What do you get when you cross blood, gore, and explicit language with teenagers with superhuman powers in an anime universe and throw in an unhealthy dose of sexual elements, making it completely inappropriate for kids? The answer is Tatsuki Fujimoto’s “Chainsaw Man,” a manga that feels like shounen on drugs. In a world where devils and humans coexist but not peacefully and where minors are made to kill monstrous demons, the main characters get caught up in a few steamy scenes, and “Chainsaw Man” inches towards a hedonistic world with each episode. Having fused with his pet devil dog, Denji is employed by the Public Safety Office of Japan, which exterminates harmful devils. There’s a lot to unpack in the previous sentence.
Denji, a dirt-poor kid saddled with an insurmountable debt left behind by his dad, makes a contract with a little wounded dog that has a chainsaw sprouting from its face. Growing up together and forming a beautiful friendship, Denji and Pochita, his pet chainsaw dog, hunt devils for a Yakuza boss to repay the massive debt. His life seems addled with poverty, starvation, and working for the Yakuza until one day; the zombie devil turns the Yakuza into zombies who chop Pochita and Denji into pieces and dump them in a dumpster. Pochita fuses with Denji, giving the boy his heart, and out comes a man who has chainsaws sprouting from his arms and face. Thus begins the life of Denji as “Chainsaw Man,” and he’s introduced to a cast of characters, most of whom deserve to be locked up in a high-security prison for the criminally insane. In some ways, Tokyo Special Division 4, the team that Denji is part of, might remind you of DC’s “Suicide Squad,” only with a lot more violence. Read on as we explore the diverse range of characters that we meet throughout the first season of the anime.
Spoilers Ahead
Denji
The “Chainsaw Man” himself is unlike any anime MC you’ve met. Other shounen anime MCs have goals like protecting their loved ones, becoming the Hokage, or the No. 1 pirate. Denji’s entire being in “Chainsaw Man” Season 1 revolves around self-preservation, and that is his sole motive for joining the Public Safety Office. In fact, he becomes a government-employed devil hunter to live a good life and also to make Pochita’s last wish come true—making the dog experience the dreams they had dreamed through Denji’s eyes as he resides inside his heart. Selling his organs to repay debt and sleeping on empty stomachs for more nights than he can count, normal life seems palatial to the impoverished Denji. He feels that getting three square meals a day, daily baths, and a good night’s sleep is what achieving one’s dreams feels like. He has one more wish that he wants to fulfill—a desire that makes him a far cry from the noble and selfless shounen MCs. He wishes to experience the pleasures of conjugal life, and he’s not shy about it at all. Denji’s actions make normal people squirm because of how unhinged his entire personality is, and he doesn’t shy away from actions that no sane person would even consider. In many ways, he’s the most selfish anime main character you’ll see, but at times, he’s an amazing team player and feels sorrow for some of his fallen comrades in his own way.
Power
Bursting through the door in a ball of manic energy, Power is Denji’s partner and a blood fiend—a devil that has taken over a corpse and has the ability to manipulate blood. A cute girl with two red horns on her head, Power is abrasive, rude, downright selfish, and a pathological liar and her insane actions make Denji seem normal. She really dislikes humans too. In her human form, she only lived to kill and eat everything her eyes met until she met a bony cat she named Meowy, which is the only living being she cares about in the world. Power feels like a cocktail of the worst mental issues crammed into one dysfunctional person, bouncing off the walls in terms of her maniacal behavior. Although she initially tricks Denji and offers him up as food for the Bat Devil, Power forms a sort of partnership with Denji where she picks constant fights with him but also hangs out mostly with him. Having lived outdoors mostly, she has no sense of manners and some rather disgusting habits like not showering and not flushing the toilet, but for some reason, she’s very scared of authority. Power takes immense pride in her abilities, her looks, and also her personality, which leaves much to be desired. In many ways, she’s animalistic, fiercely defending her food, and lacks every moral and ideal that makes us inherently human.
