#csm deep dive

[cattusnefasta]

chainsaw man deep dive chapter 3: arrival in tokyo

warning: this will contain spoilers for the entirety of the chainsaw man manga as this is a re-read and analysis

this chapter can be divided into three acts: the first act, leading up until the alleyway scene. the second act, which is the alleyway scene. and the third act, which is what comes after.

the first act

high off of makima's charm, denji arrives in tokyo in a daze. before we know it he's dressed in the uniform of the public safety officers and ready to meet his new partner, 3 year veteran aki hayakawa.

aki is everything denji isn't: put together, disciplined, focused, and motivated. this sets up his character in an antagonistic position against denji. how are the two going to get along together when they're so different?

well, they aren't.

as they're patrolling the streets, denji attempts to make locker room chat with aki, much to aki's annoyance. this is framed really nicely because the two dont know each other at all and grossly misunderstand each other from the moment they met. denji views aki as some random polite society working man and aki views denji as a teenage brat looking to get in on dangerous business for no real reason. we'll later learn that aki's sense of purpose is central to his character and explains why he chose to act so extremely towards denji.

having had enough of denji, aki takes him into an alleyway and begins to beat him up. knowing denji's backstory, the audience is inclined to further sympathize with him and dislikes aki, or at least view him in a more negative light. but to denji's credit, he gets up and gives aki a taste of his own medicine in the best way.

before i go on, i think its important to backtrack a bit and carefully examine the events leading up to this point.

deeper dive into the first and aecond acts of ch.3

leading up until the alley scene, it is important to note that what ticks aki off the most is denji's comments regarding makima. we learn quickly as an audience that devotion, and even blatant affection, towards makima is not an uncommon thing. aki brawling with denji further implies that his respect for makima may be more intimate than he's admitting.

while we learn after the alley scene that aki was recently put in charge of a special squad, he was not made aware of denji's role or his abilities. i suppose makima assumed they would just feel each other out before the big devil hybrid reveal. up until the alleyway, aki believes denji is a standard new recruit, one he's seen come and go (see: die) many times before. he takes denji for his word when he says this:

we all already deduced this but i think its still worth mentioning: denji is not a reliable narrator and he does not have a clear understanding of the situation he's in. maybe it was his coping mechanism, growing up under blatant and constant threat of the yakuza ending his life early that he decided the way to stay sane was to pretend the threats were not as true as they were. denji's feelings towards makima, strange and contradictory considering how similarly she treats him to his old handler (and that's what she is; a handler. a dog handler). makima threatened him with execution at the gas station. but once he submitted to her after the muscle devil's trick, did he make himself forget? i think he must have. i think denji is very, very good at choosing his own narrative. and because this self deception coexists with denji's knowledge of his own mortality, he can accept his death if makima is the embodiment of his dreams.

on a much smaller note, i think aki is a bit too shocked at the whole situation to process the information that denji is giving him; that he was wildly disadvantaged and lured into all this by makima. in the context of denji's words, it isn't very hard to come up with the conclusion that he may have been coerced into being a public devil hunter. this is significant because denji's a teenager, a minor, and chained to a government organization. and aki isn't stupid.

this is quite a harsh jab from aki considering denji just all but stated he came from a really bad situation.

even so, denji hauls the collapsed aki back to headquarters, which is actually as surprisingly nice as it is funny.

back at headquarters, denji and aki are drawn leaning on each other despite their feelings towards each other. it's safe to say they're not quite friends yet but they've managed to reach a sort of unspoken understanding from their fight.

makima now drops the big reveal; denji is a member of the new special squad aki was tasked with leading. aki discovers that denji is a human-devil hybrid, a practically mythological concept.

i think denji's reaction further proves what i said earlier about him choosing his reality. this should not be shocking to him. makima already treated him like a dog and threatened him with death. did he really think she would let him go?

