Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1: Dog and Chainsaw

This one is just very squarely not for me. The main character is Deadpool-esque, but with less clever humor. His flaws also overpower any sense of irreverent charm he might have had and he kind of just reeks of an edgy teenage boy appeal to me. Based upon the marketing, I thought Pochita was going to stink around for longer, but c'est la vie. It is unlikely the case that I'll be continuing this one.

I was anticipating this (paperback) release here in Spain for a long time now, and I wasn't disappointed. Let me rephrase that: it reached my expectations and hype.

Having read the first volume of “Fire Punch”, it's kinda hard to tell both works were written by the same author (considering that both were developed sequentially), as both are drastically different works that evoke different themes and characters; The art is sleeker and has its own personality in comparison with other manga, but also manages to evoke some inspirations from other well-known works. Also, the action panels are BRUTAL in the great sense of the world. If the fights go up from here, then I'm officially sold in that aspect.

Now, I love the main character. The trend I've been subjected in regards to new manga is that it takes me a while to care/relate/root for the main character until later in the story (a.k.a in later volumes) such as with “Jujutsu Kaisen”. So, when the protagonist is able to have this much of an impact on the reader not even halfway done in the volume, then you know it's something special; Denji is such a “simple” character conceptually, but I believe that's what makes him so fantastic.

When we meet him, we see that his dream is to have a life and enjoy many things we take for granted: have toast with marmalade for breakfast, bathe every day, ask a girl out on a date, sleep on a bed, etc. Then, we realized his reality, and how he continuously sold parts of his body just to pay the debt of his father and how he's struck by his mother's heart disease. It's at the point of inflection of the story that we find ourselves completely rooting for him, and want him to keep living his dream.

Of course, he more or less obtains his “dream”, but then we have a small yet significant development: he allows himself to aspire for more, even if small, things. Leaving the significance of his character behind, he's a fun character. He is. Like, the things he says, does, or his reasons for doing something are so unexpected that you find yourself thinking if he's actually serious. Spoiler Alert: He definitely is.

Also, when he gets serious and is ready to fight, not only does he have style but also evokes hype and expectations, which are definitely fulfilled until the end of this one. I pretty much have praised the main character and art all the way through this review, but let me conclude that if you have heard good things about this, a friend recommended it to you, or you're just curious, go read it.

It's that great. Thank me later.

Merged review:

I was anticipating this (paperback) release here in Spain for a long time now, and I wasn't disappointed. Let me rephrase that: it reached my expectations and hype.

Having read the first volume of “Fire Punch”, it's kinda hard to tell both works were written by the same author (considering that both were developed sequentially), as both are drastically different works that evoke different themes and characters; The art is sleeker and has its own personality in comparison with other manga, but also manages to evoke some inspirations from other well-known works. Also, the action panels are BRUTAL in the great sense of the world. If the fights go up from here, then I'm officially sold in that aspect.

Now, I love the main character. The trend I've been subjected in regards to new manga is that it takes me a while to care/relate/root for the main character until later in the story (a.k.a in later volumes) such as with “Jujutsu Kaisen”. So, when the protagonist is able to have this much of an impact on the reader not even halfway done in the volume, then you know it's something special; Denji is such a “simple” character conceptually, but I believe that's what makes him so fantastic.

When we meet him, we see that his dream is to have a life and enjoy many things we take for granted: have toast with marmalade for breakfast, bathe every day, ask a girl out on a date, sleep on a bed, etc. Then, we realized his reality, and how he continuously sold parts of his body just to pay the debt of his father and how he's struck by his mother's heart disease. It's at the point of inflection of the story that we find ourselves completely rooting for him, and want him to keep living his dream.

Of course, he more or less obtains his “dream”, but then we have a small yet significant development: he allows himself to aspire for more, even if small, things. Leaving the significance of his character behind, he's a fun character. He is. Like, the things he says, does, or his reasons for doing something are so unexpected that you find yourself thinking if he's actually serious. Spoiler Alert: He definitely is.

Also, when he gets serious and is ready to fight, not only does he have style but also evokes hype and expectations, which are definitely fulfilled until the end of this one. I pretty much have praised the main character and art all the way through this review, but let me conclude that if you have heard good things about this, a friend recommended it to you, or you're just curious, go read it.

It's that great. Thank me later.

