The Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date is reportedly in 2024 according to leaked information from trustworthy sources.
The Chainsaw Man Season 2 anime TV show will continue the story of Denji and Pochita as they combat the devils in their midst in the Public Safety Saga. But when exactly will Chainsaw Man Season 2 come out?
And will Chainsaw Man: Bomb Girl Arc first be adapted by Studio MAPPA as a Chainsaw Man movie in 2023?
(It’s possible but unlikely that both projects will be announced at the same time. It’s not unheard of since SPY x FAMILY Season 2 and a SPY x FAMILY movie were both announced at Jump Festa 2023 before the first season’s finale.)
When Chainsaw Man Episode 12 was released on December 27, 2022, the official PR statements simply thanked audiences for watching the finale and asked that they continued to support both the manga and the anime. While the lack of an immediate official announcement was disappointing, anime news leakers have already filled the void with their claims. What’s more, there are multiple Chainsaw Man anime events upcoming where a 2nd season (or a movie) could be announced.
It’s possible that new official info will be announced during the Chainsaw Man Anime Exhibition that is being held on February 24, 2023. The event will feature a variety of exhibits such as valuable original drawings, setting materials, newly drawn illustrations, and life-size figures.
Another possibility is a Chainsaw Man special event that is being held in May 2023. The event will have two parts – a matinee and an evening show. The event will include performances by song artists, and cast members will come up on a stage decorated to resemble the world of Chainsaw Man.
Keep in mind that the anime industry likes to make major announcements when the major seiyuus (voice actors) are present for a stage event. The cast members attending the May 2023 event include Kikunosuke Toya (Denji), Tomori Kusunoki (Makim), Shogo Sakata (Aki Hayakasa), and Fairouz Ai (Power). The attending performing music artists include TOOBOE (“Tablet”, “Jozai”), ano (“Kiss, Diversity”), and PEOPLE 1 (“DOGLAND”).
Anime news leakers like Jaymes Hanson already claim that Chainsaw Man Season 2 is already in production. On September 19, 2022, he claimed, “The second cour already started [production]. How they release it is another question.”
What’s a “cour,” you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of Japanese TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons that’s usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
Prior to this, Hanson had claimed, “In March [2022] I said Chainsaw Man was Fall. Which is true. I also said 2-Cour. Due to production issues, this seems to have changed to 1-cour. 12 Episodes. You could have a Split cour, Parts (AOT), or even just a new season. This is a leak after all. Believe what u want, just a heads up.”
On November 29, 2022, anime news leaker ChifuyuMatsun0 claimed that the Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date would be in 2024.
This information about Chainsaw Man Season 2 has not been verified by any official sources such as the Chainsaw Man anime website or the Studio MAPPA Twitter account. All anime news leaks should be considered a rumor and taken with a grain of salt.
However, Jaymes Hanson does have a trustworthy history of making accurate claims in the past, including being the first to publicly claim that Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War would be a Disney+ exclusive. In addition, ChifuyuMatsun0 was the first to leak the news about the Tokyo Revengers Season 2 anime being greenlit for production.
The total number of episodes and/or cours adapting the Chainsaw Man Part 1 manga has not been announced yet.
Keep in mind that the continuation of the anime TV series could be officially referred to as Chainsaw Man Season 1 Part 2, which should not be confused with the manga’s Chainsaw Man Part 2 Academy Arc (Gakko-hen) that started coming out in Summer 2022. Precisely due to this potential for confusion, it’s predicted that the anime continuation will be marketed as Chainsaw Man Season 2.
Of course, MAPPA is also the same company that seriously marketed Attack On Titan: Season 4 Part 3 as the 2023 finale for the final season of Attack On Titan: The Final Season.
- Updated December 11, 2022: Added Chainsaw Man Volume 13 release date and related art.
This article provides everything that is known about Chainsaw Season 2 (Chainsaw Man Season 1 Part 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date predictions
As of the last update, Studio MAPPA, publisher Shueisha, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Chainsaw Man anime sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Chainsaw Man Season 1 Part 2 release date will occur in the future.
We’ll consider multiple scenarios in this analysis: a split-cour schedule, a large seasonal break, and a Chainsaw Man movie being released in-between seasons.
