The average Chainsaw Man reader.
Format to use:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Makima memes:
- Fuck Makima. All my homies hate Makima. explanationA variation of this meme
◊, which many fans began posting in response to Makima being increasingly evil and killing favorite characters as the manga trudged along. - Makima's assExplanationA joke about how many fans are willing to defend Makima's actions just because she has a nice posterior.
- Once the anime's character models were unveiled, many fans called foul over how MAPPA had apparently... reduced Makima's lower mass. Cue memes dunking on horny Fanwork-Only Fans having their perceptions twisted by the fanartists drawing Makima as curvier than usual.
- Okay! This looks unwinnable. explanation (spoilers)Makima deadpan realizes that she might be in over her head when thinking she had a chance of winning any fight with the Chainsaw Man.
- "Bark for me!" ExplanationIronically, it's not something actually said in the manga itself, but has morphed into a meme around Makima just the same. Due to her subtext of treating Denji like a dog, it's become popular for cosplayers dressing as Makima to utter this phrase followed a horde of responders doing so, including one instance of a Makima cosplayer streaming Undertale in-character and (unsuccessfully) commanding her chat to read an in-game "Woof" sign "out loud".
- Memes about Makima looking similar to Miss Kobayashi began rolling out when this fanart◊ debuted.
- Turns out Makima was the real simp all along. explanation (spoilers) In the final stretch of the manga, it's revealed that Makima, who was already infamous for her highly devoted and obsessed fan-following, wants to claim Denji's heart for himself because she's in love with the Chainsaw Man, aka Pochita's true form. Fans, especially Makima detractors, had a field day with this when it was pointed out that she's basically acting like her own IRL fanbase.
- Makima the Discord moderator explanation (spoilers)A joking term used to refer to Makima referencing her Memetic Molester status, likening her treatment of Denji to the trend of Discord server moderators that groom younger users
- "Makima got spawncamped." explanation (spoilers) Devils in Chainsaw Man can't permanently be killed, but return to Hell when killed on Earth and vice versa. Many fans have only half-jokingly theorized that the reason the Control Devil reincarnated on Earth as Nayuta so quickly after Makima's death was because when Makima got to hell, all the other Devils and Fiends she'd killed in Part 1 furiously dogpiled her and attacked her all at once the moment she arrived.
- "Take, for example... Death. War. [X]. There are many things in this world that humanity would be happier without." explanationMakima monologues about her plan to use Chainsaw Man to Ret-Gone the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, only fans have edited the image to replace Hunger with something else they find disagreeable.
- What if Reigen found Denji?/What if Makima found Mob? explanationAround the start of the anime, Chainsaw Man became Friendly Fandoms with Mob Psycho 100 on account of the latter starting its third season at the same time, leading to a lot of AU art swapping characters and their mentors. In the case of the latter, Makima is either shown as a corrupting influence on Mob or he's the only one she treats normally. Even better is that both Reigen and Makima are considered "Tumblr sexymen", with the former being one of the most infamous examples and the latter shooting up through the ranks since her anime debut.
- Makima being a Tumblr sexywoman explanationMany fans have noticed that Makima shares traits with typical Tumblr sexymen (particularly those from other anime and manga), such as an angst-filled backstory, being morally dodgy, having a slender build, speaking in a soft monotone, and dressing in a sharp yet gender-neutral fashion. With the anime's debut in Fall 2022, her popularity took off even more on Tumblr and other websites, with Makima earning herself a page on the Sexypedia Wiki and some fans likening her to an "honorary white-haired anime boy". And when you consider how she has a legion of thirsty fans who love her so much that they forgive her atrocities...
- Makima beanExplanationThe Chainsaw Man Kurotto Collection plush feature the characters in a ball-shaped, Fun Size Super-Deformed style. The Makima plush inexplicably became a meme where it is depicted as a Memetic Psychopath with sentience and gained the nickname "Makima bean", often being used for surreal/absurdist humor and being photoshopped to take the normal Makima's place in manga panels. It even has its own parody Twitter account that uses the same style of irreverent "weird" humor.
- Just Makima.ExplanationWhen Part 1 was finished, some fans noticed similarities between Makima and the very memetic Monika of Doki Doki Literature Club! — namely, both of them being nightmarish, murderous "waifu" characters with long red hair, neat uniforms of some sort, yandere tendencies, and even their names being similar. It helps that, like Reigen, both of them fit the "Tumblr sexyman/sexywoman" archetype.
- Chainussy WomanExplanationWhen using her Control Devil powers, Makima makes chains protrude from her... crotch that attach to the targets that she mind-controls. She was therefore mockingly assigned semi-ironic Fan Nicknames that act as a parallel to Denji's moniker of "Chainsaw Man".
- Makima and Burger KingExplanationRG33's videos depict Makima as being obsessed with Burger King, even frequently singing their modern jingle when she shows up. Fans latched on to this kooky character trait and often characterize her with it in their own works.
- For similar reasons, Nayuta loving Burger King (and this being one of the few things she has in common with Makima)
- Kobeni memes:note Including her car
- Kobeni's car is best girl. explanationKobeni's car showing up as an option in the popularity contest has led to many declaring it as such, helped by its involvement in arguably one of the funniest scenes in the manga.
- Power running over people. explanationThe scene where Power accidentally runs over Denji and one of the Immortal Brothers has mutated into editing her and Kobeni into other scenes of people getting run over by a vehicle.
- Power didn't do anything wrong, it was Kobeni's fault.explanationComments about the scene or any instance of the above meme will often have people feigning ignorance and agree with Power that it wasn't her fault, since she's driving Kobeni's car.
- Kobeni is best girl by default/process of elimination. ExplanationLiterally the only named female character other than Kobeni who clearly survived Part 1 was Nayuta, who was only in the last chapter. Thanks to this, fans like to joke that Kobeni has objectively become best girl due to there being literally no other options for them to choose from.
