Review of Chainsaw Man

The amount of hype this work received, with it's trailers and overall community reception before the release was truly outstanding. I've heard it breaks the mold of shonen tropes and delivers something unique. So I've just finished it and to be fair I'm a bit dissapointed. To start, this season being only 12 episodes, paired with the hype it got was a bit of a problem. In this cour, not much happened really and just felt like a set-up for season 2 where the story truly gets to the good stuff, according to manga readers. Denji as a MC has potential as his desire tobe loved and find a place of confort is understandable given the circustances of his childhood. Right now though, he's still very one dimensional but the foundations for his growth have been established so hopefully that's what will happen, idk I'm not a manga reader.
Asides from Denji, Aki was the only character that somewhat captivated me but his personality still remains quite simple, being the reasonable, older brother type of guy that we've seen many times. I think though what sets him apart is that he shares alot of comedic moments with less mature characters and learns with them. It feels natural and I enjoyed seeing those scenes.
Power is fine but it feels like she's being pushed aside in the story the longer it goes unlike Aki but we'll see.

A bad aspect of this season for me was Makima. No offense but it was already thrown in our faces that Makima will be the final antagonist in this story, not even in a subtle way. The only thing that remains unclear is her goals which probably revolves around the relationship between Denji and the Gun Devil. To me, she's bland, her voice is just so boring and predictable every time she talks. Couldn't they figure out something more unique? The only trait that MAPPA made sure to stand out on her are the camera shots pointing at the obvious areas you know about.
It would have been much better if we as the audience were not aware that Makima was such a P.O.S. Maybe build up a relationship with Makima where she makes us trust her and then the impact would have been much more significant. Now I know Makima will pull off some crap that will betray the main cast and there's no element of surprise. Fujimoto could have better executed Makima as a character.

Well, the biggest dissapointement for me though was MAPPA's adaptation. I don't mean from a technical standpoint with the animation, camera shots, etc. They always deliver for the most part in that regard. I mean from a stylistic approach. I went on to read the manga until the chapter where this cour ended and I was pleasantly surprised with Fujimoto's skills. The art just feels so unique and expressive in the manga and it's all lost in this adaptation. The color palette and realistic style just doesn't work for me, it just feels and looks so uninspiring and boring. A lot of the subtle panels just get lost and I get that MAPPA tried to make that up with their own strengths but why not come up with something more creative? A style like Cyberpunk Edgerunners with maybe a color palette of Dorohedoro would elevate this adaptation to a whole new level that feels memorable and doing it's own thing. Not exactly the same but with the same spirit atleast.

Without the core of the story to make up for the weak spirit of the adaptation, I'm giving it a 7. I think I understand the hype but it was not for this season and I'm sure the plot elements introduced are being set up for some crazy stuff down the line.
However, MAPPA's lack of creativity in finding a unique, memorable look, paired with some obvious signs introduced that hurt probably the most important mistery element of the show makes me a bit dissapointed. If you didn't read the manga, you probably won't feel the same but I recommend you read it until the part where the show stopped.

Of course, I still recommend you watch this show and I wanna know what Makima is up to and how Denji and his friends evolve over the course of this story. Ryu Nakayama is very skilled in technical aspects but still needs to evolve his style and artistic expression like Yuichiro Hayashi does with works like Dorohedoro.

Thanks for reading.