Chainsaw Man Chapter 130 and 131 Review: A Feast for the Eyes.

A week ago when Chapter 130 of Chainsaw Man “Kill Building” released, I intended to do a review of it.
However, the chapter was so short that I decided it would be best to review it with Chapter 131, “Taste of Crap.”
Just because “Kill Building” is the shortest chapter of Part Two so far does not make it a bad chapter, though, far from it.
In fact, the reason it goes by so quickly is because most of the pages are glorious full page spreads of Asa and Denji escaping from the Falling Devil and the diner Devil.
Tatsuki Fujimoto’s artwork for these pages is a feast for the eyes, worthy of the Falling Devil’s palate.
In between these full page spreads, we see Denji and Asa continuing to argue about their situation, with Denji humorously assuming that he’s the one who weaponized their stolen motorbike, instead of Asa.
He and Asa also disagree about whether they can trust the imposter Chainsaw Man but they are attacked again by the diner Devil before they can decide what to do.
The diner Devil seems terrified at the thought of being killed by the Falling Devil if it does not eat Asa, for it covers its face with its hands in apparent horror before transporting itself directly to Asa and Denji to eat them.
The two are able to evade it, until the Falling Devil throws a building at them, which they easily crash through, only to be met with the open mouth of the diner Devil, bringing an end to the chapter.
Overall, “Kill Building” is a short chapter but still a great one.
It might not have much in terms of content but the action is fun with a lot of incredible full page spreads by Fujimoto.
The ending of “Kill Building” leads right into Chapter 131 “Taste of Crap” where Asa and Denji are about to be swallowed whole by the Devil.
Given that their stolen bike now has a chainsaw on it, I suspected that Denji would easily be able to carve his way out.
Instead, they are caught in between the Devil’s teeth, and the Falling Devil then flicks Asa and Denji into the Devil’s stomach, seemingly to their deaths.
The Falling Devil then asks for her diner’s opinion on the dish she served it but the diner proves a harsh critic because it vomits Denji and Asa out.
The Falling Devil’s reaction to this is pretty hysterical, as she angrily stammers that she made it with love, before obliterating the diner.
Dejected, the Falling Devil then apologises for failing to feed Asa to her diner.
In a surprise twist, it is revealed that it was Fami who was ordering around the Falling Devil, as she tells her to “return.”
The Falling Devil’s body then falls apart in a burst of flames, leaving only a steaming minature version, which Fami picks up, before asking someone how they managed to get the diner to throw Denji and Asa up.
In the second surprise twist of the chapter, it is revealed that Fami is talking to Nayuta, who used her control powers to make Asa and Denji taste like crap, making the diner vomit them out.
Nayuta is also revealed to know who Fami is, as she refers to her as “sister” when she asks Fami why she tried to kill Denji and Asa.
Fami explains that she was merely trying to starve Yoru in the Devil’s stomach, which would make Yoru her pawn since Fami is able to control those who are starving.
The reason Fami wants to control Yoru is because she may be the only one who can stop the age of Devils prophesied by Nostradamus, which makes sense because in one of his prophecies he said that Mars would reign supreme, and Mars was the Roman God of War, meaning Yoru.
Fami’s motive for wanting to stop this Age of Devils is funnily enough because she does not want pizza or chinese food to vanish.
It’s pretty ironic that the Famine Devil’s motive revolves around food, and it reminds me a lot of Fujimoto’s other antagonists with simple motives, like in Fire Punch where the Ice Witch’s motive was to watch the next Star Wars movie.
Back to the chapter, Nayuta does not seem too bothered by the end of the world until Fami says that would also mean the end of pizza.
Fami then offers the horrified Nayuta a chance to work togethor, only for Nayuta to still refuse.
Why?
Because she has school.
Cue a perfectly timed cut to Nayuta in school, desperately trying to beat the other students in answering the teacher’s question.
This was a funny ending, which made me wonder if we will be getting a Nayuta school arc next.
As for Fami, one question I have about her is how she was able to order around the Falling Devil?
The Falling Devil is a Primal Fear, after all, so she should be stronger than Fami.
Although, considering that the Falling Devil considers herself a chef, maybe she is aligned with Fami in not wanting the world to end so human food can continue to exist.
There is also the matter of the imposter Chainsaw Man.
He tried to save Asa and Denji from being eaten but we now know that was part of Fami’s plan to get Yoru under her control to stop the apocalypse.
So does this mean that the imposter Chainsaw Man wants the apocalypse to happen?
Time will tell.
Chapter 131 “Taste of Crap” is the best of the two chapters.
It ends the Falling Devil Arc well, providing insight into Fami’s motivations while also potentially building into a Nayuta school arc as well.