- The fact that she's the only major supporting character left alive at the end of Part 1 other than Kishibe and Denji himself has led to many fans joking that Kobeni has "Reverse Plot Armor" - meaning, Fujimoto keeps her alive solely so he can keep torturing her further.
- Kobeni's assExplanationA part in the first opening for the anime had a rather flattering angle on Kobeni's posterior, leading to many Kobeni simps celebrating or other fans joking about how MAPPA had transferred all the mass that Makima should've had on to Kobeni.
- Kobeni's contract is with Sloppy Blowjob Devilexplanation Kobeni's half-mocking, half-affectionate reputation with the fanbase, lack of explanation for what her Devil Contract is, and the considerable number of fans with a less than wholesome appreciation for her character has led to jokes online that her Devil Contract exclusively makes her really good at giving people oral sex.
- "I KNOW WHAT YOU AREEEEEEE!!!" explanation Shortly after the English dub of episode 6 aired, the scene where Kobeni accuses Arai of being a spy for Power quickly made rounds on Twitter. Specifically because of the line above, which brought to mind the Homophobic Dog meme.
- "VANCE. VANCE!"explanationIn Chapters 85 and 86, the original Chainsaw Man (Pochita's true form) attempts to revive Denji, whose body he's using, by living his dreams through Black Comedy and conscripting Kobeni to go out on a terrifying date. The "date" ends with Chainsaw Man forcing Kobeni to play a Bland-Name Product version of DanceDanceRevolution, commanding her to "VANCE" due to his being The Unintelligible. The entire date and especially the dancing part instantly became prolific sources of memes, with the latter spawning a Friday Night Funkin' mod that even helped introduce new fans to Chainsaw Man.
- Kobeni the Cowardly DogexplanationThanks to a video on Twitter that featured clips of Kobeni with her lines replaced with Courage the Cowardly Dog, fans have made content that compare the two for their exaggerated screaming and fragile natures. Sometimes the two are shown bonding over their similar personalities.
- Kobeni and the Death DevilPart 2 spoilersWith the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse revealed, many joke that Kobeni survived Part 1 because her secret contract was with the Death Devil, who took the lives of nearly everyone around her as payment. Further jokes have suggested she will reappear in Part 2 as the devil's host, just as Asa hosts Yoru.
- Since the introduction of the Future Devil, it has been very common in forums and comment sections to spam his catchphrase: "THE FUTURE IS BEST!"
- Note that this is only his catchphrase in the scanlation. In the official Viz translation, he says, "The future rules!" instead.
- The Brazilian fandom has the equally memetic "O FUTURO É PICA" from a non-official translationnote "Pica" is a crass slang for something awesome, and can also be a slang for "penis" depending on the context. When the official translation of the manga and the dubbing of the anime used much less crass terms, the dubbing was even accused by some of censoring the work due to how viral the sentence had become — this led to several people, including Future Devil's voice actor Guilherme Briggs, to point out how that unofficial translation not only was much more vulgar than the original manga ever was, but also made up antisemitic, sexist and homophobic jokes and thus should never be referenced
- "The Future is WORST" explanation (spoilers)A common fan response to Chapter 79, where the Future Devil reappears to basically laugh at Aki's death and Denji's horror at having to kill him.
- Future Devil DancingexplanationThe opening animation for the anime has a short scene of Future Devil doing a catchy dance to the theme. This exploded in popularity thanks to his already-memetic status along with the catchy theme.
- The sheer amount of envelope pushing content has lead many to joke that Fujimoto must have blackmail material on at least someone in Jump's offices.
- The Angel is best girl. explanation A cheeky, often only half-jokingly response to the frequent shipping wars over which of the female cast is "best girl", with the Angel Devil being slotted in there because he's so pretty that many fans didn't realize he's a boy.
- "I need more Power!"/"What form of Power is this!?"ExplanationThere's already an overlap between Chainsaw Man and Devil May Cry fans due to the two series' similar Demon Slaying theme, resulting in crossover fanworks and memes. But because a character from this manga is named "Power", Vergil jokes and references are also common (due to DMC Vergil's primary characterization of being obsessed over gaining power).
- Kishibe's message.ExplanationChapter 61 has Kishibe hold up a notepad to Quanxi saying "Makima is listening". Fans replaced the message with all kinds of different ones.
- Darkness's astronautsExplanationA Signature Scene of the manga that neatly captures the horrific imagery without needing any context.
- Halloween!ExplanationCosmo's only spoken line throughout her appearances... until the manga blows the minds of her victims and the readers on how she executes her Mind Rape. It helps that it ends up being Santa Claus' last words, adding a layer of humiliation to her burning to death.
- Why isn't Angel fat, you ask? All the ice cream goes straight to his halo. ExplanationIn Chapter 74, Fuji drew Angel's Halo looking thicker than normal. This led to a small outcry and many jokes about Angel's Fat Halo.
- A common variant involves people posting panels where the halo looks especially chunky, referring to it as a doughnut, and talking about wanting to eat it.
- Parfaits and crepes explanationStarting from Chapter 77, Fujimoto's author comments noticeably began having a common theme of him apparently craving parfaits and crepes. As things in the story escalated and readers are driven to tears by the subsequent events, Fujimoto just continued talking about how hungry he was. This eventually ballooned into memes about how much of a cold-hearted psychopath Fujimoto was not giving a shit about what he's putting his readers through or joking about how this was a minor Creator Breakdown about not getting the food he wants and taking it out on his characters and readers.
- Somebody get Fujimoto a parfait. explanation (spoilers)After Power is killed in Chapter 81 and Fujimoto once again talked about eating parfaits, fans took this as "confirmation" that all the bad things happening were indeed because Fujimoto was desperately craving his favorite snack and many began begging someone, anyone to get Fujimoto his parfait so things can be happy again.
