Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1: Dog And Chainsaw

Denji's mother died when he was a kid. His dad managed to get tens of millions of yens worth in loans from the Yakuza, then just killed himself. Good job. So now Denji has to pay back all of that and he is just a kid. What to do?
Well, “lucky” for him, his world is normal like ours, with the exception of devils. They exist as the embodiments of fears/phobias and they are here to make trouble and kill people. So Denji befriends a little demon, a creature that's half chubby doggy, half chainsaw, called Pochita, so they can kill devils together and slowly pay back.
Yeah, well, Denji is still starving and having no life, until it turns out that he can join the official, governmentally regulated demon killers, under the leadership of this beautiful girl called Makima.

The thing happening here exists in a weird space, psychologically. Denji doesn't have a good life. We can even say he has a pretty fucked up, shit life. You can see it. He also has amazing powers. But somehow the author makes a point of not overdoing his aspirations. Often in stories like this, the hero is lonely and sad and aims to be THE BEST. Powerful and famous and a leader.
Denji is different. He just wants the bare minimum. Regular meals. A comfortable, ordinary quality life. A girlfriend. Dude wants to just touch some boobs.
I absolutely love the way we have insane monsters and such, superpowers and chainsaw heads. But also, the main character is the type who wants to hug a pretty girl and eat jam on toast. He is so relatable on an everyday scale in a setting that is so out there.
It's almost saddening, really. It's jarring how they go from chainsawing a bunch of zombies to... Denji being happy about finally being able to take warm baths every day.

It also tells you how messed up it is from the get go. Makima is not a nice girl. I have a feeling she won't ever actually love Denji or take proper care of him in a way that's not calculated and selfish. Sometimes even Denji realises this and he still does his thing, because he is not aiming high. So what if she is a bitch who uses him as she wishes? It's not like he expected a healthy, loving relationship like... ever.

The art is kind of messy. Sometimes the characters look almost off model, it's fast and lose and I think it really works with the story. In winders view panels sometimes the characters' faces are not drawn in, they are just distant shapes. I think in a way, that works well with the violence and erratic action.
Then there are these moments with amazing, creative panelling.

Yes, it is violent. Do not get into this if you can't handle gore. Then again, the title is Chainsaw Man, not Stuffed Toy Man.

I'm really curious where it will lead, where Denji will end up. If he will ever realise that not aspiring to be too much still doesn't mean you are supposed to let someone use you. I wish the best for him and so far, it doesn't seem like that's where things are going.

Merged review:

Denji's mother died when he was a kid. His dad managed to get tens of millions of yens worth in loans from the Yakuza, then just killed himself. Good job. So now Denji has to pay back all of that and he is just a kid. What to do?
Well, “lucky” for him, his world is normal like ours, with the exception of devils. They exist as the embodiments of fears/phobias and they are here to make trouble and kill people. So Denji befriends a little demon, a creature that's half chubby doggy, half chainsaw, called Pochita, so they can kill devils together and slowly pay back.
Yeah, well, Denji is still starving and having no life, until it turns out that he can join the official, governmentally regulated demon killers, under the leadership of this beautiful girl called Makima.

The thing happening here exists in a weird space, psychologically. Denji doesn't have a good life. We can even say he has a pretty fucked up, shit life. You can see it. He also has amazing powers. But somehow the author makes a point of not overdoing his aspirations. Often in stories like this, the hero is lonely and sad and aims to be THE BEST. Powerful and famous and a leader.
Denji is different. He just wants the bare minimum. Regular meals. A comfortable, ordinary quality life. A girlfriend. Dude wants to just touch some boobs.
I absolutely love the way we have insane monsters and such, superpowers and chainsaw heads. But also, the main character is the type who wants to hug a pretty girl and eat jam on toast. He is so relatable on an everyday scale in a setting that is so out there.
It's almost saddening, really. It's jarring how they go from chainsawing a bunch of zombies to... Denji being happy about finally being able to take warm baths every day.

It also tells you how messed up it is from the get go. Makima is not a nice girl. I have a feeling she won't ever actually love Denji or take proper care of him in a way that's not calculated and selfish. Sometimes even Denji realises this and he still does his thing, because he is not aiming high. So what if she is a bitch who uses him as she wishes? It's not like he expected a healthy, loving relationship like... ever.

The art is kind of messy. Sometimes the characters look almost off model, it's fast and lose and I think it really works with the story. In winders view panels sometimes the characters' faces are not drawn in, they are just distant shapes. I think in a way, that works well with the violence and erratic action.
Then there are these moments with amazing, creative panelling.

Yes, it is violent. Do not get into this if you can't handle gore. Then again, the title is Chainsaw Man, not Stuffed Toy Man.

I'm really curious where it will lead, where Denji will end up. If he will ever realise that not aspiring to be too much still doesn't mean you are supposed to let someone use you. I wish the best for him and so far, it doesn't seem like that's where things are going.