Attack on Titan Chapter 131, Rumbling, Review: Attack on Titan’s Third Impact.

Last month, Hajime Isayama delivered an Attack on Titan chapter that had the potential to be in my top ten best.
This month, he did it again with Chapter 131, “Rumbling”, which easily goes down as the manga’s darkest chapter by an extremely wide margin.
The majority of “Rumbling” consists of the consequences of Eren’s genocide, resulting in many brutal deaths.
Without a doubt, the most horrific of these deaths are those of Ramzi and his brother Halil.
Ramzi is the boy from Chapter 123, who partied with the Survey Corps when they first came to Marley, and “Rumbling” opens with him showing Halil where he hides the money he has pickpocketed to help their family survive.
Here, we get a tragic showcase of how cruel their lives are, as Ramzi not only reveals that many of their people die during the winter because of the lack of shelter, but is also shown to have had his right hand cut off for stealing.
Not all is lost in Ramzi’s mind though, because he has hope that the money he steals will be enough to get his family out of poverty and give them all a happy life.
A sadly naive dream to be sure but one that is incredibly sympathetic, made all the worse by the arrival of the Rumbling.
With this genocide, both Ramzi’s family, life and dreams are crushed under the massive feet of the Colossal Titans.
Watching Ramzi and Halil desperately run for their lives, only for Halil to turn back for the money, and then be crushed by debris was absolutely horrifying.
This is made even worse to read when it is shown Ramzi survived the falling debris, only to see that his brother’s head has been smashed in and that he is still clutching the money that held all of their hopes.
We then get to see Ramzi slowly being crushed under the foot of a Wall Titan in agonizing detail that is difficult to stomach, let alone read.
Just as horrifying is the panels of the many other innocent people who are murdered in Eren’s genocide.
In one particular heart breaking panel, we see multiple reactions from different people.
Some bang on a door trying to escape their deaths, one breaks off to try and flee in another direction, a mother holds her child close, and a man holding his bags looks up towards their oncoming deaths and just seems to accept his fate.
What makes this situation even more tragic is Eren’s perspective.
It is interlaced with Ramzi’s point of view, and reveals that the hidden memory shard of him from Eren’s memory was not from after Eren left to hide in Marley but rather before.
After leaving the meeting where the person calling for Eldian rights damned the people of Paradis, Eren walked the streets, contemplating his future actions, when he came across Ramzi being attacked.
After some hesitation, wondering why he should save him if he’s going to kill him later, Eren gives in to his conscience and rescues the boy before tearfully telling him he is sorry for what he will do in the future, even if Ramzi does not understand.
This heartbreaking moment makes for a chilling contrast to Eren’s perspective while he is committing the Rumbling.
Here, he admits that when he found out people were outside the walls he was disappointed.
This reveals some selfish motivations behind the Rumbling that make Eren a much darker character than first thought.
Even creepier is the double page spread where Eren is in child form and cries out happily that, “this is freedom.”
This panel is easily one of the best in the entire manga because of how chilling it is.
What makes it darker is that if someone saw this image without context they would think it was wholesome moment and not the horrifying panel that it is.
The following images of more people succumbing to Eren’s genocide in between this horrific panel is gut wrenching.
This all combines to make the Rumbling feel like the Third Impact from The End of Evangelion.
There’s even a moment that seems to be directly inspired by that film because, when Ramzi is being crushed, he sees Ymir, just like all the people who died during the Third Impact saw Rei.
What this means is anyone’s guess but it sure will be interesting to find out.
However, although most of this chapter is horror and despair, there is actually a surprisingly wholesome moment, made even more surprising that it is a ship scene.
But not Eremika or Erehisu, no, this time it is Aruani, Armin and Annie.
Isayama pretty much confirmed that Armin has a crush on Annie and highly implied that Annie returned some of those feelings.
It was a happy moment that brought some levity to an otherwise horrifying chapter.
Armin also admitting that, like Annie, he is a monster too was great for his character, and the moment where a child Eren talks to him in Paths makes me think he is going to have a big role to play soon, which I am excited for.
However, I am also scared as well because Armin and Annie seeming to have a romantic connection now spells out massive death flags for Annie.
Well, at least I’m sure she won’t die until the final confrontation with Eren.
Speaking of, the last panel of the chapter shows Eren, who is seemingly sleeping in his monstrous Titan form.
Only thing is that his head appears to be attached to his body by his exposed spine.
Such a grizzly sight makes me wonder if Eren can even heal from this once he finishes.
Either way though, it will be interesting to see how Attack on Titan finally ends, especially with Eren’s genocide now in full swing.
“Rumbling” is another top ten Attack on Titan chapter with grizzly images that are horrifying but ones that we needed to see to understand the consequences of Eren’s actions.

