#csm 159

[benk52]

Buddies

[sugar-grigri]

Comedy in CSM is the most important thing to analyze

I accept that the last arc can be read as comic, but you have to push the analysis further; every situation, every comic spring, pursues a theme: identity.

While it had been raised, questioned, it's in this arc that Fujimoto announces that this time we're in the dissection phase.

Denji is accompanied by characters of different narrative rank to enable this operation: a former enemy (still current, but belonging to part 1), a current enemy (introduced in part 2), a potential lover, a guy who idolizes part of his identity, and someone a little more out of touch with everything that's going on.

Everything is there to talk about identity, from the fact that Asa's high-school girl outfit is an advantage for going unnoticed, to the fact that she's stumbling.

Because this way of portraying Asa isn't the right one, since she's a teenager who's always resisted fitting in at her high school.

The guillotine is not insignificant either. It's not to be analyzed as something innocuous - there were plenty of potential demons - but Fujimoto chose ultra-symbolism.

For the guillotine has been manipulated by men of all political persuasions, and is also the symbol of a France seeking to redefine itself.

Above all, it's a symbol of a changing world.

And the rules of the world into which the characters fit are changing.

Fami's struggle against death is one of the first cogs in this change.

Stripping the guards of their clothing is also a way of removing their authority through their uniforms.

The high school girls' uniforms, on the other hand, had the advantage of symbolizing innocence and candor, and of not drawing attention to themselves.

The guards' uniforms contained their authority, so undressing them is enough.

Finding Denji cut up also heralds what's to come, as all the characters help him to literally rebuild his life.

If Asa learns who Chainsaw Man is from Denji's severed head, it's also Fujimoto's way of punishing his main characters.

Asa had always conceived of Chainsaw Man as an evil symbol, a demon for whom she felt no respect or consideration.

So, presenting her with a severed head is always reminiscent of the guillotine: the guilty party's head, presented to the people.

Because Chainsaw Man, before being a hero, is a culprit.

Just as the greatest revolutionaries glorified by the early revolutionaries ended up on the guillotine.

Above all, Fujimoto punishes Denji, because Denji's dream, the only thing he had about his identity - the power to reveal himself - has been taken away from him.

Denji didn't present himself, he was presented as a hunted beast

If Yoru and Katana Man are trying to help Chainsaw Man, it's because without the bloody, invincible enemy that is Chainsaw Man, they lose their objective.

The way they both present themselves from the start is through a desire for revenge

If the beast that would allow them to savor this vengeance is not in state, then all falls away.

What you're witnessing is not a humorous transition arc, but a pause in the work's own narrative.

Because its main character no longer accepts pretending to be Chainsaw Man

So the work stops and starts again from the beginning

What does Denji want to eat?

And what could he have eaten already?

The most obvious response to a Denji who refuses to rebuild himself as the person he used to be, and to whom he no longer wishes to resemble, is to grant him what he desires, since what defines this life before is precisely the fact that he doesn't get what he wants, that he stagnates, and that everything is denied to him, even his own identity.

Sex is something Denji is banking on, basing all his hopes on, since what he's experiencing doesn't please him, so surely the answer must lie in what he hasn't experienced, right? His reasoning is as simple as that. If sex is the foundation of existence, then it also settles existential problems.

It's a disillusionment, an obsession for a teenager, who has been denied the status of child so much and is now obsessed with this """"passage to adulthood"""" because everything would make everything so much more coherent.

Sex is also an element of incessant blackmail, but one for which Denji is willing to put himself at risk because it's his only hope, yet another unknown physical sensation, yet another need to be satisfied.

Denji takes up this objective knowing full well that what he's missing once again is someone, a loved one, to protect. For the old Denji loves, tries to protect, is trapped in Chainsaw Man's infernal cycle of suffering. If he is to return to the way he was, then he must also learn to love again, and to love others.

But love isn't visible; Denji only expresses himself in terms of needs.

The need to be loved and the need to have sex are two different needs. Denji doesn't seek one through the other, he only grasps one.

This conclusion on sex sums up this arc a little, this pretext for making Denji out to be an idiotic character, obsessed with sex as a poorly-written character with subversive aims. It's not about falling into the pitfall of a puppy looking for love.

It's about a boy who has long since stopped accepting that he has to go on living, and who projects himself through his non-experience to find meaning in it.