denji's mind is at war with what makima is promising him and the contradictory treatment. she isn't actually hiding anything. she's truthful about what she'll give him, for the most part. it just doesn't mesh with the death threats and ownership stuff. i don't think denji is STUPID, i just think he's scrambling to hold onto his dreams in an increasingly unfamiliar and dangerous environment.

the third act

denji and aki go back onto patrol. meanwhile, denji is still struggling with his affection towards makima and what she just told him. he asks aki if makima is a good person. and aki, similarly to denji, has a hard time dissociating makima's angelicism with her ruthlessness. aki chooses to rationalize this by focusing on denji's status as part devil. interestingly, aki chooses to see makima as a good person despite all of this. that kind of goes to show what chainsaw man is all about; flawed people who oftentimes have to do bad things for the larger good. and that larger good varies from personal freedom to saving the world.

more makima observations

to end this off, i want to talk a little more about makima. i think it's easy for me to say she's one of my favorite csm characters. i love her duality and how she's shrouded in mystery. she's eerie and feminine, and an overall unique character.

makima doesn't make an effort to hide her nature. that's why the reveal that she's a devil hits so hard; it was right there and she doesn't care if you choose to acknowledge it or not. either way, she's in control. she dishes out sweetness, false as it is, in a futile effort to not only achieve her ends but to form relationships. obviously her relationships are not true. there is a big difference between admiration and understanding, as aizen sosuke (bleach) put it best. but it's the only way she knows how to reach out. this is more relevant for the later events of csm though, since she's not interested in denji in any real way.

i just think it's neat that makima knows how to navigate and manipulate the people around her not only to achieve her ends but to garner love and affection, as fake as it may be. she exudes the confidence only a person comfortable in their knowledge that they will always be adored does.

thanks for reading.

[cattusnefasta]

chainsaw man deep dive chapter 4: power

warning: this post will contain spoilers for the entirety of the csm manga as this is a re-read and analysis

this is probably my absolute favorite illustration for chainsaw man. it's funny, a bit cheeky, but also eerie and a fantastic visual summary of denji's situation. he's the government's mad dog now.

simple pleasures

denji is finally experiencing the fruits of his labor!

aka, the bare minimum a human being deserves.

he's got a nice tub (i know bathing is seen more as a luxury at least in america, but im pretty sure japan has a strong bathing culture where they both shower and bath. i think.) where he can enjoy the warmth for onxer. he's got a variety of jams and spices for food, also warm. and he's got a toilet to sit on, rather than squatting in the woods or using a public washroom.

denji's pretty much just vibing comfortably, exploring like a kid (which he is). at first glance we can easily see how his behavior can be considered uncouth, what with his messiness and how long he takes to bathe and use the restroom. so aki's increasingly irritated response is pretty funny. fujimoto's depiction of aki's expressions are hilarious. they bleed through the pages.

on aki's side, i interpret this, from a hindsight point of view, as both aki's innate inflexibility as well as his inclination to feel things strongly. we know from learning more about aki, particularly through himeno, that despite his rough exterior he can't quite hide his overwhelming emotions. aki's pretty sensitive, so it makes sense for him to cry often, have difficulty with change, especially when it comes to things he can't control, and feel all of his emotions deeply.

this comes to a boiling point, once again, when they're out in the field.

a clashing of traumas

denji and aki are called in to take care of a fiend/devilman hiding out in a home. the regular cops know aki, which makes sense since aki's been doing his job for 3 years and there are only 1000 devil hunters in the tokyo area, less in the public safety bureau, if i remember correctly.

aki learns that denji has no clue what a fiend is, which is interesting. it seems like aki keeps underestimating just how bad denji's life was up to this point.

aki quickly explains as they enter the house and ascend to the second floor where the fiend awaits them, eating the pet parrot (yum).

aki exercises his authority (lol) by ordering denji to show his power as a hybrid and kill the fiend. denji instead takes his hatchet and oneshots the guy. annoyed, aki asks why denji didnt whip out his devil powers and denji bullshits an answer about a merciful death.

