Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku Review: The Yin and Yang of Embracing Strengths and Weaknesses.

I remember seeing the first trailer for the Hell’s Paradise anime months ago.
It was a fantastic trailer, perfectly highlighting the mysteries of the story, without a line of dialogue from the characters.
Despite being interested, I still held off from reading the manga, until watching the first three episodes of the anime, developed by Mappa.
After loving those episodes, I binged the entire manga in three days and was rewarded with a great story that presented a compelling mystery, charismatic characters, some of the most well thought out action I have read, and brilliant artwork from the writer, Yuji Kaku.

*Hell’s Paradise*‘s artwork provides both a lot of beauty and a lot of darkness.

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku is set in Edo Period Japan, and follows the story of Gabimaru, a ninja who has been captured and set for execution, yet longs to reunite with his wife.
A chance to reunite with her comes with the arrival of Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, an executioner who arrives with the offer of a pardon from the Shogun himself.
The only catch is that, in order to obtain this pardon, Gabimaru will have to travel to a mystical island, from which none have returned alive, to obtain the Elixar of Life for the Shogun.

To reunite with his wife, Gabimaru travels to this dangerous island.

Gabimaru and Sagiri will not be going alone, however, with ten other death row prisoners being sent, with the pardon being available to only the one criminal who retrieves the Elixar.
As for the rest of them, they face death from the executioners sent with them to the island, to monitor them.
However, the criminals and executioners soon find they have much bigger problems to worry about than each other, as the island’s mysterious inhabitants begin picking them off, forcing them to band together and learn the ability known as Tao to survive together.

The executioners and prisoners having to work togethor creates a lot of great bonds between them.

Tao is Hell’s Paradise’s main fighting mechanic and I was constantly marveling at how well Yuji Kaku incorporated it into his fight scenes, with many characters learning the technique quickly, while others learned slower in various triumphant moments.
Speaking of the characters, the ones in Hell’s Paradise have to be some of the most charismatic I have read in a while.
There is, of course, Gabimaru and Sagiri who, as the main leads of this story, grow a lot over the course of it, with numerous relizations they have about themselves creating plenty of development.
Side characters such as Yuzuriha, the brothers Chobe and Toma, Nurugai, Shion, Fuchi, Tenza and Senta are also all fantastic but I don’t have time to discuss all of them, so I will focus on my favourite side character, Tamiya Gantetsusai.
He starts off as a warrior valuing only his own glory and legacy, yet slowly changes until, by the end of his story, he becomes much more humble due to the influence of his assigned executioner turned friend Fuchi.
This results in an ending for him that is probably the most emotionally impactful, alongside Gabimaru’s.

Gantetsusai’s ending is subtle yet moving.

All of these characters I have mentioned are compelling and I find it to be a testament to how good Hell’s Paradise is that their camaraderie is so believeable, despite the main conflict of the story really only taking place over a few days at least.
What helps these characters and their fight sequences shine is also the combination of great themes and artwork.
The theme of Hell’s Paradise is the acceptance of strengths and weaknesses, yin and yang, with this theme being key to many of the events and imagery in the manga.
This imagery is especially great, with Yuji Kuko delivering many breath taking panels showing off both the beauty and horror of the island.

The artwork of warped buddist statues and monsters highlight this yin and yang conflict quite well.

However, despite having plenty of positive things to say about Hell’s Paradise, I will not act like it is perfect, since there were a few issues I had.
The first of these is in regards to character deaths.
There are a few times in this manga where characters have emotional deaths that affected me, only for those feelings I had to vanish when the character is revealed to have survived.
Granted, I did like these characters so was pleased to see that they lived but, at the same time, some part of me wished that they had stayed dead so that the emotional weight of their deaths could be kept.
That being said, this was not a constant issue, as Yuji Kaku still followed through on many other tragic deaths across the series.
Although, there are a couple characters that were clearly introduced as canon fodder for the final battle.

While some characters introduced later in the story shine, others were probably introduced just to die.

Another minor issue I have is that there were a few plot points introduced that did not amount to much.
In particular, there is one moment where Jikka makes a pretty shady offer to two characters, only for this to amount to pretty much nothing.
While these were issues I had with the manga, they were nowhere near significant enough to dull my enjoyment of this otherwise fantastic story.
Hell’s Paradise is a manga with an interesting story, and great characters and fight scenes, supported by brilliant art work and compelling themes of ying and yang.
It is already among my favourite manga and I will continue watching the anime, hoping Mappa can keep up with the quality of their adaptation so far.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chainsaw Man 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 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 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 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.

