Chainsaw Man

Yeah… kinda reminds me of Isayama Hajime in that regard (though Fujimoto has a better sense of body proportions I guess).

Edited by Lyendith on Dec 17th 2019 at 7:28:25 PM

Well damn.

• Reze was raised in a Soviet Tyke Bomb program, according to the intel they've found about her.
• Reze initially tries to board a train to leave, but ends up changing her mind. She sees Denji through the window of the cafe, and admits he was right about her deciding not to kill him right away.
• A horde of rats appear, forming into a mass that reveals Makima. She discusses how she also likes the Country Mouse, and how she sometimes goes to the country to help on a farm. They have to dig the mice out, so they won't destroy the crops — then apologizes for rambling.
• Reze's arm is sliced off, before she can pull her choker-ring. She charges Makima, but is impaled from above by Angel's spear. Makima cradles her as she dies, with Reze thinking about how she never went to school either. Well, I guess that's one Waifu down.
• Inside the cafe, Denji is told he needs to leave. The old man comments about how Reze made the place brighter, but he's sure the right girl will come along. The door opens, Denji gets excited......and Power enters. She immediately assumes the flowers are for her, so Denji tries to eat them.

…

I mean, sure, I wanted to see Power again, but not after this.

My God Denji brought an entire bouquet of flowers.

That is honest to God the most romantic thing I've ever seen a shonen hero ever do.

Well, at least he found a good use for them.

Same. My only hope is that the body is stored somewhere, and could be revived later on. But we probably won't get that lucky.

Well, it's Makima we're talking about. I could see her using Reze's body somehow, but certainly not to give Denji a girlfriend.

I also hope that she's not gone for good - I like her too much for that.

Being likeable didn't save Himeno either.

This.

I suppose we shouldn't get attached to anyone in this series.

So what we can gather about Makima from this arc: She's not the Gun Devil as people have been suspecting, but probably some sort of rival. Based on her whole speech about exterminating the rats, she probably wants to enjoy watching Denji fight Gun in a renewal of whatever rivalry Pochita had with Gun in the past. And she's powerful enough to terrify the most powerful Devils we've seen so far, merely by showing up. Angel turned out to be strong enough to defeat Reze, but stood on the sidelines until ordered to act. And Makima is strong enough that Angel, Beam, Violence, and Power all obey her without question.

Edited by harostar on Dec 22nd 2019 at 11:27:35 AM

Nah, just get attached only to Beam. He alone will never betray you. Best shark.

I'm afraid to get attached in case Beam dies, because he is Best Shark Boi.

He will live on in your heart. Course, then people will try to kill you to take him from your corpse.

Man, that was honestly pretty heartwrenching. Reze turned out to be a fantastic character. And Makema continues to be the biggest boss around.

Couple notes, though. We already know that Hybrids can come back from practically anything given blood, and Sword's in Makema's pantry too. She might just be going into storage. Second, I wouldn't go "shonen power levels" on this as well, it's not like Angel "beat" Reze because he had bigger numbers than her. He just kept her from pulling her devil trigger, which as Reze showed way back at the start of her fight with Denji, and Denji showed again when he dragged her into the ocean, is a valid counter to Hybrids. I rather like how grounded that is, if we can call a series where the MC with a chainsaw for a head rode a shark demon into battle against a giant baby with a typhoon made out of brain matter growing out of it "grounded".

Viz has the new chapter up.

• Denji dreams about the room where Pochita is hiding, and is told again to never open the door. He wakes up with Power's cat cuddling with him. Over breakfast, she complains about the cat being a traitor that sleeps with Denji now.
• He's sad over Reze, unaware of what happened to her. Makima shows up and tells them they are going on a vacation to Enoshima. Denji cheers, Power tries to argue she has a "meeting" to get out of it, Aki is okay with a break.
• A news report interrupts their plans — footage of Denji transformed has leaked, and the whole world is discussing the "Chainsaw Devil in a Public Safety Uniform". Makima is furious at this leak and tells Denji he is restricted for the foreseeable future, as assassins will likely be sent from all over the world to claim him. She complains that Bomb managed to accomplish things after all, because now Denji's existence is public knowledge.
• Over lunch, Angel discloses an enormous secret to Aki. Devils do not truly die, not as long as their name is feared. They are trapped in an endless cycle of Death and Rebirth for eternity. A Devil killed on Earth goes to Hell, and when they die in Hell, they return to Earth. No Devil can remember their time in Hell, but all Devils remember the last sound they heard before dying. Angel asked all the other Devils they work with about it, and everyone said the same thing: The sound they all last heard was Chainsaw's engine reeving up.
• In America, a trio of brothers discuss being hired to hunt something other than Devils. The US will pay them 2 million to bring the Chainsaw. The brothers discuss how they did not die when Gun destroyed their home, when a Devil swallowed them, when their house was on fire, when they got food poisoning. They claim to be immortal.

Seems like Denji still doesn't know that Reze was killed by Makima…

I like the idea of Pochita going all Doomguy in hell so much that the devils end up on Earth.

Why would he? She did it in secret after all. Plus, she used at least some of whatever power she possesses to do it so it's natural she'd keep it to herself.

New chapter:

Yikes! There are some crazy ass people coming out of the woodwork. Is it just me, or is the author trying to be as deliberately atypical with his characters as possible?

…Shonen Jump. For kids.

Quite impressive though. In a single chapter the author established three new antagonists, their personalities and their goals, and it all feels natural.

The author is the new Go Nagai in terms of trying to get away with as much shit as possible, isn't he?

I am ready.

• Carnival of Killers on the way!
• Tokla, a quiet emotionally dead dude that lives in an arctic terrain with a woman he calls Master. They hunt a fox for fur and food, and the woman asks him if he feels he has taken a life. He doesn't, and seems uncaring about being asked to kill a 16-year old boy. Master reassures him that after this, he will be allowed to retire since he only has one year left to live.
• In our next corner is the Chinese assassin, Quanxi. She is a Badass Lesbian with a Battle Harem of Fiends — a Blood Fiend, a Zombie(?) fiend, a Doll-like Fiend, and a perky one with some kind of worm-thing as a ponytail. She asks that her "girls" be granted full Human Rights and an education, if she succeeds. Makima and Kishibe know she is coming and debate how to handle her.
• Makima is most worried about "Santa Claus", an agent from Germany that she hopes is already dead from old age. Elsewhere, we see Santa Claus — a creepy old man that discusses jobs in Christmas terms. He asks to adopt 4 "good looking" children as a reward, 3 to use for Contracts with Devils and 1 for "pleasure". Seems Old Santa is a creepy pedophile with Devils at his command. One strong enough that Makima is worried about him.
• Denji is lying around the apartment in despair over the canceled trip. Aki sits on him, and reassures him if they beat the assassins then they can take the trip.

Minor correction - I think the woman called Master is the one with a year to live and who will be allowed to retire. I get the impression that Tolka's committed to doing the job so that she can do so.

Ah, good point. It was kind of tricky to figure out who was talking to who.

So that's four assassin teams gunning for Denji. Fox-hunting dude seems the most generic with Chinese lesbian the most out-there. Those are some pretty good qualifications coming from Sensei.