Based on the pacing of the manga’s story, it’s possible that animation studio MAPPA could adapt the manga’s Part 1 as two cours. In order to maintain a good production schedule and keep the animation quality high the studio is essentially splitting up the cours.
A “split-cour” is where a single anime season takes a multi-month break before resuming TV broadcasting.
As Jaymes Hanson mentioned, splitting up the cours was apparently due to production issues, which isn’t a surprise considering how Studio MAPPA already has more than enough projects on its plate leading up to 2023. There’s Attack On Titan: The Final Season Part 3, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, Vinland Saga Season 2, Campfire Cooking in Another World with my Absurd Skill, Zombieland Saga movie, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku, Alice and Therese’s Illusion Factory, and the much-delayed Yuri on Ice movie. And these are just the previously confirmed projects that have been publicly announced!
Assuming that the production is a split-cour and it was already scheduled out in advance in 2022, it’s possible that the Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date could be in Summer or Fall 2023. As previously mentioned, the second season would need to have more than 13 episodes, so it’s possible the 2nd season would need to start airing in late June 2023 or late September 2023.
The next option is a large seasonal break, which assumes that ChifuyuMatsun0 is right about the Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date being in 2024. While it’s disappointing to wait a whole year the positive aspect of this scenario is that animation quality should not suffer from production scheduling issues.
The final scenario depends on whether or not the Bomb Girl Arc is turned into a Chainsaw Man movie. After all, MAPPA would be eager for another financial windfall similar to the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie.
If the next big story arc is adapted as a film, the Chainsaw Man movie release date could be in Summer 2023 or November/December 2023 and then Chainsaw Man Season 2 comes out in 2024.
Heaven forbid, but there’s always the possibility that the increasingly busy animation studio will have Chainsaw Man Season 2 delayed further, but at least none of the animators need to be (metaphorically) chained to their desks.
Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man Season 2 English dub release date predictions
In the past, Crunchyroll was streaming the Chainsaw Man anime in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS. Chainsaw Man Season 1 was also streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Animax Korea, Hulu, and bilibili.
Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man English dub release date was on October 25, 2022. That meant the Chainsaw Man dub premiered two weeks after the anime first premiered on October 11, 2022. However, the international premiere of the Chainsaw dub premiere at New York Comic Con was on October 7, 2022.
Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man English dub was directed by ADR director Mike McFarland (Attack On Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood). Here was the main Chainsaw Man English dub cast:
- Ryan Colt Levy (Rody in My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission) as Denji
- Lindsay Seidel (Eris in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation) as Pochita
- Suzie Yeung (Lena in 86 EIGHTY-SIX) as Makima
- Sarah Wiedenheft (Tohru in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) as Power
- Reagan Murdock (Alvin in Don’t Hurt Me, My Healer!) as Aki
Here is the Chainsaw Man cast for the Japanese dub:
- Kikunosuke Toya as Denji
- Shiori Izawa (Nanachi in Made In Abyss) as Pochita
- Mariya Ise (Reg in Made In Abyss) as Himeno
- Karin Takahashi (Suika in Dr. STONE) as Kobeni Higashiyama
- Taku Yashiro (Tanuman Tsubasa in Kaguya-sama: Love is War) as Hirokazu Arai
- Kejiro Tsuda (Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen) as Kishibe
- Tomori Kusunoki (Natsume in Deca-Dence) as Makima
- Shogo Sakata (Karin Sasaki in Fire Force) as Aki Hayakawa
- Fairouz Ai (Jolyne Kujo in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean) as Power
Additional Chainsaw Man dubs included Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and German.
Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man Season 2 English dub release date will be announced in the future after Chainsaw Man Season 2 has first premiered with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Hopefully, future English dubbing will be faster once the COVID pandemic winds down and becomes endemic. In order to protect voice actors from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to temporarily pause production or take extra safety precautions that resulted in slowed work.
Many English dubbing houses have experienced delays since voice actors often travel to the recording studio. By mid-2022 Crunchyroll began switching from remote recording to in-studio recording again (most of the work is done in their Texas studio).