Denji's mother died when he was a kid. His dad managed to get tens of millions of yens worth in loans from the Yakuza, then just killed himself. Good job. So now Denji has to pay back all of that and he is just a kid. What to do?
Well, “lucky” for him, his world is normal like ours, with the exception of devils. They exist as the embodiments of fears/phobias and they are here to make trouble and kill people. So Denji befriends a little demon, a creature that's half chubby doggy, half chainsaw, called Pochita, so they can kill devils together and slowly pay back.
Yeah, well, Denji is still starving and having no life, until it turns out that he can join the official, governmentally regulated demon killers, under the leadership of this beautiful girl called Makima.

The thing happening here exists in a weird space, psychologically. Denji doesn't have a good life. We can even say he has a pretty fucked up, shit life. You can see it. He also has amazing powers. But somehow the author makes a point of not overdoing his aspirations. Often in stories like this, the hero is lonely and sad and aims to be THE BEST. Powerful and famous and a leader.
Denji is different. He just wants the bare minimum. Regular meals. A comfortable, ordinary quality life. A girlfriend. Dude wants to just touch some boobs.
I absolutely love the way we have insane monsters and such, superpowers and chainsaw heads. But also, the main character is the type who wants to hug a pretty girl and eat jam on toast. He is so relatable on an everyday scale in a setting that is so out there.
It's almost saddening, really. It's jarring how they go from chainsawing a bunch of zombies to... Denji being happy about finally being able to take warm baths every day.

It also tells you how messed up it is from the get go. Makima is not a nice girl. I have a feeling she won't ever actually love Denji or take proper care of him in a way that's not calculated and selfish. Sometimes even Denji realises this and he still does his thing, because he is not aiming high. So what if she is a bitch who uses him as she wishes? It's not like he expected a healthy, loving relationship like... ever.

The art is kind of messy. Sometimes the characters look almost off model, it's fast and lose and I think it really works with the story. In winders view panels sometimes the characters' faces are not drawn in, they are just distant shapes. I think in a way, that works well with the violence and erratic action.
Then there are these moments with amazing, creative panelling.

Yes, it is violent. Do not get into this if you can't handle gore. Then again, the title is Chainsaw Man, not Stuffed Toy Man.

I'm really curious where it will lead, where Denji will end up. If he will ever realise that not aspiring to be too much still doesn't mean you are supposed to let someone use you. I wish the best for him and so far, it doesn't seem like that's where things are going.

Merged review:

Denji's mother died when he was a kid. His dad managed to get tens of millions of yens worth in loans from the Yakuza, then just killed himself. Good job. So now Denji has to pay back all of that and he is just a kid. What to do?
Well, “lucky” for him, his world is normal like ours, with the exception of devils. They exist as the embodiments of fears/phobias and they are here to make trouble and kill people. So Denji befriends a little demon, a creature that's half chubby doggy, half chainsaw, called Pochita, so they can kill devils together and slowly pay back.
Yeah, well, Denji is still starving and having no life, until it turns out that he can join the official, governmentally regulated demon killers, under the leadership of this beautiful girl called Makima.

The thing happening here exists in a weird space, psychologically. Denji doesn't have a good life. We can even say he has a pretty fucked up, shit life. You can see it. He also has amazing powers. But somehow the author makes a point of not overdoing his aspirations. Often in stories like this, the hero is lonely and sad and aims to be THE BEST. Powerful and famous and a leader.
Denji is different. He just wants the bare minimum. Regular meals. A comfortable, ordinary quality life. A girlfriend. Dude wants to just touch some boobs.
I absolutely love the way we have insane monsters and such, superpowers and chainsaw heads. But also, the main character is the type who wants to hug a pretty girl and eat jam on toast. He is so relatable on an everyday scale in a setting that is so out there.
It's almost saddening, really. It's jarring how they go from chainsawing a bunch of zombies to... Denji being happy about finally being able to take warm baths every day.

It also tells you how messed up it is from the get go. Makima is not a nice girl. I have a feeling she won't ever actually love Denji or take proper care of him in a way that's not calculated and selfish. Sometimes even Denji realises this and he still does his thing, because he is not aiming high. So what if she is a bitch who uses him as she wishes? It's not like he expected a healthy, loving relationship like... ever.

The art is kind of messy. Sometimes the characters look almost off model, it's fast and lose and I think it really works with the story. In winders view panels sometimes the characters' faces are not drawn in, they are just distant shapes. I think in a way, that works well with the violence and erratic action.
Then there are these moments with amazing, creative panelling.

Yes, it is violent. Do not get into this if you can't handle gore. Then again, the title is Chainsaw Man, not Stuffed Toy Man.

I'm really curious where it will lead, where Denji will end up. If he will ever realise that not aspiring to be too much still doesn't mean you are supposed to let someone use you. I wish the best for him and so far, it doesn't seem like that's where things are going.