- Many fans have only half-jokingly expressed terror about what innocuous objects, activities, or situations Fujimoto will "ruin" for them next after Part 1 gave the fanbase PTSD over anything to do with empty piles of clothing, rats, snowball fights, or birthday parties.
- Referring to Aki as AK or Aki-47 after his appearance as the Gun Fiend in chapter 77.
- Dennis and Ashley explanationThe smartphones of many users English-speaking countries will autocorrect "Denji" to "Dennis", which became a widespread Fan Nickname for Denji on Reddit. Following Asa's debut as the new protagonist of Part 2, she was quickly dubbed "Ashley" as a Westernized name similar to "Dennis". Crossing over with a longtime universal anime/manga meme, a common joke is that Ashley and Dennis were their names in the "4Kids Entertainment dub" or "Netflix Live-Action Adaptation" of Chainsaw Man.
- Painsaw Man explanationA christened alternative name for the series as things became increasingly depressing and/or emotional.
- At least it's not Fire Punch. explanationAnother common lament by depressed and traumatized Chainsaw Man reminding themselves that as painful as the manga gets, it's still nowhere near as bad as the grotesquely bleak and nihilistic insanity of Fujimoto's previous work.
- Chainsaw Man fans be like "yo this arc is fire" explanationA caption commonly juxtaposed against out of context pictures relating to or being similar to visuals from the manga
- [x] SimpsExplanationChainsaw Man has a large number of female characters, most of which have large fanbases. As a result, it's become common to label and categorize fans of the series based on who their favorite girl is, "simps" being the most common denomination, especially if that character has unpleasant qualities that the fans are willing to excuse.
- The Inconsistent Coloring of characters' hair in various color pages has led to jokes about how the anime adaptation will finally give fans a definitive answer as to what these characters look like. A most prominent example is Power, who's flip flopped between pink and blonde for so long that fans are reacting to the Adaptational Dye-Job of her into a strawberry-blonde as if it were the end to a long and laborious journey.
- At this point, the fandom could just create the anime adaptation themselves. ExplanationBefore MAPPA's official announcement of their adaptation, which started around the same time Part 1 had finished, there was already a large amount of fan-made animated scenes and openings on YouTube and Twitter.
- 14-16 minutes explanation The Angel Devil's power uncontrollably siphons the life force out of anyone with whom he makes skin-to-skin contact, and grabbing his hand for a few moments reduces Aki's lifespan by two months. An enterprising redditor, working on the assumption that Aki grabbed his hand for five seconds, did the math to calculate precisely at what rate he drains your lifespan away and determined that it would take between 14 and 16 minutes for someone to die from the Angel's powers while having sex with him.
- Chainsaw Man pacing explanationThe manga's brisk pacing and length has led to memes where instances of Mood Whiplash or ridiculously sudden escalation are labelled with this caption.
- Someone explain this to me in [x] terms please? explanationIn response to the anime adaptation's stacked staff, this blew up on Twitter as many tried to comprehend the sheer awesomeness of said staff.
- This character is named Santa Claus explanation (spoilers)Tolka's master aka Santa Claus became the poster girl for new readers that quickly binged through the series and thus failed to parse important information that could be gleaned by paying the smallest amount of attention to non-exposited details. This came about when someone claimed to have not realized that the master's name was revealed to be Santa Claus and reacted with confusion, despite Makima directly addressing her as such.
- "Oh... he just like me... he just like me fr!!!!" explanationAn edit of Denji watching the news celebrating him as Chainsaw Man, often used to invoke This Loser Is You when a number of people relate a little too much to a character. Doubly so if those people relate to Denji himself mainly for his motivation to get to cop a feel, ignoring that he's more driven to live a normal life.
- "He's not like me! He's not like me fr!!!!"explanation (spoilers)In Chapter 134, Denji watches in despair as the Impostor Chainsaw Man publicly steals his identity on live television. The fact that Denji is once again reacting to something on a TV screen has led to the reversal of the original meme.
- "Denji became a "single dad" before he ever got a girlfriend. explanation (spoilers)The abusive relationship overtones of the way Makima treats Denji, and the fact that the manga ends with him deciding to adopt and raise Nayuta has led to many jokes about the ending of Part 1 being a story about a young single dad (Denji) gaining sole custody of the child (Nayuta) that he had with his abusive ex (Makima) after getting a divorce (him eating her.)
- Hammer Man vs. Screwdriver Man explanation The last panel of this iconic◊ The Perry Bible Fellowship strip was posted online in May 2022 by a Twitter user who jokingly compared it to the character designs in Chainsaw Man. Many artists online jumped on the joke by drawing the characters from the strip in grittier detail as if they were actual characters from the manga.
- Starting in 2022, a common joke online by many American fans of the series is that the most unrealistic part of a series with demons and superpowers is the USA actually banning guns after a mass shooting.
- The odd-looking bird creature that appears to be the War Devil's true form◊ has been compared by American fans to the infamous Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty◊.
- Yoshida is gay/ Yoshida the Sigma Male. explanationWhile some people unironically believe this for one reason or another, these became a common joke among the fandom as the likeliest reasons for how he's casually able to reject the War Devil's advances, with many fans admitting that they wouldn't have the willpower to say "no" if War asked them out.
- Denji would've folded. explanation...Which then led to jokes about how quickly Part 2 might've ended if War had encountered Denji earlier and also attempted the same trick on him considering his track record with being easily manipulated by women who want to kill him. Even funnier, when Asa did ask him out while planning to kill him he immediately agreed.
- Yoshida is gay by process of elimination. explanationGoing along with the above, the release of part 2 has seen an increase in fans shipping Yoshida with Denji. Fans who don't agree with this ship, mainly because Denji and Yoshida have barely said five words to each other, have followed the example of the "Kobeni is best girl by process of elimination" meme above and joked that the Yaoi Fangirls are so desperate for a gay ship that they latched onto Yoshida because he's literally the only male character Denji's age still alive.
