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EDIT: Chainsaw Man is really intense, and not for everyone. This manga features child neglect/abuse, gore, vomiting, grooming/psychological manipulation, and pedophilia. If any of that is upsetting for you, tread carefully!
This review was written after the ending of Part 1.
--
I hate reviews that start off with unnecessary prose, so let's skip all that and get to the meat of things!
Chainsaw Man is a story which thrives in its unexpectedness. It's a story that takes you for twists and turns in its plot and characterization, but mostly through its simultaneous homage to and subversion of shonen tropes. It's a story that looks dumb as hell, with
...
a protagonist who acts dumb as hell, with a goal that seems dumb as hell (touch some booooooooobs). But where Chainsaw Man gets you is that it anticipates your exhaustion with these tropes. It anticipates that you'll accept the meathead perverted protagonist at face value and shrug off the lack of culpability put on Makima for her actions in endangering a minor. Because all shonen protagonists are teenagers who go through terrible things and are burdened with the fate of the world on their shoulders, so who cares?
Fujimoto does. And he wants *you* to care, too. And so he deconstructs common, unquestioned tropes left and right, creates characters whose complexity extends beyond convoluted backstories, and constantly ups the ante, all without creating a story so large it self destructs.
PART 1: Don't Open the Door (Denji, the Plot, and Subverting Shonen Tropes)
At the core of Chainsaw Man is its protagonist, Denji: a destitute, impoverished teen, who struggles daily to survive a cruel and uncaring world in order to pay off his late father's insurmountable debts to the yakuza. By his side is Pochita, his pet chainsaw devil. Denji is willing to do most anything to make a pretty penny: cutting down trees, hunting devils (which is highly dangerous), even selling body parts on the black market. Denji's life is tragic, but it is not meaningless. Unlike many shonen protagonists, his life of barely surviving on a piece of bread a day with his father's impossible debt looming over his head, is not a set piece to get the plot rolling, and quickly be forgotten. Nor does his backstory encompass the entirety of his character and limit his development. Denji's difficult past deeply influences his worldview and personality, but he is still treated as a highly impressionable teenager. He is both naive about the ways of the world and intimately familiar with the worst humanity has to offer.
When Denji joins the Public Safety Devil Hunters, he doesn't have much of a higher calling. He frankly doesn't care much about killing devils to save people or anything like that (at least, not at the beginning). It's a do or die situation: after being attacked by a devil, Pochita, saves his life by giving him his chainsaw devil powers. In exchange, he asks Denji to chase his dreams. When the local Public Safety force which protects Japan from devils arrive on the scene, Denji is given an ultimatum: to die at their hands as a devil, or to sacrifice his freedom to work for them, using his unique powers to become a devil hunter. Denji accepts the latter, of course. But Denji does not hate Makima, the devil hunter who put him in this situation. Instead, he is grateful to her, because she hugged him and promised to feed him breakfast.
Denji's tragic backstory doesn't exist just to make him easier to root for. It is a *core component* of who he is in a way that is incredibly compelling, as well as being more authentic to the real-world impact of severe trauma (especially childhood trauma). His easy acceptance of the dilemma Makima presents him with is rooted in the fact that he has never really been free. He's used to being used. At least he knows Public Safety will feed him. Throughout the story, every single one of Denji's dreams -- to eat good food, to have a friend to play video games with, to touch a girl's boobs, to have sex with a girl -- is a painful reminder of his deprived childhood. Denji is blunt, and Denji is simple. The only things he wants are safety, a home, and a person who cares about him.
In an incredibly refreshing twist, Denji's history of abject poverty and his role as a devil hunter is not passed off as 'normal,' and is instead actively questioned and challenged. The most overt example of this takes place halfway through the first part, when Denji makes a friend his age who truly sees him for who he is. Together, the two of them sneak into a high school to goof around and hang out. But, partway through the evening, Denji's new friend says this:
"At 16, you're still just a kid, you know? It's when most kids are studying to get into college, throwing themselves into a club or a sport, hanging out with friends.... But *you're* killing devils, almost getting killed yourself... Is this Public Safety place you're with right now really a good place?"
"Yeah, they're super great! I get three meals a day and I get to sleep in a bed."
"That's, like, the *bare minimum* standard of living in Japan... It's *not* something amazing."
