Hot on the heels ofthe disastrous attack by the Gun Devil,Chainsaw Man’s newest episode focuses on the impact of the battle, yet hardly slows down thanks to the proper introduction of Kishibe. Even as the show delves deeper into the abyss of its dark world, there remains a thoroughly fun adventure, dreadful as it might be.
Last week, Denji got his ass handed to him by Katana Man and was only saved from being taken to the Gun Devil thanks to the surprisingly nimble Kobeni (goodness what a sentence to write). Meanwhile, Makima revealed a fraction of her frightening power and assisted in killing those that attacked her division, though it all seemed like an outcome she completely expected.
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Have A Heart
First, Crunchyroll deserves some praiseonce again for having some of the cleanest, most aesthetically pleasing, cleverly integrated subtitles in the business. Even in Funimation’s heyday, subtitles for background dialog or signage were a cluttered mess of subtitles of the same color. Meanwhile, Crunchyroll is translating Himeno’s letters to Aki with creative flare.
This isn’t a new trend by any stretch of the imagination. A newspaper could be on the screen for three seconds and Crunchyroll would translate the headline, the byline, the first two paragraphs, and even a small easter egg snuck in by the animators that only one guy on Sakugabooru would have noticed otherwise.
During a scene with no dialog and only words to be read by the viewer,having the subtitles implemented so seamlesslyin the center of the screen meant no eyes were distracted from the focal point of the shot. It goes to show that subtitle work can be so much more than just words on a screen.
As for the context in question, Aki is at his lowest point yet, and the reveal of his pact with the Curse Devil, something that would have been triumphant in any other show, is simply tragic instead. His attack completely failed to finish off the target, and his reward is a dead friend and being told that he has two years left to live. No wonder Himeno never wanted him to use it.
Aki’s pain is expressed almost entirely through visuals that go the extra mile to subtly express his grief, both his secretive weeping and his composed, lifeless resolve to press on. But what’s almost more interesting - because of Aki’s grief - is how it causesDenji to consider his own humanity.
Denji hears Aki do exactly what Himeno said he would do: cry in private. However, not having had a reaction to any of the recent deaths, Denji starts to wonder if he’s a bad person and if becoming a hybrid has taken his heart figuratively as well as literally. That doesn’t seem entirely accurate based on how he’s been characterized thus far.
It goes without saying that Denji has lived hard and that it has desensitized him. However, he’s not without empathy, especially when he can draw on his own experience, like in Episode 3 when he compared his love for Pochita to Power’s love for Meowwy. Everyone deals with grief differently and Denji is trying to focus on the positive, something he can do easier than a lot of people.
As for Aki,he has a choice between leaving or doubling down, and he chooses the latter, which will certainly be his end. It doesn’t seem like Aki can survive what’s coming next, no matter what Devil he makes a contract with. Hopefully, with the time he has left, there’ll still be some of the old Aki inside. Because after seeing Denji and Power’s camaraderie this week, it would be a shame for him not to participate in the shenanigans.
A Few Screws Looser
“The hunters that Devils fear… are the ones with a couple of screws loose.” Having finally seen Kishibe in his full glory, his sentiment could not ring more true. Denji and Power now have a teacher to forge them into even better hunters, by hunting them himself to train them. What follows is gruesome, but also brings out the best in Denji and Power.
Tatsuki Fujimoto has a great sense of humorbecause Denji and Power wearing glasses for no other reason than to emphasize their thinking smarter is exactly the right kind of stupid. And to top it off, their attempt to get the jump on Kishibe is genuinely clever and one of the highlights of the episode. The fact that it fails just makes Kishibe that much cooler.
For all the characters that have already been lost, this show has seemingly only scratched the surface of its cast. There are characters from the OP that haven’t even shown up yet, and judging from how each new character is cooler than the last, the anticipation for the last two episodes is high, to say nothing of the next season.
Ending Theme Week 10
Kishibe’s rough training this weekwas a harsh reminder to Denji that he’s ultimately still a pet of Makima and Public Safety, and if he can’t justify his existence, he’ll be disposed of. So it’s appropriate that the newest ED capitalizes on the dog metaphor with “Dogland” by People1.
At first, it looked like just some 3D effects work until it becomes clear that - apart from Denji and some Devils - everything looks like heavily filtered video photography. Real dogs, real curry, and what looks like a real alleyway Denji is hurriedly running through. The merging of live-action and anime is always striking, and the sequence feels reminiscent of Hideaki Anno’s early-career live-action work.
