The following contains spoilers for Episode 8 of Chainsaw Man, “GUNFIRE,” now streaming onCrunchyroll.
Every week when a newChainsaw Manreview goes up, there are typically a lot of shots to choose from to include within the content, but this week might have actually been the hardest yet. It is by far the prettiest episode yet, despite also being one of the most shocking, a trend that looks just beginning.
Last week, after the death of the Eternity Devil, the gang enjoyed some team-building over drinks at an izakaya, and except for Himeno puking in Denji’s mouth, it all went pretty well. Denji even stayed the night at Himeno’s, where she invited him to have sex with her, a decision that in retrospect would have been very bad, hence why it’s likely for the best that he didn’t go through with it.
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The Morning After
The whole vomit fiasco in the last episode ended up feeling second place to what was one of the most intimate and warm expressions of sexual attraction put to animation in a long while. And considering how this episode goes, it suddenly makes a lot of sense why so much thought and care went into expressing Himeno at her most human and carefree.
Her entire character has beendefined up to this point by her dreamsand aspirations. While she likely was once jaded and cynical about life and her time in this world, it’s clear that her affection for Aki changed that. She’s someone we want to see achieve their goals, even slightly.
When she made a proposition with Denji to help each other get with their desired partners, it felt so obvious of a plot hook, ensuring more time together on the horizon. With all the time spent on the characters in the past seven episodes, that alone was exciting to look forward to. But before even the halfway point, the story took a shocking turn, and it was absolutely incredible.
The Gun, The Sword, And The Nail
Fujimoto’s storytelling can build interest in characters through their secrets; the peak example of this is Aki’s “sword.” The sword is plain sight,yet it’s never been used for the longest time, something most would suspect is because there hasn’t been a right time to employ it. Then, Himeno rejects the idea of using it, stressing its toll on his life, and building more mystery around the sword.
The speed with which Himeno refuses to let him use it also further reinforced their relationship and goes to show how patient the story has been up until now. So when Aki unsheathes it, it doesn’t even immediately register that it isn’t a sword until Power outright calls it out. Then, when it’s employed, the power of the weapon is immediately understood, only to be rendered inert by the intervention of a stronger foe.
The Katana Devil’s introduction alone would be exhilarating, shocking, and the highlight of the episode, but the events priormake the entire sequence immediately tense. It starts with Makima being gunned down, then shots of the other members of the team being targeted by seemingly normal pedestrians who have their hands on guns.
It’s amusing how much the thought process on the episode gets wiped clean as soon as the bullets fly because right before the crap hit the fan, the way Makima was written was intriguing. This whole time she’s been incredibly kind and caring, but suspiciously so. Here, she openly expresses frustration with attending a meeting in Kyoto because the higher-ups are intimidating.
It’s a small detail compared to the rest of the episode afterward, but it started to make me question the kind of person Makima is even more while watching. While only speculative, it seems clear that Makima won’t stay dead.Everything about her is simply too alienfor this to be her full end, a certainty not shared by Himeno, this episode’s other apparent casualty.
But getting back to the elephant in the room, the Katana Devil might look even cooler than Denji, which might be a bias towards katana’s speaking, but their aesthetic is simply sublime. The fight between Aki and Katana might be one of the most well-written and well-directed, combining the phenomenal character animation and music with such incredible and sudden stakes.
For Denji’s past to come back to bite him like this wasn’t expected, as Denji’s past life (or lack thereof) seemed like a distant memory. Katana and his ally, a young girl with a form of resurrection ability and a Snake Devil, have appeared like a bombshell through a rooftop, right into a family dinner.The anticipation to learn moreabout them can’t be understated.
Ending Theme Week 8
In what seems like the end of Vocaloid-produced endings,Chainsaw Manenters its even darker new chapter with the king of anime theme angst, TK from Ling Tosite Sigure. “First Death” as a title for an ending theme, feels like salt in the wound after the conclusion witnessed moments before the song began.
The ending has the energy and quality of an opening, but it couldn’t have properly fit anywhere else but this episode. The happier, quirkier themes of episodes past have given way, just like the story itself,to reveal something that is simply “Chainsaw Man.”
When this show began, it was already good. It was patient and contemplative, in love with its characters and all of their flaws and dreams, but it was bound to happen that a moment would come when the show became… itself. There had to be an episode that would signal the start of what every meme and out-of-context manga panel that sold people of the series was about.
This was that moment. This week was the best episode ofChainsaw Manthus far, and it’s only going to get better from here.
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