Anime can truly do some absolutely bonkers stuff, but nothing I have seen is quite like Chainsaw Man.
The cover art alone was enough to make me want to see what the hell was on offer, and what is on offer is more bonkers than I was expecting.
Chainsaw Man follows a young man called Denji.
Denji is super broke and sturggling to get bye. The thought of having jam on his bread is a luxury he can’t even comprehend. He is paying down his debts by killing devils which earns him some cash. Along side him he has a little dog devil with a chainsaw sticking out of it’s head. He saw that devil dying and decided to give it life with his blood, and so they are tied together.
One day when he is massively outnumbered by devil creatures, he makes a deal that results in him merging with his little buddy, and now he can make chainsaws appear all over his body.
He slashes through hordes of enemies and finds himself face to face with a human who came to kill all the creatures he just killed. She basically offers for him to become her pet, or be killed. When she mentions her pets get to have some really good food like jam, he signs up without hesitation.
He quickly discovers he has traded one life of slavery for another, and I won’t even risk spoiling any more of this.
The show is as messed up and dark as it is funny.
Somehow with the absolutely horrifying thoughts of what poor Denji is going through, we manage to find heaps to laugh at. I swear only anime can pull this off. The Devil creature design, mixed with Denji’s design it’s as much horror as it is shonen at times, which is a fantastic and weird balance. Couple this with some really good voice acting and some really solid animation and you have an excellent series to enjoy here.
I really don’t want to say too much more here as it’s tough as nails to not ruin the excellence in front of you.
All I can say is this series is an absolute banger. Horror, comedy, slices of surprising depth, and anime chaos. What more can you need?