Welcome to Anime Rants! I’m 7Mononoke (Mono for short) and this is my review for the popular 2022 anime, Chainsaw Man. There will be spoilers in this review. Please note that I have not read any of the manga. Also, bear in mind that this is just a brief review to get an idea of the quality of the series. More in-depth discussions of characters or story themes will be in other future posts. Without further ado, let’s rant!
Visuals: 9
Chainsaw Man is extremely visually impressive. The way the characters are drawn is fairly realistic, and the way they move looks well-referenced. Face expressions are detailed and interesting. The lighting is good, and there are some really cinematic shots. Movement in action scenes and normal scenes is smooth and fluid. The colors are slightly washed out for an anime, but this adds to the more realistic, mature look of the series.
While the designs for the human/humanoid characters may not be the most memorable ever, the designs for the devils are amazing. They are genuinely creepy, or even downright disturbing in appearance. My main complaint about visuals is the occasional use of cheap 3D animation, particularly in the first episode. However, as anime goes, it didn’t look as bad as usual and wasn’t as frequently used. All in all, the art and animation are stunning.
Story: 7
The plot for Chainsaw Man is fairly basic, and there aren’t any shocking plot twists. It’s also not the most original starting concept. There are so many stories of boys who suddenly acquire a superpower, and many of them are related to demons. I still gave the story category a good score because everything else was solid. The pacing is exciting and the episodes are structured well. There are some interesting story themes like personal motivations, vengeance, and manipulation. The anime succeeds in creating the right emotions depending on the scene – thrilling, humorous, sexy, etc. Despite a basic plot outline, the story of Chainsaw Man is still great.
Audio: 9
The audio category is outstanding. Kensuke Ushio composed the music and it sounds great. The opening song is “Kick Back” by Kenshi Yonezu and it’s a real banger. There are several different ending songs depending on the episode. I enjoyed all of them. At this point, I’m not sure which is my favorite. I included a link to Ending 5, “In The Backroom” by Syudou.
I haven’t heard the English Dub yet, but the Japanese voice-acting is excellent, especially considering that many of them are relatively new to the anime voice-acting world. I didn’t recognize any of the main cast except Mariya Ise (voice of Himeno). So, the seiyuus for most of the other characters are new to me, and that makes me excited to hear more from them. Anyway, the voice-acting, music, and songs in Chainsaw Man are all top quality.
Characters: 9
The characters were my favorite aspects of Chainsaw Man. To me, the characters are all entertaining and genuinely interesting. The starting concepts are not always the most original, but each character’s continuing development is excellent as we learn more about them. Denji is an understandable character, and although he’s rather obnoxious, he’s endearing, too. Power is funny and surprisingly fascinating from a psychological perspective. Makima is extremely interesting right away, a manipulative but soft-spoken woman with unknown motives and mysterious power. These are just a few examples of characters that interest me and are relatable.
Personal Enjoyment: 9
My personal enjoyment level was quite high for this anime. There were elements of each category that I had fun with or got excited about. For one thing, I have an enormous, raging crush on Makima. I know that’s not exactly uncommon in this bag fandom, and I know it’s not well-advised since she’s a manipulative person with dubious reasons. But I just can’t help it. No other anime character has turned me on this much before. I love Makima and if it would be an honor to serve as the doormat where she wipes her feet.
On a more serious note, I also enjoyed the general atmosphere, humor, suspense, and character psychology explored in this series. Needless to say, I love the cool visuals and the awesome music. (I’ve learned most of the lyrics to “Kick Back” and can sing along somewhat.) There’s a lot to enjoy about Chainsaw Man.
Overall Score: 8.6 / 10.0
The overall score is calculated by taking the average of the scores for the five categories above. A score of 8.6 is quite high, especially for something that I was skeptical about liking at all early on. For reference, Chainsaw Man‘s current score on MyAnimeList.net is 8.69. So it seems that the reception has been very good. I heard that the hype around this anime was actually a little overblown, with some avid fans calling it a perfect show or a masterpiece. I definitely wouldn’t take it that far, but it was still awesome! Thanks for reading.
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