Chainsaw Man (Japanese: , Hepburn: Chensō Man) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first arc was serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2018 to December 2020; its second arc began serialization in Shueisha’s Shōnen Jump+ online magazine in July 2022. Its chapters have been collected in 13 tankōbon volumes as of January 2023.
Chainsaw Man follows the story of Denji, an impoverished young man who makes a contract that fuses his body with that of a dog-like devil named Pochita, granting him the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. Denji eventually joins the Public Safety Devil Hunters, a government agency focused on fighting against devils whenever they become a threat to Japan. The second arc of the story focuses on Asa Mitaka, a high school student who enters into a contract with Yoru the War Devil, who forces her to hunt down Chainsaw Man in order to reclaim the devils stolen from her.
In North America, the manga is licensed in English by Viz Media, for both print and digital release, and it is also published by Shueisha on the Manga Plus online platform. An anime television series adaptation produced by MAPPA was broadcast from October to December 2022.
As of January 2023, the manga had over 23 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 2021, it won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category and won the Harvey Awards in the Best Manga category in 2021 and 2022. Chainsaw Man has been overall well received by critics, who have commended its storytelling, characters, dark humor, and have particularly highlighted its violent scenes within the context of the story.
PLOT
Part 1 – Public Safety Arc
Denji is a young man trapped in poverty, working off his deceased father’s debt to the yakuza by working as a Devil Hunter, aided by Pochita, his canine companion and Chainsaw Devil. Denji is betrayed by the yakuza, who kill him for a contract with the Zombie Devil. Pochita makes a contract with Denji, merging with him as a human-devil Hybrid, under the condition that Denji live out his dreams. Denji then becomes Chainsaw Man and massacres the yakuza.
In the aftermath, he joins a team of governmental Devil Hunters, the Public Safety Division, led by Makima, who assigns him to kill the Gun Devil. Denji fights through multiple enemies who seek Chainsaw Man’s power, and trains with his partner, Power the Blood Fiend, under the veteran Devil Hunter Kishibe.
Makima later turns out to be the Control Devil, who manipulated events to crush Denji’s dreams in order to separate him from his contract with Pochita, as the Chainsaw Devil has the power to erase evil concepts from the world by consuming their Devils. Makima defeats the Gun Devil. She then kills and resurrects Denji’s other partner Aki Hayakawa as the Gun Fiend and forces Denji to kill him in self-defense. Later, she kills Power in front of Denji, causing him to turn catatonic and turn his body over to Pochita.
However, Kishibe organizes a raid to rescue Denji, and with his help as well as a frightened former teammate named Kobeni Higashiyama and a fragment of Power’s blood, Denji kills Makima. Kishibe later reveals a reborn Control Devil, now a little girl named Nayuta. He asks Denji to look after her, and Pochita supports this mission in Denji’s dreams. Denji begins attending high school while also fighting Devils as a vigilante.
Part 2 – School Arc
Asa Mitaka is an introverted high school student attending Fourth East High School, who has trouble finding her place in society following her mother’s death to the Typhoon Devil. One day, after accidentally killing her class’ pet Chicken Devil Bucky, she is confronted by the Class President who has made a contract with the Justice Devil. She attempts to kill Asa, but Yoru, the War Devil appears in the form of a bird and makes a contract with Asa, inhabiting her body and making her a living Fiend host, under the condition that she kills Chainsaw Man. After her quick vengeance, Asa seeks to find Chainsaw Man, though she and Yoru have differing goals: Asa wants Yoru to leave her body, while Yoru wants to reclaim the Nuclear Weapons Devil which was consumed by Pochita. They join the school’s Devil Hunter Club, where they are partnered with Yoshida (who is revealed to be attending Fourth East) and Yuko, an outgoing student who befriends her.
Meanwhile, Denji has adapted to his new life as a normal high school student, also attending Fourth East, while using his newfound superhero fame to attract women. Yoshida keeps tabs on him under an unknown mission. Knowing that Denji is still desperate for a girlfriend, Yoshida introduces Denji to Asa, who he attempts to reveal to her that he is Chainsaw Man, but fails.
Asa visits Yuko and later discovers that she also formed a contract with the Justice Devil and plans on enacting revenge on everyone who bullied Asa. Using Yoru’s devil abilities, Asa confronts Yuko, but accidentally kills her. At that moment, a stranger walks up to her and revives Yuko for “her little sister”, turning her into a giant devil rampaging through the school. Denji attacks Yuko, but she escapes. The now-disfigured Yuko bids farewell to Asa and goes on the run for help, but a mysterious impostor posing as Chainsaw Man kills her.
Following the incident, Asa and Yoru bump into and meet Haruka Iseumi, the President of both the Devil Hunter’s Club and the Student Council, who has taken interest in her and the stranger. Haruka tells Asa and Yoru that he is Chainsaw Man, showing them the dangling cord attached to his chest as proof. Believing him, Asa is then made by Yoru to go find someone she can kill and turn into a weapon. Spotting Denji to be the perfect target, she then goes on a date with him in order to kill him and turn him into a weapon. During the date, while she is alone, the stranger suddenly appears behind her and the stranger then reveals herself to be the Hunger/Famine Devil or “Fami”, who then isolates her, bringing Yoru and herself outside and seemingly assists her in her quest to turn Denji into a weapon as the two are trapped by the returning Eternity Devil.
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