In my review for Chapter 145 of Chainsaw Man, I theorized that we were crossing the precipice of normalcy for Part Two.
In the first part of Chainsaw Man, the story reached a specific point where it evolved into outright insanity and just got crazier as it went along.
After reading “Kumbaya” and seeing Barem sing that titular song to the ominous setting of the sun, along with Asa getting her arm cut off by Yoshida, I theorized that Part Two had crossed the same precipice from normalcy into insanity.
Well, this theory was absolutley correct because Chapter 146 “Chainsaw Man War” is the one where so much of what Tatsuki Fujimoto has been building up to in Part Two falls into place.
“Chainsaw Man War” begins from where the previous chapter left off, with Yoshida attacking Asa.
Yoshida apologises to Asa for attacking her after she followed his advice to stay away from Denji and then goes to strike her again, the scene ending before we can see if he lands the blow or if Asa is able to counter him.
Unfortunately, this is the last we see of Asa this chapter, but the rest of “Chainsaw Man War’s” events more than makes up for it.
Following his arrest, Barem explains to Denji and Fumiko the lie that Chainsaw Man Church members were making contracts with the Justice Devil.
He states that, while the name of the Devil was a lie, its power to transform people into what they desire the most was not.
This Devil is then revealed to be Fire and, at that very moment, Part Two of Chainsaw Man crosses the precipice into insanity, as multiple people start sprouting chainsaws from their heads and arms, and start massacering everyone around them, including each other.
We see a grandmother transforming in front of her grandchild (which probably did not end well for the kid), people transforming in the park, and people transforming in the streets.
We even see that all of the Chainsaw Man Church members the Hammer Fiend restrained have transformed.
Speaking of this Fiend, they and Katana Man watch the transformations, with the Fiend looking quite unbothered by it.
The transformations trigger Katana Man immensely, however, as he shouts Chainsaw Man’s name in anger when the Church members rush him.
As the massacre continues, Barem explains that the more contractors the Fire Devil has, the stronger those contracted will be.
So it seems that the Fire Devil’s power is more metaphorical than being based solely around fire.
The Fire Devil allows those who make a contract with it to transform into what they desire, which is similar to an inner fire.
Along with this, the strength of those who transform grows the more people are contracted, with the power spreading like a wild fire.
Back with Denji and Fumiko, The Fire Devil contracts have killed all of Barem’s arresting officers, and the Hybrid continues to explain the situation, stating that large mass scale weddings were held at the Chainsaw Man Church Chinese and Canadian Chapters.
Contracts with the Fire Devil were made along with these weddings, resulting in around 350,000 people who have now been transformed into Devils which look like Chainsaw Man.
Following this explanation, we see just how far the chaos is spreading, as Denji and Fumiko see a nearby building explode.
Barem then refers to the Nostradamus Prophecy, stating how he and Fami plan to kill the “Great King of Terror.”
Denji does not beleive this but Nayuta confirms his story, stating that she can tell it is the truth because both she and Fami can sense this threat coming.
This is because both Nayuta and Fami are sisters with the “Great King of Terror” herself, the Death Devil.
Nayuta then reveals Fami’s ultimate plan is to make Yoru and Denji strong enough to kill the Death Devil by starting this Chainsaw Man War to make people afraid of both war and Chainsaw Man.
And so Chainsaw Man Part Two crosses the precipice into insanity and the pieces fall into place.
The purpose of the Chainsaw Man Church is now known, along with Fami and Barem’s ultimate plan, along with the role of the Death Devil in the story.
Well, unless Fujimoto builds up the Death Devil to be the ultimate threat and then makes it something else, like he did with the Gun Devil in Part One.
No matter what Fujimoto’s intent with the Death Devil is, however, it is exciting to see it finally becoming a part of the story.
We got hints of its importance when Yoshida mentioned it for the first time all the way back in the Aquarium Arc, and now it is finally coming into play.
The Death Devil being the “Great King of Terror” from the Nostradamus Prophecy also makes a lot of sense because death is the ultimate fear every human has.
That being said, I am not so certain that Fami’s plan to kill the Death Devil will result in anything good if it succeeds.
I mean, death being removed would make everyone immortal and create more chaos with the world order.
There are clearly so many different directions Fujimoto could go with this Death Devil reveal and I am excited to see which one he chooses.
As for what will happen next, I expect the following chapters will only get crazier, like it did in Part One from the International Assassins Arc onwards.
How the Asa and Yoshida fight will go is anyone’s guess, and I am wondering if Denji, Fumiko and Nayuta will have to fight their way through Barem and the Chainsaw Man clones.
There is also the fate of some characters, which are still uncertain.
We know pretty much all of the Chainsaw Man Church members were transformed into Devils but what about Haruka and Nobana?
We did not see them transform and they seem like significant enough characters for Fujimoto to show their transformation.
This leads me to believe that they are still human at this point.
As for their friend, Seigi Akoku, he is not only still my leading candidate for the original fake Chainsaw Man but also the Fire Devil as well.
The guy bares a strong resemblence to Agni from Fire Punch so it would not surprise me if he turned out to be the Fire Devil who had been handing out contracts since the beginning of Part Two.
As for Chapter 146, “Chainsaw Man War”, it is a stellar chapter which answers many questions and officially crosses the precipice into insanity.