Ah! How refreshing!! Another character acknowledging that Denji's situation is irrevocably fucked, and *specifically* because of his age!!! Of course, hurt/comfort tropes have their place in shonen. But I've never seen a conversation like this, where a character tells the protagonist that not just one thing that happened is sad or fucked up -- that their whole situation sucks, actually, and why isn't anyone doing anything about it? (I love Fullmetal Alchemist dearly. I spent the entire manga and both anime waiting for ONE (1) person to acknowledge that being a child soldier at age 12 is Kinda Bad instead of impressive.) There are no other teenage devil hunters who are thrown into combat because they are "talented" or "smart" or whatever. It just isn't done. Denji is a special case, because he is a devil hybrid, and is explicitly treated as inhuman by most of the cast. In a genre populated by underage protagonists tackling world-destroying threats, it's very refreshing to see this questioned.
In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I'll refrain from going further into Denji's character and development. But just know that Denji is not a static protagonist, and his ridiculous quest in the first dozen or so chapters to touch a girl's boobs is not his defining trait. Generally speaking, I hate perverted protagonists! I think they're annoying as hell. But Denji isn't a pervert. He's a traumatized kid looking for connection with someone, anyone. And that, to me, is compelling.
PART 2: Connections and Supporting Characters
The supporting cast in Chainsaw Man is great, because they are all batshit crazy.
One character acknowledges that you have to have a few screws loose to survive as a devil hunter. These characters -- many of whom aren't human -- act entirely outside the boundaries of normal behavior to survive as devil hunters. And yet they're all still realistic and compelling, with their own goals, relationships, personalities, and traits. There's a sort of impulsivity about their actions, which only adds to the sense that these are characters who are just trying to survive a chaotic and cruel world. In so doing, Fujimoto enhances the complexity of his characterization, while also lending to the frantic pacing of the plot.
Chainsaw Man features a *lot* of character death. Will your favorite survive to the end? Chances are, probably not! But despite that, somehow Fujimoto avoids exhausting readers with deaths. You know you shouldn't care, because there's no guarantee they'll live to the next chapter, but you still do. Some deaths are foreshadowed for entire chapters, while others happen entirely out of the blue. But regardless, each serves a purpose, and each is genuinely upsetting.
Beyond that, each character develops and progresses naturally, where even your least favorites start to grow on you. (I hated Kobeni when I started reading Chainsaw Man. Now I would die for her.) They don't all progress in a positive way, but they are constantly changing.
A true standout character in my eyes is Power. She's a fiend -- a devil possessing a human corpse -- who is a fellow devil hunter, and becomes one of Denji's closest friends. She's also a total bastard.
Power is very unique in my eyes, because, yes, she's really cute and funny, but she's also an absolute moron. That's not very common in anime and manga, for female characters to just be stupid! Usually, a dumb female character is a cutesy airhead whose obliviousness is played for laughs and/or ecchi scenes. But Power is just as much of a jerk as Denji, if not more. They get up to antics together, prank their housemate Aki, riff off each other, and generally have an incredibly strong dynamic. As a female anime fan, it's really, really refreshing to see a female character whose gender doesn't limit her personality traits to only 'cutesy' feminine stuff! It's also really refreshing to see a 100% platonic dynamic between her and Denji. (Power is also a very compelling character herself, which I won't get into because Spoilers.)
Chainsaw Man doesn't shy away from depicting unhealthy relationships, either. The relationship between Denji and Makima is one of the most crucial and compelling things about the manga, and it is laden with emotional manipulation and abuse tactics. Depicting grooming is difficult enough, and doubly so when the groomer is a beautiful woman. However, Fujimoto manages to capture the duality of such a relationship: both the kindness which draws a victim into an abusive relationship, and the cruelty which keeps them there. Again, in the interest of avoiding spoilers, I'll stop here. But I will say that reducing Denji to a simp does a great disservice to both characters, and also perpetuates the toxic idea that men can't be victims.
I really wish I could ramble about all the characters in Chainsaw Man, because I love literally all of them (except Santa Claus and Makima. All my homies hate Santa Claus and Makima). But much of what makes them amazing can't be summed up in brief personality descriptions, and instead has to be read through their relationships with each other. For all the brashness and bluntness of the manga, there is a beautiful subtlety to the character development, which is best experienced, rather than told.
