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Sunday, April 30, 2023

Book Review: Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto--Mario

 


Chainsaw Man is a story written by Tatsuki Fujimoto and is about Denji, an orphan boy in debt who fights devils with his chainsaw dog named Pochita. Denji is killed by the Zombie Devil, but he is saved by Pochita who fuses with him via a devil contract. Pochita offers his heart to save Denji and in exchange Denji has to show him his dreams. This contract allows Denji to be able to transform into a devil human hybrid with a chainsaw for a head and chainsaws on his arms and he defeats the Zombie Devil. Denji is then taken in by a group of devil hunters led by a woman named Makima. Makima assignes Denji to work with other devil hunters named Aki and Power. Power is a devil fiend, but she works for the devil hunters to not be killed. The three are assigned to kill different devils in order to keep humanity safe. They are also searching for fragments of the Gun Devil in order to eventually find and kill it. In each arc new depth is added to each of the characters along with the characters developing throughout the story. For instance the three main characters, Denji, Aki, and Power all start off hating each other. Denji thinks that Aki is uptight and that Power is obnoxious. Aki does not like how close Denji is with Makima and he hates devils because his family was killed by the Gun Devil, accordingly he hates Power. And Power sees herself as better than both Denji and Aki and chooses to not follow along with what they tell her to do. But the more time they spend together, the more devils they kill, they begin to become a sort of family. Aki’s growth is my personal favorite. He starts off as a character with his only purpose being to kill the Gun Devil. But as the story progresses, he forms a strong bond with Denji and Power. He thinks of them as his siblings and realizes that there are more important things in life than revenge. This is one of the strongest points of Chainsaw Man. Fujimoto gets you to care about characters that you may have started off disliking. And those are just the main characters. The side characters are all just as interesting. Most devil hunters die and usually the only ones that end up surviving are not normal people. But that gives a sort of charm to the characters and the story shows what kind of people are willing to work this incredibly dangerous job. You meet dozens of characters throughout Chainsaw Man that come in all shapes and sizes, and they all have their own flaws, personalities, and goals. Chainsaw Man is a story about broken people that are being healed by being around each other. All of this is occurring while also providing incredibly detailed fight scenes that are always a pleasure to read. Characters have different ways of fighting depending on the contracts that they have with devils. In the world of Chainsaw Man, there is a devil for literally anything anyone can be scared of. And the devils they go against have more power depending on how many people fear that devil. For instance, a table devil would not be powerful, but a darkness devil would be incredibly strong. The different devils and their powers are always so creative which enhances the fights into being bombastic showcases of action. 

Everyone has something in the back of their mind that tells them if something is a good idea or not. The thing that is unique about Fujimoto is that this voice does not exist. Stories are a way to look inside the mind of an author. Fujimoto has a way of diving headfirst into whatever he thinks of. It is an incredibly odd, yet unique way of writing that makes Chainsaw Man so fun to read. While reading Chainsaw Man, I could never predict what would happen next. The way Fujimoto has laid out the world makes it so anything is possible, but at the same time, no matter how odd it may be, it somehow makes sense. After reading Chainsaw Man, I was lost. But at the same time I knew that I truly enjoyed what I had just read. And it made me want to make something, anything, so I started to draw. The story of Chainsaw Man is filled with passion, and that passion is contagious. It is a story that inspired me and gave me the urge to make something cool. It may not make sense as to why I like this story so much. But I truly hope that eventually everyone will experience something the way I experienced Chainsaw Man.

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