Chainsaw Man, the heartwarming tale of a boy and a chainsaw devil dog, follows Denji’s life after he and his best friend, Pochita, combine.
Man’s Best Friend in a World Full of Devils.
Chainsaw Man, the anime adaptation from Mappa of the currently releasing manga, is set in a version of Japan a decade or two in the past. Devils routinely appear and cause mayhem for society. Gangs deal in a black market for their body parts as public safety agencies attempt to neutralize the damage they cause. The situation reminded me of the world of Fire Force (Enen no Shouboutai), where demon fighters put out fires caused by inflammable devils. We find our hero, Denji, working to pay off his dead father’s debt to the local yakuza. It’s a terrible, low existence. He’s sold off an eye and internal organs as he works odd jobs. But Denji is happy because he has his best friend with him: Pochita. Pochita is no ordinary dog, though. He is a chainsaw devil! Denji and Pochita spend every waking and sleeping moment together, making their hardscrabble life into a fulfilling one. The love a dog and his master share is an incredible bond, and Denji and Pochita’s relationship is the foundation for Chainsaw Man’s story.
Movies like A Boy and His Dog (I Am Legend is another) feature main characters who are alone except for their canine companions. Dogmeat, from the Fallout series of games, lets a player experience that breed of companionship firsthand. Denji interacts with his debt collector and yakuza underlings, but they treat him cruelly and transactionally. As if Denji were a stray dog. Metaphors for pets and dogs will play out during Chainsaw Man, and all the nuances will appear when we see Makima and her odd collection of devil hunters. But even in Denji’s new life, he remembers his best friend. I particularly liked the scene in which Denji recognized the pull cord in his chest belonged to Pochita. In Denji’s memory, the chainsaw devil was in motion, having fun and wagging his tail. Those scenes tug hard on the emotional heartstrings.
Pochita steals the show in Chainsaw Man. The furry chainsaw lives for his master and his dreams. The quiet moments of affection he shared with Denji let him listen to his master’s hopes and ambitions for the future. Trivial things like sharing toasted bread with jam and falling asleep while hugging a girl. If Denji died first, he wanted Pochita to reanimate his body and live a “normal” life. But Pochita had his own dreams. He aimed to make Denji’s dreams come true, so when tragedy and opportunity combined, Pochita took his chance. Pochita deserved the best eulogy a devoted companion can receive: “He was a good dog.“
Chainsaw Man or Chainsaw Dog?
When I first read the opening chapters of the Chainsaw Man manga, it wasn’t clear about Denji and Pochita’s transformation. Did Pochita revive Denji, resurrect him, or assume his identity? I thought Pochita sacrificed his being to bring back Denji. Like how Vermeil in Vermeil in Gold gave Alto her demon heart so he could stay alive. But the anime showed Denji chopped in pieces and Pochita similarly grievously wounded. A devil might survive being sliced in half for a while. But a human would instantly die from a beheading.
I loved the author’s choice to contrast what Pochita did with Denji’s body to the Zombie Devil they had been fighting. Denji came back fully restored, with his missing eye and organs replaced. He was not a shambling corpse puppet but the best version of Denji that Pochita remembered. Consider how a good dog views its beloved master. His king, provider, a benevolent god. Now, what if that version of a master came into reality? Denji popped out of that bloody dumpster as the best Denji Pochita could hope for. But was it still “Denji?”
According to Chainsaw Man, devils can control corpses. If they possess the dead body, they become a Fiend with devil-like heads. Like Power taking over a blonde girl’s body or Denji starting up his chainsaw engine. That’s why Denji isn’t a regular Fiend. But what is he? Devils can’t animate living bodies. There’s disagreement on the internet about Denji dying or not before Pochita merged with him. Here’s what Crunchyroll writes about the premise of Chainsaw Man:
“As he was losing his consciousness, he made a deal with Pochita, and got resurrected as the “Chainsaw Man”: the owner of the Devil’s heart.”
They think Denji is still alive at that moment with severed head, torso, and limbs. But Hulu saw that scene differently:
“In an unexpected turn of events, Pochita merges with his dead body and grants him the power of a Chainsaw Man!”
The Hulu streaming service thinks Denji had died before Pochita reanimated his dead body. I love it! Somebody is wrong on the internet! It’s art when people have different interpretations of what a pivotal moment means. When we meet Power, we understand that a Fiend’s personality belongs to the possessing demon. Denji seems like the person he was before he died, but is he? Could he be the version that Pochita saw? These are fun questions about identity in Chainsaw Man’s concept of demonic possession. One thing we know for sure: Pochita’s dream is to make Denji’s dreams come true. After jam on toast and falling asleep after hugging Makima, what is there left? Boobs. Touching boobs!
Blood-Spattered Humor!
If you couldn’t tell by now, Denji is a horny teenager. The heart of Chainsaw Man is literally the love between a boy and his dog, but the anime also belongs to the action genre. Bloody action means adolescent humor! So what do we get? A kick to the balls! Repeated kicks to Aki’s balls! This is also where dog and pet metaphors influence the humor arising from human relationships. Makima is the mama wolf manipulator, and her devil hunters are her pack. If Makima is the alpha wolf, then the other dogs need to establish who are the betas and gammas. Aki clearly won’t let Denji rise above his tier of dominance. The competitiveness for Makima’s attention and affection will fuel many jokes and light-hearted scenes.
Will you be watching Chainsaw Man? Will you be watching for Pochita? Let us know in the comments and on social media.
Chainsaw Man streams on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Hulu in Japanese and English audio with subtitles.