PART 3: Art
The art of Chainsaw Man seems to be a point of contention for many! Personally, I've always liked it. I find that Fujimoto's sketchy style lends to the feeling of urgency and dread as you're waiting for the next Big Thing to happen. Also, his expressions and grasp of anatomy is godlike. But the art *is* very sketchy, and sometimes his characters fall a bit out of proportion (especially on profile views). Where Fujimoto's art truly shines is in Chainsaw Man's many gory fight scenes and eye-grabbing panels. In general, Fujimoto's panel construction is incredible. You can definitely see that he's a huge film fan, with how he uses all sorts of different angles and layouts in an attempt to emulate famous cinematography. Chainsaw Man is not a story that happens to be a manga -- it takes advantage of the medium to lay itself out as a storyboard, and lets the reader fill in the gaps. (God, it's going to look so good animated. Hype.)
Although Chainsaw Man loves blood and guts, it's not super intense / detailed -- squeamish folks may want to tread carefully, but most people will probably be fine. The gore isn't gross, but it is fun and flashy. Character design-wise, Fujimoto really shines with designing the various devils, fiends, and half-devil hybrids, as well as making all the members of Public Safety stand out despite their simple designs.
Overall, you can tell that Fujimoto believes in the ten-second principle -- most people spend only ten seconds looking at a panel before moving on. But his artistic chops can't be denied, especially when you're looking at the full-page or spread panels.
PART 4: In Summary
To finish this off, I want to say that Chainsaw Man is good as hell. It's a smart manga that is gory, painful, frequently hilarious, and will make you feel despair like you've never felt before. But beyond the blood, guts, gore, and sex, Chainsaw Man is at its core a story about trauma, chasing your dreams, personal growth, and the connections you make with other people (for better or for worse). I wouldn't go so far as to call it a deconstruction, but if you're a shonen fan who's become a bit disillusioned with the genre, Chainsaw Man is a breath of fresh air. (Especially since as of December 14, 2020, when this review is being posted, the announcement for an anime AND a "part two" of the manga just dropped a few days ago. And part 2... oh boy howdy does it look good!)
While the pacing is quite fast, I think it suits the tone of the story quite well; after all, this isn't exactly a forgiving world, and the characters themselves are rarely given any downtime. The rapid pacing doesn't mean that Fujimoto overlooks his characters for the sake of keeping the plot moving; on the contrary, it allows him to write more subtle, easily overlooked moments of setup and characterization, keeping up the hype while also ensuring that future developments aren't cheap or jarring. It adds a lot of reread value, which I find most manga to be lacking in. Once you know how things end, looking back to analyze in depth how things got to that point in the first place is really interesting!
I want to be clear: this story *hurts*. It's immensely tragic. One chapter was so sad and stressful that another mangaka had to take a week-long mental health break. I was basically comatose for an entire day after binge reading it, and I'm still unpacking all that I read. But, if you've got the time and energy to devote to it, Chainsaw Man is an incredibly unique experience that won't let you down.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: チェンソーマン More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: Unknown
Chapters: Unknown
Status: Publishing
Published: Dec 3, 2018 to ?
Demographic:
Shounen
Serialization:
Shounen Jump+ Authors:
Fujimoto, Tatsuki (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #632 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #3
Members: 676,779
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Dec 14, 2020
EDIT: Chainsaw Man is really intense, and not for everyone. This manga features child neglect/abuse, gore, vomiting, grooming/psychological manipulation, and pedophilia. If any of that is upsetting for you, tread carefully!
This review was written after the ending of Part 1. -- I hate reviews that start off with unnecessary prose, so let's skip all that and get to the meat of things! Chainsaw Man is a story which thrives in its unexpectedness. It's a story that takes you for twists and turns in its plot and characterization, but mostly through its simultaneous homage to and subversion of shonen tropes. It's a story that looks dumb as hell, with ... 
Dec 16, 2020
While rating this I've pulled out my shounen wow-those-fights-are-so-cool heart in order to review this as fair as possible for the mangaka. Still couldn't give this a high mark.
Story: The story and worldbuilding are so incredibly weak. The mangaka pushes you straight into action and from that point on you're in a rollercoaster that's only going hard downwards with no rest, meaning that there's no time to rest and therefore no time to enjoy the hype (no light without darkness yknow). Towards the end, the story underwent an acceleration. The story that didn't even have anything to offer, underwent a goddamn acceleration. I couldn't even believe ... 
Feb 21, 2021
I've heard alot of good things about this manga and now that it has finally ended I sat down and read it all in one sitting, surprisingly this did not take much time even though there are 97 chapters the majority of the work is textless whereas some chapters of manga can take upwards of 10 minutes to read due to how dense they are CSM is the complete opposite.
