smoking because, with the death rate being what it is, most do not have to worry about living long enough to be affected.
Aki says he plans to live a long time and Himeno says he should because “it’s a pain in the ass when your partner dies.”
This serves as a perfect transition to Himeno being assaulted by the girlfriend of her deceased partner.
Himeno reveals to Aki that this happens regularly, as her partners’ families cannot take their pain out on the devils so they do so on her.
Offended, Aki sneaks before the woman who slapped Himeno and puts gum on her back as revenge.
This juvinile kind of humor is classic Chainsaw Man, and it cheers up Himeno immediately, as she later tells Aki that her master told her that the Devil Hunters the Devils fear most are the ones with a few screws loose.
So, Denji and Power should be fine then.
Himeno then finally convinces Aki to smoke, who swears it will be his only one.
Cue a comedic cut to the present, where Aki enters the room and demands a cigarette from Himeno.
Bad Aki.
Aki reveals that the Devil Power killed has returned and become larger.
Now a giant mass of squirming faces and limbs, the Devil offers a contract to the group: kill Denji and feed it to the Devil and they will be allowed to leave.
A terrified Kobeni jumps at this offer immediately, running to stab Denji, only to be knocked out by Himeno and Aki.
Afterwards, the two attempt to kill the Devil with their own Devil contracts but they have no effect.
Himeno then reveals that if they actually do kill Denji then they will be allowed to leave because the Devil offered a contract and contracts are life binding to a Devil.
Like Kobeni, Arai also wants to kill Denji to ensure their escape but Aki knows this will benefit the Devil so refuses.
Himeno is team agree with Aki and Power is team murder Denji for her nobel prize.
As time goes on, Aki contemplates using his sword to kill the Devil but since this will take many years off his life Himeno refuses, and tells Denji that if it really comes to that then they will have to kill him after all.
Unfortunately, at that exact time, Aki discovers that Power has eaten all their food.
Kobeni loses it, believing Power is somehow behind everything.
Arai speaks up for Power, only for Kobeni to declare that he is a spy too.
“He’s spicy!” Power says in a show of humorous support.
Kobeni runs towards Arai in a threatening manner and their combined fear and screams give power to the Devil, which begins to expand further, revealing itself to be the Eternity Devil.
The Eternity Devil grows so large that it causes the hallway to tilt up, forcing everyone to hide in their rooms.
Aki resolves to use the sword, causing Himeno to suddenly switch to team kill Denji, and she, Kobeni and Arai rush to complete the contract.
Kobeni lunges at Denji with her knife, only for Aki to take the stab.
As the group look on in shock, and Power works to stop the bleeding, Aki explains that he needs all the help he can get to kill the Gun Devil so will not allow anyone to kill Denji.
This causes Himeno to panic and Kobeni to selfishly blame Denji for her stabbing Aki.
The latter action, along with pretty much everything Kobeni does this episode, has caused her a lot of backlash in the fandom.
This is entirely understandable, if you ask me, because I disliked her here too when I read the manga.
Her blaming Denji does motivate him to attack the Eternity Devil, though, with his new plan being to torture it to death using his chainsaws.
Denji jumps down into the mouth of the Eternity Devil and falls through an endless abyss in a great shot that brings an end to the episode.
Overall, “Kill Denji” is yet another great Chainsaw Man episode that adapts the manga excellently.
It is has plenty of laughs and plenty of character development.
Someone give “Kill Denji” the nobel prize.

Manga Spoilers:
While I do understand why people hate Kobeni after this episode, considering I disliked her at this point in the manga too, I am curious to see what their opinions will be of her later in the story.
I came around to her character after she saved Denji from Katana Man and only felt more sorry for her as she went through so much hilarious misery throughout the rest of the manga.
It will be interesting to see if anime only viewers will come to feel the same way about her character or if they will just keep hating her.
We will not get Kobeni’s big redemption moment until a couple of episodes, though, and we have a lot to look forward to before that, especially with the next episode and Denji’s infamous first kiss, one of the funniest and most disgusting moments in the entire manga.
I am curious if the next episode will end with Makima being shot because that seems like a good cliffhanger but it might make the episode too long so it will most likely end with Denji at Himeno’s house.
Whatever ending for the next episode they decide to go with, I am still excited to see it tomorrow.

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

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

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

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

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