Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, today marks the end of the Dark Trio manga wise. One Piece still writing keeping the Big 3 alive. For a trio, no one expected it was inspiring to me. My manga ranking remains the same. I'm a bit emotional because my favorite of the Dark Trio finally over!!! Chainsaw Man is quite a wild ride I won't forget.
Chainsaw Man Part 1 (2018-2020
Chainsaw Man Part 2 (2022-2026)
I will start discussing Part 1 with a rather mess up start to a story. But quite fitting for the story itself that quickly changed the world. Denji with Pochita hunting devils while doing stuff for the Yakuza. His late father owe them a debt prior to his death. One night, Zombie Devil killed Denji with zombies. Pochita decides to possess his corpse, reviving Denji to become the Chainsaw Man.
If it isn't obvious by now, Pochia actually the Chainsaw Devil. Easily among my favorite devils in the series. He ends up slaying the undead that night. He gets recruited by Makima to join Public Safety. He gets to go on several missions taking on devils. Some being crazier than others as the story goes on. An handful of them were like family to him.
Aki being his vengeful, older brother wanting the Gun Devil dead. Power also a fiend like himself being more like a sister to him. What's more amusing is the author confirmed she's inspired by Eric Cartman. Yeah the controversial fat kid off of South Park. Whose was inspired by Archie Bunker on All in the Family.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as in the original movie was direct inspiration. As time went on, many of Denji's allies died. We get to see a few tiers of devils in the story. Any devils prior to the Gun Devil was beneath country level. Devils are entities representing forms of fear. The more feared they are, the more powerful they become.
I'm not going to sugar coat this. There's some nightmare fuel moments. The actual designs of the devils for the most part are amazing!!! I still considered to me the scariest devil shown in Part 1, it's not even close either. The Darkness Devil this monster instantly put very strong chills down my spine!!! Considering that arc about to get adapted into a show soon.
I highly suggest when that devil shows up. Either skip these moments or wear an blind fold. Maybe wear an strong headset it's a rather difficult situation to watch. You already notice this series is very chaotic at times. Denji literately been through hell still doesn't fully describe it. They recently made the Bomb Devil arc into a movie.
This is when we start to see the more terrifying to accept devils. Public Safety tries to do what they can about them. It turns out majority of the events was manipulated by Makima. Who was revealed to be the Control Devil along. Part 1's main antagonist that started to show her true colors to Denji. Poor Power didn't expect to die like that.
The final arc shows up how terrifying the Chainsaw Devil can be. Denji with Pochita's help found a rather unique loop hole to take her down. Without further killing people she's connected to. When you're an country level devil, some leaders are afraid enough to make deals. In her case, she made a deal with the Prime Minister.
The entire population of Japan's lifes connected to her. Which is a rather ridiculous concept to imagine. It gets revealed Pochita disguised himself as Chainsaw Man. The real Denji with a chainsaw cuts her up. Using Power's blood, he devours Makima in several meals. Effectively stopping her in the story. Some select stuff was introduced for foreshadowing Part 2.
The main reason why Denji devouring her worked was because he done it out of love rather than intend to kill. Ultimately he was killing her slowly. People often forget such deals has loop holes around things like this. Yes Part 2 plays into that later on as well. I will say Makima was a decent antagonist in the story.
Part 2 focus a lot on Asa up to a point I'll explain later. She ends up becoming possessed by a devil. Later revealed to be the War Devil. A good amount of Part 2 about preparing to stop the Death Devil. She does befriends Denji connecting the two parts together. Public Safety ends up being one of the biggest antagonists in the story.
Some of the higher ups actually willing to do such horrific deals to attempt saving humanity. We're talking a particular deal with the Aging Devil. I'm mind blown the author of Chainsaw Man gotten into the story it's that dark!!! The deal in question is he'll agree to be devoured by the Chainsaw Devil. In exchange, he'll take thousands of children within Japan's lifes.