sufficiently pissed off, aki leans in to denji and explains that his family was murdered by a devil and that he has a responsibility to and along with the officers standing outside. here is the fundamental difference between denji and aki where the two were victims of violence, ended up alone, yet on complete opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of how they view devils.

aki had a sense of community with people, with human beings. denji was nothing more than a dog, a weapon, and a cheap gofer. denji was so desperate for connection that he made the unlikeliest of friendships and became family with a devil.

aki, no matter how alone he was without his nuclear family, had the privilege of a home, food, and education. he wasn't a nonperson the way denji was and currently still is. he has a record and a life. he has people and a home; a job and a purpose.

this is a neat way to bring a sense of realism and depth to the characters since fujimoto used their clash last chapter to foreshadow makima's manipulation and false charm.

the clash of traumas is truly between denji and aki's traumas, not a manipulation of vulnerabilities we saw in chapter 3.

even if aki and denji had the emotional intelligence to communicate all this to each other, their experiences, while similar in many ways, put them in such opposite situations that they would be hard-pressed to not harbor dislike towards each other even if they could sympathize.

i think it's also neat to note that denji is actually very chill in general. he knows how to take things in stride, not including the more severe stuff where he blocks it out and pushes it far, far away. i suppose you could say he has a high tolerance for bullshit. he's easy to please and open to new experiences. he's also particularly kind and generous. he's like a young child (a dog too, actually) eager to explore and learn the world around him. even if the people around him are not safe, he still will go towards them with open arms. and that's what gets him hurt.

unfortunately, aki sees these traits through a lens colored by his experiences. he assumes denji isnt taking things seriously. but he also doesn't seem to truly understand denji's situation either. aki can leave at any point. denji cannot. denji is chained to the government.

denji's perversion

i think denji is warring with himself here, when he goes for the dirty magazines. so far, denji's mind turns to lust when all other context implies he wants true connection. denji only understands and processes this human emotional need through animal instinct, because he was never taught or socialized to know the difference. he knows the situation is off and it doesn't quite feel right, but how can that be if he's getting everything he's ever wanted?

it is very likely that denji was only exposed to crass behavior and occasionally media, probably porn, growing up. he probably subconsciously adopted the mannerisms of the people around him during his formative years, which was mainly the yakuza.

because of this and his lack of human connection, denji isn't able to differentiate between lust, especially hormonal teenage lust, and a need for genuine love and connection. and not just romantic love; denji needs mentorship (parents), friendship, and eventually romance. he needs to know he's appreciated and worthy.

and makima knows this.

enter power.

thanks for reading.

[cattusnefasta]

chainsaw man deep dive chapter 2: pochita's whereabouts

warning: spoilers for the entirety of the manga as this is a re-read and analysis

we start off almost immediately where we left off. makima wastes no time whisking denji away to tokyo where he'll start his new life as a dog to the public safety bureau. on the way there, poor denji who hasn't had food aside from a piece of bread gets hungry and his stomach rumbles. makima has them all pull over into a gas station where they order a bowl of udon each and a corn dog. conveniently, as they're ordering, a man in distress bursts into the station claiming a devil has his daughter. makima states that her udon will get soggy and tells denji to take care of it in her stead.

at this point we've already seen that makima can, at the very least, be hot and cold with her kindness. but now it's becoming pretty evident that there's more to her meanness. not to mention, she doesn't seem to care that a child is in danger. so denji, threatened with execution if he doesn't obey makima's orders, grudgingly heads off to save the day.

the dog and his master

at this point, fujimoto is REALLY beating us over the head with the dog comparisons. fujimoto isnt hiding anything here; he's telling us everything we need to know about makima and denji before we actually get to the major reveals later on. it's great foreshadowing.

the udon scene was fun for me to analyze. makima and denji are balanced on a sort of seesaw; a scale that depending on which side tips over decides who is the master and who is the dog. makima is training denji to submit to her without him even noticing.

makima having denji go work before eating reminded me of how a trainer teaches their dog to obey and exercise patience before jumping straight to their meal.