Studio MAPPA will definitely return for Chainsaw Man S2
The main staff making Chainsaw Man Season 2 hasn’t been announced yet, but we can confidently say that Studio MAPPA will return. During Anime Expo 2022 in July 2022, Chainsaw Man producer Makoto Kimura explained that the TV show is not using the typical anime production committee.
For those who don’t already know, an anime production committee is an organization that splits the cost and thus the risk of making an anime project. The committees are formed by corporations with a vested interest in the project such as publishers, studios, TV stations, etc. If the project is successful, the profits are split up, but if a project fails miserably the committee structure is a security net that prevents a single company from going bankrupt.
Kimura revealed that forming a production committee was discussed by MAPPA, but he was against the idea. The MAPPA leadership decided to handle the project in-house with the approval of manga publisher Shueisha. MAPPA is bearing all the risk for the production, but they’ll also have full creative control and reap all the rewards.
As such, MAPPA has a vested interest in making the overall anime series as successful as possible. They also have control over how the story of the manga series is adapted.
For the first season, the Chainsaw Man anime project was helmed by director Ryū Nakayama (Black Clover, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 episode director). Makoto Nakazono (Jujutsu Kaisen, SSSS.Gridman) was the chief episode director. Masato Nakazono (Jujutsu Kaisen) was the assistant director.
“This was my first time directing an animated TV series, but I was able to give it my all. I would like to thank the entire staff for their hard work and dedication in making this hard work come to an end!” tweeted director Nakayama on December 27, 2022. “Thank you so much, everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who watched and supported us! Thank you BIG time!”
Tatsuya Yoshihara (Black Clover) was the action director. Yusuke Takeda (Vinland Saga, Jujutsu Kaisen) was the background art director. Writer Hiroshi Seko (Mob Psycho 100, Ajin, Attack on Titan Season 4) handled the scripts.
Artist Kazutaka Sugiyama (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation) was the human character designer, whereas Kiyotaka Oshiyama (DEVILMAN crybaby, Space Dandy) was the devil character designer. Makoto Nakazono (DARLING in the FRANXX, Little Witch Academia) was the chief technical director. Composer Agraph/Kensuke Ushio (DEVILMAN crybaby, A Silent Voice) created the music.
The Chainsaw Man Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Chainsaw Man OP (opening) theme song music “KICK BACK” was performed by Kenshi Yonezu.
The Chainsaw Man ED (ending) music changed for each of the 12 episodes of the first season.
- “Katagiri 2-oku centimeter (2-hundred-million-centimeter-long blades)” by MAXIMUM THE HORMONE
- “ALL KINDS OF KISSES” by ano
- “Fight Song” by eve
- “Deep Down” by Aimer
- “Rendezvous” by Kanaria
- “In the Back Room” by syudou
- “Violence” by QUEEN BEE
- “Time Left” by ZUTOMAYO
- “First death” by TK from Ling tosite sigure
- “Tablet” by TOOBOE
- “CHAINSAW BLOOD” by Vaundy
- “DOGLAND” by PEOPLE 1
Maximum The Hormone’s song will be used both as an insert song and ending theme.
Why so many Chainsaw Man ED songs? Apparently, it was the idea of director Nakayama.
“I asked all my favorite artists to take part in this project so I hope everyone will enjoy each of the OPs and EDs, and all the characters that will appear in the future!” he tweeted on September 19, 2022.
Chainsaw Man manga circulation surges from anime boost
The story for the Chainsaw Man anime TV show is based on the Chainsaw Man manga by creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. Serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since December 2020, Chainsaw Man Part 1 finished in December 2020 with 97 chapters collected into 11 volumes.
A Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories novel was created by Sakaku Hishikawa and Fujimoto. The story takes place in the time frame of manga Part 1 since it features Denji and Power among other characters. The novel was reprinted in 2022 and by late November 2022, it had 100,000 copies in circulation.
The Chainsaw Man manga Part 2 release date was on July 13, 2022. The first volume to contain chapters from Part 2, Chainsaw Man Volume 12, was released on October 4, 2022. The second part also moved the manga series from Weekly Shonen Jump to Shueisha’s Shonen Jump Plus online digital magazine.
The Chainsaw Man Volume 13 release date was on January 4, 2023.
