Chainsaw Man Chapter 150, Dream’s Next Stage Review: The Ultimate Sin.

Chainsaw Man‘s 150th chapter, “Dream’s Next Stage” is a short one, yet also very significant based on what happens in it.
The chapter begins with Denji and Nayuta traveling home in the midst of the new Chainsaw Man War.
However, while they walk, they notice that the carnage is perhaps not as bad as it first appeared.
They see ordinary people walking around, using their phones, all the while bodies are being loaded into the back of a truck.
This makes Nayuta speculate that she will have to go back to school tomorrow, which causes Denji to flash back to the normal life he had been living after the Falling Devil attack.
In every single one of the panels Fujimoto shows us, Denji looks depressed but in the present he lies to himself, thinking to Pochita that he is “super happy right now” despite all evidence to the contrary.
Well speak of the literal Devil, Denji thinking of Pochita causes him to appear before him.
This happens when Denji steps on a dead bird as he runs, pararelling Asa’s nightmare of running in an alley full of dead chickens.
The bird then transforms into Pochita in Denji’s mind, and sits up to talk with him.
Pochita agrees with Denji that his dream of living an ordinary life came true, asking Denji what dream he will pursue next.
It iis with this prodding from his old friend that a young version of Denji admits that he wants to be Chainsaw Man.
The implications of this realization are left for later, however, as Denji and Nayuta finally make it back to their apartment, only to find it burning to the ground, supposedly with all of their pets inside.
Denji runs to help, only to be tripped over by none other than Barem who, as expected, was just waiting for Denji to return home.
Barem also claims to have killed Denji’s pets, all to anger him to the point of transforming into Chainsaw Man.
So, Barem has supposedly committed the ultimate sin in all of fiction: Killing someone’s pets.
He and Asa’s orphanage caretaker would really get a long well.
However, what Barem has done is actually way worse than just killing Denji’s pets and burning down his apartment.
When you consider what all of these things meant to Denji, it is an especially heinous act.
The apartment was gifted to Denji by Aki, Meowy belonged to Power, and the dogs belonged to Makima.
These were all important people in Denji’s life, for better or for worse, and Barem just destroyed the apartment and pets which made him think of them.
I honestly believe Barem would have succeeded in angering Denji enough to transform by doing this, had it not been for Fumiko’s arrival.
Turning up with various other Public Saftey Officers, she and her fellow officers pour bullets into Barem to prevent him from transforming.
This only works temporarily, however, because the chapter then ends with the Whip Hybrid showing up and killing the Public Saftey Officers, excluding Fumiko.
So, this means that the Weapons escaped from custody after the war began.
Therefore, I think we can expect the Spear Hybrid and Sugo to appear next chapter.
Although, I still think that Sugo is going to betray the Weapons to help Denji eventually.
Maybe Asa and Yoru might even show up, drawn in by the sound of battle.
I know they are technically aligned with the Weapons through the Chainsaw Man Church, but given that Asa was devestated by the loss of her own cat, she may take particular offence to Barem killing Meowy.
Well, if Barem did kill Meowey, that is.
After all, we don’t see the pets’ bodies so there is always the chance that they survived somehow and Barem is just saying that he killed them to motivate Denji.
I mean, if Fujimoto is ever going to follow through on bringing back Power, I don’t think she would be too happy returning to find her cat had been killed.
We’ll just have to cross our fingers that the pets made it somehow.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, “Dream’s Next Stage” is a significant chapter for Chainsaw Man.
This is not only because it is its 150th chapter but also because of Pochita returned and Denji’s loss of many things which reminded him of his dead friends.
It will be interesting to see how this loss affects him going forward.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 149, Devil’s Choice Review: Murderous Wholesomeness.

In Chapter 148 of Chainsaw Man, we finally saw Asa and Yoru get some big development after a while.
Going into Chapter 149, “Devil’s Choice,” I was hopeful that we would see more of them.
Unfortunately, Fujimoto decided to leave them out of chapter but what we got with Denji and Nayuta was just as good.
The chapter begins with the mad preacher we first saw in Chapter 101 preaching to a crowd who is now much more inclined to listen.