contrary to denji's thoughts in the car where he was shocked by makima's graciousness towards him, makima has been doing the opposite the entire time. her kindnesses have been superficial from the very start.

for denji however, i think this scene and his confusion towards makima, especially as a stranger, shows just how much he's willing to sacrifice for a connection. he's willing to overlook blatant mistreatment and threats and rationalize them, and it's sad because its actually a realistic trait for someone like him to have.

the death of denji's individualism

or: "yes" to "woof"

makima's infamous statement "you're my pet now. all you get to say is 'yes of woof'" initially angered denji. as he's searching for the devil, he's fuming over the dog comparisons. but then something interesting happens.

the girl and the devil are playing together. obviously, this was a ploy by the muscle devil to trick whoever came to let down their guard so it can kill them.

this isnt confirmed as far as i know but i wouldn't be surprised if makima set this situation up because it parallels pochita and denji's friendship so well and shows denji that despite this, devils are not his friends. and because pochita's pseudo-death is so fresh, it must be gutting for denji to be tricked in such a way.

so when he heads back to makima, he says "woof". this here is the death of denji's individualism.

makima won.

the muscle devil's lesson

i think the muscle devil event shows us that devils are just like people: good, bad, biased, racist, and flawed.

some are like pochita, some are deceptive. and denji doesn't have the social skills or support system to adequately deal with that.

denji's reaction to this betrayal is an immediate switch to extreme violence. he's quick to act and react, and it makes sense because he grew up with violence. its synonymous with survival. but only after its all over does he let himself feel betrayed. but as we'll come to find out, he doesn't let himself truly deal with these emotions.

pochita's whereabouts

i want to try going through each chapter and talking about why fujimoto named it such. i think that this chapter is a taste of just how out of place denji is now. before the zombie devil and makima, denji had carved himself a little place in the world. he had a job, a purpose, even if it was ultimately a purpose that would have never been realized. denji himself knew he would die before he paid off his father's debt.

so now denji is lost and confused and placed in an unfamiliarly dangerous environment. and he doesn't even have his sole partner, his friend, to stick it out with him.

to end this on a slightly more upbeat note, i did want to mention how makima's comment about there being historical precedence for people merging with devils makes me hopeful that yoru and asa's relationship will becomes a true friendship in a parallel to denji and pochita's. its rare within the world of chainsaw man but it can happen.

thanks for reading!

rare shot of denji being "clever" and my favorite scene of the chapter

love him.

[cattusnefasta]

chainsaw man deep dive: chapter 1

warning: there will be spoilers for the entire manga since this is a rereading. all aspects of csm will be discussed in full detail.

two words basically sum up chapter 1: "poor denji".

the first thing i noticed that i didn't pay as much attention to during my first read through is how fujimoto added the physical details of denji's less than ideal condition: he's thin and bony, and has undereye circles. it fits where we find denji at this point of time; starving, sick with the illness that killed his mother, and recovering from illegal organ extraction procedures to cover his late father's debt.

beyond that, we're immediately introduced to the 3 important themes in denji's life summed up briefly here: the things a person wants and the things a person needs in order to live well and happily.

these themes are:

money

stability

love/acceptance/validation, which I'll just shove under the umbrella of "unconditional love"

these three needs motivate every interaction denji has with the world around him.

money

denji is essentially a slave to the yakuza who will kill him if he tries to escape the immense debt his father left him with. he has no family, no role models, no education, and yet he doesn't seem as bitter as you'd think someone in his situation would be. and that's because of pochita, who is not only a devil contracted to him but loyal family. they live together, work together, and dream of a better life together.

despite all of his troubles, denji's characterization is made known to us through the words of the people around him. he's obedient (and described as such numerous times in chapter 1 alone) and grateful even when he doesn't need to be.

he's also naive and loyal, and is aware of the inevitability of his situation.

stability

this goes without saying. denji wants what most people would consider the bare minimum. a roof over his head, basic food (toast and jam), and to act his age (stay in his room and play games).