The manga sequel featured Denji going to school. It was a controversial transition since the story started from the viewpoint of a different character, high schooler Asa Mitaka.
North American publisher VIZ Media is releasing the Chainsaw Man manga’s English translation in the USA and other English-speaking countries. As of June 7, 2022, the English Chainsaw Man manga was caught up with Volume 11.
Many fans of the series agree that manga did not become deserving of its lofty status until the second half of Chainsaw Man Part 1. Even though the anime’s first season doesn’t reach that point in the story the Chainsaw Man reviews were great even for the introductory arc.
Perhaps this overly positive reaction was due to all the hype and anticipation that had been built up prior to the premiere. But it’s a fact that the first season managed to briefly reach the Top 10 Anime list on MyAnimeList similar to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and SPY x FAMILY.
Some of the positive reviews are due to the way the initial story deconstructs stereotypical shounen ideals such as living for a bigger goal. The main trio of the “Hayakawa family” is fun to watch and poor, traumatized Denji is the “simple” hero of the common man struggling through work days just to put a meager meal on the table yet wondering if there’s more to life.
In contrast to the lofty praise, there was some backlash against Studio MAPPA relying on CGI effects for the action scenes. Granted, there were some rough edges here and there but overall MAPPA managed to merge 3D and 2D animation in a fairly seamless fashion. Those who ranked the first season poorly solely based on such nitpicking often hate 3D animation in general.
What’s undeniable is that the streaming performance was very good since the first season often topped the charts in Fall 2022 for Crunchyroll’s Most Popular anime list.
What’s more, the boost to Chainsaw Man manga sales was very significant, although not quite as good as the super mega boost seen by Jujutsu Kaisen or Tokyo Revengers (both Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 and Tokyo Revengers Season 2 are coming out in 2023).
Just days before the anime’s premiere in October 2022, the Chainsaw Man manga had 16 million copies (including digital) in circulation for Part 1. By the first week of November 2022, it was reported that the CSM manga had reached 18 million copies in circulation with 12 volumes, which meant that the series grew by 2 million copies in less than a month. Even better, on November 17, 2022, it was announced that manga circulation had reached 20 million copies, which means another 2 million copies were sold in roughly 2 weeks!
The boost to older volumes was also notable in October 2022 since the first two volumes crossed 1 million physical copies during those weeks. Moving into early November 2022, there was an increase in backlog volume sales. All of this data can be explained by the expected anime boost to manga sales.
On the other hand, Oricon data reveals that Volume 12 (the first volume of Chainsaw Man Part 2) sold 381,000 physical copies in 20 days, whereas Volume 11 sold 448,000 in 18 days. Part of this downturn can be explained by the manga’s hiatus in addition to the number of digital subscriber readers increasing on Shonen Jump+. Plus, fans that are new to the series have to catch up on reading the older volumes before they purchase Chainsaw Man Part 2 volumes.
As previously mentioned, the first several story arcs are fairly simplistic so the anime’s story won’t hit its stride until the Chainsaw Man anime sequel. Thus, it’s possible that Chainsaw Man Season 2 will cause an even bigger surge in manga sales and result in the series reaching mega-hit status.
Chainsaw Man manga compared to the anime’s first season
When an anime series adapts a story that’s based on a light novel or manga the script and series composition writer will always need to make concessions in order to fit the plot into the time constraints of the TV episodic format. The Japanese cour system is especially strict since they typically only get 11 to 13 episodes, which means there is a hard limit to what can be adapted faithfully
The biggest issue in general in the anime industry is that the anime producer typically decides how much source material will be adapted by a single season. In this case, Studio MAPPA has complete control over how the anime will be adapted.
When it came to the adaptation pacing, the first season averaged 3.16 chapters adapted per episode, which is completely normal pacing for an adaptation of a weekly manga. While some dialogue and scenes were cut the anime made up for it by extending the action sequences and adding emotionally-touching moments that were not in the manga.
Some manga fans may argue that the frenzied story pacing of the manga demands more than 2 cours (and a movie) for adapting 97 chapters. But even with just 2 cours, the Chainsaw Man anime would still be better than Studio MAPPA’s first adaptation of The God of Highschool anime, which wedged 112 chapters into only 13 episodes.