With a burned Chainsaw Devil’s corpse laying in front of him, the preacher urges the crowd to join him in destroying the Chainsaw Man army.
As the crowd chants “Burn Chainsaw Man!” Denji, Nayuta and Fumiko are watching from a nearby alley.
Denji is not concerned, stating he can just transform into Chainsaw Man if the crowd see them but Fumiko points out that this would just turn the people against them.
She promises to protect him and Nayuta but the latter views this as unnecessary because she is strong enough to protect herself, even being willing to kill humans.
Given who Nayuta was in her previous life, this obviously concerns Fumiko, who asks Denji what he has been teaching her.
Denji replies whatever is on educational tv, and the thought of television makes him and Nayuta concerned about their apartment and the pets they have inside.
Fumiko is against them going back, knowing the mob will have gathered outside Denji’s house by now, but Denji and Nayuta completley ignore her.
Fumiko tries to stop them, wanting to shelter them at Public Saftey, only for Nayuta to go on the attack, using her powers as the Control Devil to compel a random elderly woman to attack Fumiko.
The only thing that saves Fumiko is Denji stopping Nayuta… by tickling her.
Nayuta may be the Control Devil but she is still just a child and it is darkly humorous to see Denji stop her murderous actions with such a childish tactic.
Fumiko escapes at Denji’s behest and he then questions Nayuta about whether she really would have killed her.
Nayuta responds that it is normal for Devils to kill humans, suggesting that she and Denji join the Devils so they can live as they like.
Denji attempts to ask about his friends at school but stops himself, instead asking about Nayuta’s.
Denji’s hesitation shows that he really does not have any friends at school, which makes his life pretty tragic when you think about the life he had with Aki and Power before Makima cruelly took it away from him.
Nayuta responds to Denji’s question by saying she is all he needs, her controlling personality coming into form again.
Denji hesitates and this makes Nayuta realize he is thinking about Asa.
Denji says he is thinking about her because they kissed.
Nayuta obviously thinks this is absurd, although it would be pretty par the course for Denji.
His actual reasons for thinking about Asa are pretty sympathetic though.
He reveals to Nayuta that the reason he is thinking about Asa is because their kiss was the only one where he did not get hurt.
This whole situation is actually tragic because what Denji does not realize is that it was Yoru who kissed him, not Asa, and it was to use him.
It will be a pretty tough pill for him to swallow when he inevitably comes to this realization.
After Denji explains his reasoning to Nayuta, she asks him how much she loves Asa, to which Denji measures the distance with his hands.
When Nayuta asks him how much he loves her, Denji’s extends his hands even wider.
Nayuta’s following smug smile is adorable, as is the way she jumps into Denji’s arms, creating a wholesome moment for a character who just tried to murder someone a few pages ago.
The chapter then ends with Nayuta declaring she will not kill humans, telling Denji to “mush!” back home, like one of the huskies they own.
This chapter really illustrates why Kishibe was right to task Denji with raising Nayuta.
With the simple act of loving her, he is able to convince her to let go of her murderous ways, providing the connection that Makima had always wanted.
As for what will happen next chapter, I expect there will be a fight when Denji gets to their apartment, since Fumiko said the mob would be waiting for him.
Granted, I do not know how this fight will play out considering that Fujimoto seems to be holding back on Denji’s transformation for something significant.
Although, maybe Nayuta could just use her power to control the crowd into leaving.
However, if Barem is leading the mob this will make the whole situation much more difficult.
As for Asa and Yoru, I am still interested to see what they are up to.
Yoru will probably be having a field day with her newfound strength and plenty of Chainsaw Man substitutes to kill.
I am eagerly awaiting the moment they reuinte with Denji and he learns of their true nature, whether that happens now or much later in the story.
“Devil’s Choice” is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which provides one of the most wholesome sibling moments between Denji and Nayuta.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 148, Room 606 Sword Review: The World Remembers.

The previous chapter of Chainsaw Man made me slightly concerned that Fujimoto would skip the fight between Asa and Yoshida.
Well, Chapter 148 “Room 606 Sword” put those fears to rest with its title alone.
It begins from where the previous chapter left off, with Denji being accused of being a wannabe Chainsaw Man by the random old man.