but he has none of this, so pochita listens to him intently, doing what he can to ease denji's burdens. pochita is awesome emotional support.

unfortunately, to make matters worse, denji's life gets cut even shorter when he suddenly starts coughing up blood. he doesn't even have time to process that he's got his mother's terminal illness before he's called over by his yakuza handler to hunt another devil.

this is precarious balance between denji's idealism and his inevitable short, brutal death is shown really poignantly in the panel below. all denji wants is to just be able to hold onto the illusion that things can be alright as long as he keeps chipping away. it doesn't matter that he'll most likely die young, whether it's because he's an amateur devil hunter, or at the hands of the yakuza, or by his mother's sickness, or his body giving out from the starvation and surgeries. he only wants his three basic needs met.

unconditional love

fujimoto is clever about how he portrays this, in that he never explicitly states what denji wants. maybe it would be more accurate to say that he doesn't allow denji to know what he himself truly wants. fujimoto leaves it to us to do the math.

this is refreshing since a lot of manga, shounen in particular, are afraid to let the audience think.

fujimoto's choice to introduce denji this way serves to beat an important trait that foreshadows a twist we see at the end of part 1.

it tell us that denji isnt very self aware, and that its in some ways unintentionally, but in other ways it absolutely is.

denji is young, naive despite his exposure to the worst of the world, and he's the type to put the worst experiences into a tiny little box deep within his mind.

or, more accurately, lock it behind a door.

this is how denji copes with his life. this is how he's survived. and so far it's served him well. if he were to think hard on the terrible things he's done and has been forced to do, he'd crumble. fujimoto expresses this from the very first chapter in a very unique, humane manner.

im going to go so far as to say its particularly refreshing to see such depth given to a male protagonist. it defies genre tropes and expectations.

now, to slightly shift gears a bit, denji's sexual desires are, from the very beginning, indistinguishable from any other desire he has to connect, particularly with women. fujimoto's usage of the pervert trope is a fantastic way to introduce denji's complex, heavy, and tragic character to an audience without boring them with angst. it also allows for maximum usage of the medium to show the various ways human connection can be explored. even more significant is that we get to see this through the lens of someone who has limited social conditioning, a high degree of plasticity, and little understanding of what himself and what he ultimately desires.

I'll continue to expand on this later.

denji the dog

funnily enough, everything we've been shown about denji are classical traits of dogs. i didnt think much of these comparisons during my first read because "mongrel", for example, is a fairly common insult thrown around, especially in anime. but fujimoto chooses his words carefully (although i unfortunately cant read japanese so im relying on translations), and these choices are multifaceted with long-reaching narrative implications.

basically, if you know you know. since this is only the first chapter I'll just move on until there's a more appropriate time to elaborate.

the warehouse

denji's life could not get worse, except it did because he died. and it was NOT a peaceful death.

i get that this was necessary for the plot to move forward but for all the shit the yakuza made denji go through, this just feels like a piss poor call.

i guess if he's really sure he can make that much more money giving up his bodily autonomy to the zombie devil for some level of strength, go ham. knowing the public safety bureau would get on his ass would be enough deterrent if i were him, though.

either way, denji dies, and pochita is tossed with him like garbage into the dumpster. pochita, loyal companion that he is, uses his energy to permanently merge with denji as his heart. pochita is now denji's life force. and for the second time, they form a contract.

pochita grew to truly love denji and selflessly wishes for him to realize his dreams and live happily.

once they're fused, chainsaw man is born.

and then we get a hilarious reaction from the ZOMBIE devil, who is unironically disgusted as denji's zombified state:

a great moment of levity.

also this dude:

classy.

now we get some incredible, gory shots of what's essentially chaotic ultraviolence as denji rips through the zombies like paper.

and finally, as denji stands alone in the darkness of the warehouse, tired and victorious, the sun begins to rise and in comes makima.

makima the angel?

i really love this panel. the way the men are standing behind makima, the long shadows, the chaos of the battle. its just really well done.

most importantly though, is this last panel:

denji in the darkness, makima stepping into the shadow with him.

the pages leading up to this play with light in a fantastic way. fujimoto uses the visual medium of the manga to show us that makima is eerie, sinister, and even confusing. she's charming but cruel, and she doesn't care to hide it.

she doesn't need to. everyone loves her anyway.

and now that makima is about to make all of denji's dreams come true, so does he.