Thankfully this deal doesn't play out. They also worked closely with the "Famine Devil". Who turned out to be the real Death Devil along. I still haven't gotten to the other crazier stuff either. Denji has a rocky relationship with Public Safety in this portion of the story. They actually done some truly mess up stuff to him.
We're talking like he was cut up then placed into a lot of boxes. Somehow still alive despite things making that more mess up. One of them that tried to protect him suddenly gets blown up in a school. Funny enough triggered by a phase following an hand shake. They experiment with Chainsaw Devil's ridiculous ability to erase devils to a degree.
Some of which temporary removed pieces of the body I'm not kidding. One of my favorite devils in the story was the Falling Devil. Easily among the scariest devils so far in the entire franchise. Inspired by a movie called The Menu explaining her usual chef outfit. The Menu itself was a mess up movie to begin with.
The ending is still in my mind. I also gotta mention Fake Chainsaw Man. Who ends up being one of Denji's biggest enemies. This person used to adore him as Chainsaw Man. Until Denji chosen to save a cat over his brother yes this actually happened. Chainsaw Man despite the weird fusion powers his doppelganger had.
Ended up easily defeating his imposter revealing the Fire Devil was inside of them. Thankfully, the Fire Devil didn't plan on fighting. This devil left a rather cryptic message with choice then left for Denji. War Devil gets boosted up as the story went up. Eventually reaching country level while facing the Falling Devil.
No one expected nuclear weapons gotten reinvented creating a new nuclear weapons devil. She represents several forms of fear including nuclear weapons. This massive boost in power triggered a unique twist to fate itself. Death Devil confirms she was able to prevent what originally planned to happen.
Unfortunately, this led to her sister the War Devil to show her true colors. Out of no where, the Chainsaw Devil devours the Death Devil altering fate once again. None of them expected, many devils took advantage of no more death in existence situation. Which forced Pochitia for a few reasons to erase himself from existence.
To clarify any possible confusion you could be having. One devil reinvented for a war between a few countries changed the apocalypse. War Devil directly challenged Chainsaw Devil to a fight. But both sides had devils assisting them. Some might consider this a bit disappointing. The fight ends with War Devil doing a temporary truce.
Neither won despite a few times either could've won. Denji wanted to save Asa while War Devil wanted to continue proving she's superior to the Chainsaw Devil. No one considered a more nightmare fuel apocalypse going to happened. Imagine being devoured forever inside bodies of either animals or insects.
Keep in mind, death is off the table. Both devils were in a weakened state. Denji refused to leave led to Pochita sacrificing himself. Denji was excited sex nearly happened. Previously I referenced the conversation being spiritual when it was more mentally done. Which is another recurring theme within Part 2.
A good example during the final battle. Both human possessed gets to know each other while the devils fight. Aging Devil's plain of existence played a bit into this. Hell does return briefly late into the story. I love the message with the waves representing guilt. You sink faster the more guilty you are was a clever concept.
This one insect devil was foreshadowing the newer apocalypse Pochita triggered. I also gotta give credit to the Death Devil twist. One of several huge twists no one saw coming. Up to that twist, many people thought the Death Devil going to get introduced later in the story. This includes her sister the real Famine Devil playing into that.
If you wanna be technical about things Part 2 made everything go full cycle. I know some felt too many questions with not enough answers. However doing a reset starts everything over. This also allowed the author more story through other characters. We also don't know if the ability to erase devils originally belong to the Death Devil or not.
Part 1 was more about bonding with others. Part 2 was more about changing fate itself. Which explains the Aging Devil arc being a critical factor in that. Part 1 was more about being this fun, crazy story. Part 2 was always intended to be a more mess up serious, ridiculous, darker story. I'm not surprised most of the fans prefers Part 1.
At the same time, the author was more creative with the story than any of them even begin to realize. Sure he went on a little long for the final arc of Part 2. I do felt somehow all that insanity came together. We also get to learn more trickery some devils would do. Like many were tricked by the Fire Devil thinking he was the Justice Devil into making deals.
