Chainsaw Man Movie: Reze-hen Episode 1 Discussion

I’ve just gotten home from watching, and I’m still shaking even as I write this...
WORDS CAN’T EVEN DESCRIBE WHAT I JUST SAW.

Knew the content going in obviously, but it’s insane what incredible sakuga and direction can do to completely elevate everything. The elephant in the room is obviously the art style change. Honestly, I feel like it should’ve been the other way around: the TV show’s style for this movie, and this movie’s style for the show. But either way, they managed to create something truly generational. I might need to rewatch to fully confirm, but I seriously think the movie never stops moving for its entire duration. The character acting at the start, especially during the respective Makima and Reze dates, had me literally splooging in my seat....

... so you can only imagine the absolute insanity of the climax fight, words just can’t describe it. Straight chaos is the only phrase that comes to mind. Some cuts were instantly recognizable, like Watanabe’s, so obvious, the man doesn’t miss. Kouki Fujimoto too, though honestly, no surprises there. I’m curious who did some of the other cuts, specifically during the Aki and Angel scenes. And yes, to my surprise, there’s a lot more here than in the manga iirc. Nice of them to expand that ship... lol.

Lots of cool additions that weren’t in the manga. Obviously, ED3 playing over the police radio had me dying lmao. I seriously hope they release that full version soon because it sounded even more of a banger than I remembered. And then the Reze and Denji kiss scene... man. The little girl’s ringoame falling right as Reze bites Denji’s tongue off, brutal but brilliant touch xD

And ofc, the finale with Reze being so excited to head to the coffee shop where she and Denji first met... only for Makima to put her down. That piano track during the scene was absolutely brutal. RIP Reze, and poor Denji... again. The transition into the credits with Hikaru Utada’s song was the cherry on top. I almost cried ngl, they nearly got me. Speaking of songs for a second as well, this was one of those rare movies like Your Name that had a OP in it, that other Kenshi Yonezu song as the song, and my fucking god was it gorgeous. Has Yuki Kamiya and Moaang written all over it for sure.

For a minute, I had forgotten why I liked this series, especially with certain things happening in the manga right now. But this reminded me why I loved it in the first place, and why I’ll still love it for the rest of this adaptation. Because damn, I loved the hell out of this movie. A rewatch is absolutely needed. And for anyone wondering: YES, the IMAX experience is 100% worth it MY GOD.

Just thinking about it makes me want to go watch it again, so I’ll stop before I buy another ticket out of pure compulsion lmao.

@IzanaSolos tell me about the soundtrack, did it improve and/or add new tracks? What about the OST in fight scenes?

I think music is as important as animation! It can add a lot to a scene!