- Sundowner + Asa/War = Ryuko. explanation A new version of the "Kobayashi is the daughter of Makima and Armstrong" meme.
- This guy really thinks he's Chainsaw Man. explanationChapter 103 shows that Denji is not so subtly trying to reveal himself as Chainsaw Man to the public, only to repeatedly fail due to his annoying amounts of praise. Chapter 104 expands on this when he outright reveals himself to Asa, but his preceding behavior makes him come more across as a Loony Fan who is extremely defensive about Chainsaw Man. Cue the fandom making this a Play-Along Meme where they feign ignorance about the scruffy looking blonde dude who's acting as though he's Chainsaw Man himself.
- This guy really thinks he's Fujimoto. explanationShortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter, Fujimoto's account, on which he posed as his little sister (who doesn't exist but would be under 13 and thus too young to use Twitter), was banned. He created a new account and tried to prove it was him by posting old concept art, which only he would have. Cue people pointing the similarity with Denji's situation and pretending not to believe him. Becomes even more hilarious when Fujimoto also loses his Instagram account. Cue everyone repeating the Twitter situation when he gets a new account.
- "I'm not stupid! I'M NOT!" explanation Yoru's angry response when Asa calls her an idiot for believing that Denji was actually Chainsaw Man, which quickly became a meme among the fanbase for how pathetically childish it sounded. Edits have drawn her feeling vindicated after Chapter 161, learning that Chainsaw Man was indeed Denji.
- Yuko the school shooter. explanation (spoilers) When chapter 105 revealed that Yuko plans to kill Asa's bullies at school using the power of the Justice Devil, fans immediately began comparing her to a school shooter. It doesn't help that she A) admits she killed a man because he was gambling and B) tells Asa not to go to school tomorrow. Of course, there were many memes made using the song "Pumped Up Kicks", by Foster The People, a song about school shootings.
- Riddler Yuko.explanation (spoilers) Yet more fans noted the vague visual resemblance between Yuko and that of The Riddler in The Batman (2022) as portrayed by Paul Dano, leading fans to subbing her into the character's many pre-existing memes. That both are unhinged Knight Templars who see themselves as genuine allies to the protagonist only strengthens the connection.
- Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog. explanation In the anime's opening there is a scene of Denji and Power dancing. After seeing that scene people have been putting different songs into it and the popular one was putting them in the song from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
- Aki getting kicked in the nuts.explanationThe scene was already funny in the manga, but the anime took it a step further by showing Aki's pained face and adding a bell sound to the first and last kick. Cue jokes about Aki being unable to have children, Denji being jealous of Aki since he sold one of his testicles, and general mourning of Aki's dick
- "It's nuts or nothing!"explanationWhat Denji says in the subtitled and dubbed versions as he repeatedly kicks Aki in the balls
- Himeno's requiemexplanation (spoilers)Denji and Aki start a competition to see who can make Himeno's killer scream the loudest by kicking him in the balls. This happens in glorious slow motion, as Aki's voice over wonders if Himeno can hear them from heaven and saying they're playing a requiem for her. Most memes and Fanart show Himeno being pleased or loudly cheering them on.
- MAPPA censored Power's feet explanationThe panel of Power offering to let Denji touch her boobs infamously has her bare feet drawn uncomfortably close to the viewer. In the anime, she's only shown from the waist up instead, leading this catchphrase to catch on first among actual fans with a foot fetish and with others mocking them for being upset over such a minor change.
- The Reading Comprehension Devil explanation A sardonic nickname originating on Reddit for manga speedreaders who missed blatantly obvious plot details on their first time reading the manga. Because of the manga's blisteringly fast pace and general lack of expository dialogue, confused readers frequently post questions about aspects of the manga that were shown but not explained, like who the true identity of Santa Claus was, the difference between Devils and Fiends, or even egregiously obvious questions like if Makima is truly evil or whether clearly dead characters are still alive.
- The Manga Spoilers Devil explanation Anime-only fans often have to deal with people trying to spoil them on important plot points that have yet to happen on purpose, especially in the youtube comments section.
- The Leaks Devil explanation Someone posted leaks for chapters 114-116 on 4chan that were, at the time of this writing, dead-on accurate to the events of 114 and 115. The fact that they managed to correctly guess the events of the chapter two weeks ahead of publication, right down to minor details like Denji's dialogue when handing her the starfish, led to jokes that the leaker had made a contract either with the Future Devil or a different one specifically for manga leaks.
- The <x> Devil explanation During Part 2, fans have begun making up Devils to fit every situation and every discussion of the series, particularly ones that would be nigh-omnipotent due to real-world views of their subjects - examples include the Copyright Devil, the Fujimoto Devil, the God Devil, and of course the Chainsaw Man Devil.
- Yuko is Denji in disguise explanationFans desperate to see Denji again when he was still Put on a Bus in the first few chapters of Part 2 began theorizing that Yuko was, for some reason, Denji disguising himself as a girl. Some took it further by jokingly claiming that Denji came out as transgender in between Parts.
- Who's sleeping with Denji? explanation Chapter 111 included a panel of Denji asleep with Nayuta's dark-haired head visible resting peacefully on his chest, the first time she's actually appeared in Part 2. However, since only the top of her head was visible and not her face, the fans quickly produced edits "revealing" that it was actually one of the manga's many other dark-haired characters sleeping with him, like Kobeni, Reze, Asa, or even Yoshida.
- When the Chainsaw Man is sus!explanation (spoilers)The already-popular Among Us meme and catchphrase exploded across the official subreddit when Chapter 111 ended on a panel of Yuko being decaptitated by an unknown devil only visible as a silhouetted shadow with a chainsaw for a head. The character in question was quickly dubbed "the Impostor Devil" as a result.