I had figured that this old man would turn out to be someone Denji had met to in the past but it turns out that they have not met and the old man is just being paranoid, which works entirely for the fear of Chainsaw Man Fujimoto has created in his world.
Fumiko tries to difuse the situation by revealing herself as a Public Saftey Agent, only for this to be countered by people saying they saw these agents become Chainsaw Men as well.
A member of the crowd then pulls a gun on Denji, demanding that he show them his chest to make sure he does not have a starter, which Denji will have since he is Chainsaw Man.
If I’m not mistaken, the man who pulls a gun is a Public Saftey Agent himself, based on the suit, so it is interesting to note that not all of them know Denji’s identity.
Quanxi tells the group to run and they do so, with Denji carrying Nayuta.
It is kind of funny to think about Quanxi now protecting Makima’s reincarnation.
The man fires at them but Quanxi easily blocks the bullet with her arm, which does cause Fumiko to look back at her, appearing worried for her.
I am not sure why she would be concerned.
This is Quanxi we’re talking about.
She could take out a rioting crowd without breaking a sweat.
Although, maybe Fumiko looks worried because she and Quanxi are togethor?
I know I could be reading too much into this, given that I’m basing the theory off a single look, but it is possible, considering Quanxi had an entire harem in Part One of the story.
Following this scene, we get the best paneling of the chapter, as Fujimoto draws Quanxi’s bleeding arm in one panel, dripping blood in the next, and then, to end the transition, he shows Asa’s cut off arm.
It is with this fantastic transition that the chapter follows the title’s promise of showing us the fight between Asa and Yoshida.
Much to Yoshida’s shock, his second sword strike does not even cut through Asa’s other arm.
This is because the fear of war has finally kicked in and strengthened Yoru.
Yoshida calls upon the Octopus Devil to help him but it is too late because Asa can now transform weapons without touching them.
She uses this upgrade to finally create the Room 606 Sword.
Yoru then takes control and cuts the Octopus Devil apart in a fantastic panel, which makes me wonder what a lot of people were talking about last chapter when they said Fujimoto’s artwork was losing its edge?
Yoru then attempts to attack Yoshida but her power has become so great that she misjudges the distance and smashes into the wall next to him instead, giving Yoshida enough time to flee.
Yoru then leaps down from her and Asa’s destroyed apartment and finds the recently started Chainsaw Man War has thrown the world into chaos.
The chapter then ends with Yoru breaking out into laughter, declaring that the world finally remembers her.
Is it weird that I feel happy for Yoru because she was scared about being forgotten earlier in Part Two?
I also hope Yoru powering up signifies that we will be getting more of her and Asa in the next few chapters, since they have been put to the side for a bit previously.
As well as this, I am still interested to see if Asa can regenerate her missing arm or not.
Overall, this was short chapter of Chainsaw Man but it was still an exciting one.
Denji, Fumiko and Nayuta are on the run, and Asa and Yoru are now growing in power.
I look forward to seeing where Fujimoto goes with these characters next.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 147, Cremation Review: Short Carnage.

After the explosive reveals of Chapter 146, Chapter 147 of Chainsaw Man, “Cremation”, takes a much shorter approach.
The chapter begins from where the previous one left off, where Nayuta revealed Fami’s plan to make both Chainsaw Man and the War Devil super-duper strong so they can kill the Death Devil.
Barem confirms Nayuta’s theory, but he still wants Denji to transform into Chainsaw Man so orders the new Chainsaw Devils to kill Nayuta to force Denji’s hand.
Barem calls her a witch who will one day plunge the world into darkness.
His statement is most likely Fujimoto creating a parralel to his previous oneshot Yogen no Nayuta, which Nayuta is based off.
It could also be him foreshadowing Nayuta’s future role in the story, as someone who will cause the end of the world as Barem predicts.
Motivated by Barem’s prophecy, the Chainsaw Devils rush to attack Denji, Nayuta and Fumiko but they are intercepted by Quanxi.
What follows is a few pages of Quanxi rescuing the three, jumping from a ledge with them, biting Fumiko’s torso so she will heal when she lands and innevitably breaks her legs, and then killing the rest of the Chainsaw Devils after she has healed.
