Review of Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man's not nearly as perfect or frankly, as good as my score indicates. It's full of flaws and suffers from a plethora of problems. Yet, at least it's different. I know I'm kind of picky when it comes to main characters. I hate happy-go-lucky ones that fight for "justice" and are just super boring, the only thing standing out amongst them being that they're "kind" and "strong." I do admit that I have a soft spot for edgy main characters where they're super badass and are cold and calculative or whatever, but in the end, they're kind of flawed as well. I'll be the firstto admit that Deni's kind of cringe. At the same time, I'm hard to please. At least it's something new

Denji? Well, at the very least, he's different and feels more human than basically any hero-type protagonist. He's a hedonistic kid that does what he wants and shows his emotion on his sleeve. He's not calculative or smart. He takes life on as it goes on and has a positive outlook on life. He's not a boring-ass JP protagonist who lived a normal life and is drawn into a new world without his consent and wants to go back to how his life originally was. He's not in a position of power despite having the "unique power that only he has" sort of deal, and is constantly reminded that he's on a leash and would die if becoming insubordinate. Yet, he's also not unsatisfied with his circumstances because he's been through a hell of a lot worse things in life. He wants to have sex and touch boobs, but it's a lot less cringe and more organic than most protagonists act. I do hate most protagonists with their only personality being their love for women and boobs or whatever, but Denji's head isn't just filled with that. A lot of harem protagonists tend to just have women being smitten with him, or he has a special status. He can get away with most things, and a lot of ecchi situations happen to him. Perhaps he also just is completely clueless about the surrounding women that like him, or he only has his eye on a specific woman. Or, his obsession is so comedically exaggerated that it's a practiced routine or trope for him to want to have sex. Denji? Well, he just seems to crave affection and follows his libido. His lack of emotional attachment in childhood led to deprevation of affection and it manifests in his adult life to well, have sex. It's a simple explanation, but even this simple explanation is never even bothered in most shows with a horny main character. Again, most MC's that have a "terrible past" always manifest a great sense of justice so that it would "never have to happen again." It's nice to finally watch a different character for once. Women aren't exactly crowding around him either. He wants to have sex with Makima, but she's the one in total control. He doesn't mind. He was the first to admit that he probably wouldn't even care too much if Makima died. He'd be sad and all, but would move on. As I said, he's hedonistic and his devilish alter ego fits him well. Denji doesn't have a sense of justice and doesn't care about what he's doing, or who he hangs out and talks to. He's merely part of the "good guy team" since that's how his cards were dealt. Plus, he wants to bone Makima.

Compare this with Jujutsu Kaisen. Very similar characters and themes. Yet, Itadori Yuuji is so damn boring that Gotou is the defacto main character. And Denji and Yuuji, on the surface, possess similar characteristics. Yuuji's got a "unique power" that comes "once in a lifetime," yet he maintains his hero-like persona. Yuuji has persistence for justice, is kind, and is extremely boring. He's treated well by his companions, and he in turn, also treats his companions well. He wants to beat the big bad guy. Wow, never seen that before. I can't even think of anything else about Yuuji that stands out. Makima and Gotou are also pretty similar in many ways. Both are mysteriously OP, much more than the main character who supposedly has a unique superpower. Yet, Makima also is shrouded in mystery in terms of personality. She's supposedly on the side of humanity, but who knows what her intentions are? She doesn't mind people dying for the greater good and doesn't care too much about playing the good guy or saving individuals. Makima and Gotou also both save the main character from being executed for being dangerous and assign them to a team. However, Gotou is on the side of humanity. He treats Yuuji well and trains him personally. Makima? Well, she describes it aptly: Denji's more of a dog than a human to her. She saves him, rewards him for doing tasks, and despite showing some semblance of caring for his wellbeing, also doesn't mind reminding him that he's working for her forever, or until he dies. Other characters in Chainsaw man, just like Denji and Makima are just a deviation from the typical norm. Power's similar to Denji, and Aki's the only real character introduced that's got unyielding ideals of justice, but he too, crumbles sometimes.

That's it. This show doesn't copy-paste the same boring ass characters, and it's action-packed and still retains some shounen tropes and themes. I wouldn't call it a deconstruction of the genre: merely something different. God, it needed to happen. Something different had to happen, and this show delivers just that. Do I roll my eyes when Denji thinks about touching boobs? Absolutely. Do I think the show is cringy or edgy sometimes? Yes. However, does it try doing something new, despite it's flaws? Also yes. And most shows of this genre, story, and setting never do. And guess what: it didn't turn out half bad.

Other than that, I have to talk about the art. Mappa...goddamnit. They animated Jujutsu Kaisen fight scenes so well. Almost everything in the fight choreography is hand-animated, at least the people fighting are. Sure, backgrounds in Jujutsu Kaisen or special effects are CGI'd, but man, fights are all nicely animated. Chainsaw man is more 50/50. Sometimes you'll get pretty solid fight scenes with good animation. The other half is just CGI abominations. I hate the CGI in fights. It's extremely noticeable and bad. I do not get why Mappa had to use CGI. Jujutsu Kaisen is a clear example of them having the ability to make good fight scenes without heavy reliance on CGI models. Yet, they did it anyway to save money for this show and AoT. This show's budget was also bursting with money. A unique ED and song for each episode? Talk about extravagant. They probably had so much budget that they had nothing to spend it on, so they decided to animate 12 different ED's and get 12 different songs. Yet, they still use shitty CGI. Have you seen the trailer for Trigun Stampede? That's how you make CGI. See how it's 100% CGI because it's presentable. This show just uses CGI to save costs with shitty models.