The primary episode of Chainsaw Man is an unambiguous success. Produced by studio MAPPA and directed by Jujutsu Kaisen alum Ryū Nakayama, the 12-episode anime adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s breakout action-horror manga units the tone of the sequence completely with its stunning animation, brisk pacing, and ultra-violent motion.
The latter high quality is on full show within the climax of the sequence’ first episode, “Canine & Chainsaw.” Within the premiere’s first showdown, Denji transforms into the human-Satan hybrid Chainsaw Man in an effort to face off in opposition to the present’s first main adversary, the Zombie Satan.
This shall be par for the course. Lifting from the manga, the sequence takes place in an alternate 1997, the place humanity is preyed upon by a race of supernatural creatures generally known as Devils. The precise origin of Devils is unknown, although what is understood is that these monsters are manifestations of damaging emotions and feelings shared throughout the collective human unconscious, much like the phenomenon of “Curses” in Jujutsu Kaisen.
At the start of the episode, we see Denji and his pet Chainsaw Satan canine Pochita search out a Tomato Satan earlier than briefly chopping away to the aftermath of the encounter, with Denji standing triumphantly atop the creature’s big corpse awaiting orders from his yakuza boss. It’s not till the final third of the episode, after Denji is betrayed by his yakuza employers in change for a contract with the so-called Zombie Satan promising energy, that we get to see Denji absolutely reduce unfastened to tear and tear into motion.
After being dogpiled by a horde of zombified lots, Denji transforms into his Chainsaw Man type for the primary time — a bare-chested, yellow-eyed combatant with chainsaw blades protruding from his brow and arms like a Hellraiser Cenobite crossed with a Dwelling Depot {hardware} aisle. After a momentary pause, Denji wastes no time leaping into motion, darting previous the Zombie Satan’s defensive position of droning lots and propelling himself ahead to pierce the Satan’s cranium together with his head-mounted chainsaw and arm blades.
There are as many noteworthy struggle sequences in anime as there are drops of water within the ocean. From Hiroyuki Okiura and Mitsuo Iso’s work on the blistering shootout between Motoko Kusanagi and the spider-tank in 1995’s Ghost within the Shell to just about each motion sequence in Cowboy Bebop and My Hero Academia Yutaka Nakamura has ever put his arms on, the widespread trait shared by nearly if not each nice anime struggle is stable animation path and skillful key animators entrusted with the time, sources, and expressive freedom to chop unfastened and actually put their very own signature aptitude in a scene.
Director Ryū Nakamura, animation producer Keisuke Seshimo, and motion director Tatsuya Yoshihara have assembled succesful animators for the duty of bringing Chainsaw Man to life, nearly all of whom have both beforehand labored on Jujutsu Kaisen and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 or anime sequence and movies like One Punch Man, Hearth Pressure, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc, and the Kizumonogatari movie trilogy. From begin to end, the climax of Chainsaw Man’s debut episode is an exemplary feat of workmanship made doable solely by way of stable manufacturing and cautious planning that allows these artists and animators to do what they do finest — make dope shit.
One of many standout photographs of the complete struggle, and one which might be briefly glimpsed within the third trailer for the sequence, is when the Zombie Satan, in a match of pain-induced desperation, grabs Chainsaw Man with one in every of his entrail tentacles to fling him throughout the room and smash into a close-by live performance help beam. It’s a exceptional, dynamic sequence made doable by way of skillful key animation mixed with spectacular 3D digicam mapping. The scene as an entire is beautiful when seen in motion, and hints at much more spectacular sequences prefer it to return all through the remainder of the season.