Barem’s following line that Quanxi is “like a manga character come to life” is a pretty humorous fourth wall break from Fujimoto.
Following this, we see that Public Saftey has killed most of the Chainsaw Devils in the area and are now burning their corpses to keep them from regenerating.
Although, given that they were created by contracts with the Fire Devil, burning them might not be the best idea, but we will see.
The chapter then ends with a random old man pointing at Denji and accusing him of being a Chainsaw Man wannabe, offending Denji.
It is funny to think that Denji is probably more offended by being called a “wannabe” than being suspected of being in league with the Devils.
This ending also highlights just how much Fami’s plan is working because it is creating a lot of paranoia among the people, thus creating fear which will make Chainsaw Man stronger.
As for how this man knows Denji, I have no idea.
Maybe he was a background character from a prior chapter in Part Two, or maybe he just saw Denji bragging about Chainsaw Man off screen.
We will probably find out next chapter, when the new Chainsaw Man paranoia probably turns the crowd against Denji.
With Quanxi there, though, I doubt an angry mob could do much.
Quanxi’s presence also will not leave enough room for Denji to transform again.
I think Fujimoto is going to hold off on Denji transforming for a long while yet.
He is probably saving it for a big moment, maybe when Denji meets Asa again.
Speaking of, I was a bit disappointed to see she was not in this chapter.
I want to see how her fight with Yoshida ended.
I hope the fight is not left off screen.
As for the chapter itself, I was surprised to see a lot of criticism directed towards it, both in terms of story direction and artwork.
It sounds like some readers were annoyed there was not much story progression, since we had to wait two weeks for this chapter after such a big one.
This did not bother me, personally, since the action was still good, if brief, and the ending shows off just how well Fami’s plan is going.
I also saw a lot of people criticizing the artwork this chapter, some of them even saying Fujimoto needs to take a break so he can improve his work.
Honestly, the only panel which took me out of the chapter was of the old man first pointing at Denji.
Otherwise, this chapter’s art was pretty good.
Far from Fujimoto’s best but nowhere near bad.
That being said, if Fujimoto does need more breaks between chapters then I am fine with that.
His health should take priority.
Overall, Chapter 147 was a pretty good action chapter, if a little on the short side.
I hope the next chapter has more content, since we have to wait another two weeks for that.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 146, Chainsaw Man War Review: Crossing the Precipice.

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.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 145: Kumbaya Review: Asa Returns but at What Cost?

The latest chapters of Chainsaw Man have focused more on Denji’s life than Asa’s.
This is not suprising, considering he was the main character of Part One and the series is named after him, but I was wondering when we would see Asa again.
Well, Asa finally returned to the story in Chapter 145 “Kumbaya”, only for that return to be, as should have been expected, a far from happy one.
The chapter begins in the aftermath of Public Saftey’s raid on the Chainsaw Man Church.
A group of Public Saftey officers are discussing how to spin their raid to the media, and make plans to capture Asa, since she is the poster girl for the Church.
This is also where Fujimoto drops a bomb shell.
Public Saftey knows that Asa is being possessed by the War Devil.
Their knowledge of this all but confirms my prior theory that Yoshida knew about Asa’s possession right from the get-go.
He likely told Public Saftey of her identity.
Another interesting bit of information is the lead Public Saftey Officer saying that he hoped Asa would turn Chainsaw Man into a weapon.
If this was Public Saftey’s goal for a time then it would explain why Yoshida set Asa and Denji up in Chapter 104.
Although, if this is true then it also raises the question of why Yoshida later wanted Asa to stay away from Denji.
The scene ends with one of the Public Saftey officers asking the lead one what the Chainsaw Man Church hoped to achieve, and him responding, “To play at being Chainsaw Man, probably.”
Given the ominus nature of this chapter, I highly doubt this was the case, especially considering Fami’s fear of the Nostradamus Prophecy.
The next scene shows Barem, whose last name is revealed to be Bridge, being arrested by Public Saftey.
He is mentioned to be the Church’s second-in-command, which makes me wonder who the big leader is, Fami or the fake Chainsaw Man?
