Chainsaw Man Review: Grimy, Gorgeous and Genuinely Unpredictable
MAPPA's most tonally confident production, with a protagonist who wants almost nothing. 8.8/10.
Verdict: 8.8 out of 10. A production of unusual craft attached to a story that deliberately refuses the satisfactions its genre usually provides.
Denji is the anti-shonen protagonist: no ambition beyond food, shelter and affection, no destiny, no code. That vacuum is the series' engine, because everyone around him is happy to fill it with their own agenda.
The direction leans cinematic to a degree that divided viewers — long lenses, muted grading, restrained cuts where a louder show would explode. It is a choice, not a failure, and it makes the violence read as consequence rather than spectacle.
Where it stumbles is rhythm. The first half withholds so consistently that some episodes feel like setup for a payoff the season never quite reaches. The film should fix that, and the manga suggests it will.
Discussion(0)
Share your read of this piece. Notes are saved to this browser only — no account, no tracking.
Comments are stored locally in your browser so you can keep your own reading notes on this page. Be kind, and tag spoilers.