The Manga and Anime have been highly anticipated by fans across the world:
- Part 1 of the Manga began back in December of 2018
- Part 2 of the Manga began in July of 2022
- Season 1 of the Anime was released in October of 2022
Who is Tatsuki Fujimoto?
He’s the author of the Chainsaw Man Manga who has created multiple one-shot Manga’s over the course of his career. Two prominent series of Manga he created were Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man. He is now around 29-30 years old and will continue working on solid gold content for his worldwide audience. Tatsuki started drawing at an early age mostly with his grandparents. He mainly worked on oil paintings at early ages. He began working on his Mangas in 2011 when he was only 17 years old. The work created was called “Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga ita” or “There Were Two Chickens in the Garden” which was published in 2017. This early work was about aliens taking over the world and the last two humans disguising themselves as chickens. Tatsuki Fujimoto graduated from a University called Tohoku University of Art and Design in Yamagata with a degree in Western Painting back in 2014. Now let’s get into some of his Manga work which has received a wide recognition of awards.
His manga releases included:
- Seigi no Mikata – October 2012
- Koi wa Moumoku – April 2014
- Shikaku – June 2014
- Yogen no Nayuta – July 2015
- Sasaki-kun ga Judan Tometa – June 2016
- Fire Punch – April 2016
- Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita – August 2017
- Me ga Sametara Onnanoko ni Natteita Yamai – April 2017
- Imouto no Ane – May 2018
- Chainsaw Man – December 2018
- Look Back – July 2021
- Sayonara Eri – April 2022
- Futsuu ni Kiite Kure – July 2022
Some of his releases were much more influential on the Manga community including Yogen no Nayuta, Fire Punch, Chainsaw Man, Look Back, Sayonara Eri, and Futsuu ni Kiite Kure with Oto Tooda. Much of his earlier work has received great average scores among readers, but his work on Yogen no Nayuta was received extremely well kicking off his career. Once Fire Punch was released it created a perfect storm allowing him to shoot off to the moon. Everything afterward has been a magnificent endeavor for the author and everyone reading the Mangas.
Who worked on the Chainsaw Man anime?
The creator of the Anime was Studio MAPPA with many different famous works including, but not limited to:
- Attack On Titan
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Vinland Saga
- Chainsaw Man
- Terror In Resonance
- Yuri!!! On Ice
Studio MAPPA has wide recognition among the weeb community as they always deliver a wonderful blow. For example, Chainsaw Man’s ending music was different for every single episode among the 12 that were released. Let alone the fact that Attack On Titan hit a certain cord with the anime community when it was released back in April of 2013. The amount of cosplayers attending Anime Expo in 2014 cosplaying as the Military Survey Corps was insane. Everywhere you would look there was a set of swords, vertical maneuvering equipment, Survey Corps uniforms, and poorly drawn thick eyebrows. Studio MAPPA is well known for their distinctive art style and taking on stories which are extremely deep, political, and exciting. They’re able to portray the stories created by Manga authors in a way that compliments the original work and adding onto it with their unique capabilities.
Community Fears
The one thing supporters are worried about is MAPPA taking on too many high intensity projects. Attack on Titan will be releasing its final portion in 2023 with no exact release date at this time. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was the movie released in March 2022 as a prequel to the anime series. Many fans are highly anticipating the next season to come out very soon in July of 2023. Finally, Chainsaw Man watchers are going to be eagerly waiting for the next season hopefully by fall of 2023 or early 2024. Currently there is no official announcement regarding the second season but the anime exhibition for Chainsaw Man is set for February 24th of 2023. Audiences will be ready to potentially hear of the second season’s announcement on this day. Now let’s talk about Chainsaw Man as it relates to the audience and how it was received by watchers everywhere.
Why was Chainsaw Man anime so good?
The anime and manga were loved evidently with the most recent convention Anime Los Angeles 2023 showing its true success. Congoers were speaking highly of the anticipated anime and cosplaying a wide array of characters including Makima, Denji, Power, and some bringing their dogs as Pochita. Shonen Jump News just announced that the Manga sold 23 million copies with its 13 volumes. Its a massive achievement considering the manga creator is so young with only 13 different manga created so far. His evolution and growth can be seen with every iteration of his work. New seasons from the anime may just push it to the very top of the list one day. So this begs the question how come the anime did so well?