As he is being arrested, Fumiko offers him a place in Public Saftey, mentioning how Katana Man and Quanxi are also working for them now.
Reze not being mentioned confirms for me that she is not with Public Saftey.
I do think we will see her in the story again but it appears that Fujimoto is holding off on that for now.
Rather than respond to Fumiko’s offer, Barem instead asks to watch the sunset, before the scene again cuts to the lead Public Saftey Officer, who is being shown the corpse of the Devil the Falling Devil tried to feed Asa and Denji to.
It is revealed that this Devil is actually the Justice Devil, meaning that the Devil who has been giving powers to people right from the beginning of Part Two is another Devil entirey who has just been pretending to be Justice.
My money is on that Devil being Fami, at the moment.
Following this scene, we finally see Asa again, who is watching the Chainsaw Man Church being raided on the news.
Before she and Yoru can respond to it, there is a knock on the door demanding the War Devil’s surrender.
Asa instead decides to fight, planning on transforming her apartment into a weapon to fight, which Yoru compliments her on, saying she had become pretty wild since they met.
Before Asa can create a weapon, however, Yoshida uses his contract with the Octopus Devil to crash through the apartment and swing his sword at her.
While this is happening, so is Barem’s arrest.
In probably the most ominous moment of the entire chapter, he sings Kumbaya while being arrested, still watching the setting sun.
As Barem continues to sing, we see that Yoshida has cut off Asa’s arm when he attacked, bringing the chapter to an end.
I think things are going to get pretty crazy in the next chapter.
Barem’s song and focus on the sun seems to be implying that this sunset will be the last peaceful one the characters get for a while.
I am also highly interested in seeing the fight between Asa and Yoshia.
Will it be over quickly or something more drawn out?
I am also curious to see if Asa’s arm can regenerate like Denji’s.
We know Yoru revived Asa when she possessed her but we do not know if that was a one time thing or if Asa can regularly regenerate lost limbs now.
If not then Asa just lost her arm permamently.
Chapter 145 also sets up a lot of mysteries, like how much Yoshida knows about Asa and Yoru, what the Chainsaw Man Church’s true goal was, and what Devil was pretending to be the Justice Devil to make contracts?
Not only am I eager to find out the answers to these mysteries, but I also think we may have reached the precipice of normalcy in Part Two… well, as normal as Chainsaw Man gets anyway.
Back in Part One, the precipice was the Bomb Arc.
After that, the story went completley bonkers with the International Assassins Arc.
The events of “Kumbaya” makes me think we have just gone over the precipice for Part Two.
I am excited to read the next few chapters to see if I am right or not.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 144, Guns, Nails, Katana Review: An Expected Return.

Tatsuki Fujimoto is a writer who is incredibly difficult to predict.
I am usually thrown for a loop every single chapter of Chainsaw Man.
Chapter 144, “Guns, Nails, Katana”, was the exception because I actually guessed what would happen as soon as I started reading.
This is because the chapter’s very title spells out its events, which served to hype up what was about to happen.
“Guns, Nails, Katana” begins with the titular guns by having the Chainsaw Man Church members grab the weapons from the basement.
Back in the previous chapter, I thought the weapons that were being referred to were Devil Hybrids since they share the same name, but it turns out the weapons were just firearms.
Nobana is horrified by the amount of guns they have but this does not stop him and the other Church members from taking aim at the command of one of the Church’s apparent leading members.
All it takes is a mention of Chainsaw Man for the students to be ready to kill, showing just how much this Church has brainwashed them.
Outside the building, a Public Saftey Officer orders that two Special Division Agents be sent in, one at the front and one at the back.
The one who takes the front is the “Nails” part of the chapter.
They are a Fiend with their brain exposed and this detail made me think that they were a reincarnated Cosmo, since her brain was also exposed.
However, this Fiend’s reliance on hammers and nails makes me think they are Nail or Hammer Fiend.
Whichever they are, the Fiend easily disarms the students by nailing them to the walls through their clothes.
Given that the Fiend makes sure not to kill the students and that they shout out that children should be studying not using guns, it first appears that the Fiend wants to protect these students.
This makes it all the more darkly humorous when the Fiend smashes a student’s head in with a hammer when they don’t speak politley.