Chainsaw Man Episode Four, Rescue Review: Meet the Gang.

Just like Episode Three of Chainsaw Man ended with an incredibly animated action scene, Episode Four, “Rescue”, begins with an incredibly animated action scene.
Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, the episode begins with an anime original scene of Power grossly killing and consuming various animals before coming across Meowy, leading into the Bat Devil taking them hostage.
We see how desperate Power was to save Meowy, running so fast that she trips up, as she reflects on how wanting to save Meowy is foolish.
This ties back into her relationship with Denji in the present as, after her and Meowy are rescued by him, she questions why he would save them, only for Denji to point at her breasts and then do a fondling motion with his hand.
Much like how Power concluded running to save Meowy was a “foolish reason”, she also concludes Denji saving them to cop a feel is also a “foolish reason.”
Nevertheless, she agrees to honour her part of the deal, to which Denji celebrates, only to have his hand cut off by the Leech Devil mid-cheer.
The Leech Devil was the girlfriend of the Bat Devil and is wanting to kill Power and Meowy in revenge but is willing to let Denji go since she considers him cute.
Determined to cop his feel, Denji refuses.
The big fight of the episode then begins, and it is just as excellently animated as Denji’s fight with the Bat Devil in the previous episode.
It is also well adapted from the manga, with various new moments to the fight, like Denji hiding under the Bat Devil’s guts to launch a surprise attack.
In the end, though, the result is the same, with Denji being impaled with the Leech Devil’s tongue, ending their “dream battle.”
Thankfully, Aki shows up as uses his contract with the Fox Devil to save Denji.
“Kon” he says, forming a fox symbol with his hand, causing the Fox Devil to appear from nowhere and bite the Leech Devil’s head off.
It is in the aftermath of this fight where we get a brief look at the gang of Division Four.
We of course have Aki, then the eye patched Himeno (Mariya Ise), and new recruits Kobeni (Karin Takahashi) and Arai (Taku Yashiro).
Their introduction is brief, we do not even hear the recruit’s names, but the introduction shot of them does highlight their future importance.
On a side note, I will also say that I do really like Karin Takahashi as Kobeni so far.
I know she only said one word but she displayed it so timidly that it really sounded like Kobeni to me.
In any case, Aki then takes over the battle scene, helping an injured Denji to his feet and sending Meowy off to a veternarian for a checkup.
Later on, Denji awakens in the hostpital with his arm reattached.
Aki arrives with an apple for Denji and provides us with another lore dump, explaining that Devil Hunters make contracts with devils in order to fight them.
Aki is contracted with the Fox Devil, which eats a bit of his skin in exchange for him using its power.
As for Aki himself, he is still conflicted by Denji, shown by him holding off on giving Denji the apple pieces when he attempts to cover for Power, despite Denji reaching out for them.
But then Aki remembers all of the conflicting reports he heard about Denji from his fight with the Bat Devil.
Among those were the woman he yelled at to run if she did not want to get eaten, and the man who Denji injured by throwing his car at the Bat Devil with him in it.
Along with these, is the father and daughter who Denji saved.
Like I said in my Episode Three review, these two are actually from Chapter Two of the manga, where Denji saved the girl from the Muscle Devil.
This was cut from the anime but the father and daughter characters were kept and moved to the Bat Devil fight for Denji to save.
This was a good way to remove the Muscle Devil scene, yet retain its impact because the father and daughter still come to talk to Aki about Denji helping them.
In the end, Aki decides to work with Denji if he follows his every order, to which Denji does agree.
Aki then leaves Denji’s room and has Power freed, much to Himeno’s concern.
Following this, we get an anime original scene of Aki reporting to Makima.
Before he knocks on her door, however; he stops and then checks himself in the window, showing his crush on her.
While speaking with Makima, Aki also curiously mentions something about both the Bat and Leech Devils having “no traces of Gun flesh.”
After he finishs his report, Makima is rightly suspicious of how convenient Denji and Power’s side of the story is.
Aki covers for them by chalking it down to them being “unbelievably stupid”, which, to be fair to him, is not exactly wrong.
Makima also calls out how flexible Aki is being with the rules, correctly deducing Denji’s influence, to which Aki denies.
The anime original scenes continue, with the next one being Aki’s morning routine which, again, is extremely well animated.
Mappa really is going above and beyond with this adaptation, putting so much effort into the smallest of details.
Aki and Denji’s simple morning is quickly interrupted by the chaotic arrival of Power, whom Makima has assigned to live with them.
Aki protests until Makima compliments him, to which he ascends.
He probably quickly regrets this, though, because what follows is a comedic segment, of Power refusing to eat vegetables, refusing to flush the toilet, and refusing to bathe, things which are even too much for Denji to suffer through.
However, although Aki is suffering under the chaos his new roomate is causing, things are looking up for Denji because Power corners him in the bathroom to follow through on their deal, allowing him to touch her breasts three times.
Once for saving Meowy, a second time for killing the Bat Devil, and a third for lying about her to Aki.
This causes Denji to internally declare her an angel, bringing a comedic end to the episode.
This is followed by the ED “Jouzai” by TOOBEE; another fun ED with a lot of fun visuals of Power.
“Rescue” is another great episode of Chainsaw Man.
Like Episode Three it has an incredibly animated fight scene, the quality of which also extends to the quieter moments.

