Review of Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man is a show about a guy that turns into a monster and is forced to kill other monsters or be put to death, accompanied with a quiet, reasonable guy and a girl who shares the same wild energy as the MC. With how many similarities this synopsis is to Jujutsu Kaisen, I wouldn't be suprised if the author copy the basics of it, made a new power system, and made it even edgier to appeal to people that way. However, I would argue this show is harder to get into when about half the cast is somewhat unlikable and seems to suffer fromsome pacing issues.

Denji is a poor boy from a poor family who only really wants food and seggs; and it's honestly a weak premise for a main character. From a storytelling perspective, it's hard to root for someone with someone with such a vapid motivation. Power only serves herself, which actually is in character for her as a demon and is surprisingly the most likable character so far. Aki is more likable as the show goes on, but his personality seems basic, and along with him being mostly unexpressive, it makes it hard to be empathic with him. Makima feels like she will be a twist villain in the future, either betraying Denji after killing the Gun Devil or turning against the Public Safety division in general. She seems to hide her true personality and only acts nice to wrap people around her finger to use for her benefit.

The action in the show tends to be fairly good when it happens, but it tends to be few and far in between the long sections of drama/exposition. It gives you enough action at the start to trick you into continuing after the '3 episode rule', but the middle of the season drags on for infinity. The CG isn't bad to watch either, but it's not preferred more than dynamic shots created by smear frames. It's also a little strange how the show has CG at all, given they went all out on the show in other ways, like how every ED is a different song and animation for each episode. It just feels like the attention to the most detail was in the least important part of any show, the credit reel.

Overall, I can't understand why this was hyped up to be the anime of the season when it feels rather average; maybe people think blood and despair makes a show 10/10? The premise is interesting but the show itself... not so much; 6/10. Hopefully season 2 is better if I keep watching in the future.