With the students taken care of, the unnamed man leading them then transforms into a Devil, having also clearly made a deal with the Justice Devil, just like Yuko did.
It is good to know that the Justice Devil is still in play and I am interested to see what its role is in all this.
Then, we get the moment I knew was coming ever since I read the chapter title, “Guns Nails, Katana.”
The unnamed man cries out that the Fiend will face the justice of the Chainsaw Man Church, only for Katana Man to make his return by eviscerating him from behind with his signature move.
This likely makes Katana Man the second Public Saftey Agent who was sent in the back.
As for why Katana Man would join Public Saftey after attacking them early in Part One, it makes sense when you look at who he is fighting.
Katana Man hates Chainsaw Man because Denji killed his grandfather so he would obviously be offended that a church worships him.
This can be seen when Katana Man shouts, “There is no such thing as justice with Chainsaw Man!”
So with Katana Man’s expected return that makes six out of seven Hybrids accounted for.
The only one missing is Reze so it will be interesting to see where she is.
Is she with Public Saftey or somewhere else?
Will she turn up next chapter or later in the story?
One thing I am certain of is that she will make her return at some point.
It would not make sense to have the rest of the Hybrids and not Reze.
As for Chapter 144, it was another solid chapter, which introduced the new Fiend well and ended on the great cliffhanger of Katana Man’s return.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 143, Rawr Review: A Dramatic Return.

For the past few chapters, Tatsuki Fujimoto has been building up to a terrorist attack committed by the Devil Hybrids in order to bring Chainsaw Man out of retirement.
As a result, going into Chapter 143, “Rawr”, we were all expecting to see this attack take place.
So, of course, Fujimoto played with our expectations by instead having the terrorists stopped before their attack can even begin, with them being taken out by a fan favourite character who makes their long awaited return in dramatic fashion.
Fujimoto remains as unpredictable of a writer as ever.
“Rawr” begins with the Weapons, consisting of Sugo, and the Spear and Whip Hybrids, prepring to begin their attack.
The Spear Hybrid seems to be in charge of the three, and my earlier impression of him being reluctant to take part in this attack is proved immediately wrong, as he horrifyingly suggests to target women and children.
Whip is just as messed up as, at 82 years old, she is eternally young and believes she was chosen by god, which she and the Spear Hybrid use this justify their oncoming atrocity.
Sugo is the only one of the three who is hesitant, which can be seen when a child falls over in front of him and begins to cry.
Sugo looks horrified at the thought of killing the kid but pushes his hesitancy aside, talking himself into believing this is a message from god.
Yeah, Sugo is still clearly brainwashed, yet his hesitancy still makes me believe their is some redemption for him.
As the clock strikes five, the three Hybrids reach to activate their transformations when, to the shock of probably all the readers, Quanxi dashes in from out of nowhere and cuts down the Whip and Spear Devil.
Sugo takes a little longer to take down, but only by a few seconds, as Quanxi executes him with pure casualness.
The little boy who Sugo was scared of killing earlier then looks up at Quanxi and the bloody carnaged she has unleashed.
“Rawr” Quanxi says to him, and the little boy runs off screaming, in complete fear of the chapter title!
Joking aside, I was not expecting Quanxi’s return at all and screamed out her name in surprise when she showed up.
It is good to see her again and the casual way she took down the Weapons was fun.
She is also revealed to be working with Public Saftey so I wonder how that occured, seeing as she was against them in the International Assassins Arc.
I have to imagine there was some hesitancy, considering that Makima was a part of Public Saftey and she killed Quanxi’s girlfriends.
Still, it will be cool to see Quanxi interact with her old buddy Kishibe, if Fujimoto decides to write that.
Following Quanxi’s return, it is revealed that Public Saftey covered up the planned Hybrid attack, instead portraying it as an attack by gunmen from the Chainsaw Man Church.
The Church is about to be raided by Public Saftey, and one of its members says that, “If they find the Weapons in the basement, we could be charged with treason.”
So, this suggests the Chainsaw Man Church has more Weapons at their disposal or held captive.
Maybe they have Reze and Katana Man, who are the last of the Weapons who remain unnaccounted for now that Quanxi has returned.