Attack on Titan Chapter 131 Predictions.

Chapter 130 of Attack on Titan, “Dawn for Humanity” was a fantastic chapter that finally showed off the full horror of the Rumbling.
There were numerous glorious double page spreads of Eren’s attack, making me wonder how the hell the alliance is even supposed to beat him and where exactly they go from here.
Well, this is what predictions posts are for and I will kick off my predictions for Chapter 131 with the question,

Will Annie Stay With the Alliance?

“Dawn for Humanity” began with Annie confronting Hange about the decision to go to Odiha, meaning that they couldn’t save Liberio and that her father was likely killed.
Annie then says she plans to leave the alliance because there is now no reason for her to fight and she doesn’t want to have to kill Eren or the scouts if it comes down to it.
So, the question is how is Annie going to be convinced to stay and help the alliance?
Hajime Isayama wouldn’t have brought her back just to have her leave again.
It would seem like Annie is due for a little pep talk but who will dispense it?
Well, given how Mikasa seems to connect with what Annie is saying emotionally in the chapter, she might be able to convince her.
Then there are Reiner and Armin, both of whom feel a little overdue for a one on one conversation with Annie, given their past history.
I expect Annie may be a big part of the next chapter as she struggles with the decision whether to stay with the alliance now that her father is dead.
Or is he?

What Happened to the Eldians in Liberio?

The last we saw of the Eldians in the Liberio Internment Zone, Annie’s father was beginning to lead a revolt after their Marleyan captors refused to listen to their warnings about the oncoming Rumbling.
However, shots were fired leaving the fates of many of those Eldians unknown.
Annie’s father and Reiner’s mother were right at the front of that group with Mr Leonhart wrestling with the gun of one of the soldiers.
Do I think they’re all dead though?
No, Isayama would probably have shown it if they were.
I’m pretty sure some of them made it and will have fled Liberio in an effort to escape the Rumbling.
Maybe they fled to Odiha and will meet up with the alliance?
Although, that does feel a little too coincidental.
Either way, I expect we will get a resolution to Annie’s story with her father, whether that ends happily or tragically.

When Will the Alliance Reach Eren?

Chapter 130 ended with Eren’s monstrous Titan form finally being revealed as his genocide reached Marley’s shores.
By the time the alliance reaches him he will already have killed thousands of people, possibly millions.
So, every second counts for the alliance in reaching Eren but even when they reach Odiha, they will still have half a day to get the plane ready, which Kiyomi said was a gamble itself.
Given this, it seems like there will be a few more chapters before the alliance finally confronts Eren.
This also depends on whether Floch survived and is about to make his move, if Kiyomi will reveal something (I will get to that later), and if Yelena will even lead them in the right direction.
Speaking of which,

Where is Eren Going?

If Yelena does decide to lead the alliance to Eren, where exactly would that be?
Isayama has been implying with Magath’s earlier questions to Yelena that Eren has a specific place to go in mind.
The only places we know in Marley is Liberio and Odiha but Liberio is probably in the process of being destroyed and I doubt Isayama would have the place the alliance is going coincidentally be the place Eren is going to as well.
No, I think Eren has a very different location in mind.
I suspect that he is actually going to the location of the giant tree where Ymir first gained her power from the source of all living matter.
There, Eren may attempt to do something, like remove the Eldians’ ability to transform into Titans.
We may also get more of an idea of what exactly this source of all living matter that gave Ymir her powers is.
Ending the story where it all began would be emotionally fitting.

