Review of Chainsaw Man

In all honesty, I expected Chainsaw Man to be worse. One of its best aspects that served me well was the way the stakes leveled up, complemented by decent worldbuilding to set up the dangers involved. Which was what it needed, because the idea of its fanservice gave a very jarring and obtuse start. CM needed the gruesome balance to manifest the words and sentiments that fleshed out the characters. In the idea of the bloody hell that the characters were in, they all had dreams and goals of varying magnitudes... which also had one guy wanting boobs. A contentious point. I personally believe theabsurd contrast makes it endearing. Maybe not for the individual characters or even scenes that could just be considered shock value. It's the idea that there are things that are simply whelming, especially when you compare to every "grand scheme of things". Even the animation pulls the concept well, in my opinion. When you (inevitably) compare this to the shounen giant that is Demon Slayer aesthetics, you see a stark difference in appeal and presentation of material. But CM doesn't seem to be aiming for the most aggrandizing flair. Instead, it just feels... anime. An anime that delves into some interesting directions from time to time, with an intriguing sense of purpose. It's a strong piece of anime that does fit the representation of what anime delivers, especially to fans of the media in general. You see this manifested in multiple references across its runtime, through the various songs in the front and back, the tension and energy of the tracks, the strange dynamics and sometimes incompatibility of the cast... It's a nasty imperfect anime that just works, because it's fun and gruesome. It also has chainsaws, as the title says.