The story is relatively simple following a world which is plagued by Devils who feed off humanity’s fears:
- Anything in this world can be a Devil (Tomato Devil, Eternity Devil, and Gun Devil)
- There are certain and few exceptions to this rule including hybrid Devils, like Fiends
- Greater the fear Devils or Humans have toward a Devil makes them stronger
- General population is too weak to fight off even simple Devils
- There are private and government organizations to keep people safe or to profit off of
- Deals or contracts can be made with the Devils allowing humans to use Devil abilities
- Not all Devils are aggressive to humans
- There are primal devils who are so powerful they haven’t been killed in hell
- Devils either exist in hell or the human world (Once slain they transition to the other)
- When Devils are reborn they lose their memories of their past existence
The story moved at an interesting pace allowing for equal amounts of intensity, humor, and battles. It also provided the needed qualifications for a story to be compelling to an audience including character development, backstory, and background story. Thoughtfully allowing us enough time to enjoy these characters and observing their chemistry with each other. Denji and Pochita’s story moved fast alongside their Division 4 members. The Anime goes from 100 to 1000 in terms of scale. Denji and Pochita start off as poor Devil Hunters working for the Yakuza to cover his fathers alleged debts to full on government employees protecting the public from mayhem. However, there were moments in the anime that felt blissful, compelling, and absorbing. Some of them including:
- Denji’s early brawl with Aki
- Aki going through his daily routine at the apartment
- Power’s ungodly lifestyle when she moves in
- Denji’s understandable and disappointing goal for touching breasts
- Himeno’s mouthwatering kiss with Denji
- Aki and Himeno’s wholesome flashbacks
- Side characters talking about how Denji saved them from death
The characters are uniquely made with a contrast of loving and despicable qualities. Their interactions with each other are special with underlying reasons in the story. The series doesn’t present its secrets until it is absolutely necessary for them to come out such as Makima’s ability to kill. Her personality really comes out to the viewer when she’s talking with the Yakuza. Threatening not only their lives but their loved ones as well. Lets not forget about the bag of eyeballs which were collected by Makima herself. Earlier in that scene the Yakuza leader monologues of the necessary evil in Japan which Makima allows him to go off on. We as the viewers can see the true necessary evil Makima embodies at this point in time. The series doesn’t allow plot armor to protect the main characters meaning everyone is technically fair game. This gives the watcher the idea that every moment may be equally catastrophic or amazing.
In short, the story is well thought out, captivating, and many questions continue to remain unanswered. The characters are relatable, developing, and unique. Lastly, lets talk about the animation, artwork, and music. Studio MAPPA did an impressive job at the animation in this series. The battles, beautiful scenery, and Devils are absolutely stunning to every viewer. The ending sequences giving hints and symbolism while methodically providing music from some well-known artists. Some mind-bending visuals are provided by the great Studio MAPPA. Music includes:
- Opening: Kick Back — Kenshi Yonezu
- Ending 1: Chainsaw Blood — Vaundy
- Ending 2: Time Left — Zutomayo
- Ending 3: Hawatari Niku Centi — Maximum The Hormone
- Ending 4: Tablet — Tooboe
- Ending 5: In The Backroom — Syudou
- Ending 6: Rendezvous — Kanaria
- Ending 7: Chu, Tayousei — Ano
- Ending 8: First Death — TK
- Ending 9: Deep Down — Aimer
- Ending 10: Dogland — People 1
- Ending 11: Violence — Queen Bee
- Ending 12: Fight Song — Eve
In each of these endings we get completely separate animations and each of them provide extraordinary value to the anime. Personally, the ending with Dogland – People 1 was mind-bending and hard to look away from. It truly shows the distinctive way Studio MAPPA can animate and mix in melodious music. In conclusion the anime Chainsaw Man was breathtakingly made allowing for the audiences to enjoy the creation. Awaiting the next season of the anime it will be difficult to fill the void of CHAINSAW TUESDAYS! However, readers can always follow along the Manga made by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Currently the anime is only in the part 1 section of the Manga and there already exists a second part in the Manga.