Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Review – Blood-soaked demonic animation sits in the place of Manobshire | film

SShortly after the release of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle last month – which was confirmed last weekend as the highest-grossing anime film of all time – a big-screen outing for a film adaptation of what, in manga terms, is a relatively conceited one: Tatsuki Fujimoto’s blood-soaked coming-of-age epic, which was first serialized in 2018. Apply Standard Cash Directions: What will undoubtedly be catnip for fans will likely be just as well. It can be confusing to newcomers to varying degrees, arriving late into a frenetic game offering few opportunities to catch up. However, the latter camp may cling to the Halloween-adjacent release date as a partial decoder: Fujimoto’s teen hero Denji (voiced by Kikunosuke Toya) has a chainsaw-wielding demon roosting in his soul, suggesting the dual influences of Tobe Hooper and Shinya Tsukamoto.

The ramifications of this will be, so to speak, exaggerated, but the underlying feelings remain palpable, and perhaps relatable. Dopey Slacker Denji is torn between two romantic prospects: cute girl Makita, who appeals to his cultured side, and freckled, jade-eyed waitress Reze, who invites our boy to break into school after hours for a skinny dip. It is able to raise his heart rate. It’s unfortunate that she’s also intent on tearing out Denji’s heart.

The film’s technical prowess is undeniable: director Tatsuya Yoshihara and his team create hyper-realistic urban environments, made all the more startling when Reze pulls a grenade pin from her neck, blowing up her earthly form, and when the possessed Denji, wielding an arm saw, launches a counterattack on his familiar shark.

Before the final descent into the weary wastes of the city, their delightful perversity is almost interesting: what the success of these titles tells us is that there is an audience whose desires are not currently being catered to by Hollywood’s pencil pushers. Man, is it aimed at males, though. From Denji’s frilly pink fantasies to the fact that Reze becomes more pornographic in her appearance the more demonic she becomes, Yoshihara doesn’t shy away from flirting with those who may have felt uniquely wronged by the opposite sex. “What a rush!” shouts Denji, in one of those inappropriately rude phrases. “I just cut off a beautiful woman’s leg.”