Which is another form of power boosting for devils. This played a major role within the story. A lot of people became similar to Chainsaw Man. Part 2 really doesn't shy alone from going full blown dark. We have an apartment set on fire with a lot of pets inside. We get to see this weird plain of existence belonging to the Aging Devil.
Where you can't die but eventually become trees. Also devils couldn't use their powers there. Some of the characters figured a loop hole allowing them to use their powers. Denji's connection to Pochita allowed him to keep devouring people while the Chainsaw Devil kept on fighting. Yes we're talking about Denji flat out killing people for this cause.
We even get to see a fiend who truly deserved to die get devoured by the Chainsaw Devil. This guy done some truly horrible stuff including the pets I mentioned earlier. Denji earlier in Part 2 was taking care of a little girl named Nayuta. Whose revealed to be the next Control Devil. Suddenly he acts like the big brother to her.
Later in the story, Denji sees her head on a plate at a sushi restaurant is very mess up!!! Now going back to when we switched to Denji becoming the protagonist again. This occurred during the final arc following the War Devil transmute the Falling Devil into clothes. Asa doesn't do much following that twist.
This fiend also played a role in people becoming like Chainsaw Man. It's safe to say this guy was that desperate to save humanity is quite an understatement. Personally I view it being more dark justice because he believes what he's doing is for justice despite his actions being rather horrific. Let's just say the moment he gotten devoured I was very happy!!!
We still get to learn some critical stuff about the two protagonists though. Including the one question everyone had or already knew about Denji. Denji does confess to her, he did in fact murdered his dad. Part 1 was more focus on making bonds with people. Part 2 was more focus about the possibilities. We do get to see some growth with Denji in both parts.
Some people expected him to grow more though. Chainsaw Man wasn't about the action in either parts. In fact, the author wanted to be as anti-Shonen as possible. This is exactly why the action doesn't go as it usual does in most Shonen stories. It also explains why there's notably more deaths as well Chainsaw Man doesn't shy away being exactly what it is.
I know people are upset about the ending. Nine of ten times, they aren't happy to begin with. Most Shonen series gets rushed to finish. Sometimes they don't want some of them to end. I do think the ending going to send a huge message. It's a shame people couldn't properly understand the story to understand the conclusion being a fitting ending.
Part 1 we learned a lot about Denji. You could relate to many situations he's in. Easily one of the best written characters in the series. I know some won't take him seriously for many reasons. Asa I wished could've done something against the War Devil prior to Pochita's sacrifice. Going back to that moment, Pochita realized since he possessed Denji.
Deep down, Denji always had this unhappiness. He prefers to live an unpleasant life than how it was going in the story. Pochita always wanted Denji to be happy. This sacrifice was him fulfilling that promise to Denji. A world without the Chainsaw Devil potentially could led to what Pochita hoped for him or not.
A fact even the devil confessed wasn't sure how things would follow after his sacrifice. Both parts has plenty of intentional sexual moments. An handful of these moments gotten blown out of proportions. When a particular one came up I quickly notice. They were marathon reading the story to the point. They didn't properly understood what they were reading, it showed.
Personally take your time slowly reading especially in One Piece's case. You may miss a lot by reading the chapters a little too fast. Also Chainsaw Man was always meant to be as distance from the usual Shonen as possible. I do get why a lot of people dislike Part 2 a lot. Some felt a lot of this was dragged out or doesn't connect well together.
Simply too different from Part 1 disappointing fans of the series. I hate to be the one to say this to those people. Part 2 was always intended to be more of it's own thing. Just imagine if both parts were more similar in theme. The story would've blend together in a rather lackluster way ruining everything. I'm glad the author put a lot of thought into making sure Part 2 is it's own unique experience.