Manga Spoilers Section:
“Rescue” had a lot of great hints towards the future of the story, most of them concerning Makima.
First, there is her interest in Denji influencing Aki, which is shown in the anime original scene.
This is a great addition because it subtly hints at her trying to create a family unit between them, just so she can rip it away from Denji to make Chainsaw Man hers.
Her having complete control over Aki is also foreshadowed by him immediately agreeing to house Power when Makima compliments him.
It is a funny moment now but it will become much more sinister when Makima is revealed to be the Control Devil.
The anime original scene also gives us an earlier mention of the Gun Devil, which will add to the reveal of what it is in the next episode, along with Aki’s backstory, which I am excited to see.

Chainsaw Man Episode Three, Meowy’s Whereabouts Review: All to Cop a Feel.

The first two episodes of Chainsaw Man started off Mappa’s adaptation excellently but, in my opinion, it is Episodes Three and Four where the quality really gets into high gear.
Directed by Hinori Tanaka, Episode Three, “Meowy’s Whereabouts”, prepares us for the excellent quality of animation we are going to see right from the get-go.
“Meowy’s Whereabouts” begins simply, picking up in the aftermath of Power destroying the Sea Cucumber Devil.
Makima is disappointed in Power for killing the devil since it was already being taken care, and in Denji for not controlling Power.
Makima then questions if Power is cut out to be a Devil Hunter.
This scares Power, who attempts to place the blame all on Denji, causing an argument, which comes to an end when Makima calmly asks them to quiet down.
Despite the calmness of this request Power is again terrified into submission, as she timidly agrees to work with Denji.
Although this opening scene is a simple one, animation wise, I was still amazed by simple details like Makima resting her face in her hand.
Even little details like her fingernails were much more detailed than in other anime, preparing us for the fantastic animation that is to come when Denji eventually faces off against the Bat Devil in the back half of the episode.
“Meowy’s Whereabouts” then goes about setting that fight up with its next scene, as Denji and Power are hanging around some vending machines.
A cat approaches Power and she uses this as an opportunity to talk about her own cat Meowy, who was kidnapped by a devil.
Denji seems uninterested, focusing on his goal of touching boobs.
This results in a good laugh when Power manipulates Denji into helping, saying she would let him touch hers if he saves Meowy, causing Denji to act outraged that the devil stole the cat and vowing to save it.
Yet, he is completley unaware that Power has just lured him into a trap.
Although, so is the audience, at that point.
Following the intro, Denji and Power head off to save Meowy, with Denji attempting to relate to Power by talking about Pochita, saying he is sad he cannot pet him because he lives in his heart.
However, much like Denji dismissed Meowy before Power made her offer, Power too dismisses Pochita, believing Denji is just saying that as a way to get through his grief.
It is interesting how despite having a similar love for their pets, Power and Denji still do not get along at this stage and dismiss each other’s feelings, something that will be resolved as the episode progresses.
Before that can happen, however; the scene cuts to Makima being interviewed by her bosses about her squad, to which she describes Denji as “interesting”, while she and her bosses use plenty of dog metaphors for him again.
On the drive back, Aki questions Makima about finding Denji “interesting”, and it is here that we get one of the first big lore dumps of the series, as Makima describes how devils work.
She states that every devil is born with a name and how much that name is feared determines how strong the devil is.
So, for example, a coffee devil would be rather weak but a car devil would be pretty strong since there is a common fear of being run over.
Therefore, a Chainsaw Devil would have to be powerful as well, which is the implication Makima gives for why she finds Denji so interesting.
Aki still insists on Denji being unhelpful and what happens next initially proves him to be right.
As Denji and Power approach the abandoned house where Meowy is being held hostage, Denji wonders why Power is approaching with him because she said the devil would kill Meowy if she got close.
This causes Power’s entire story to fall apart and, once Denji realizes he has been lured into a trap, he lunges forward, only to be too slow as Power whacks him over the head with a hammer made from her blood.
She then drags the injured Denji inside the house where the Bat Devil is waiting for her.
The Bat Devil’s arm was cut off by a Devil Hunter so he uses Denji’s blood to revive himself, only to be disgusted by the taste.
