Chainsaw Man Review: The Most Honest Manga About Wanting Things
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
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Quick Take
- Part 1 is 11 volumes — short, complete, and hits harder than most 70-volume series
- The protagonist has the simplest desires in manga: food, warmth, human connection. The story is about what the world does to people with simple desires
- Nothing else reads like Chainsaw Man — it's violent, funny, devastating, and completely its own thing
Who Is This Manga For?
Chainsaw Man is for you if:
- You want something that feels genuinely different from every other manga you've read
- You can handle dark, surreal violence in service of deeply human emotional content
- You love characters who are completely honest about their needs, even when those needs are embarrassing
- You want 11 volumes that will leave you thinking for weeks
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: M (Mature) Content Warnings: Extreme violence and gore (this is among the most graphically violent mainstream manga), death of beloved characters, psychological manipulation as a major plot element, mild sexual content, body horror
This is adult content. The violence is graphic and frequent. The thematic content — particularly around manipulation and coercive relationships — requires emotional maturity to process. Not for younger readers.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★★ |
| Art Style | ★★★★☆ |
| Character Development | ★★★★★ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★☆ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★★ |
Story Overview
Denji is sixteen years old and owns nothing. His father's debt — left when he died — passed to Denji at birth, and he has been paying it back by hunting devils for the yakuza. He lives in a shack. He sells body parts when he needs money. His only companion is Pochita, a small devil that looks like a dog with a chainsaw for a nose, who has fused his heart with Denji's to keep him alive.
His dreams: a piece of toast with jam. A girlfriend. Maybe a warm bed.
When the yakuza betray Denji and have him killed, Pochita makes a contract: Pochita's heart becomes Denji's, letting him transform into a devil-human hybrid — Chainsaw Man — capable of regenerating from almost anything. Denji kills his killers. Then he's found by a government agency that employs devil hunters, and his life becomes... different. Still brutal. But different.
What follows is a story about Denji navigating a world of devils, devil hunters, and powerful forces that see him as a weapon — trying, persistently and sometimes pathetically, to have the small things he always wanted.
Characters
Denji — One of the most unusual protagonists in manga. His goals are not heroic. He is not trying to save the world or fulfill a destiny. He wants toast and someone who likes him. The story treats this — his fundamental human smallness — with complete respect.
Pochita — Denji's devil companion, who appears to be a tiny dog with a chainsaw. What Pochita actually is, and what his contract with Denji means, becomes clear near the end of Part 1. Few reveals in manga are as quietly devastating.
Power — A Blood Devil in human form who joins Denji's team. Arrogant, selfish, chaotic, and — despite all of this — one of the most loveable characters in the series. Her arc is the most emotionally complete in Part 1.
Aki Hayakawa — The serious, dedicated devil hunter assigned to manage Denji. His relationship with Denji evolves from reluctant supervision to something much more fraternal, and what happens to him is among the most painful things in the series.
Makima — The control devil in human form, Denji's superior. Everything about her is a spoiler. She is one of the most disturbing and effective antagonists in manga.
Art Style
Fujimoto's art is kinetic, confident, and deeply cinematic. The action sequences have a raw energy — messy and immediate in a way that feels different from more polished shonen fights. Violence in Chainsaw Man doesn't feel choreographed. It feels chaotic in the way real violence is chaotic.
The character designs are deliberately understated — Denji and Power and Aki look like real teenagers, not idealized heroes. The devil designs, by contrast, are weird and inventive, often drawing on mundane fears made physical (the Eternity Devil, the Darkness Devil).
Fujimoto also has a gift for quiet, domestic moments — panels of people eating, sleeping, watching TV — that make the violence hit harder by contrast.
Cultural Context
The concept of devils in Chainsaw Man is specifically Japanese: supernatural entities that embody human fears. The more humanity fears something, the stronger the devil. Devils that embody universal fears — darkness, death — are incomprehensibly powerful. This connects to the Japanese folk concept of mono no ke (spirit of things) — the idea that objects, concepts, and emotions can have spiritual presence.
