Recap / Chainsaw Man - Katana

Synopsis

TBD

Chapters

22. Cola-Flavor Chupa Chups
23. Gunfire
24. Curse
25. Ghost, Snake, Chainsaw
26. The Gun is Mightier
27. From Kyoto
28. Secrets & Lies
29. Perfect Score
30. Bruised & Battered
31. The Future Rules
32. Over and Over Again
33. Mission Start
34. Full Team
35. Minor
36. Katana vs. Chainsaw
37. Train, Head, Chainsaw
38. Easy Revenge!
39. Tearjerker

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Tropes:

• Anyone Can Die: This arc is ruthless in making this clear. Almost all of Division 4 is assassinated in a mass ambush by the Katana Man and Sawatari's goons, killing not only minor characters that were just introduced, but also major character Himeno.
• Backup from Otherworld: One of the Ghost Devil's arm offers Aki a cigarette marked "Easy Revenge!" Realizing that the arm might belong to Himeno, Aki is inspired to hide his fear, allowing him to turn invisible to the Ghost Devil's senses and decapitate it without any problems.
• Boom, Headshot!: Most of the Public Safety officers are killed instantly from pistol shots to the head, possibly done because their suits are bulletproof. Even Denji and Makima are put down by a headshot until they're both revived (the former by Himeno and latter by unknown means).
• Blood from Every Orifice: A yakuza who doesn't want to cooperate with Makima tries to punch her. She just stares at him, and he suddenly stops, falls to his knees, and hemorrhages blood out of his face.
• Break Them by Talking: Katana Man tries to psych out Denji by pointing out his lack of emotional reaction to killing zombies, pointing out how even he, the supposed bad guy, sometimes feels guilt when he does so as well. While Denji is momentarily able to give out a quick Shut Up, Hannibal! and shrug the accusations off, he later admits to Makima that he is genuinely bothered by his possible Lack of Empathy.
• Cast from Money: The Gun Devil is said to sell the guns it makes with its power like a regular Arms Dealer. Samurai Sword and his men got handguns using Sawatari as an intermediary.
  For a 20,000 yen payment to the Gun Devil, contractors can get guns and ammo. Maybe devils need money in their world too.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • After Samurai Sword incapacitates Denji for the second time, we get a montage of everyone in Division 4 who'd been shot by his men—which does not include Kobeni or Madoka. Two chapter later, both turn out to have survived, and Kobeni rescues Denji.
  • After Kobeni says she would quit her job, when Aki wakes up in the hospital, Denji mentions Kobeni and Madoka's survival, but only the latter leaving Public Safety. Six chapters later, as Sawatari seems prepared to fight Aki, Kobeni abruptly returns, takes her captive, and explains she stayed for their bonuses.
• Colossus Climb: Sawatari tries to swat Kobeni with the Snake Devil's tail, but she jumps over and runs across the top, going so fast Samurai Sword isn't able to shoot her.
  Samurai Sword: What is she, a monkey?!
• Comically Missing the Point: Samurai Sword crouches down to prepare his attack, which Denji mistakes for surrendering.
  Yeah, that's right! On your knees!
• Converse with the Unconscious: Kobeni apologizes to Denji for trying to kill him in the previous arc—or rather, she apologizes to (the upper half of) his body that needed to be revived. It was still in face-obscuring Chainsaw Man form, so it's not clear if Kobeni realized he couldn't hear her.
• Deadly Hug: After Kishibe decides he'll train Denji and Power, he briefly acts disturbingly affectionate, saying he loves them and putting an arm on each one's shoulder—before snapping both their necks and explaining that he doesn't need to hold back because they can regenerate so easily.
• Delayed Causality: Samurai Sword's Speed Blitz has a delay between him dashing past someone and them being cut by his attack. The delay keeps getting longer every time he uses it. When he is ultimately cut in half by Denji in the same manner, the two of them speak multiple sentences each in the interim.
• Dramatic Ammo Depletion: The gun Kobeni takes from Samurai Sword only had two rounds left, which she empties into him. She then dry-fires while pointing at Sawatari, forcing Kobeni to use Denji's transformed body as a Bulletproof Human Shield against the return fire.
• Empty Piles of Clothing:
  • Himeno sacrifices her arm to the Ghost Devil, leaving her sleeves empty. When she uses up the rest of her body, there's nothing left but her clothing.
  • Makima smashes most of the enemy henchmen into pulp, but their clothes remain intact.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The yakuza heads dislike their subordinates making deals with the Gun Devil, openly inviting Makima to send them to jail for it.
• Exact Words: Kobeni says that she'll tell Himeno she's quitting the next time she sees her. Kobeni wouldn't ever see Himeno again, as Himeno had already died without even leaving a corpse, and Kobeni actually ends up staying.
• Face-Revealing Turn: The Violence Fiend tries to help a woman facing away from him from the zombies all around them. She turns and reveals a zipper running along her face and multitude of legs beneath her skirt, as she is actually the Spider Devil.