- Powersaw Man explanation (spoilers) Several fans have half-joking declared that the figure's name is none other than the Powersaw Man, who is definitely not just a carbon copy of Chainsaw Man, in a similar vein to certain infamous Sonic The Hedgehog Original Characters.
- Agni Cameo explanation Seigi Akoku, the tall, heavyset member of the Devil Hunter Club, bears a strong resemblance to the protagonist of Tatsuki Fujimoto's previous manga.
- Almost immediately after the 6th episode of the anime aired, the final scene of Denji fearlessly jumping into the Eternity Devil's mouth quickly became started being paired with humorous captions and the chorus of "Dream On" by Aerosmith as a comparison to the pre-existing "Kratos Falling" meme that became popular in late 2022.
- Kishibe is a terrible grandfather explanation Once Chapter 112 revealed that Denji had to quit his job as a Public Safety agent and is forbidden from taking a part-time job by his school, fans wasted no time in roasting Kishibe for not doing more to support Denji financially after basically foisting onto Denji the struggles of being a single father caring for a ten-year old child, plus seven dogs and a cat, while he's still in high school.
- "Denji, you like this too, right?" "No, what the fuck-"explanationEpisode 8 of the anime marked the start of the Katana Man arc, including a scene where Katana Man dramatically reveals a photograph of his Yakuza grandfather to Denji, before shooting the latter. The scene quickly became an exploitable video format, now changed to Katana Man revealing a photo of anything he's obsessed with, and abruptly shooting Denji when he fails to show the same amount of Fan Boy devotion.
- The Warsaw Devil explanation A Portmanteau Couple Name for Asa and Denji inspired by the increased Ship Tease between the two of them in Part 2, combining the names of their respective Devils, Chainsaw and War. Other fans have even joked that if Denji and Asa were to have a child together, it would be the Warsaw Devil, representing the fear of Poland and Polish people.
- Femcel/Autistic Asa explanation Asa's utterly ridiculous plan to make Denji fall for her, which was to list off loads of facts about marine wildlife and force him to listen, fails horribly. Fans were quick to joke about how she was a femcel for somehow making Denji lose interest in her, or semi-seriously claim she had autism due to interpretations of her behavior in the chapter being rather prominent symptoms of being on the spectrum.
- First girl to fumble Denji explanationA common reaction to Chapter 113 is absolute astonishment that Asa managed to be the first girl to go on a date with Denji and completely lose his interest, especially considering both of his previous dates tried to kill him and yet he still showed more interest in them afterwards than he does with Asa. Many mockingly treat it as achievement for Asa in of itself.
- Autistic Girl and ADHD Boy explanationAsa has been Diagnosed by the Audience as being on the autistic spectrum while the wild and unruly Denji is often suggested to have ADHD, leading to fans declaring their pairing as an instance of this.
- "Boys fall for anyone who can show them a fraction of a good time." explanation What Asa says to Yoru before meeting Denji at the aquarium. The line, which was widely interpreted as Fujimoto making fun of his primarily teenage male audience who find the manga's many badass female characters attractive, quickly became popular with the fanbase both because many admitted that Asa had a point and mocking her for the fact that she says this immediately prior to bombing their date so badly that even Denji became disgusted with her and left.
- Penguins explanationDenji, bored out his mind by Asa's tedious marine life trivia spew, repeatedly insists during their date to see penguins, eventually just going to see by himself when Asa hits his Trauma Button. Cue memes about Denji's love for penguins superseding his own notorious horniness.
- Yoshida spying on Denji and Asa explanationConsidering Yoshida's new responsibility of watching over Denji, fans began joking that Yoshida is secretly in the aquarium keeping tabs on Denji and Asa's date. A common joke is that he's in the tanks with either a full scuba gear or using his contract with Octopus, with varying degrees of being noticed by Denji. Became Hilarious in Hindsight when it turns out he really did show up at the aquarium, though he claims it was just a coincidence.
- In general, Yoshida's become memetic for his tendency to pop in from nowhere, going along with his increasingly shady persona, which leads to frequent jokes about him stalking other characters or getting himself involved in things he has no business in.
- Sus-shidaExplanationAs mentioned, Yoshida in Part 2 is unbelievably suspicious, with knowledge that are only available to a select few, such as the Chainsaw Devil's true power and evidently recognizing Fami.
- The Yaoi DevilexplanationAnother popular fan nickname, referencing his Ho Yay behavior toward Denji and the common perception viewing Yoshida as gay.
- Kiga/Famine the weed Devil explanationBecause of her stare people joke that she's the Devil of weed and not the Famine horseman
- Kiga/Famine's neck explanation Fami/Kiga has her neck tilted in most of her appearances, leading fans to joke about her posture and about needing a chiropractor to fix it.
- Kobeni 2/Brobeniexplanation The third member of Haruka Iseumi's Devil Hunter Club (later named "Nobana") is basically a male version of Kobeni in everything but name, down to the diminuitive stature, beauty marks, panicked demeanor, and being forced into it by his mom. It took the fandom all of five seconds after his debut to make the connection, and to fall in love with him.
- Denji and Asa yelling at each other explanation While trapped in the aquarium, Denji and Asa scream at each other to "Go to Hell!" Fans have since replaced the dialogue with other obscenities or accusations.
- Asa's cellphone explanation The panel where Asa reveals she has a cell phone has her staring directly at it◊ with a goofily intense expression. This, coupled with the extreme dramatic emphasis that the chapter places on her revealing it, made this panel ripe for photoshop material, most commonly featuring the already memetic "please be patient I have autism" hat.
- Brobeni licking the glass explanation For whatever reason, in Chapters 115-116, Nobana is repeatedly shown to be desperately licking the glass walls of the fish tanks, which quickly started a trend of fans editing this expression into...other contexts.
- Gay aquarium orgy explanation Fans have joked about with how Asa's lack of game, and the imbalance of male to female characters stuck in the aquarium, Fujimoto is going to write about how the guys somehow end up with an orgy while leaving out Asa.