Chainsaw Man is a story that went way darker than the other two series making up the Dark Trio. It also went the most ambitious, creative routes. Chainsaw Man differs plenty from other series to be an franchise. Many people could easily enjoy to a degree. Unlike Jujutsu Kaisen that used recurring trends of other Shonen franchises too much.
Denji himself gets into all kind of insane situations. I will give some credit making the War Devil's Part 2 antagonist was a rather unexpected move. Final arc constantly changed what we know like that. Essentially means possibilities was the theme the author going for. I know some would view this as a confusing mess that doesn't make any sense.
Then again Chainsaw Man found ways to make all of it comes together. Even the smaller parts like Denji with a few people going to a strip joint. Only for that place to be destroyed leading them to go to a sushi restaurant afterwards. Chainsaw Man had two main rivals in the story. Katana Man held a grudge against him over his deceased grandfather.
The War Devil had many reasons to hate the Chainsaw Devil. She even makes it clear like when Vegeta outdone Goku in something. Despite acting more like Frieza in the story. She enjoys making the devil suffer or at least out doing em in some way. Fake Chainsaw Man doesn't even come close to these two. Part 1 had more notably lighter moments.
Part 2 simply went full on becoming nightmare fuel at times. Part 1 had more rememberable side characters due to the theme. A lot of people dislike many side characters within Part 2. But you also gotta realize the story was never intended to focus on them in the first place. A lot of them differs in roles as the story goes on.
You get to see more sides of people in Part 2. Some would view this as humanity' ugliness. Some arcs, some of the allies suddenly became enemies or in vice versa. Part 1 made it more clear how everything goes together. But in Part 2's everything was much deeper. This is why some moments in Part 2 gotten such reactions out of people.
Part 2 was more of a wild roller coaster ride while Part 1 could be viewed more of a mess up paradise. Of course with Pochita's sacrifice none of this matters anymore. I also wanted to explain something else. I already discussed ideas what could happen in the ending in another blog entry. I did forget to mention some Part 1 characters could show up.
The world going to be in a much better spot than where it just was. Imagine a reset for a better overall conclusion. If it had kept going everyone devoured suffering for an eternity. Not an ending you wanna end things on. I'm happy the author thought that far ahead about the situation. Look at JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6 that also done a few resets during it's conclusion.
Which led to Parts 7 to up in another universe. Now that happened because before the first reset occurred. The final Joestar died, the story would've ended in a crappy ending without those resets. Not to mention, the author created a new loop hole to continue the story beyond that. Essentially the author of Chainsaw Man doing the same thing.
Except there won't be a part 3 but still giving us plenty of light at the end of the tunnel. Rather than a very grim ending with people constantly suffering after being devoured. The ending represents fate can be easily changed. Nothing is fully set in stone. Pochita may just given humanity the greatest gift imaginable.
Sadly almost no one going to remember his fate. Chainsaw Devil can devour devils erasing them on a conceptual level. Before this happened, Denji took control in a merge form. Both him and War Devil were country level at that point. Denji may lost his greatest friend. But hopefully what Pochita intended for him ends up enjoying living his crappy life.
Part 1 tried to hid Chainsaw Man from the media. Until facing the Bomb Devil changed everything. Some viewed Chainsaw Man as a super hero against devils. Even with some truly horrible things happened. Many people still viewed him that way despite also fearing him to a degree. I know I'm thinking incredibly deep about the story.
Makima was planning to use the Chainsaw Devil to remove several devils to have full control over everything. War Devil was planning to have a never ending war for her own amusement. Keep in mind, both main antagonists are both sisters making up half the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. All confirmed to be female devils in the story.
Famine Devil was notably the weakest while her sisters are insanely powerful. Both parts are filled with so much death!!! Rivaling Light writing down names in the Death Note that bad!!! There's a chapter introducing the Gun Devil with a lot of deceased named. Plenty of destruction if you love that in Shonen stories.