The chapter then ends with Haruka and Nobana being shocked to learn that the Church has Weapons, only for the random man who commented this to tell Haruka that he never heard a thing about Weapons, attempting to keep him quiet.
So, yeah, Haruka and Nobana are clearly out of their depth, although this was always apparent.
What is less apparent is just what Denji was thinking while all of this was taking place.
I mean, Barem just shows up, tells him the Weapons are going to attack and that Denji should transform into Chainsaw Man to help them, only for nothing to happen at all.
I have to imagine Barem was quite embarassed about that, which is funny to think about.
Barem is still out though and he is crazy enough to be danger.
As for the captured Weapons, I wonder if this will be the last we see of the Whip and Spear Hybrids?
I am pretty certain that we will see Sugo again, though, because Fujimoto seems to be giving him an arc, what with his clearly growing doubts.
Overall, I found “Rawr” to be a fantastic Chainsaw Man chapter.
Yes, it was brief, but it had the return of a fan favourite character and, with it, a classic Fujimoto subversion of expectations.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 142, Denji Fan Club Review: A Different Side.

Despite the ominous ending to the previous chapter, Chapter 142 of Chainsaw Man, “Denji Fan Club”, has one of the most wholesome openings of the entire story.
Denji has taken Nayuta to an amusement park and we get a panel of her enjoying herself on a ride.
Sadly, this wholesome image is not enough to make even Denji feel better because he still looks incredibly depressed while watching her from the bench he is sitting on.
Fumiko is still guarding him and Denji assures her he is not going to turn into Chainsaw Man again.
Fumiko says this is disappointing but Denji points out that his time as Chainsaw Man was not all good, and Fumiko agrees, revealing that Public Saftey has even been keeping watch on Denji in the bathroom.
Denji rightfully points out how screwed up this all is, calling Fumiko a stalker which, after all of the creepy stuff she has done, is totally justified.
Fumiko, however, demands that Denji call her his fan, but Denji says that every woman who comes onto him ends up hating his guts.
With Denji’s interactions with Makima, Reze, and many others, it is hard to exactly fault him for thinking this.
Fumiko, on the other hand, admits that she does hate Chainsaw Man a little bit because he did not save her parents.
We then see a different side to Fumiko than the creepy stalker, as she reveals that she was there when Denji fought Aki who had been turned into the Gun Fiend.
Denji then asks Fumiko if her parents survived, which is pretty stupid of him, considering that she just said Chainsaw Man did not save them.
I am not sure if that is Fujimoto just showing Denji having a dumb moment, a writing issue, or a translation issue.
In any case, Fumiko reveals that she also saw Denji transform back into a human and cry over Aki death.
She states, “When I saw it, I realized for the first time… that the one who’s been fighting all this time, while Devils kill him over and over again… was just a kid.”
A kid who she touched inappropriately… yeah, Fumiko’s a creep.
Fumiko concludes her speech by saying she swore to save Denji after she saw who he was, making her, not a Chainsaw Man fan, but a Denji fan.
This is a very well written speech and it does make Fumiko sympathetic but, again, it is complicated by her prior actions.
She says she knew Denji was young yet she still pretty much assaulted him in the theatre.
Fumiko’s statement does seem to break through Denji’s depression, at least, because he is still considering what she said when Barem approaches, contrasting Fumiko as a Denji fan by saying that he is a Chainsaw Man fan.
Barem says it was not easy to sneak over to Denji without getting spotted by Public Saftey, indicating that they are looking for him.
Barem then shows his Chainsaw Man lighter to prove that he is a fan before asking Denji to grant his “fan request.”
What follows is a moment that feels like Fujimoto is speaking directly to the reader.
“Personally, I want to see Chainsaw Man fighting. I want to see him carving up Devils with his chainsaws… getting covered in gore… suffering and struggling and getting killed… and despite it all, returning to life and getting back up again.”
It feels like Fujimoto is just repeating what he has heard some fans say about Part Two, which has been much slower paced than Part One.
I am not complaining, though, since I have personally quite enjoyed the direction Part Two has taken but it does appear that Fujimoto is aware that there are some readers who do not.