- Asa's heart eyes explanation Asa/Denji shippers had a field day when the panel of her smiling and laughing running through the hallways with him, Asa appeared to be drawn looking at Denji with her pupils shaped like cartoon hearts.
- Chainsaw Man fans when their favorite character is happy explanation Chapter 116, which is primarily devoted to the growing friendship between Asa and Denji, was arguably the first time we've seen Denji genuinely happy since he was with Reze about seventy chapters ago. This led to so much doomposting about something horrible inevitably happening to one or both that it led to jokes about Fujimoto having so thoroughly trained his fans to expect to be traumatized that any characters being happy is a cause for alarm.
- I like that attitude. Reminds me of an old friend.ExplanationAn amused Denji tells Asa that her loveably arrogant attitude reminds him of Power. While heartwarming, fans began claiming that Denji is actually referring to other, more minor characters such as Nakamura or Kusakabe.
- Zoolander stare explanation The page of Yoshida and Famine staring intensely at each other was compared to a scene from Zoolander where Derek and Hansel were also staring intensely at each other.
- Fetus sword explanationIn an extreme case of Black Comedy, the rise of Denji and Asa's relationship led to fans coming up with the idea that Denji would get Asa pregnant only for Yoru to take advantage of Asa's feelings towards her child and turn it into a weapon. The idea is so absurd and unnecessarily dark that the fanbase couldn't help but run with it, taking something ridiculously over the top and turning it into a massive joke.
- Anime-only fans.explanationBecause of the anime only covering up to the Katana Man arc as of early 2023, many manga readers joke about how "anime-only fans" are completely oblivious to what happens afterwards, even though some of them are somewhat aware of manga spoilers and/or end up reading the manga afterwards. Examples include claiming that Makima is a nice person and hoping that she and Denji get together, or calling Kobeni "that crazy bitch with the knife" and wondering what would happen if she became a fast food worker.
- Even in fanart Arai still dies. explanation (minor spoilers) A large percentage of fanart features the characters, particularly those who died in Part 1 (which is to say, the overwhelming majority of the cast) engaged in wholesome Slice of Life scenarios...but Arai is rarely included due to lack of screentime and being overshadowed by other more dynamic characters. By contrast, the Violence Fiend is extremely popular with fanartists, particularly when paired with Kobeni, and that coupled with the popular fan theory that Arai's corpse is the one the Violence Fiend is possessing, has led to many jokes that Arai only gets to appear in fanart after he's been fatally shot.
- "What did Fujimoto mean by this?" explanationA common caption attached to wildly irreverent manga panel edits or fanart, often poking fun at posts that looked for deeper meaning in the series' imagery when it's very likely just Fujimoto being weird. The meme is often subject to variations via butchering the spelling of Fujimoto's name.
- Chainsaw Man is my favorite romcom. explanation Due to the story in chapters 112 and onward focusing on Denji and Asa's burgeoning relationship and their humorously inept attempts at dating, fans have started joking that the story has now become a Romantic Comedy instead of the Horror Comedy it's been so far.
- Nayuta pointing explanationNayuta makes her grand return in Chapter 119, and sends a chain through Asas/Yoru's head for "stealing" Denji from her. It did not take long for fans to edit the panel of Nayuta pointing at her so she's saying something else.
- Denji and Asa watching TV. explanationIn Chapter 119, Denji and Asa sit down to watch a movie in his apartment. Luckily, a panel was angled in a way that showed the TV, allowing fans to edit in any video they wanted to be playing on said TV.
- He's just that similar to Yoshida ExplanationA lot of people started drawing visual comparisons between Yoshida and the Batman Haircut Guy, to the point where it has become popular to draw the latter as Yoshida.
- Gege copying Fujimoto's homework explanation (spoilers for CSM and JJK)In Chapter 212 of Jujutsu Kaisen, Megumi Fushiguro, The Lancer of his series, is possessed by the antagonist who has been set up as the Greater-Scope Villain from the very beginning - eerily similar to Aki and his fate in the Gun Devil Arc. The similarities led to many comparisons between the two on twitter or jokes about Gege taking lessons from Fujimoto's writing on how to effectively traumatize his readers.
- Homophobic PowerexplanationSpawning from a video by RG33, Power is described as a homophobe. Mostly comically so since she doesn't even know how to say any of the terms more complicated than "gay". In the series of skits, she is also shown as being an Armoured Closet Gay with her closet being more transparent with every passing skit.
- Power is a lebanon.explanationA Rouge Angles of Satin reading of "Power is a lesbian" that spawned from that video with Power pronouncing it this way among other things. Often used by fans who interpret her as such.
- Lebanon/Lemonade/Hand Grenade/LEGO Citizen/Denizen of the BLT.ExplanationMore Rouge Angles of Satin readings of "lesbian" from the aforementioned skits, often used interchangeably.
- Christian Chainsaw ManexplanationThe fake Christian animated film Christ-for-Arms, which had already been a meme in 2021 and was often mistaken for a real product, had a resurgence in 2023 for a viral tweet that labeled it as the "Christian Chainsaw Man", due to the main character's resemblance to Denji and his gimmick of having Roman crosses for arms. Fanart of the "Christ-for-Arms" character ensued depicting him as a Devil or Hybrid, and the "They threw beans on him" tagline also led to some crossover with the "Makima bean" meme above (including with its own Twitter account).
- Deathussyexplanation (spoilers) Chapter 122 has Yoru outright flee from a headless Devil spawning from corpses of entranced suicide victims in an apartment complex. Horny fans assumed that this was the Death Devil, and took note of her generous, bare-breasted hourglass figure, despite the Body Horror. While it turned out to not be the Death Devil, the Perverse Sexual Lust toward the Falling Devil didn't dissipate; if anything, it only intensified after seeing what kind of character she was.