My favorite good devil is Chainsaw Devil hands down. My favorite evil devil is more of an interesting debate. After much needed consideration, I decided on the one devil that scares me. The Falling Devil really works amazingly well in the story. My favorite human character was Himeno. Who had a contract with the Ghost Devil.
Part 1 is a more straight forward story telling. Part 2 was way more chaotic making things very difficult to predict. For the most part, I did predict Death Devil revealing herself to Denji. For Part 2, it seems every other chapter has something very unexpected to happened. Some might view that as a rushed story or the author trying too hard to wow people.
Denji is easily my favorite protagonist in the story. Asa doesn't get to conclude things before War Devil became power hungry. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Parts 4 and 6 done the same in different ways. In Part 4, it was Jotaro that defeated Kira led to his death. Then a few ghost characters tricked him into looking the wrong way to be pulled apart spiritually.
In Part 6, after a reset Emporio tricked Father Pucci into giving him. Pucci's brother's Stand that led to his demise before another universal reset happened. Both those parts, some of the previous protagonists were involved. I'm not going to fault the author too hard on that. Especially when it ultimately made sense to make Denji the protagonist again late into Part 2.
Chainsaw Man is a story I'm going to remember a long time. I actually enjoyed both parts a lot over a few years reading it. Part 2 is more directly playing on characters' emotions as well. When some controversial moments happens you care more. It means the author done a great job getting you the readers to care about the characters.
Final chapter thoughts
The entire opening to the story was changed. Denji still involved with Power working for Public Safety. Instead of Makima showing up it's Nayuta. I got to be honest that was pulled off well. Denji under contract works for Power whose still the Blood Devil. I really liked this change a lot. Now it's Blood Devil that defeated the Zombie Devil by herself.
Denji nearly died but saved after making a deal with her. He still involved with a devil just not like how it was. You knew Denji ends up meeting Asa. The chapter doesn't hide his feelings for her. The famous Chicken Devil from earlier in Part 2 shows up. Denji gets surprised by calling Chainsaw Man. Due to the fact, he killed a devil with an chainsaw.
I'm glad Power came back to the story. We could be following her as a possible future protagonist. I ended up loving this chapter a lot. It was a refreshing take on the concept. Denji still involved in a way that works with everything. Power now a more essential character I was happy about. We're off to a good beginning that was peaceful.
It's an ending due to resetting the events of both parts. But we ended up with a new beginning opening many doors. It's a way better final chapter than Jujutsu Kaisen. Yes that includes the epilogue section as well. Denji still gotten stabbed through the chest the same way. Originally this was crazy with Chainsaw Man tearing em up.
Watching a naked Blood with such joy is the stuff you may not see anywhere else. We may not get a chapter 3 following a reset. A new beginning was needed to keep things going. I deeply appreciate the author went with this direction. I would be interested reading this newer story if it happens. I don't want it to remain as the final chapter of Chainsaw Man.
Especially when the bond Denji and Blood had previously going to grow much further in this newer timeline. A world without Chainsaw Man still has hope left. I got to be honest among my favorite final chapters to date. Actually among my favorite chapters ever!!! This was such a risky concept to go for. I strongly felt he nailed it!!!
Also having Nayuta in Makima's place could make for some rather unexpected yet interesting moments. Assuming we're getting this turned into it's own sequel manga series. You can tell I'm very sold on the concept. Honestly, what could be seen as a death of a franchise actually the reborn of something much greater. This final chapter speaks volumes to the visionary the author truly is.
Final Dark Trio ranking
4. Jujutsu Kaisen
3. Chainsaw Man Part 2
2. Hell's Paradise
1. Chainsaw Man Part 1
I also wanna explain the gap between Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man Part 2 was huge. Jujutsu Kaisen has some major problems I pointed out in my own review. Ultimately I felt Hell's Paradise came together a little better than Chainsaw Man Part 2. My overall favorite was Chainsaw Man Part 1. Denji may been the last to the party but sure ended with the loudest bang pun very intended!!!