Chainsaw Man, the breakout ultraviolent shonen series, has recently wrapped up the first season of its anime adaptation, bringing the dark humor and tragic themes of its source material to the small screen. While some may have critiqued the show’s animation quality and pacing, most would agree that it did a fantastic job of introducing Chainsaw Man’s world to a wider audience as the accompanying manga series enters its second major arc. Those who are holding out from viewing the series, however, may need a little more convincing before they give the anime a shot.
Anime is synonymous with a lot of things: action, drama, romance, and while Chainsaw Man largely falls into the first category, there’s already a plethora of material for anime fans to watch through. Isn’t Chainsaw Man just another seasonal action show? Or is it something a little more profound? It’s not as clear-cut as you may think. What exactly makes Chainsaw Man stand out compared to other shonen anime?
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Chainsaw Man Has an Unconventional Protagonist
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The archetypal shonen protagonist is someone who’s charismatic, someone willing to take challenges head-on, someone who makes friends wherever they go, and while they may not be the best at what they do to start, they typically grow and change over the course of a series into something far greater than they were initially.
Chainsaw Man is set up to accommodate such a protagonist: Denji, a down-on-his-luck orphan, takes up the act of “Devil Hunting” as a last-ditch effort to pay his outstanding debts. He does so through the use of Pochita, an adorable Chainsaw Devil, to violently rip the monstrous Devils apart. When he’s eventually betrayed by his employer and left for dead, the compassion he showed Pochita allows the two to merge into a single being, turning Denji into a super-powered hybrid of man and monster. He’s approached by a mysterious woman named Makima to join the Public Safety Division shortly after, an entire organization devoted to the act of hunting Devils. With a setup like this, you’d think that Denji would be just another regular shonen protagonist, but it’s far from the case in Chainsaw Man.
Denji is the opposite of a traditional hero. He’s an outcast, someone who was initially doomed to die from debt and self-sacrifice as just another cog in the mafia machine. He’s uneducated, brash, sex-obsessed, lacks social courtesies, and has no real deeper understanding of the world around him on account of just trying to survive day after day. Being suddenly thrown into a situation where job security is no longer an issue, a roof is over his head, and hot meals are provided for him, ultimately turns him into someone who lets his more primal urges dictate his behavior.
But there’s more going on with Denji than meets the eye. It’s the suffering that Denji endured in his past life that gives him a genuine sense of empathy. While his overt behaviors leave a lot to be desired, deep down he understands the plights that his fellow Devil Hunters have gone through, even after getting assaulted by Aki and fed to a Blood Devil by Power. His aspirations are deliberately small, leading him to put all his effort into what he does without a moment of hesitation. Denji is an unconventional protagonist for sure, but he embodies what makes a compelling protagonist in his own unique way.
Chainsaw Man Revels in its Dark Themes
A title like Chainsaw Man comes with some simple expectations. Frankly, if you weren’t expecting a guy made up of chainsaws to rip anything and everything to shreds, you might’ve picked the wrong series to get into.
From the very first episode all the way to the last, violence and viscera in a rainbow of colors plays a significant part in Chainsaw Man. A high amount of gore isn’t wholly unique, but it ties into the harsh themes that pervade its world. Devils are spawned from the sum of humanity’s respective fears, growing in power in proportion to that fear. In a world where heightened anxieties and cultures of fear are more prominent than ever, it reflects reality by making monstrous Devils the embodiment of those perceived dangers.
Even when they’re not fighting Devils, there’s a constant sense of misery that oozes from the cast. Some only went into Devil Hunting for the money, either by choice or coercion, unaware of the danger it brings to themselves. In the case of Denji and Power, they’re forced into fighting devils due to their mere existence, threatened to be put down like animals if they resist. Others seek vengeance against the devils for harming their families. There are no real “noble” Devil Hunters here, as each one has some kind of emotional baggage.
Chainsaw Man is, Weirdly Enough, Relatable
Underneath the bloodshed, the hypersexuality, and the depressing atmosphere that’s strewn throughout Chainsaw Man, there’s something that most everyday people can earnestly relate to. Denji saving the world from the influence of devils is just a byproduct of him securing his own happiness. It’s not so much that Denji is selfish, or at least consciously trying to be, he’s just prioritizing his own needs. Denji joining the Public Safety Divison to begin with is spurred by his own desire for stability and security, something he was sorely lacking before his body melded with the Chainsaw Devil. But Denji isn’t alone in feeling this way; it seems like everyone is just trying to get by, even if the Public Safety Division may have ulterior motives.
Chainsaw Man is certainly not a show for the faint of heart. But if you can get used to how harsh it is, you’ll find what is likely one of the best shonen anime in recent years, with a second season practically guaranteed to happen.