- Fami eating stuff explanationChapter 122 confirmed that the Famine Devil would logically have an absurdly big appetite. This confirmation led various fanartists to depict Fami engaging food activities like mukbangs, eating at burger joints, partaking in eating competitions, or even ordering Big Smoke's infamously large drive-thru order.
- "Now then, allow me to begin cooking." explanationSpoken by the Falling Devil in Chapter 123 while evoking the image of an Evil Chef. In reference to the One Piece "Let him/her cook" meme, fans had adopted this panel to portray what they believe is Fujimoto working his magic to deliver a new badass villain and amazing new Surreal Horror imagery to blow our minds yet again.
- The orphanage caretaker being the most hateable character in Chainsaw Man Explanation The orphanage caretaker in Asa's childhood was near unanimously declared to be the most hateable character in the series for the sole purpose of drowning the cat that Asa essentially sacrificed her mother's life for because she did not approve of her having a family member. Given that the series has cold monstrous devils like Makima and Santa Claus and more mundane but still vile human villains like the yakuza, it is saying a lot.
- Nayuta eating crayons. explanationThanks to this one fanart, a joke Fanon that readers seem to have found agreement on is that Nayuta really enjoys eating crayons, to the point of claiming it as her Trademark Favorite Food. Even after her reappearance in Part 2, it doesn't stop fanartists from portraying the now slightly older Nayuta munching on some of her favorite colors. Later, the other Horsemen were roped into making this Shared Family Quirks, as fanartists will often show Yoru and Fami also partake.
- "Sex! I wanna have sex!!" explanationDenji's line at the end of chapter 127 instantly became memed after the chapter released, as well as Asa's disgusted reaction.
- Man explanationAdopted from a Batman: Arkham Series meme, fans would photoshop all instances of chainsaws from Denji off of his Chainsaw Man form and pretend that the series was about a demonic superhero known as "Man."
- "Weezo."explanationA Fan Nickname for Asa originating from a skit by RG33 in which Nayuta makes fun of Asa for being a Weezer fan.
- Maid/Femboy Aki explanationOn June 2023, Aki's voice actor, Shogo Sakata, lost a bet and had to spend an entire day crossdressing as a maid. The Chainsaw Man fandom were quick to take note and began drawing fanart of Aki in Sakata's outfit and doing similar poses for a while.
- Makima/Himeno Apology Video explanationWith Colleen Ballinger's largely criticized musical response to grooming allegations, a lot of fans, particularly on tiktok, stuck Makima and Himeno to the video, in reference to their own reputations as women pedophiles.
- Denji getting saved explanationAt the end of Chapter 136, Denji meets and gets molested by a then-unnamed Fumiko Mifune. Fans who were understandably upset by this began drawing various characters swooping in at that moment to save Denji from getting violated further, even using it as potential for The Bus Came Back by having characters like Reze or Beam make their grand return rescuing him and viciously killing the girl. On the other hand others have taken it to the opposite direction in sexual fanworks. There's one that finds a compromise, of her being the reincarnation of Beam as a girl.
- We have gone [0] days without claiming someone is the Death Devil.ExplanationThe Death Devil is the only Horsemen that's remained unseen since Fami showed up, causing rampant theories that they're an existing character and for people to jump the gun at other characters introduced without immediately being identified.
- LA PUTAExplanationOriginating from 4Chan, this is the fan-given nickname for Denji’s mystery date introduced in Chapter 136. Puta is Spanish slang for a prostitute, with the nickname deriving from her eagerness to have sex with Denji. Another popular name is Sexual Assault Devil.
- The karaoke date battle in Chapter 137 received many, many MMV versions of the scene where the song used syncs up to the action on screen.
- "Holy shit guys, Reze is back!"ExplanationSince some of the Weapon Humans finally returned in Part 2, fans have gleefully let the as-yet-unconfirmed implication that Reze is alive and may show up soon completely overshadow the immediate events where several minor character steps into the limelight.
- Reze in the other roomExplanationThe Chainsaw Man Church promised a girl would have sex with Denji if he joined, even specifying they'd use the next room over. Then the church said Denji would have to marry whoever they picked, and he leaves without ever seeing her. Readers were pretty quick to latch onto the idea that Denji Gave Up Too Soon because Reze was that prospective bride, already waiting in the other room.
- Nobara jumped ship ExplanationAs of this writing, Nobara Kugisaki of Jujutsu Kaisen hasn't been seen in the manga for an extended period of time after getting one of her eyes blasted out, despite initially being positioned as one of the main trio. The Nail Fiend's weapons of choice and appearance have led fans of both series to joke that Nobara finally reappeared in a completely different manga, or that even Fujimoto got sick of waiting for her to show up.
- Fujimoto was a teenage girl. ExplanationPart 2 has earned critical acclaim for how Fujimoto writes Asa as a nuanced and realistic portrayal of a teenage girl. The amount of accuracy that's been noted to be on the page has led to fans jokingly wondering if Fujimoto had somehow once been an adolescent girl in order to be able to write Asa this way. A joking response to these questions will bring up how Fujimoto technically does have experience being a girl, considering he's actively roleplaying as his nonexistent baby sister on Twitter.
- Where's Kishibe? ExplanationAs of this writing, several major events had dropped in Part 2, including the arrival of the Falling Devil causing various gravitational phenomena and natural disasters and the Chainsaw Man Church going to war with Public Safety while also transforming thousands of civilians into Chainsaw Devils. Despite all of this happening, Kishibe has yet to return, leading to many jokes about how he does see all this happening, but is so old, drunk, and depressed that he'd rather just stay in his home and nap while the world burns.