The goal for the studio MAPPA writers is to hit the major plot beats while reaching the best stopping point that provides a good climax for the season… even if that means that certain issues do not receive full plot resolution and are left hanging for the next season. Thus certain scenes and dialogue will hit the cutting room floor with a dull, resounding thud. Manga purists then erupt into a bloody panic as they spin about the internet spewing vitriol only to be viciously cut down by reality.
Thankfully, with the exception of some minor changes to the beginning of the story the adaptation was very good since it adapted almost everything except for one small mini arc. Here’s a guide to how the anime adapted the manga:
- Chainsaw Man Episode 1 – Chapter 1
- Chainsaw Man Episode 2 – Chapters 2 (partial), 3, 4
- Chainsaw Man Episode 3 – Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
- Chainsaw Man Episode 4 – Chapters 9, 10, 11
- Chainsaw Man Episode 5 – Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15
- Chainsaw Man Episode 6 – Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18
- Chainsaw Man Episode 7 – Chapters 18, 19, 20, 21
- Chainsaw Man Episode 8 – Chapters 22, 23, 24, 25
- Chainsaw Man Episode 9 – Chapters 26, 27, 28
- Chainsaw Man Episode 10 – Chapters 29, 30, 31
- Chainsaw Man Episode 11 – Chapters 32, 33, 34, 35
- Chainsaw Man Episode 12 – Chapters 35, 36, 37, 38 (first 22 pages), 40 (cameo)
Chainsaw Man Episode 1 was very faithful to the source material since it only adapted the first chapter, which was longer than usual for the manga. The episode even extended the Zombie Devil fight and revealed “the door” early on as foreshadowing without overdoing it since only manga readers would recognize what it meant at first.
But Chainsaw Man Episode 2 began making cuts to the manga’s story by skipping the introductory arc about the Muscle Devil, a creature that embodied the fear of muscles. But at least we got to see intricately animated udon noodles!
The only reason this skipped Muscle Devil mini-arc was important was that it showed just how manipulative and sadistic devils could be in addition to giving more impact to Denji’s claim that he would be friends with a devil if possible. When Denji first encountered the snake-like Muscle Devil after already merging with Pochita, a young girl tried to stop him from killing the “good devil” since he allegedly had saved her from an abusive father.
In reality, the seemingly innocent Muscle Devil had taken the little girl prisoner to torture her and used the girl to get Denji to take his guard down since he was conflicted about whether good devils existed based on his experience with Pochita. The mini-arc conveyed the message that even little girls couldn’t be trusted in this bizarre world.
Certainly, this conflict continues to play a role in the anime as Denji continues to believe that it’s possible that good devils exist. Despite Power’s betrayal, her introductory story arc also made it clear that devils or Fiends could choose to make friends and be self-sacrificial in their actions.
Warning: The following paragraph implies a major spoiler.
It was also nice to hear Makima’s voice since the opening chapters could have been interpreted as her being warm-hearted and genuinely flirty with Denji. Instead, the neutral tone and the way the lines were said definitely gave the first impression of a psychopath… especially when she coldly spoke about putting down useless dogs. Seeing Makima’s eyes animated and colored like Power’s eyes made it even more noticeable that something isn’t quite right. The anime also makes it clear that the only reason Denji doesn’t notice the early sinister red flags is that he’s starved for affection and lacks social skills due to his upbringing (or lack thereof since he also didn’t attend school).
Another bit of foreshadowing is that Makima’s office contained art from Gustave Dore’s paintings about The Divine Comedy. The art in Makima’s house was from Paradise Lost.
One problem with Chainsaw Man Episode 3 is that it didn’t do a good job of explaining that the devil power system embodies the phobias of humanity. When Makima talks to Aki Hayakawa about devils she does note that the name of a devil implies a gravitas, and as such implies that a Chainsaw devil should be powerful, but to be fair the manga didn’t provide a decent explanation until the Gun Devil arc.
Hearing the voice of Aki’s Kon also solidified her as the foxy devil. Which only makes sense…
Another notable change is that the father and little girl saved by Denji during the Muscle Devil fight were shifted to the fight with Bat Devil. As with the previous fight, MAPPA extended the Bat Devil fight with extra details. But that shouldn’t be surprising considering that the CSM manga focused more on characterization rather than raw action.