It will be interesting to see which direction Fujimoto decides to take this.
Will he decide to give into some fan pressure and make the story more violent, or will he stick with the more character focused approach he has been taking?
It looks like we will get an answer next chapter because Barem reveals that the Weapons are about to attack, and we see Sugo, the Whip Hybrid, and the Spear Hybrid standing in a store ready to begin, as the chapter ends.
Of the three, I would say that the Whip Hybrid is the only one who looks comfortable with what she is about to do.
Sugo and the Spear Hybrid look much more uncomfortable.
I have said before that I think Sugo will probably end up betraying the Weapons to help Denji and I still believe this to be true but I am interested to see if my impression of the Spear Devil’s reluctance is correct or not.
Will Denji fight the Weapons when their attack begins or will he back down and let the attack happen to live a normal life?
I could see this going either way but, if he does fight the Hybrids, it will certainly not go as well as when Pochita fought them at the end of Part One.
Chapter 142 is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which promised an imminent attack from the Weapons while showing a new side to Fumiko.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 141, Normal Life Plus Review: An Ominous End.

Chapter 141 of Chainsaw Man, “Normal Life Plus”, feels like the shortest chapter we have had in a while, not that it’s a bad thing.
The chapter begins by showing that, despite Denji trying to live a normal life, he will never be able to escape reminders of Chainsaw Man.
We see this in the Chainsaw Man Curry Buns he buys while shopping with Nayuta, and even with the Asa posters they pass while walking home.
Also on their way home, they encounter a Devil, which Denji and Nayuta look pretty happy about.
Denji is about to transform but hesitates and, in that moment, a bunch of Chainsaw Man Church members show up and kill the Devil for him.
As Denji and Nayuta depart, a store named after Fujimoto can be seen behind them.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Denji’s predicament, I just find it a fun easter egg, like when Fujimoto named the karaoke place Denji and Fumiko visited after himself.
Fujimoto then presents us with more panels of Denji living his depressing normal life with Nayuta, until the two eventually go to bed with their dogs and Meowy.
Denji, however, cannot sleep and when he wonders if he will eventually get happy in this normal life, Nayuta attempts to console him by saying she will stay with him forever.
This does seem to comofort him, somewhat, as Denji goes to sleep hugging his little sister.
However, this is Chainsaw Man so trouble is innevitably on the horizon, as we see the Weapons of the Chainsaw Man Church meeting up at Family Burger to discuss their plans.
Barem is leading the discussion, with Sugo and the Whip and Spear Hybrids also in attendance.
Just like many of us thought, Barem is up to no good, as he plans to launch an attack with the other Weapons.
Since tomorrow is the Chainsaw Man Church’s day of worship, the Church’s followers will not stop any Devil attacks.
This will cause the Public Saftey Devil Hunters to emerge, who the Weapons then plan to kill to draw Chainsaw Man out.
Out of all the Weapons, Sugo seems to be the only one reluctant about enacting this plan, as he demands to know why they are going so far to make Denji transform into Chainsaw Man again.
It would seem that Sugo is being kept out of the loop.
In response to his demands, the Whip Hybrid tells him that they will be Weapons tomorrow, so he should remove all of his thoughts.
This, again, causes Sugo to reassert his humanity, telling her to let him think for himself.
Sugo really is similar to Denji in a lot of ways and this only reinforces my belief that he will eventually betray the Weapons to help him.
As for Barem, he does agree with Sugo that they are human, but also acknowledges that they are weapons, asking the group what they have in common.
The Whip Hybrid guesses that they are hard to spell.
It would seem that she is not the sharpest weapon in the shed.
With a creepy face, Barem states that the thing humans and weapons have in common is that they are both born to kill, so god will forgive them, no matter how many people they kill.
On this ominous note, the chapter concludes, promising that Denji’s normal life is about to come to a violent end.
Why the Weapons want to draw Denji out, I could not say at this point, but I do think there is one thing they have not accounted for: Asa.
Just like Denji, I doubt she is going to be able to stay out of the fray, which will probably lead to a second team up between her and Chainsaw Man, against the Weapons this time.
“Normal Life Plus” is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which I think signifies the end of Denji’s attempt at a normal life.