- Calling Fumiko a fraud ExplanationGoing along with her divisive status, Fumiko's detractors call her a fraud because despite her Declaration of Protection to Denji, she's not only largely failed in that regard, but has, for the most part, done the complete opposite, and has repeatedly put him in far more danger than he would've been, especially since - immediately sexually assaulting Denji the first time they met, and later that same day, staging for him to be assaulted by dozens of armed thugs while she was pretending to be blissfully unaware of the assault while singing karaoke. Made worse by Quanxi, a far more popular character, doing most of the (literal) heavy lifting protecting Denji from the Church of Chainsaw Man's rampage, while protecting Fumiko and Nayuta at the same time. Her choosing to ditch Denji and Nayuta altogether in Chapter 154 pretty much solidified it.
- The haters were right. Explanation Regarding Fumiko, who'd been long been a very divisive character, with many hating on her, while other defended her or said that the haters should wait for her time to shine, CH 154 ended up completely proving Fumiko's detractors right, as she shamelessly abandons Denji & Nayuta when they need help the most, accompanied by her callously mocking Nayuta for considering their pets "family", with her Declaration of Protection being rendered very questionable. What followed was a wave of Fumiko haters crowing about how their hate had been vindicated, while her fans and defenders proceeded to jump ship en masse, with many lamenting how they'd spent so long trying to defend or excuse her. Taken ever further as of CH 156, which reveals Fumiko to be downright psychotic, as she's completely blase about Denji being confined for the rest of his life and being dissected, with her only concern being if she can get some of his hair or nails as souvenirs. And to just add the cherry on top, she refers to herself as a Chainsaw Man fan, not a Denji fan, further implying her Declaration of Protection was completely hollow from the start.
- Diarrhea Woman ExplanationNayuta calls Fumiko this after she ditches her, and fans have enthusiastically taken to calling her that too.
- Kill this bitch. Explanation Fumiko's shameless abandonment of Denji and Nayuta right after they've just lost everything, combined with her cruelly mocking Nayuta being broken up over her pets dying has "elevated" her to a contender for most hated character in the series, with many fervently hoping that she gets brutally killed or punished soon. She's even managed to contend with Barem and the orphanage caretaker for the position, as not only is the act despicable enough, it comes on top of her being The Load, and the act being pointlessly spiteful. On a more meta level, some also dislike the focus she gets, preferring that go to other characters, most notably Asa/Yoru and the Weapon Hybrids.
- Fumiko stocks crashing. Explanation After Ch 154, with the fandom turning against Fumiko en-masse, many have made jokes about Fumiko stocks dropping through the floor as many of her former fans and defenders jumped ship, often accompanied by images of actual stocks experiecing sharp declines. It's experienced a further resurgence with Ch 156, which shows that, in addition to being a Dirty Coward and The Load, she's also shown to be a psychotic Loony Fan.
- Public Safety used to be built different ExplanationFumiko's behavior led to many fans remarking that Public Safety in Part 2 went through Badass Decay. Many fans went back over Part 1 and found that even the average Red Shirt at least went out swinging sometimes.
- Make Public Safety Great Again Explanation Continuing off the previous point and similar to the "Make Gohan Great Again" memes, many have noted that Public Safety's Badass Decay seems to have neatly coincided with Makima no longer being around to run things. This has resulted in some posting images of Makima, captioned by Make Public Safety Great Again, as a reference to former president Donald Trump's slogan to restore America to its supposed glory days, with some even going so far as to edit images of Makima to have her wear the signature red Trump hats.
- I want that fucker dead. Explanation (spoilers) Barem burning down Denji's apartment with all of his dogs and Meowy inside basically skyrocketed him to the top of the fandom's kill-list, with many proclaiming they want him dead as soon and as painfully as possible. He's even managed to overthrow the orphanage caretaker who killed Asa's cat as the single most despised character in the entire series in one chapter alone, because not only is the act horrific enough, but he also brags about it to a devastated Denji after tripping him as he tried to go back to potentially save them.
- Barem is my favorite character and I sure would be heartbroken if anything happened to him. Explanation (spoilers) Many have taken to jokingly proclaiming that Barem is their favorite character in the series, mostly in the hopes that by doing so Fujimoto will brutally kill him like he did to previous fan favorites. It's been compared to the Chainsaw Man fandom's equivalent of a death curse, especially since, legitimately, actual fan-favorite Angel was killed off partially because Fujimoto's editor told him that Angel should live.
- Fujimoto x Gege ExplanationA fan on Twitter jokingly suggested shipping Tatsuki Fujimoto with Gege Akutami (at the very least their respective avatars that they draw to represent themselves) as a "toxic Yaoi". Cue dozens upon dozens of fanart of Fujimoto and Akutami in various ironic ship scenarios, with Fujimoto usually the Seme whilst Akutami is made the Uke.
- Misaden ExplanationFor some reason or another, a Crossover Ship between Denji and Misa Amane of Death Note rose to prominence in December 2023, on the principle that they're both victims of horrid abuse and manipulation by the people they loved (who are both highly intelligent, suit-wearing neatly-presenting Machiavellian schemers with warm hair colors and godlike power). Fans decided that they loved this supposed dynamic and connection, and depicted them as being a genuine loving couple, even editing Misa into numerous panels and pages as though she really were in the series.
- Socks ExplanationChapter 156 ends with a shot of the feet of someone about to storm the Public Safety Detention Facility to presumably rescue Denji. While it's very likely just Asa/Yoru considering the line "It would take a war to compromise this facility's safety," it has not stopped fans hopeful for more returning characters from theorizing that the feet belong to someone else, a high candidate being Reze. The sheer amount of analysis of a character's socks has led to jokes about the desperation of Reze fans and edits/fanart of the feet turning out to belong to the likes of Kishibe, Beam, or even Aki, all inexplicably crossdressing as schoolgirls for some reason.
- No doubt about it! ExplanationA panel from chapter 161 has one of the doctors that dissected Denji says this to confirm that the contents of a box that was just opened really was the head of Chainsaw Man while holding up a mug while still wearing a face mask, amusing readers by how nonchalant he was acting despite being threatened by Asa and Katana Man moments earlier.
