Denji versus the world – review of the comic book “Chainsaw Man”, vol. 7-9

Chainsaw Man has quickly become one of the greatest manga bestsellers in recent years. While fans in Japan are waiting for the release of the second series (announced for the third quarter of 2022), in Poland the first series is not over yet.

I notice a certain problematic trend in Japanese works, which I will call it “creative laxity” (if anyone has a more interesting idea, please write a proposal in the comments). Well, in the vast majority of shōnen titles I have dealt with recently, there have been far too many characters. Smoke on the bad when it comes to evil, because there was always a large wreath of them, so that there was someone to pat on the faces. It is worse when the excess is felt everywhere. One Pieceeach new island marks the introduction of dozens of unknown heroes of the second and third plan. Some of them are only occasional, but Eiichirō Oda can sometimes bring back a forgotten pirate after thousands of pages. It is worth mentioning that in such “The War for Marineford” appear Luffy with fugitives from prison, Whitebeard (with forty-three crews – sic!), The Navy with admirals, vice admirals and colonels, royal warriors of the seas and thousands of nameless soldiers of the lowest rank. Similarly in My Hero Academia, where there are twenty students from class 1A and the same number from class 1B, and also characters from other classes, teachers, professional heroes, etc., etc.

Blame, blame, blame

And the same feeling of character satiety came to me in Chainsaw Man 7-9, though some signs of it had been seen before. After the scuffle caused by the duel between Reze (the bomb demon) and Denji, the existence of the latter ceases to be a secret. The governments of different countries want to win the heart of the chainsaw demon for themselves. And here a multitude of heroes appears, because three brothers from the USA, two agents from the USSR go hunting ( à proposwhy such a state still exists is not explained), Santa Claus from Germany and the “first demon hunter” from China with the magusek harem. In addition, there are completely new characters to protect Denji – both professionals and amateurs. I know it’s fun to create new characters (I draw myself, so I know the feeling), but the death rate in Chainsaw Man even surpasses Game of Thrones . It’s hard to get used to these people and demons when they die several dozen pages later.

Santa Claus is coming to… HELL

My reference to Martin’s GRR work is not accidental, because Chainsaw Man does not have the so-called plot armor and even the foreground can be eliminated. Fujimoto, if he wants, can kill heroes in such a way that the reader is sad. With each subsequent volume, the story grows gloomier, and volume 9 is a masterpiece of playing on emotions. Without spoiling, let me just say that the snowball fight has never been so brutal.

What about the madness so characteristic of the previous editions? Current! The greater number of heroes allowed Fujimoto to show more demons and the amazing superpowers of the hunters. The aforementioned Santa Claus can transform unaware passers-by into murderous dolls with blades extended from their limbs. The final form of the hunter (after visiting hell), in turn, has a dozen arms and legs made of … doll heads placed on top of each other (which looks as if they were made of LEGO minifigure shells, if these bricks were created by demons).

Dog-saw

I’ve complained about too many champions and their rudimentary makeup, but in terms of the main cast, it’s still great. Watching Denji, Power, and Aki continue to enjoy. The entertainment threads are still written in a creative and crazy way, although at the same time Fujimoto can add some serious and sad themes to everything. The ending of Volume 9 heralds a massive storm, so I’m really excited about the last two installments.