Every Chainsaw Man fan remembers the door reveal from Part One of the story.
Tatsuki Fujimoto did an excellent job of building up to the reveal that Denji was the one who killed his father.
Now, over 100 chapters since that reveal, Fujimoto has revealed another door twist, only for Asa instead of Denji.
And, whereas the reveal in Part One was a moment of trauma, the reveal in Part Two is a moment of healing.
Chapter 217, “Two Good People” begins with the aftermath of Asa finding her mother after running down her dream alleyway.
Asa reveals to Denji that when she was little, a Devil came out of the river and cut off her father’s leg before her mother killed it.
Asa ran to get help, tripping along the way, only to find upon her return that her own mother had murdered her father.
She did this because Asa’s father was an abusive drunk, who was cheating on her, although there was also some financial incentive, since Asa’s mother tells her the money from his life insurance will help her go to school.
The reveal of what happened to Asa’s father was a great bit of misdirection from Fujimoto.
At the beginning of Part Two, we are told that Asa’s parents were killed by a Devil.
We then see Asa’s mother and a man being killed by the Typhoon Devil in a flashback.
Back then, I assumed the man was Asa’s father, but I did find it odd that Asa seemed to remember her mother more than him.
Now, it makes sense because her father died at a different time and was abusive.
Asa tells Denji she does not know if her mother’s actions made her a bad person or not, before explaining that she tripped on purpose while running for help, hoping her father would die.
This raises questions about how many times Asa tripping in the past has been intentional.
Asa asks Denji if he thinks she is a bad person for what she did and Denji responds, “I killed my dad and made it look like a suicide… but I’m a good person.”
Never did I think a character confessing murder could be positive development.
All the way back when Denji remembered what he did to his father, he hated himself, believing he did not deserve to live a normal life.
Now, here he is telling Asa that he is a good person despite what he did, cheering her up to the point that the two break out into laughter, while Yoru and Pochita continue their fight in the real world, ending the chapter.
Denji turned this potentially traumatic moment for Asa and used his own experiences with it to turn it into a moment of healing.
The two of them really are made for each other.
They have similar, traumatic pasts but they use that to bring out the best in each other.
“Two Good People” is a great chapter, which provides a lot of growth for its two lead characters.
Its uplifting ending, despite the subject matter, made me even more excited for the Chainsaw Man movie, which is finally releasing in my country this week.
I already have my ticket booked and you can expect my review for it after I see the film.