So Uh … Will Denji’s You-Know-What Really Get Chopped Off?

Chainsaw Man hasn’t exactly been the most uplifting read in the past few months—not that we’ve ever gone to Chainsaw Man for coziness or fuzziness. But Denji’s having a particularly rough time right now.

Major spoilers ahead for the Chainsaw Man manga!

I’ve been struggling since, you know, the twisted figureheads of the Chainsaw Man Church decided to burn all of Denji’s pets alive, which includes Meowy, ostensibly—and you do not f**k with Meowy. With both Power’s and Asa’s backstories, Chainsaw Man set the precedent before that if you mess with or kill someone’s pet, you’re just plain evil.

But things have only gotten worse for Denji since the apartment fire. And I’m not even talking about the disappearance of (and possible long-plotted betrayal of) Nayuta. Hell, Denji was literally dismembered by some sick government-sanctioned medical team just chapters ago. When we found him, his head and every single part of his body packed away in individualized cardboard boxes. It’s freaking brutal.

But it turns out, there’s more than one way to be dismembered. Now that Denji’s conscious again, he’s considering being dis-membered. If you get my drift.

Pecker’s last stand

When life gets you down and things are truly awful, there’s various recourses you can try to cheer yourself up. As Denji stood on the site of his burned-down apartment, with all of his pets seemingly killed and his adoptive sister nowhere to be seen, Asa made a normal suggestion: Get some food. Fill your stomach.

But, of course, this is Chainsaw Man. And we all know that if there’s one thing Denji loves even more than food, it’s sex—or, at least, the humble boob squeeze. So when Katana Man offers to take Denji to his brothel instead (with overtones of some very unnecessary sexism), we know it’s an offer Denji can’t refuse.

Unfortunately, Katana Man’s brothel—incredibly called Condom Girl—has burned down, like so much else of Tokyo. The letdown was the final straw for Denji, who collapsed to the ground and finally broke down. “Why can’t I keep my priorities straight?!” he cried. “My pets died … Nayuta’s missing … and I’m trying to go to a brothel?!”

He eventually cuts the sentiment down to its bluntest possible form: “I’m always, always thinking with my dick!! It’s all my dick’s fault! I can’t fight it! It ruins everything around me!”

You have to feel for the poor guy. While it’s definitely not taken this particular form, I’ve definitely experienced the phenomenon of my brain scrambling priorities in truly baffling ways during intensely emotional times of crisis. With Denji’s particular traumas and his fixation on simple, foundational human desires—namely, food and sex—we the readers would expect this response from him.

But on the other hand—yeah, my guy, definitely not the time to go to a brothel. You can imagine a hearty percentage of Chainsaw Man’s readership reading Denji’s sentiment that he’s “always thinking with [his] dick,” thinking of people they know, and nodding solemnly.

And so Yoru, the War Devil, makes a very straightforward offer: “Your pecker’s the problem? I’ll cut it off for you.” Perhaps Yoru sees this as a way to break Denji’s tantrum short so that she can fight Chainsaw Man sooner. But in any case, in the final panel of chapter 166, Denji appears to be seriously considering the offer.

When will we know Denji’s member’s fate?

Chainsaw Man has always been good at dishing out incredible cliffhangers. But Yoru offering to make Denji a eunuch is one for the history books.

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to find out if Denji takes Yoru’s offer to dis-member him. She’s the War Devil, after all—you probably couldn’t find a single entity more fit for a swift and skillful … er … amputation. Just as swiftly, the next chapter of Chainsaw Man, chapter 166, is slated to arrive on the Shounen Jump app on Tuesday, June 3, 2024. Chapters typically drop on the app at 11AM eastern/8AM Pacific.

And if you live in the Pacific time zone and want to find out, first thing in the morning, whether a teenager voluntarily gets their joystick cut off—I at least need my coffee first, man.