The art and concept are very cool, never saw anything like it before. The problem with this manga is it does not at all live up to the hype I do not understand why its ... 
Aug 19, 2021
Chainsaw Man presents a unique and visually striking experience with its dynamic art style, which perfectly fits its chaotic nature. While I found the narrative lacking in cohesive thematic depth, and some characters felt one-dimensional, moments of vulnerability added a touch of realism. The story's fast-paced action and absurdity create a distinct appeal, even if I personally craved more substantial philosophical exploration. I recognize that its unrestrained energy and visual spectacle will resonate with many readers, even if it didn't fully for me. I see how it works well to acknowedge struggle and give appropriate language to suffereng, so for that I respect it.
Feb 1, 2021
*This is a spoiler free review*
Let's start with the story/worldbuilding: While I did find the world they were in interesting at first the author doesn't really tell you anything about how it ended up that way other a few comments here or there slipped in waaay too late into the manga. I was able to piece it together simply, for newer readers it may have been confusing. Characters: I don't like Denji. That's it honestly. It's not because he is a pervert, I don't care too much about perverted characters. But it would have been better if he were just a pervert. A character that lets himself be ... 
Mar 6, 2022
Plot
Where to start? It's nonsensical. Pretty much all of it boils down to one thing: The author wanted to progress through the story at Mach speed. Never did he take his time to write compelling plot points or at least some interesting dialogue. Everything about this manga feels like mindless and soulless action fodder. It is just so irritating because the concept behind Chainsaw Man had a lot of potential to be great. At its core, CSM is an action manga, but the fights are weak. They are over way too fast, every single one of them boiled down to having a one-shot kill conclusion. That is ... 
Sep 13, 2020
I've heard of this manga series a good few times by Joey (The Anime Man) and also, people who like No Guns Life. At first it was a pretty good start because we got to explore how our main character, Denji got around to being a chainsaw dude in the first place. I really liked his attitude of being laid back and always saying funny remarks with some of the characters. I did considerably get a few chuckles out of the comedy sides of things involved in this manga. I mean , this manga isn't THAT terrible but I think the boob jokes were rather
...
Jul 4, 2021
***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS***
Disclaimer "I might get some hate for this" I heard it alot that Chainsaw man is the best new generation shounen Was excited? Yeah but in the end Seriously... I cant emphasize enough on how flawed that statement was... It feels as though that the author wanted to show that he could write something different and "adult" when in reality it feels like a story written by a 12 year old with a pathetic attempt to break "common shounen tropes" Hilariously it does fall into that and i would address that later CSM is ridiculously dumb and not in a good way(dumb series do end up being ... 
Aug 7, 2020
Story:
Begins with the most generic and stupid moment when devil decides to /for the sake of spoilers lets say/ help MC because he want's to see more of MC dreams (aka wants to see MC achieve his goals/dreams). And what does MC does after that? He decides to make his goal to touch a female. Seriously? Art: Character art is meh. Devil art is good. Battle scenes are also drawn pretty good. Character: Terrible and unlikeable characters fill this manga. Let's start from MC who is a simp for any type of physical contact with female and would do anything for it. Not only that he is overly ... 
Jan 7, 2022
After a series of 10's, I decided the public deserves a review by someone who is over the age of 14.
Story (3/10) The beautiful thing about this manga is that the 95% of it can be explained in the following paragraph. Me main character. Me like boobs. Me use chainsaw to kill demons. Vroom Vroom. Me have other friends who help me kill demons. That's it. The ending throws an expected twist that really added nothing to the story, which is a shame considering the Gun Demon and Hell Arc are 1000 times better than that ending. Art (8/10) I'd say it was really good. Couple of panels were ... 
Jan 7, 2022
Vague spoilers will be mentioned
Chainsaw man is a huge waste of time. Had it been written by someone who can write I feel it would have potential. The plot is messy, inconsistent, and confusing and most characters have no real purpose. The story: Even if it makes an attempt to deviate from the norm, Chainsaw Man is just another run of the mill “beat em up” shounen manga. It’s very clear that the story was there to accompany the fight scenes and not the other way around. It comes off as lazy, thoughtless, and messy. There were attempts at plot twists and foreshadowing, but almost none ... 