Aki Hayakawa
Denji’s senior by three years, and probably the most normal person in Special Division 4, is Aki Hayakawa. A well-dressed and well-mannered young man with a top knot and katana strapped to his back, Hayakawa is the stoic and moody character that reminds you of Sasuke from “Naruto” or Megumi from “Jujutsu Kaisen.” However, behind his quiet and level-headed outward behavior is a kind man with a dark past. After losing his entire family, like countless others, to the Gun Devil, the biggest antagonist of the series yet, Aki has made exterminating it his life goal. His kindness is revealed at times when he weeps for his fallen friends behind closed doors, a trait that is both heartwarming and ridiculous in the world of devil hunting. Although he tried roughhousing Denji on his first day for expressing his interest in Ms. Makima—something Aki had to pay for with repeated kicks to his privates—he throws himself to defend Denji when everyone else tries to kill him when faced with the Eternity Devil. Aki stands up for him, saying devil hunters don’t kill people, and even defends him and Power in front of Makima later on. He takes in the two chaotic rookies, makes food for them, cleans up after them, and offers them sticks of gum to get them in line. Overall, Aki is someone you need on your team.
Ms. Makima
As mysterious as she is strong, Makima is the person who recruits Denji to the Special Division. She can switch from warm and loving to cold and ruthless in a matter of moments, and it’s her unpredictability that makes her one of the most dangerous characters in the anime. She offers food and clothing to the exhausted Denji at the start of the anime and then puts forth the stipulation that he’s a loyal dog to her, and in the organization, useless dogs are euthanized. Makima has an unflinching smile, and it’s impossible to tell what she’s thinking, and she’s brilliant enough to hit just the right buttons with Denji to make him do her bidding. She teases him with the possibility of having a relationship with her so that he kills the Gun Devil, and poor Denji, already smitten by her from the moment she held him, immediately agrees for a chance to be with her. Makima is freakishly powerful, and she can immediately kill someone just by knowing their name through another person. Very Light Yagami of her! What makes her even more of a threatening character is that her goals are never fully clarified, and senior devil hunter Kishibe calls her out when she says that her actions are for the good of mankind. Although Denji is head over heels in love with her, there’s no telling if she’s just baiting him or if she actually meant it when she named him the kind of man she likes.
Himeno
The loud and vociferous senior to Denji, and Aki Hayakawa’s partner, Himeno, is a quirky devil hunter sporting an eye patch. On the surface, she seems to be as fun-loving and cheery as Denji or Power, but when the going gets tough, Himeno is the senior to trust. Having watched six of her previous partners die, she was very protective of Aki, which developed into feelings for him. The cigarette-smoking, beer-chugging Himeno doesn’t concern herself with the restrictions of a conservative society and kisses whomever she likes. However, her kiss with Denji, which was also his first kiss ever, gets ruined when she throws up while kissing him! That’s one experience no amount of mouthwash will help Denji forget. Her love for Aki leads her to sacrifice herself just so that Aki can live. This speaks volumes about how much of a good person she was in life and what protecting the lives of her comrades meant to her.
Kobeni Higashiyama
A nervous wreck who freaks out at the slightest issue, Kobeni Higashiyama was the most unlikely candidate to join the public sector along with Denji and the rest. Earning the ire of fans early on by being the one wanting to sacrifice Denji to the Eternity Devil and going as far as wanting to stab him, Kobeni did not make a good impression. All that we knew about her until the very end was that she didn’t choose this life and had to become a devil hunter because her parents wanted to put her brother through college. Although she was deemed to be the earliest victim when Akane Sawatari and the Yakuza attacked Special Division 4, she ended up being one of the handfuls that survived. She showed her mettle by taking on Sawatari’s snake devil and injuring the samurai sword devil, or the Katana man. She might continue surprising us when “Chainsaw Man” Season 2 arrives.