• Finger in the Mail: A yakuza boss won't tell Makima everything he knows about contracts with the Gun Devil. She counters with a paper bag full of eyeballs from the loved ones of all the gangsters present, claiming someone in Public Safety could put them back if they cooperate fully. We never find out if she's telling the truth.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Denji makes Samurai Sword focus on his head chainsaw, but is kicking as they trade blows. A few pages later, Denji reveals his head was just a distraction.
• Freak Out: Once the danger has passed, Kobeni has a Laughing Mad fit where it sinks in that most of her co-workers died, and she only survived because Arai sacrificed himself. Then she drops to her knees as she realizes her job is driving her crazy and she needs to quit.
• Groin Attack: Denji and Aki have a fun ball-kicking tournament on the captured Katana Man.
• Gut Feeling: The first gunman that Makima marks for death suddenly pauses in a panic and shouts "Something feels wrong!" just before he's killed.
• The Heavy: Katana man fits this, as the most prominent villain of the arc, while Sawatari is the mastermind
• Hope Spot: The main party repeatedly look as if they're safe from Samurai Sword's attack, only for their efforts to be undone.
  • Power disarms him of his gun, giving Aki the space to attack him with Kon. Then he uses the Katana Devil's power to cut himself out.
  • Aki is able to kill him with the Curse Devil's power at the cost of his own lifespan. As he urges Power to treat Himeno's injury, Sawatari appears and revives Samurai Sword, who instantly dispatches Aki this time.
  • As Himeno gradually feeds her entire body to the Ghost Devil, it starts overwhelming Samurai Sword, only to get eaten by Sawatari's Snake Devil.
  • In her dying instant, Himeno uses the last bit of the Ghost Devil's power to pull Denji's cord and resuscitate him in Chainsaw Man form. Then Denji is quickly defeated and captured by his ill-conceived hostage-taking.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Once Denji loses both his arms, he says his head chainsaw is enough to beat Samurai Sword. They clash as the latter destroys it as well—exactly as Denji wanted, because it gave an opening to use his previously-unseen leg chainsaw.
  Denji: Hey, I can still fight—'cuz I've still got this chainsaw on my head!
• Immortal Life Is Cheap:
  • Sawatari's contract demanded Denji's heart be brought to the Gun Devil, but so long as that part is left intact, no one has a problem with shooting or bisecting him through the midsection.
  • Likewise, Denji has no problem cutting Samurai Sword in half, despite being told to bring him in alive. Denji could tell he had the same ability to revive; he just had to avoided damaging the arm he drew his blade from to active it.
• Impromptu Tracheotomy: While the other ambushed agents were shot in the head, Arai takes a bullet to the neck. This lets him live just long enough to save Kobeni by Taking the Bullet.
• It's Probably Nothing: The Public Safety members in a restaurant hear the gunfire as the rest of their team are being ambushed, but Power brushes it off as taiko drums at a festival. Aki's not fully convinced, but they're attacked as well before he objects further.
• Just Eat Him: Kon eats Samurai Sword sword whole, unlike the Leech Devil whose head he bit off. This lets him reveal his Katana Devil powers to slice his way out.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: A Mook Lieutenant is killed by Makima in the middle of talking to Sawatari by walkie-talkie. The panel even shows the beginning of his speech while freeze-framed on his head in the middle of being crushed.
  We've been unable to make contact with Team C for—AAAH!
• Literal Disarming: When Denji defends an Innocent Bystander, Samurai Sword cuts off one his arms, then attacks again to remove the other. This robs Denji of his two main weapons, though he's not as harmless as Samurai Sword was expecting.
• Magical Gesture: Makima crushes men into nothing by simply rubbing her hands together.
• Mook Depletion: Sawatari and Samurai Sword resort to the swarm of zombies his grandfather left behind from deals with the Zombie Devil, as most of their henchmen were killed by Makima.
• Mook Horror Show: The mooks Makima kills, as well as their leaders, are absolutely terrified as they see each other violently die without any sign of attack. The last one shown even begs for help, though this doesn't earn him much sympathy when he's holding a gun up to a random civilian's head.
• Naked on Revival: Once Denji's revives the captured Samurai Sword, most of his clothes are still destroyed from the fight—though he inexplicably still has boxer shorts despite being vertically bisected.
• Necessarily Evil: Makima and the yakuza talk about the phrase "necessary evil". The yakuza refuse to cooperate with her in a way that could upset other gangs, claiming that could cause a gang war that would clear the way for Ruthless Foreign Gangsters. Makima is unconvinced.
  Your necessary evil is just an excuse to justify your own crimes. Those excuses are unnecessary to society. The truly necessary evils are always kept collared and controlled by the state.
• Never Mess with Granny: The assassin that attacks Kobeni and Arai is an elderly woman who had just been conversing with them a moment earlier.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands:
