Japanese fans hated this 97% Rotten Tomatoes boy anime for breaking all the rules (and it's not Evangelion)

The shonen genre is a long-standing comfort zone of noble heroes with big dreams and the power of friendship. In stories about becoming a king or Hokage, the protagonist usually acts as a kind of moral guide to the audience. Chainsaw Man He didn't just break this rule, he chainsawed it to tatters. Instead of a hero driven by justice, we accepted Little Denji, whose ultimate dreams are toast with jam and dating girls. It's a gritty and unique take on the Selfless Hero subgenre that's dominated the industry since the '80s.

These subversions are why this series is so good. Writer Tatsuki Fujimoto cut out “The Chosen One” and created a world where deaths are unexpected, unheroic, and not as dramatic as they would be in the case of a heroic sacrifice. No one is safe in this universe just because they have a sad backstory or a cool design. This anti-boy ideology creates constant fear. Every quiet moment sounds like the calm of a blood-curdling storm.

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Chainsaw Man Movie Makes History By Breaking Major Records

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc breaks major music records with artist Kenshi Yonezu's hit single IRIS OUT.

MAPPA’s most ambitious gamble yet.

A cinematic change in style.

When Studio MAPPA said they were adapting Chainsaw ManJapanese fans expected flashy, high-octane energy from Jujutsu Kaisen. But director Ryu Nakayama had another idea. It was a high-end cinematic experience, closer to a live-action drama than an animation. This meant surreal lighting, more detailed background art, and a slower, more deliberate pace. It was a vision of the middle part of a character's life, paying attention to each frame, like a Hollywood movie.

The bet was seen as a dazzling success in the eyes of critics around the world, with the show's rating reaching a whopping 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn't just a fight animation. The character's slight movements and the morning sunlight shining on the table were animated. MAPPA did not use the source material as artwork for Weekend Animation. To Western viewers, it seemed like a new frontier for adult animation, taking the genre to a new level of visual sophistication never before seen in weekly shonen TV shows.

Characters and Story: A Family Found in Hell.

The Beauty of Dysfunction

Chainsaw-Man-Power-Arkie

The story is simple enough to be misleading. A boy named Denji fuses with Pochita the Chainsaw Dog and enrolls in the government agency Public Safety Demon Hunters. But the real appeal is the discovered family aspect of Denji, the vengeful Aki, and the anarchic Blood Fiend Powers. Unlike regular shonen trios, they don't start out as friends. They are colleagues drawn to work together by a system that sees them as disposable tools. Their friendship deepens as they struggle to live in a crowded apartment and eat cheap food.

The enemy is the enemy… We just use them. I have no intention of becoming friends with that person. – Hayakawa Aki

A distinctive feature of this character is the absence of traditional heroism. Denji doesn't aim to save the world. He is trying to survive when he is taken advantage of by the mysterious and cunning Makima. Power is a liar and only cares about itself at the moment. Aki is a tragic figure who realizes that he is growing increasingly exhausted from his mission of revenge. They are ordinary, imperfect humans who find themselves in a situation from which they can never escape. It becomes interesting due to the dynamics of power and the gradual understanding that the humans in control are much scarier in this world than the very demons they hunt.

Power taunts Denji while sitting on the toilet in Chainsaw Man.

Chainsaw Man finally has the power to bring back the fan-favorite character.

Chainsaw Man has the perfect opportunity to reunite Denji with Power, a fan-favorite character and his best friend.

Backlash: Why Japanese fans hate ‘rules’ being broken

Denji cries while hitting Aki with a chainsaw.

Although it received critical reviews overseas, a significant portion of the Japanese fan base responded with extreme criticism. A petition was even started for a remake by another director, saying the animation was too realistic and lacked the animation tropes of the manga. The animation made some characters lead ordinary lives despite being devil hunters. Japanese fans wondered how Aki could live a normal life and drink coffee every day after losing her parents. Just because someone has experienced extreme trauma doesn't mean they stop living.

Find all 10 pairs


Find all 10 pairs

Domestic critics claimed the prestigious look was soulless and pretentious. They didn't appreciate the messy look of the original art, and the CGI-based animation seemed too clean for a story about a man with a chainsaw for a head. This lack of connection between Japanese otaku culture, which espouses certain tropes, and the director's desire to move away from the world of animation has led to a huge gap. To them, Chainsaw Man It was intended to be a crazy, high-budget, fast-paced adventure, not a serious story about the nature of existence.

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Chainsaw Man: Most Powerful Demon, Ranked

The beastly demons of the Chainsaw Man comic series come in many forms. Here is a ranking of the strongest:

neon genesis Evangelion Connection

Deconstruction of a hero

Denji and Shinji

Neon Genesis Evangelion It is also another anime that broke the most well-known shonen conventions of the time. connection between Chainsaw Man and Neon Genesis Evangelion It goes beyond the visual references used in the opening credits. Both shows fundamentally deconstructed their genres. Just as Shinji Ikari subverts the “heroic mecha pilot” type, Denji subverts the “ambitious boy hero” type. They are both traumatized teenagers forced into a desperate fight in a world that treats them like weapons rather than children. They don't fight for glory. They fight because they desperately need approval from people who don't even care about them.

Makima is a darker version of toxic control. EvangelionA mix of sexual tension and cold, institutional grooming. The supernatural violence of both shows is a metaphor for inner downfall. Because the real monster is the structure of authority that oppresses young people. Evangelion and Chainsaw Man Both make it clear that this is one of the few stories that shatters its foundations and leaves raw, uncomfortable human emotions underneath.


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Chainsaw Man


release date

2022 – 2022

network

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC

move

Takeru Sato

author

Seko Hiroshi


  • Cast placeholder image

  • Cast placeholder image

    Tomori Kusunoki

    Makima (voice)


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