First off I would like to state that there will be no spoilers in this review of the first episode. I will refrain from using screenshots from after the first few minutes of the episode, nor will I mention specifics of the narrative outside of the very core concept. I know a lot of people are very excited about this anime and may not yet have had the time to see it. So go forward knowing there are no spoilers, but perhaps instead disappointment.
Chainsaw Man has been a big name running around the many forums of television and animation fans for a few weeks now as its anime adaptation has slowly crept up on us leading into the next seasonal airings hailing from Japan. While its manga released a few years ago already, the two have managed to gain massive popularity and certainly far too much hype which very rarely is justified. Starved of original ideas as the anime industry looks somewhat anemic in creativity in the past few years, Chainsaw Man has grown to be a symbol of hope. One that many assumed could be a massive hit and inspires the anime industry to think more grand.
If you have read the manga, you will know already that it is quite an action packed narrative. One that seems quite unique in its ideas but still relatively grounded in its youthful characters. And translated to an animation, the idea of Chainsaw Man is one that would require a lot of animation talent and time to pull off. Those aware of how modern animation works would know that time and money are a studio's greatest threats, as they seek methods of reducing costs and speeding up tricky scenes that would otherwise take too many hours and days, even weeks to animate and get done.
Though that is not to say that there are not studios that cannot pull it off. Some, perhaps more dedicated than others, would happily rely on 2D animation for as much of the process as possible, only relying on 3D when it is absolutely necessary. However, in today's filmmaking industry, cutting costs is a priority, and many anime and manga fans, having seen the fate of many modern anime adaptations, were sceptical of how Mappa would pursue animating Chainsaw Man, and whether a reliance on 3D animation would ruin the story. Over the past weeks I have seen many debates regarding the animation taking place, many going as far as leaking screenshots, clips, and sharing information from the production itself supposedly as those working on it spoke of their struggles regarding pay. Of course this is not a good look.
During this time, I have ensured that I, myself, have been void of the utter insanity of the hype Chainsaw Man's anime adaptation has created. Perhaps still bitter of the Cyberpunk 2077 release, and many other film and television adaptations in the past, I had managed to curb my expectations and accept that the chances in which Chainsaw Man was not a hit as implied were actually rather high.
Well, having seen the first episode, I can't say I am impressed at all, nor am I even disappointed. I watched the first episode throughout and found it to be incredibly mediocre, mostly due to its visuals. So let's get into that next.
Lackluster visuals
One of the first things I had noticed within this first episode was incredibly muted tones. The colour palette felt incredibly uninspired which was met with scenes that in addition felt very flat and empty. Locations seemed void of background and life. Particularly alongside sharp animation styles of shapes that made certain objects stand out within the darker tones. I noticed that these backgrounds seemed very odd, looking around them and feeling as if many were pre-rendered like a video game. Some shots I looked at and considered whether they were just real photographs that had been heavily manipulated to give off the illusion of being drawn. This was mostly evident in the exterior scenes, and admittedly some interior scenes looked quite nice. Particularly the scenes by windows which offered a nice perspective and gentle soft light. Though again certain objects looked to be rendered in via CG.
3D animation was by far the largest weakpoint of the episode, and it appears that the studio did not just opt for using CG for animating the more fast-paced action scenes. As mentioned even regular objects looked very 3-dimensional when they served no real purpose. There were many moments in which I looked around the image just noticing how many things looked off. And sadly this was not even the peak of it; when it did come to these action sequences there was a heavy influence of 3D animation which took the reigns and almost looked like a different show. Sometimes 3D animation is necessary and it can be hidden quite well, but these moments were just bad. You could see the changes taking place from 2D to 3D, where frames were low and the animation looked very stiff. Oddly these were moments that just did not need to be made under CG, it is strange to see how they appeared despite not being necessary at all. Even when taking into consideration of production time.
Outside of the animation itself, and moving back into the areas of the colour, I found certain textures to be really ugly as well. Again as if images were taken from the Internet, slightly altered to look more cartoonish, and plastered onto characters and backgrounds. It was just too noticeable and I think I spent more time looking at how ugly things were than finding myself immersed in the story it was quickly introducing us to. In one particular frame it looked as if a chainsaw metallic texture was found from online. It looked like a cheap adaptation made by people that did not quite understand and appreciate its source material, having little dedication and inspiration to put in the effort to actually make the art of the world it takes place in.
This is all disappointing to point out given Chainsaw Man holds a pretty unique and interesting set of characters under a creative little story. And it does appear that Studio Mappa did follow the manga and its narrative very tightly. While I do believe they will continue to follow the source material quite faithfully, I do not think the production quality will improve. I expect a stronger reliance on this more lazy approach to animation that will grow more jarring and sadly distract from the most important parts of the story. Whether I stick around to watch it or not is yet to be decided. I can't say I enjoyed this first episode enough to want to see more, and I'm likely to just continue sticking with the manga. Which has significantly better art that provides more depth to the characters and the story, as its original creator intended.