[cattusnefasta]

chainsaw man deep dive chapter 5: the way to feel breasts

warning: this post may contain spoilers for the entirety of csm as this is a re-read and analysis.

this is definitely a shorter chapter but it still gives some important information. finally though, we're introduced to the third member of our trio, the future prime minister power.

power is energetic and flighty, darting around every which way. she speaks oddly, an eclectic mix between haughty and old-fashioned. it's fun and it meshes surprisingly well with her contradictory appearance and behavior. she's got long, wild hair and her uniform is barely put together. she, like denji, very much looks like she's dressing the part and ultimately failing. she looks more like a punk teenager than a public safety officer. she's offensive and arrogant towards denji despite just meeting him. she automatically sees herself as superior and he is unworthy of her presence.

in the meantime, to sate her boredom, power craves a fight. when she finally gets a whiff of blood (she's a fiend of a blood devil, of course) she rushes ahead of denji, disregards protocol and reveals the extent of her wild nature.

she reminds me a bit of a violent fae. i love her.

this panel gives me similar vibes to the title panel of chapter 4 where denji is in his boxers leashed up like a dog. both power and denji are outcasts, treading the line between devil and human, and neither can truly hide who they really are.

power

interestingly, when makima is lecturing them after their legal disaster, power goes from arrogantly defensive (and nervous, most likely) to outright afraid. denji, on the other hand, is not afraid at all.

power acts a lot like a street cat. she loves to hunt and play, and she's got superb instincts. she can smell blood from a distance and knows when she's in danger.

she deals with this fear, though, by lying through her teeth and shifting it onto denji. like a cat, she has a strong sense of self preservation.

she's also good at picking up on details, better than aki actually. where aki was continuously shocked by the personal information denji dropped, power notices it and has no problem ascertaining what is needed to get him to do what she wants.

i like how each of the trio are so caught up in themselves that they outright refuse to see that they're all much more similar than they think. i think that really adds to the beauty of their relationship.

denial of circumstances

i want to jump around to the very beginning of the chapter because we're given some important information about both denji and power here.

the two of them are patrolling the rooftops, avoiding populated areas as per makima's orders. we get a flashback to them meeting with makima where she dehumanizes power in a similar way to how she dehumanized denji. makima addresses power as a creature who just so happens to have the mental acuity necessary to be kept alive and working for the public safety bureau. makima chose to take away her innate humanity, or human-like traits that, in actually, all devils, fiends, and humans share.

later, after their meeting with makima at the scene of the botched mission, denji and power have an interaction at the vending machines.

at first, i found this a bit contradictory to what we've seen so far of denji. my conclusion is that he's just really bad at understanding his emotions and he isnt aware of how generous he actually is, especially compared to the people around him.

i think it goes back to the muscle devil interaction and losing pochita. denji's family is his devil dog. power's family is her cat, nyako. denji claims he can't understand when he actually does. very much. this is another hint that denji really isn't a reliable narrator. he lies to himself unconsciously.

for my last point of discussion...titties? titties.

denji finally has access to a girl his age and who he'll be in close proximity with for a long time. i think this is why his perversion massively increases after power is introduced. as much as he wants makima, she isn't accessible and he knows it.

so what does he do? he allows his curiosity to motivate him. after all, it was one of his dreams to be with a girl.

at the vending machine, denji is thinking about power's chest. i think when they're there together, alone, kind of in an awkward space, denji actually wants to breach it. yeah, he definitely does have inpure intentions, but it's not ALL he wants. he just doesnt realize that himself.

i have the beginnings of thoughts to elaborate on but i think it will be better when i reach a chapter that gives more material to flesh out.

thanks for reading.