From the moment this week’sChainsaw Manbegan, there was a distinct sense that this episode was built from the ground up separate fromthe creative team behind last week’s episode. It’s easy to tell because as the intro recaps the events prior, the animation is clearly different rather than just reusing shots and artwork.
It’s the first sign of dissonance in the visual continuity of this episode, one of the first where the different directorial styles are not only apparent but arguably create less cohesion as result. Last week was heavy: plenty of characters dying and the reveals of several previously unseen abilities all thrown at a formidable foe, and after such a strong episode, it only makes sense that the new one is divisive. That isn’t to say that the episode wasn’t good, mind you, as things are picking up at a rapid pace and the characters are bearing more and more of what hides deep down. This episode was all about demonstrating how two of the female characters are actually frighteningly more powerful than previously shown/believed and that alone made this episode a win.
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Femme Fatal
Makima is a disarming sort of manipulatorwhose raw power makes her a terrifying monster in her own right, and like the best monsters, it’s about what youdon’tsee as much as what youdo. Her sudden resurrection on the train and her dispatching of the gunmen isn’t shown at all, just the aftermath; the gaping hopes in the men’s chests.
And yet in the same episode, the audience is treated to, in as vague and threatening a sense possible, what she is capable of doing with her power. There’s something about superpowers that are much cooler and more intimidating when there are rules, restrictions, or particular steps to use them. The laundry list of elements, from the human sacrifices to the location at a shrine, all make Makima’s thorough counterattack so much more terrifying.
And that is just a demonstration of what Makima has to go through to work around the problem of distance between her and her targets.The true extent of the power is unknown, and she clearly isn’t at a disadvantage when attacked directly. Now is when the characters become a little less coy addressing Makima’s darker nature.
On the flip side, there’s Kobeni, and when the episode preview showed her flipping around with a gun, admittedly it looked like there had to be a catch. There’s still a chance, be it her contract with an as-yet-unseen devil, or some latent ability that she was too afraid to tap into before, but she has beaten the “useless” allegations to a pulp.
In the review of Episode 7, I wrote about how the difference in power greatly sells how unique Denji is and how the characters like Himeno clung to him, hoping he could free Aki from his revenge. Now, looking at the cast as a whole, those who have survivedthisincident have shown the standard for what kind of power, instinct, or luck is needed to survive what’s coming.
Chainsaw VS Katana, Round 1
Some people aren’t thrilled with this episode, while others love it, and it’s easy to see why. For the above-mentioned reasons, it was a pretty exciting episode with lots of great character-building, but the hotly anticipated fight between Chainsawman and Katanaman was somewhat short. The show is called Chainsawman, so seeing Denji get shot last week and bifurcated this week might feel like a letdown, but this has to be building up to a more substantial duel.
Obviously,the new villain that arrives on the sceneis going to win at first, but only so Denji can have the proper motivation to rip into them next time. For what it’s worth, the action was well done, perfectly illustrating the power of these two characters and how chaotic it is when they collide. The animation is once again that peculiar blend of 2D key animation with a 3D look on top that boggled the internet’s mind.
To be perfectly honest, it isn’t a style that looks as good as the rest of the show, and with the benefit of the doubt that it is a conscious style choice, it’s a nebulous one that could have been avoided. However, it should go without saying that this show in just nine episodes has dramatically raised people’s expectations and standards far above what TV anime usually offers.
The point is that while it might look odd, the community needs to really sit onthe animation quality ofChainsaw Manonce all is said and done to truly assess what it does right and wrong. Because otherwise, the discourse surrounding things that very few understand will create more toxic discourse, unrealistic expectations, and uneducated critiques.
Ending Theme Week 9
“Deep Down” by Aimer isa far less intense theme than previous weeksthat have emphasized the fun side of these characters or the frantic hell of their line of work. It’s a tragic song that harkens the descent into the darkness audiences are slowly experiencing, which can feel more like sinking than falling.
The animation by Masanobu Hiraoka is a morphing collage of effects animation, from a veritable flood of blood to cigarette smoke to flesh-like tendrils that look like growing limbs or perhaps entrails. It all prods at the viewer’s imagination while flowing in sync with the track’s dramatic chorus before ending softly on the same tragic reminder of who has been lost thus far.
