I ended up watching this instead of the original show, in preparation for the Reze movie - I ended up really enjoying it! I watched the first 3-4 episodes back when the show originally aired, but aside from that, I have no knowledge of Chainsaw Man (other than some small whispers here and there). I was very endeared by the characters, more than I expected to be: Power's shenanigans are fun, Aki's sense of justice is compelling, Himeno adds a humanising depth to the team, Kobeni is a surprise standout considering how little she actually stars in it, Makima is endlessly fascinating and terrifying at the sametime, and Denji is a great, albeit (I assume purposefully) dense, protagonist.

The animation of the show is great and serves to really show the impact of both the action and the emotional moments.
Speaking of, the second part of this compilation is CRAZY - so much happens in so little time, and while I do wish the scenes had a little more time to breathe, I can't complain all too much.
I wasn't quite sold by the action scenes most of the time, but action has never really been my forte or my main reason for watching something, so I don't really mind - and the action scenes that do stand out are pretty cool.

In general, I would say the narrative is Chainsaw Man's strong suite: the premise is immediately interesting and manages to stand the landing by consistently introducing new characters, plot lines and themes that peak your interest.
I feel like I would be able to really dig deep into this show if given the time and effort; even on the surface, there are so many elements that beg for deeper analysis and I really look forward to seeing where the story goes from here and how the characters develop.

On to Reze!