Chainsaw Man vols. 3 & 4

If you’re wondering where the reviews of vols. 1 & 2 are, Steve and I talked about them on the podcast a few months back.  Since that podcast, it’s been announced that MAPPA will be handling the anime adaptation of this series.  Given their predilection towards works that thrive on over-the-top violence — “Attack on Titan:  The Final Season,” “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Yasuke,” and especially “Dorohedoro” — they sound like the ideal studio to bring “Chainsaw Man” to animation.  As for whether or not this series continues to be worthy of such treatment, all I can say is yes.  HELL YES IT DOES!

Vol. 3 picks up with Denji and company still stuck in the hotel with the devil who wants his heart.  He’s promised to let the rest of the section and Power go if they’ll give our protagonist over to him.  You can probably guess how that goes, though you probably won’t figure out the kind of perpetual motion machine Denji “makes” in order to beat the devil.  Then the team has a celebratory party at a local pub where all the other members of the Public Safety Division get to know each other.  Denji also gets his kiss from Himeno for saving her… much to his (and our) regret.  Though it seems like things are back to normal after this, one of mangaka Tatsuji Fujimoto’s tics from his previous series, “Fire Punch,” rears its head after everyone goes out for breakfast.

The tic in question would be his tendency to tear down the status quo every few volumes.  I didn’t think that “Chainsaw Man’s” “Monster of the Arc” formula had worn out its welcome yet, but if doing this keeps Fujimoto engaged, then so be it.  Aside from this part, vol. 3 is as entertainingly gory and juvenile as the two volumes which preceded it.  The reveal of Denji’s perpetual motion machine is thrilling in its ridiculousness while his overall cluelessness towards interacting with the opposite sex (and social graces in general) continues to be as fun as it is relatable.  Ditto for Power’s extreme self-centeredness, which is funny because of its extremity.  Really, all of the human and devil-contracted characters in Public Safety are likeable and sympathetic.  Which makes what happens to most of them here a real shame…

Fortunately we don’t get to dwell on their fate too long in vol. 4 as it turns out that Fujimoto has at least one surprise resurrection in mind.  As to whether or not this resurrection is a good thing for humanity… that’s a question for another time.  It’s not a spoiler to say that the bad guys are beaten back and Denji manages to pull himself together *rimshot* with the rest of the volume being a mix of training and setup as the remainder of Public Safety comes together to take out the people who attacked them in the previous volume.

Most of this is good fun.  The training foisted upon Denji and Power by “Master” is as over-the-top and violent as you’d expect from this series.  Neck-snapping, head-stabbing, and catastrophic blood loss all play into the man’s regimen.  Compared to other training regimens I’ve read in shonen manga, this one is in the upper tier in terms of entertainment.  Even if I’m not sure about how effective it’s meant to be.

Then you’ve got Aki and how he’s coping with the events of the previous volume.  Whatever dramatic weight Fujimoto wants this series to have, it looks like he’s going to be the vehicle for it.  This is because we get to see him actually display some emotion over one death in particular and make a risky decision to contract with an all-new devil.  The end of this volume also makes an abrupt shift to introduce us to some new allied devils as they work with Aki to assault a zombie-filled enemy stronghold.

While the action here is solid, I’m less sold on this series trying to engage in any kind of drama.  “Chainsaw Man” has been at its best so far when it’s diving into gory, comical extremes.  To that end, I can only hope that Denji’s realization that in partnering with Pochita, he may have given up his emotions in addition to his actual heart is dealt with by his subsequent flippant disregard of such.  Much like its protagonist, “Chainsaw Man” itself shows that it does pretty well without a heart of its own.