When the anime for Chainsaw Man was first announced, I went and read the first volume of the manga. It only took a couple of pages to see why everyone was so excited about it, especially when it was revealed that MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan: The Final Season, and more Yuri!!! on Ice eventually) would be doing the animation. Since the initial announcement, we’ve gotten small blips of information and clips that captured a mood that screamed “the nice bits are temporary, we’re gonna ruin your soul with this one.” All that is to say that we had no idea when the anime would actually air or if it would be simulcast here in the U.S. I mean, I kinda expected it to since it’s such a big deal, but there was no confirmation … until now.
“With dark humor, dynamic characters, and a sharp story, Chainsaw Man is one of the most anticipated new series this year, and we are wickedly excited to bring it to fans on the Crunchyroll service,” said Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer at Crunchyroll. “Anime fans will be up all night thinking about the spectacular visuals and high-octane action.” That’s not an exaggeration, if MAPPA captures the horrifically mesmerizing from the manga (and they probably will), this will be one of the biggest releases of the year.
What even is Chainsaw Man?
Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita. One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as Chainsaw Man – a man with a devil’s heart.
Based on the widely popular and award-winning manga of the same name written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Fire Punch; Look Back; Goodbye, Eri) and serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump, Chainsaw Man is directed by Ryū Nakayama (Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia; The Rising of the Shield Hero). Additional Chainsaw Man credits include screenplay by Hiroshi Seko (Attack on Titan Final Season; Mob Psycho 100; Banana Fish), character design by Kazutaka Sugiyama (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation), devil design by Kiyotaka Oshiyama (The Wind Rises; The Secret World of Arrietty; Space Dandy), art direction by Yusuke Takeda (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-; Sword Art Online; Penguin Highway), and music composed by Kensuke Ushio (The Heike Story; Devilman: Crybaby; Space Dandy).
Chainsaw Man is the kind of series where you immediately feel for the main character. Denji is below rock bottom for reasons that aren’t his fault, and he’s genuinely happy to receive the most basic of necessities because he’s never had them. This is all illustrated in a captivatingly bizarre premise where he becomes a LITERAL chainsaw man. Like. It’s right there in the title, but it’s still a total “holy shit” moment.
From there we meet all sorts of interesting characters and simultaneously root for Denji to have a better life, but worry about him as he encounters folks who don’t have his best interests in mind, but also get REALLY excited when he’s finally to eat and take a bath. Denji is just SO happy about the things we all take for granted, which makes him the perfect target. That being said, he um … got a chainsaw for a head (and other body parts, too), so, you know, don’t poke the bear too much.
When is it being released?
Chainsaw Man is coming SO SOON. It was announced at Crunchyroll Expo that the anime will start rolling out as part of the Fall 2022 block, which begins on October. As the name of the expo suggests, it will be streaming on Crunchyroll.
(Featured image: ©Tatsuki Fujimoto/SHUEISHA/MAPPA)
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