What’s the Deal With the Fez Kid?

The fez kid that was first hinted at in Chapter 120 and then finally introduced in Chapter 123 made a brief reappearance in Chapter 130.
He was in a memory shard of Eren’s where it looked like he was being attacked by three Marleyans in an alley.
So, Eren definitely encountered him while he was hiding in Marley making me wonder how exactly this kid factors into Eren’s mindset.
He is clearly important since his memory shard was one of the biggest in Chapter 120, and Eren seems to have experienced some future memory of him because he tells Mikasa that nothing bad has happened to him “yet” in Chapter 123.
This could have a number of meanings.
Maybe Eren witnesses the fez kid being murdered because of his race, which only makes him more determined to kill everyone outside the walls.
Or maybe he saves the fez kid from the men attacking him, only he knows that he will end up killing him in the Rumbling.
Knowing Isayama though, whatever purpose the fez kid holds, I will honestly be surprised if his story doesn’t end in tragedy.
Either way, he is clearly important to Eren’s perspective so I think we can expect him to be an important part of the final chapters.

Could Ymir Have Left a Secret Code in Her Message?

I was rewatching Season Three Part Two recently and got to the part where Historia reads Ymir’s letter.
During this scene, Jean asks Historia if there’s a possibility that Ymir left a secret code.
Historia dismisses this but in a comedy chibi skit that is on the DVD Ymir does leave a message.
Now, this message is “marry me” so this was obviously for comedy but it does make me wonder if Ymir actually did leave a secret code for Historia to uncover.
Keep in mind, she was the first character in the main cast to reach the Paths Dimension, going there even before Eren and Zeke.
So, it stands to reason that she may have met the original Ymir there and even learnt something and left that in a secret code for Historia to find.
What this could be and the relevance it will have I don’t know.
All of that said, I’m probably reaching here.
I’m basically just blindly hoping that Isayama will throw us Ymir fans a bone before the series’ ends and give us some content with her.

The Kiyomi, Kruger and Ksaver Theory.

I’ve talked about this theory before in other predictions posts but I wanted to go more in depth here.
Ever since Kiyomi was introduced I have wondered what exactly her point is in the story.
Sure, she provides the plane that the alliance will use to reach Eren but she has to have more of a point than that, especially with her connection to Mikasa.
Now that Kiyomi is actually with the alliance and traveling with them to Odiha I think now would be the perfect time to reveal her importance, which I think may be a connection to Kruger and Ksaver.
This is basically combing the theories that the “See you later, Eren” memory seen at the beginning of the story is actually Kiyomi talking to Kruger and not Mikasa talking to Eren, and that the doctor who helped Kruger was actually Ksaver.
We know Kiyomi’s family had close connections to the Eldian Empire before its fall so they would not have benefited from Marley’s rise to power.
As a result, they may have supported some underground Eldian rebellions, like that of Kruger’s family.
Kruger says that when his family was killed he was rescued by his father’s friends.
What if these friends were Kiyomi’s family?
So, Kruger stays with them in secret and then meets Ksaver who helps him falsify his blood tests to pose as a Marleyan and infiltrate the military.
Kruger, Kiyomi and Ksaver then begin working on a secret plan to overthrow Marley based on Kruger’s future memories as the Attack Titan.
He probably then tells the two of them about Mikasa and Zeke and gives them specific roles around these two.
He tells Kiyomi to watch over and protect Mikasa because of her importance, which she does under the pretense that she is only doing so because of her heritage.
Next, he tells Ksaver to watch over Zeke and pass on his Beast Titan to him because this is needed to activate the Rumbling.
Not only this but he also instructs Ksaver to allow Zeke to find his own mindset and support it, which is why Ksaver is encouraging of Zeke’s euthanasia plan even if he doesn’t agree with it.
So, I believe that Kruger, Kiyomi and Ksaver were all working behind the scenes to orchestrate these events
Although, this is probably more far fetched that the Ymir hiding a secret code theory.
You never know though.
I guess we’ll have to wait to find out.