Among all the anime series that are coming to us this month, without a doubt the most anticipated novelty was ‘Chainsaw Man’, that would finally lead to anime the manga of Tatsuki Fujimoto. The manga itself is already one of Shonen Jump’s best sellers, and on top of that, the series has been developed MAPthe studio for ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ and ‘Shingeki no Kyojin’, so expectations were sky high.
The trailers have been making us long teeth with the anime for months and finally this week we have been able to see the first episode in simulcast from Crunchyroll with a really sensational start.
Demons, debts, and too many dreams to fulfill
When MAPPA promised us that the first episode was going to be raw, they weren’t exaggerating one iota. the start of ‘Chainsaw Man’ Works Perfectly As A Little Prologueand despite the fact that it gives us a little exposure to the rules of the game and its characters, it does not feel like an endless or artificial exposure, it is all very natural and with the right doses.
We quickly get to know Denji and we put ourselves in their shoes. The young man survives as best he can, doing all kinds of jobs and enduring any kind of humiliation and barbarity in exchange for money because he has a huge debt behind him that he inherited from his father.
Fortunately, he has the unconditional support of his demonic dog Pochita, with whom he works as a demon hunter. One day what seems to be a new assignment for Denji arrives, although things quickly take a very messy turn that changes Denji and Pochita’s existence forever.
So far it can be read without too many spoilers, but the first episode does a spectacular job of introducing you to Denji and his shit life, because there is no other way to describe it.
All the scenes in which Denji opens up completely and reveals his dreams to Pochita have a halo of tremendous melancholy and sadnessespecially since he knows that he will never be able to lead a normal life and afford something as simple as buying jam to accompany his bread.
You quickly understand the characters perfectly and connect with them, so what comes to them is a heartbreaking blow that makes this first episode very emotional.
Although we also have a urban fantasy anime, with demons in people’s daily lives as if it were the most normal thing in the world, has a much darker and browner tone than other current series such as ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’. Not that the other MAPPA series cut a hair with certain things, but ‘Chainsaw Man’ is unchained and unrestrained and isn’t afraid to go overboard with gore.
MAPPA has perfectly captured the main elements of ‘Chainsaw Man’ and has been able to transfer them very well to animation. The truth is that the first few seconds of the anime put me off a bit when starting with a CGI corridor, but you quickly get used to the combination with traditional animation and most of the animation is done with this technique.
And even so, when CGI is used in some specific scenarios and in certain character models, the result is an impressive combination. It allows them to do some tremendous silliness during action scenes, with extreme camera turns and incredible finishes.
‘Chainsaw Man’ is off to a very good start and has perfectly set the tone for the series and with animation worthy of some anime movies. It has shown us the raw, dark and violent world that lies ahead, but where we can also believe in a small hole for hope.