  • Aki is saved from Samurai Swords' blade because his Public Safety suit functions as very durable armor, something that's not brought up at any other point.
  • Makima obliterates most of the enemy's henchmen just by sacrificing a human after they says the target's name, a bizarre and terrifying power she never uses again.
• Not His Blood: Subverted; after escaping the attack on the train, covered in blood, Makima tells her subordinates "It's not my blood. I didn't get hit." While most of the blood isn't hers, the audience saw she somehow got shot in the head and came back to life.
• Not Enough to Bury: Whatever power Makima uses, it smashes her targets into literal stains on the pavement.
• Not Too Dead to Save the Day: By the time Denji is almost captured, it seems Aki and Power had been incapacitated and everyone else in Division 4 had been killed. Then Makima and Kobeni turn out to have survived. The former kills everyone but the two ringleaders, allowing Kobeni to save Denji as they're forced to retreat.
• Offhand Backhand: Denji tries to attack Kishibe from behind by crawling down from one apartment floor's railing to another, but gets stunned and disarmed by a backward kick to the face.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • We eventually see the gunman attacking Kobeni and Arai up to the latter taking both bullets to save the former. The chronologically next scene is a panel of the aftermath, with Kobeni unharmed and her assailant lying dead next to Arai. Her injuries don't really make it clear how Kobeni killed her.
  • The initial attack shows one gunman drawing his pistol in front of Madoka and his partner, with another already trained on them from the side. Somehow, Madoka got out alive, the only sign of a struggle being a bloodstain on his shirt, presumably from his deceased partner.
• Only in It for the Money: Kobeni returns to Public Safety in time to capture Sawatari because... there's a pretty big bonus coming up.
• Reporting Names: Public Safety don't know the Snake Devil and Katana Devil users' names, so they call them "Snake Girl" and "Samurai Sword". The former introduces herself to her henchmen as "Sawatari", later expanded to "Akane Sawatari" after her death, but the latter's name is never stated to the audience.
• Restrained Revenge: Denji would prefer to kill Samurai Sword to avenge Himeno, but Makima demanded to take him in alive. So Denji decides the next best thing is for him and Aki to see who can make him scream loudest by kicking him in the balls until the cops show up.
  Himeno, can you hear us up in heaven?
  Samurai Sword: AAAAAAAAAA!
  It's a requiem from us to you.
• Riddle for the Ages: Denji frames himself and Aki beating Samurai Sword in revenge as a "contest" to see who can make him scream louder. There's no mention of who "won", as the gag is much funnier ending on their victim's pained reactions.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Madoka quits Public Safety upon realizing that Makima knows more about the Division 4 massacre than she's letting on.
  • Denji also decides to just leave Power behind to kill a floor full of zombies to confront Katana Man.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: After Aki slays the Ghost Devil, Sawatari tries to attack with the Snake Devil. Aki simply replies "Don't kill her," and turns out to be talking to Kobeni, who already has a knife up to Sawatari's throat.
• Shoot the Hostage: Denji tries to take one of Samurai Sword's men hostage. He barely cares and quickly strikes them both down.
• Shoot the Hostage Taker: As most of the gunmen are being killed by Makima, one of them grabs a random civilian in an attempt to protect himself. Makima kills him the same way, leaving the hostage drenched in his blood, but uninjured.
• Tempting Fate: Once Denji is defeated, Samurai Sword assures his men "Even devil hunters are only human! They can't win against guns!" Shortly thereafter, Makima uses her contract to kill all of his minions and Kobeni manages to beat back him and Sawatari with nothing but a knife—and the gun she steals mid-battle!
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Among the Yakuza members that ambush Division 4 is an innocent looking old lady who Kobeni and Arai had just helped with directions.
• Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: Kobeni advances on Samurai Sword so fast that, when he tries to aim his pistol at her, she chops his arm off while jumping behind him, grabs the pistol out of the air, and shoots him with it twice in the back without even turning to face him.
• Victory by Endurance: In Power's second training session with Kishibe, she use her blood to attack with a spear through their door and a spike trap that comes down through the ceiling. Once Kishibe avoids both and dispatches Denji, he doesn't even have to look to know Power had collapsed from using too much blood and overexerting herself.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Once Himeno turns down her medical aid, Power abruptly vanishes for the rest of the arc's first battle. Afterward, Denji says she ran away, while Power claims she got bored and went looking for food.

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