The yakuza connection in Denji's backstory reflects real Japanese cultural anxiety about organized crime's penetration into ordinary life. That a teenager could be indebted to the yakuza through no fault of his own, and have no recourse, is not presented as outlandish — it's presented as simply how things are for certain people.
The government devil hunter organization reflects a recurring Japanese narrative trope — the ambivalent state institution, officially protective, actually using the people in its care as tools. This tension between institutional legitimacy and individual humanity runs through the story.
What I Love About It
I've read a lot of manga about extraordinary people. Chainsaw Man is about an ordinary person — someone who has been treated as worthless for his entire life — who slowly, painfully, discovers that he matters to people.
The scene that stays with me is small. After a particularly brutal fight, Power and Denji are sitting together eating. They're arguing about something stupid. It's completely mundane. And it's the happiest Denji has been in the entire story up to that point.
I thought: this is what survival looks like. Not victory. Just getting to sit somewhere warm with someone who knows you, and argue about nothing.
Fujimoto understands that this is what people actually want. Not glory. Just that.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Chainsaw Man has an extremely passionate Western fanbase that arrived largely through the anime adaptation and has gone deep into the manga. Part 1 is almost universally praised. Part 2 (the ongoing school arc) has a more divided reception.
Common praise for Part 1: the originality, the emotional honesty, the ending, Makima as a villain, Power as a character. Common criticisms: the violence can be overwhelming, and the nihilistic tone isn't for everyone.
The consensus: Part 1 is a masterpiece. Read it regardless of whether you continue to Part 2.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
Pochita's reveal.
Near the end of Part 1, we learn what Pochita's contract with Denji actually meant. Pochita, the little chainsaw dog who lived with Denji and kept him alive, had one condition: let me see your dreams.
Denji's dreams — toast, warmth, a girlfriend — are so simple they're almost embarrassing. And Pochita cherished every one of them.
The reveal reframes the entire series in a single page. It's not a plot twist. It's an emotional truth that was always there, waiting to be seen.
Similar Manga
If you liked Chainsaw Man, try:
- Jujutsu Kaisen — Same generation, similar darkness, more traditionally shonen in structure
- Fire Punch — Fujimoto's earlier work, even more brutal and surreal
- Dorohedoro — Similar chaotic dark fantasy energy, similarly treats violence as mundane
- Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) — Tonal opposite, but similarly treats the human need for small comforts seriously
Reading Order / Where to Start
Start from Volume 1. Part 1 is 11 volumes and reads as a complete story. It's one of the fastest reads in manga — the pacing is relentless.
Note: Part 2 (ongoing) is a different arc with a different protagonist in the same world. You don't need to read Part 1 to start Part 2, but you will understand Part 2 much better if you've read Part 1.
Official English Translation Status
Status: Complete (Part 1) / Ongoing (Part 2) English Volumes: 11 (Part 1 complete), Part 2 ongoing Translator: VIZ Media Translation Quality: Excellent
Part 1 is fully available in English. Part 2 is releasing simultaneously with Japan.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Completely original in tone, structure, and emotional approach
- 11 volumes — readable in a day or two, complete story
- Power and Aki are among the best supporting characters in recent manga
- The ending of Part 1 is perfect
Cons
- The violence is extremely graphic — genuinely not for all readers
- The surreal, dark tone isn't accessible to everyone
- Makima's manipulation is psychologically uncomfortable to read (intentionally, but still)
- Part 2 has a very different feel from Part 1
Format Comparison
| Format | Volumes | Price per vol. (approx.) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback (individual) | 11 vols | ~$10–12 | Collecting |
| Kindle | 11 vols | ~$7–9 | Quick read-through |
| Box Set (Vol. 1–11) | 1 box | ~$90–100 | Complete physical set |
Recommendation: 11 volumes is short enough to read in any format. The Box Set is a great value if you're committing to physical.
Where to Buy
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.