Therefore, he decides to punish Power.
By this point, one could be forgiven for thinking that Power had lied to Denji about Meowy but it is revealed she was telling the truth as the Bat Devil has taken Meowy hostage.
His punishment for Power is for her to watch as he swallows Meowy hole, while she looks on in horror.
We then get a flashback to show how the bond between the two formed.
After the Blood Devil became the Fiend known as Power, she killed and ate everything she came across.
This was until Meowy found her, after Power had killed a bear.
However, Meowy was skin and bones so Power began to feed them in the hopes of fattening them up so she could eat them.
What she did not count on, however, was becoming attatched to Meowy.
It was after she had this realization that the Bat Devil took Meowy hostage, ordering Power to find him a human to eat to save her cat.
Power ran off to do so, only to be eventually captured by Makima off screen.
With the flashback done, the scene changes to present day, where we finally get the first moment of conciliation between Power and Denji, as Power states that she now finally understands how Denji felt when he said that he could no longer pet Pochita.
The Bat Devil’s punishment for Power continues, as he eats her next.
He probably should have chewed, however, because seeing Power and Meowy trapped in the Bat Devil’s stomach makes Denji rush to save them by catching a ride on the Bat Devil.
“Gimme my tits back!” He humorously shouts, calling back to his deal with Power.
But Denji’s reasons for trying to save Power does not fully conform with this dream as he also wants to save her because he has finally come to sympathise with her, just like she did him.
As Denji pulls the rip cord on his chest to unleash his chainsaw powers, he recalls a time when he lost Pochita and became scared that he had eaten by a devil, only to find him when he came back home.
He and Pochita then slept beside each other and Denji remembers how relieved he felt, before wondering how scared Power must have been sleeping while knowing the Bat Devil had Meowy.
This thought concluded, Denji begins his rescue attempt for Power and Meowy in spectacular and gory fashion, as the chainsaw rips through his own head as he transforms.
He then cuts off the Bat Devil’s arm again, causing the two of them to fall from the sky, crashing into a building, nearly hitting a woman.
Denji urges the woman to flee before she gets eaten.
A gloriously animated fight then follows between Denji and the Bat Devil, during which Denji also saves a father and daughter, both of whom should look familar to manga readers.
This is because they are the father and daughter from Chapter Two who were cut from the anime.
However, even though Denji does save them, he could care less about other people, as he throws a car at the Bat Devil with a man still inside.
The man barely manages to get out in time, thankfully.
Afterwards, the Bat Devil seems to be put an end to the fight, defeating Denji with a sonic sound wave, which has great sound design, by the way.
The Bat Devil is then about to begin feasting on humans once more, only for Denji to emerge from the rumble of a building, angrily declaring how mad he is about not being about to cop a feel yet.
It is quite hilarious to hear Denji’s voice actor, Kikunosuke Toya, scream so passionately about this.
The Bat Devil is also stunned by this because it causes him to drop the person he was about to eat.
The question is if he dropped the man out of fear for Denji or because he was stumped by how stupid Denji is.
My money is on both.
Denji then easily kills the Bat Devil in bloody fashion, ripping him open, as blood rains down on him in a killer shot that brings an end to the episode.
We then get our third ED “Hawatari 2-oku Centi” by Maximum the Hormone, which is my favourite so far, with its visuals and foreshadowing for the future.
The entire fight between Denji and the Bat Devil this episode was absolutley excellent, with incredible animation throughout.
I am extremely glad that it was Mappa who was chosen to animate Chainsaw Man because of how great of a job they have been doing and I cannot wait to see more.

Manga Spoilers Section:
One thing I enjoyed about how “Meowy’s Whereabouts” adapted the manga was how well it translated Power’s fear of Makima.
From the animation of her reaction, to Fairouz Ai’s voice performance; all of this does a great job at foreshadowing how Makima is bad news.
Another nice detail was the inclusion of the father and daughter from Chapter Two, who are saved by Denji from the Bat Devil here, instead of the Muscle Devil.
This meant that they could be used for an Episode Four scene, where Aki flashes back to them talking about how Denji saved them.
I will talk about that scene in the review for that episode, which I will be releasing alongside this one.