I was scrolling through Instagram one day, when I saw an edit of Chainsaw Man. My first thought about it was "Why would I want to watch an anime about a boy who has a chainsaw for a head?". To me, it seemed absurd and somewhat funny, but I still downloaded and watched the series anyway.
If I'm being honest... I'm glad that I overlooked my initial thought of the anime and watch it instead. Even with all the gore, it was a very engaging and fun watch.
The anime series follows the story of a boy - Denji. He is poor, in debts and living a miserable life. His only companion is a small chainsaw devil named Pochita. They hunt devils together and pay off what Denji's late father owed little by little. When Denji got betrayed and killed by the people worked for, Pochita sacrifices himself to save him. He merged his body with Denji's. That was how Denji becomes "Chainsaw Man" - a half-human and half-devil.
Denji is then taken in by Makima, who recruits him into the Public Safety Devil Hunters. There, Denji meets Aki and Power.
I won't even lie, Denji and Power's chaotic duo is one of my favourite things in the anime. Their bond is the definition of beautiful madness. They fight, argue, make stupid jokes and someone brings out the most genuine sides of each other. Power's energy and action was so unpredictable and the way Denji dealed with her made me laugh a lot.
I really liked that Denji wasn't the typical noble hero seen in many other series. He was, very simply, just a boy with simple dreams to live a comfortable life and enjoy good food. It is refreshing for my own personal enjoyment, to see a character whose goals is not about saving the world but about experiencing the basic things of life. There was something about his desperation for affection and normalcy, even while he's knee-deep in blood.
Then Aki, the calm and serious one, who acts like he's above Denji and Power's nonsense but deep down, he truly cares. The three of them formed this strange family. And then Himeno. Her death was one of the hardest scene for me to watch. I liked her from the start. The way she went out sacrificing herself for Aki, actually broke my heart.
MAPPA's animation was top-tier as always. The fights were brutal and fluid, especially the final one - Katana vs Chainsaw. That last battle had me glued to the screen. I actually watched that particular scene twice. It was actually very personal. Denji's twisted sense of justice in the end? Let's just say it was perfectly Denji.
The music deserves its own praise too. Every episode had it's own theme at the ending and each one fit the mood so well. That was actually one of the things that made this anime different from the others that I have watched before.
For me, Chainsaw Man, is a 9 out of 10. I thought it would be just another bloody horror anime when I started it. But it was actually more than that - it made me laugh, shocked me and was enjoyable to me all at once.