Aug 29, 2021
"Just because you're unique doesn't mean, you're good" MEME 2020
When I first started Anime, I always wondered what it would be like if a Chuunibyou wrote a manga. At the time, I didn't realize it would come out as travesty as Chain-Freaking Saw Puke-Man. When you have read too many manga and want to copy them with no writing skills you get this. Berserk's Ugly monsters with eclipse, Tokyo Ghoul CCG, Promised Neverland devils ripped off Character designs you have got all that here. The one thing you don't have is proper WRITING. Story: Most generic story ever ripped off. Plot follows "I hate 'Insert your super ... 
Dec 14, 2020
(TLDR review at the bottom, as always, thanks in advance for reading)
(Major edit at the bottom lol) If you told me to describe Chainsaw Man in one word I would grab the nearest megaphone and microphone, place the megaphone in between my mouth and the microphone, switch both devices on, and start screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Yes. There the word 'madness' or 'chaos' doesn't even fit. The sound does a better job of explaining it. Chainsaw Man is mostly made up of death metal screaming moments and having not read anything close to this other than watching Dorohedoro and maybe reading some of Berserk, Attack on Titan, Akame ga Kill ... 
Jun 9, 2022
I really don't even know where to start with this as I've never felt compelled to write a review until now.
I've been told for months that Chainsaw Man was the next "big thing" so I figured hey why not read it, I've never felt so mislead in my entire life. Story - I actually love the idea of the story, but it's executed extremely poorly. The story is generic and moves at a snails pace for the most part, there are random spurts where the pace just flings you through as if you're going through a time skip but you aren't. The last 20 or so ...
Nov 23, 2020
Those series have an amazing build up and are incredibly interesting to read all the way up to roughly chapter 82. Before that point the manga kept getting crazier, more fun, and there was hint of more coming....
And in chapter 82 the author pretty much took everything he has been painstakingly building for such long time, threw it into a blender and then flushed down the toilet, and gave the reader a cheap plot device. It is difficult to explain the issue without spoilers, but if I were to summarize it it would be series building up for a long time for something amazing, and ... 
Mar 15, 2021
oh my god what a waste of time, if im being quiet honest.i started this manga out with high hopes after hearing raving reviews and seeing that MAPPA would be making the anime adaptation. Im left with a feeling of annoyance, emptiness and what was the point of spending all that time on it?
story: 6 to be fair i started to read it and really get into it because i thought the idea of chainsaw man was quiet interesting. honestly it was captivating. but slowly and surly there were just more and more plot holes that kept reoccuring. it just started to feel really lazy, ... 
Apr 18, 2022
It is a very mediocre series that i think is mainly ruined by the hype people have been feeding into it these past few years.
Story 4/10: Its a very generic story that has been done before with very slight variations on what has been done a million times with a very predictable twist in regards to the antagonist. Art 7/10: The art was very good in terms of composition and detail however what keeps this from being any higher is that as a series focused on battles the fights are very lackluster as the power system is so basic especially in regards to the main character ... 
Feb 9, 2019
With less than 1,000 members and only one other review at the time of posting this, I thought I should write this so that more people will hopefully read it. This is my first review by the way!
Story - 8 The story is pretty simple so far, but that is not a bad thing! It's a shounen jump manga so fight scenes are frequent and there are comedic elements as well. What sets this manga apart though is the characters and the monsters. I'll elaborate on the characters in the "Character" section, but the monsters are really great. Because of the premise, there are pretty much ... 
May 17, 2021
RATING: 6/10
even after completion, i still don’t know if chainsaw man deserves the hype it’s currently receiving. there were certainly parts i enjoyed, others i was baffled by, more that i was rolling my eyes at. for all the talk about interesting characters, i only found two or three compelling enough to root for. TLDR: the bad aspects of chainsaw man far outnumber the good, but the good aspects outWEIGH the bad. at least that seems to be the consensus, reading these reviews. when i first started reading csm, i dropped it by chapter 6 because i was tired of denji’s inner monologue about boobs. eventually i ... 
May 9, 2021
I don't know why so many people like this manga, maybe cause I'm kinda new to manga and am not really used to reading so not a lot gets through to me, but I seriously don't like this. I liked the start of it and how it was set up from the start as a not so typical shounen. Denji has been shown to lose a lot and sell his organs to get out of debt. But by the middle of the manga, it turned into Denji going up against much stronger opponents than him and then him just not wanting to die and overpowering
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