Not having a mother is part of his non-experience.

[noven-warsh]

It's been a day since I made this post expressing my feelings for this chapter, and I think I've got it- I feel upset by their conversation

Specifically the projection of Denji's unhealthy coping mechanisms onto Asa, to the point of a kind of ignorance to her plight

Like He basically tells her- "Hey, you feel horrible that the devil sharing your body has been terrorizing society, and that you're also afraid to die? Pressured by the guilt and fear? How about you just push em to the side until I kill Death and have sex with Yoru?", telling her to shoot another building down and making her act Yoru's role- who was just shooting up buildings as another game that devils typically play.

To Denji, he's offering her comfort in his fun, his coping mechanism for grief- which is to avoid the thoughts of his grief and spend the time chasing after pleasure. And to us, we see him push Asa and Yoru together, despite the former freaking out about the latter and the latter not giving a damn about the former's feelings.

And idk it's a little complicated for me to asses this. Because, while I want to say that Denji does care for her and is trying to cheer her up by making her join him in the devil's side, at the same time I'm thinking "What if Denji is just trying to quickly diffuse the situation because he more focused on Yoru's promise than Asa's plea?"

[nanifeels]

Oh i love that yoru is becoming more of another persona of asa instead of a devil possessing her body. And i’m kinda scared too huhu

[ddenji]

this is soo in character for asa like…. shes always concerned with what shes done wrong, why these things happen to her, if her life is even worth it!!! she really has like an extreme moralization to her character (which is sooo opposite of denji if we wanted to get analytical about it) and i loved this little moment because it’s very her to hear him say that and really wonder.

[kafukaselect-blog]

Is Nail Fiend actually the Curse Devil?

It was awesome to see the Nail Fiend (and Katana Man) return this chapter

Back when the Nail Fiend was first introduced, a common theory has been that rather than being possessed by the Nail Devil, they are actually the fiend-ified Curse Devil. Opinions on this theory seem to be pretty divided, and since the Nail Fiend is coming back into the spotlight with this latest chapter, I felt it would be worthwhile to make a post re-evaluating this theory in its entirety.

The main reason for this theory is that the Curse Devils choice of weapon is a nail, just like the fiend's, with both Aki and Santa Claus needing to pierce their victims with a nail to trigger the Curse Devil's attack

In addition, the Curse Devils attack takes the form of a crucifixion, and when the "Nail Fiend" debuts, they hang up the church schoolkids with nails in a crucifix position.

There's also the fact that a Nail Devil doesn't really seem like they'd be that powerful at all under CSM's fear based system, and considering that fiends have a further reduction in power compared to devils, the speed and competence that the "Nail fiend" shows could be considered unreasonably powerful for just representing the concept of nails.

You could argue that the Nail Devil also represents the hammer and nail curse ritual (Ushi no toki mari) to give a reason for its power, but the Curse devil already clearly takes inspiration from that. It would be incredibly redundant to make the Nail Devil just represent the exact same thing as the Curse Devil, and it would make more sense to just re-use that devil, it's not like Fujimoto has had a problem with reintroducing devils from Part 1.

The main counterargument for this theory that I have seen is the fact that the fiend's introduction chapter was named "Guns, Nails, Katana", with people arguing that because the chapter title uses the word "Nail" that the fiend must then must be the Nail Fiend.

I don't think this argument really holds any weight, the chapter had "Nails" in the title because the fiend used a bunch of nails and the chapter title was describing what happened in the chapter. It's like how the "Guns" in the title refers to how the chainsaw church followers used a bunch of guns, not that they were contracted with the Gun Devil. If anything the title "Guns, Curse, Katana" would be really strange and out of place, because it would be revealing something that wasn't actually revealed in the chapter itself.

At the end of the day this theory is still unconfirmed though, and we'll really just have to wait until we see the Nail Fiend show off a bit more of their powers before we can really call it one way or the other. Though I am definitely hoping to see some curse action in the upcoming chapters.

Also: if they really are the Curse Fiend, then them being paired up with Katana Man is pretty funny, considering they straight up murdered him in Part 1. This fact doesn't really affect the likeliness of the theory, but I think it's pretty neat.

[fenixfuego15]

Rereading 159 and just wanted to draw attention to the character ever Asa Mitaka in this panel in case you may have glossed over it

[strogelen21]

They're fine. Really.