Chainsaw Man “Dog & Chainsaw” Review
Chainsaw Man “Dog & Chainsaw” is the first episode of the Chainsaw Man anime adaptation by MAPPA studios. 16-year-old Denji has been burdened with a massive debt left behind by his deceased father, who committed suicide. To repay the debt, he works as a Devil Hunter with Pochita, the dog-resembling Chainsaw Devil. After finishing a job for a yakuza boss, Denji tells Pochita about his dream to live a peaceful life and settle down with a partner. The boss takes Denji to an abandoned warehouse for a job, where he reveals his group has allied themselves with the Zombie Devil, who has Denji dismembered. Denji’s blood seeps into Pochita’s mouth, and Denji has a vision of Pochita telling him that he will become Denji’s heart in exchange for seeing Denji live out his dream. Whole again, Denji confronts the Zombie Devil. Pulling Pochita’s pull string, which is now on his chest, he is able to transform into a Devil-Human hybrid form that allows him to grow chainsaws out of his head and arms, which he uses to kill the Zombie Devil and the yakuza zombies. The next morning, the carnage is found by a group of Public Safety Devil Hunters. Their leader, Makima, hugs Denji after he asks her to do so, causing him to revert back to his human form. She offers to keep Denji alive as a human and feed him, much to his delight.
Review
What an episode to kick things off! Pochita’s death really upset me even though he’s only been in this one episode, he was Denji’s only friend but he was a true one. Still, even though it’s already obvious he’s going into a life of more hardship he’ll at least have his friend still with him, maybe even make more friends. He got his wish to cuddle with a woman in the end I suppose.
The animation by MAPPA is breathtakingly beautiful, they’ve spared no expense here, and though Denji’s transformation was something that was obviously going to happen it was directed and paced perfectly enough that it was still emotional. I have no doubt MAPPA will keep up the good work, they’ve proven how good they are at this point.
