Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories

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I am going to preface this review by saying this light novel is meant to be read after Chainsaw Man (up to the end of Vol. 11 anyway). Some of the stories spoil quite a bit of the series – including the ending!! – so wait to read this novel until you've finished the manga!

Secondly, I feel I should say that this light novel is best enjoyed by those who read Chainsaw Man and loved it. If you read Chainsaw Man and were neutral on it, or weren't the biggest fan of it, I would not recommend reading this light novel. It's nothing revolutionary and ... it's not gonna change your feelings on the manga.

Now with that in mind, and as a fan of Chainsaw Man myself, I'll give my thoughts on it to other fans.

This light novel is 4 short stories that feature different characters. The scenarios, apparently laid out by the author of the manga, are quite in line with the manga. None of them felt like they were out of place. Some of the stories were better than others, however it's nothing drastic. They all range somewhere from "average" to "pretty good". I don't think any of them are exceptional, but none of them are awful either so it evens out.

Each of the stories has a single full-page illustration to accompany it. Loved the art. However, I question why certain scenes were chosen to be depicted over others... I believe certain scenes would have made for a better illustration in some of the stories. Not a big deal but I did find one of them in particular disappointing. (Again, not the art itself! but rather the choice of scene.)

Now, my actual complaint with this light novel is that the prose is *very* short and direct. I can see the appeal of this style of writing but I found the detail was just too bare-bones at times. I found this was a lot more noticeable in certain stories compared to others. The lighter, "fluffier" stories worked with this style of writing a lot better than the stories focusing on heavier content did. I think if another handful of pages could have been added to those heavier stories it would have given them the opportunity to build up more impact. This is totally subjective though! You might prefer the quick pacing yourself but yeah, I did not.

Overall, in my opinion this light novel is good stories hampered by mediocre writing. I suppose that should warrant a lower score, but it was a silly, fun read and honestly I didn't expect much more than that. Just don't expect anything profound and you'll probably enjoy it too. (Think of it as official fanfiction.)

Chainsaw Man Buddy Stories, at first, seems like just a generic spin off, created to make extra cash with fanatic fans desperate to have everything Chainsaw Man, or Fujimoto related in their collection.

But it isn't.

The first and last story are the most akin to a spin off that you'll get from this piece of work (and they're still fun and interesting in their own way), because the rest is a literal expansion of the CSM universe in the form of a novel. Especially the second and third stories are peak character development and I wholeheartedly want to someday see these two animated somehow.

This volume, next ... to the manga itself, makes me genuinely believe that the CSM universe literally exists inside fujimoto's head in constant motion and that he can, anytime he writes something related to Chainsaw Man, just take a small part of it and put on the paper for us to appreciate.

That's why he's my favorite manga author. If you're a Chainsaw Man fan and, specially, a Fujimoto fan, I suggest you read this one. You won't regret it.

[DISCLAIMER: GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA IN THIS REVIEW. This Light Novel is *definitely* made to be read after reading the manga...at least Part One (Volumes 1-11) so I'm just gonna make this on the review that you've read the manga and are just wondering if you should read this as well or not.]

Well, well...it's been a bit again since I've done a review for something. I've been going through some stuff as of writing this that's happened very recently that's gonna be affecting my living situation so I'm gonna have to put this stuff on hold probably post Ergo Proxy since ... I have one episode of that series left. Anyways, onto the review, I'll discuss more than that later:

The Narrative:

Overall, the stories (cause yes, this is a collection of multiple stories featuring multiple characters) are all very well-written and have their own variety and charms. A detective parody adventure with Denji and Power on a mission with just the two of them, a younger Kishibe and Quanxi do a job together with a Devil Hunter Trainee that changes them both, Aki and Himeno get some time together doing one of their first jobs together, and Denji, Power, Aki, and Makima go on vacation to Enoshima and hijinx ensues. All of which are of decent quality to the point where I don't have any favorite of the bunch. I think that as a companion piece to the manga, it adds more character and depth to things that either weren't really touched upon in the manga or only got a small amount of time. Overall, the stories are all well-written, they all get the right amount of time and all of them are really great to read. Overall, A+ stuff.

The Characters:

Well, overall there's not that much to say regarding the characters since in my opinion, they're all characters from the manga for the most part minus two original characters who aren't mentioned ever again outside of this Light Novel for all I know. Everyone definitely acts how you'd expect them to if you've read the manga (and you're a fan of pretty much every character like I am) and the two original characters are good enough in their own rights to justify their existence. That's...pretty much it, honestly. A-grade stuff.

The Visuals:

This section is also gonna be really brief but I'd like to bring this up cause they're a thing in this Light Novel. Overall, with more peak art from Fujimoto-san, it's really great stuff and it's ALLL original to this Novel. Gives the novel a little more character and helps us visualize some of the stuff that's being described. We don't get to see Enzo (who's the original character in the first chapter with Denji and Power) but we do at least get to see Minami (the trainee I mentioned during Kishibe and Quanxi's chapter), so it's nice to at least get a visualization of her. But yeah, every chapter gets its own piece of art and it's all really nice A++ stuff as always.

The Conclusion:

Well, like I said before. This should definitely be read AFTER finishing the Public Safety Arc (Part 1 which compromises of Volumes 1-11), but it's a real treat if you're willing to read it and it's just more Chainsaw Man action...can you really complain about that? It's well-written, has the same energy as the manga but in novel form and it's a nice companion piece to the manga itself. I'd say if you're a big enough fan of the manga, it's DEFINITELY worth a read. I certainly enjoyed it and had no complaints about it.


Post Review Ramble:

So...yeah, about the next upcoming reviews. Ergo Proxy is coming, probably sometime within the next couple of days. Not sure when I'm moving but to explain the situation I'm currently in as plainly as possible, my family's splitting and I'm moving with my father to a new house sometime soon and I've already started packing. It was completely out of nowhere when I got woken up randomly early Tuesday morning (as of when this review was written) and sparked by my Mother's abusive and controlling wrath. She and I have had issues for years now and it just came to a head here. I've had enough of her and I'm sure my Dad has too so...yeah, we're finding a new place to live. This will slow down future reviews by a little bit but I'll probably at the very least be able to get my review of Ergo Proxy out before I go. I'll make sure to update you all on the situation in my profile comments section, just know for right now that I'll be okay but that it'll probably be a week or so until you see any new activity from me on here, just wish us luck. So yeah, expect a review of Ergo Proxy within the next couple of days and after I get settled into wherever we move to, I'll get started on reading the side manga that's available online in English, and we'll go from there. Still debating on what I should watch after this so I may have an idea once I finish and write my review for the Ergo Proxy side manga but we'll see. Take care for now everyone and stay tuned.