Review of Chainsaw Man

One word I can say about my review for Chainsaw Man is straight up confused. I would look forward to watching Chainsaw Man, so there is something the show is doing right for me to want to continue engaging. But there were aspects that made me feel wanting more. Like when you go to a restaurant and have an awesome meal. But you feel like something was missing. I feel like that is Chainsaw Man but... I don't think this show is a masterpiece or amazing, so I don't really understand the hype because of that missing feeling. I think the show is good, notbad, and not great all at the same time.

Animation:
I appreciated the action scenes, interesting animation perspectives, and westernized media influence on certain aspects of how characters/opening, etc were created. I thought that aspect of the show made it interesting and made the show unique. However, there were way too many scenes overly done in 3d animation, which made some of the action scenes appear overly slow, weird, and flat. In the beginning scene where Denji is in the car, I did not like how the 3d animation translates in the scene. Maybe its me not being used to watching Anime in 3d, not sure what it could be. That aspect is not my criticism to the story, strictly animation. I judge a story and its animation separate, but animation can affect how a story is told. In addition, I watched the opening, some of the characters look so plain, simple, and weird. Because pedestrians appear walking very slowly, scenes where Denji may fall of a building, just all seam to appear in slow motion.

Story:

What I like about Chainsaw Man:
I liked the basic premise of the story, how humans and devils coincide in society. I like how each devil is unique and share a obligation to a devil in some aspect for the powers they possess. Hayakawa, Aki- this character felt fleshed out to me. They show you how his family died, how he is feeling, and his purpose. So I felt very connected to Aki and liked his story line. I def want to buy Aki merch. I also felt like Himeno was an interesting character, but I didn't really understand how she arrived to working for the organization. You can def feel the westernization influence in some of the scenes for sure, esp the immediate action scenes/conversation amongst characters, I thought this was interesting. I like how they portray characters who came from dysfunctional backgrounds and how the characters self reflected on their ability to connect with others, what life means to them, and what they live for, and why they live to begin with.

What I do not like about Chainsaw Man:
It feels like people in the background exist to exist. You don't really seem to gather any information on how civilization feels about devils. All you see is people running way during violence. Esp this terrorist who kills people and how they have to find the bullets left behind. I know next to nothing how this devil affected society, other then how the devil killed Aki's family. Aki and this devil make sense in the story, but is randomly added in later episodes. We go from Denji to a variation of other character story lines in the first season within a short period. This could be the animation companies fault, not really a story aspect. Because I know some anime animations are on a deadline, so that is why I want to know how this affected society, and why this is important to the characters working in the organization. I have never read the manga, so my review is strictly coming from solely watching the anime alone. People in society feel like NPC's. I never once thought about people living in society. The only information I gathered about people are about the individuals who are part of their various organizations. Whether it be they are working for the government, terrorist organizations, etc. But I think this is where I felt that something is missing feeling. Because some of the characters lack emotion, are obsessed with eating other people, and lack understanding of others, AND STAY THIS WAY CONSISTENTLY. Which I understand in some aspect is part of the story, they are devils. And this does not only apply to But you don't really get a background of each character. You can apply this to Higashiyama, Kobeni. She was a super confusing character, she freaks out every 2 seconds, says se is doing this all for her family. Yet kills people without an issue. That type of character development is confusing and makes no sense to me, I didn't really understand how she fits with the story. However, some of the emotional reactions are awkward between characters, scream a ton, and are obsessed with sex, etc.

Long story short, I think the show deserves a chance, its not bad. But like I said, there are drawbacks, but a show that I would say is worth watching. But feels like any other Actiony anime I have watched.