Review of Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man is one of those shows that kick down the door yelling, "I'm different!", then halfway through you realize it's mostly different in the same way a raccoon is "different" from a house pet: chaotic and probably not safe for your mental health. Let's start with the obvious: this show is visually ballistic. Every fight scene could legitimately be mistaken for an AMV. And honestly, if you put the playback speed at 1.5x or even 2x, it becomes surprisingly digestible. When everything's flying by, you have less time to question what the hell the plot is doing. Because when you don't speed it up, Chainsaw Manfeels like a prestige drama trapped inside the brain of a 16-year-old whose only life goals are Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but stuck permanently on the bottom two tiers: Food, shelter, touch, Boom! character accomplished.
It’s refreshing at first (I mean, hey, I respect the guy's honesty), but 12 episodes of this? It's like watching a stray dog get baited through a government building by increasingly evil girl-bosses.
As for the pacing, it's quite uneven and a little frustrating to cope with. One minute it's a high-octane demon brawl, next minute you're trapped in a scene where Denji stares at toast for so long you start questioning whether your video froze. It's like being in a sports car that slams the brakes every few blocks; not quite the enjoyable ride, is it?
But if I'm being honest, I don't consider it among the worst shows I've seen, despite my rant. I get that it's messy on purpose; it wants you inside the heads of people (who are too broken to be heroes) try to survive a world that hates them. That aesthetic gives the story a weird sense of honesty you usually don't get from more formulaic shounen. I can respect such artistic choice, even if it doesn't always make for a satisfying viewing experience.
In the end, Chainsaw Man is a visual flex that's somehow watchable despite being chaotic and deranged most of the time. I get why some people love it, but to me, episode 12 felt less like a climax and more like the show whispering, "Yeah, we have no idea what we're doing either".