Chainsaw Man Episode 4 continued that trend by extending the Leech Devil fight by having Denji use that Star Wars AT-AT rope trick to trip up the villain. Another new anime-only addition was showing Aki doing chores around the house. Otherwise, the fourth episode stuck more closely to the source material.
Chainsaw Man Episode 5 made it clear that Denji touching Power’s chest (pads) was completely unsatisfying and unsexy since it’s important for pushing the narrative forward. It’s in this moment of disappointment and emptiness that Denji blossoms into a multi-dimensional character upon the realization that what he really desires is to feel an intimate connection to somebody rather than simply round second base. This episode dispels the notion that he’s simply “Grape Cosby” Mineta from My Hero Academia despite still being a lady’s man at heart.
Makima’s seduction made it clear to dispassionate observers that she was ruthless and didn’t really care about Denji. But despite being portrayed as a cynical manipulator the anime didn’t give any further hints about her motives for doing either good or evil.
Speaking of evil, it’s mentioned in Episode 5 that the Gun Devil killed 1.2 million people in 5 minutes, but the manga actually gave a breakdown based on country:
- Japan: 25 seconds, 57,912 deaths.
- USA: 124 seconds, 548, 012 deaths
- China: 37 seconds, 316, 932 deaths
- Canada: 7 seconds. 8, 481 deaths.
- Soviet Union: 210 seconds, 155, 302 seconds
- Hawaii: 0.4 seconds, 780, deaths
- Mexico: 2 seconds: 6, 088 deaths
- India: 15 seconds, 29, 950 deaths.
In the manga, the Gun Devil narration listed the wall of casualties in a scary clinical fashion whereas the anime provided a montage of countries that were attacked. Unfortunately, this presentation of the facts didn’t adequately convey the insane speed at which the Gun Devil kills its victims.
The Chainsaw Man Episode 5 ED was also neat since the Horsemen of the Apocalypse imagery teased spoilers that only manga readers would recognize.
Chainsaw Man Episodes 5 and 6 made manga readers remember exactly why they hated Kobeni Higashiyama … at least at first. The Eternity Devil arc was also a major turning point in the popularity of the manga since these chapters defined the eerily nutty tone and themes moving forward, never mind the drunk vomit kiss of Chainsaw Man Episode 7.
The cinematography in Chainsaw Man Episode 8 was amazing in how it redid the drunk-in-bed scene from the first-person perspective of Himeno. When the assassination and the fighting started, the anime made it more clear that Himeno realized she was dying by coughing up blood. The way she looked at Aki before making the decision to give up her body to Ghost made the scene much more impactful.
Chainsaw Man Episode 9 featured Kobeni timidly confronting the sliced-in-half Denji’s assailants Hebi and Katana Man before kicking their butts. The way the scene played out wasn’t exactly like the manga, but it turns out the anime worked in some of the creator’s original ideas.
Tatsuki Fujimoto tweeted, “The latest [episode] of Chainsaw Man was interesting! In the original setting of the manga, Kobeni-chan uses Arai-kun as a shield. I drew the scene for that, but there was no place to put it in the manga. The sequencing of images didn’t make sense so, in the end, I had to leave that scene out. I thought it would be nice to have it now!”
Some fans were critical of the way the English subtitles translated Future Devil’s line about Aki’s death in Chainsaw Man Episode 11. In the manga, it was simply translated as, “Because in the future, you’re going to die in the worst possible way!” The anime version certainly changed the tone of the line by having him say, “Your death in the future will f*cking rule,” although it could be argued this translation fits Future Devil’s personality and his speech mannerisms.
Chainsaw Man Episode 12 ended like it started by bookending with the door scene and Pochita’s voice. But it also showed Reze walking down an alley and gave her the line about the city mouse and the country mouse.
Everything that was shown after Makima made her report about the incident was an anime-original ending except for Reze and the door. One very nice anime-only addition was showing Aki smoking Himeno’s last cigarette which was labeled Easy Revenge just like the title of Chapter 38. Thus, he kept his promise to Himeno that the last cigarette he smoked would be the one she gave him.
All in all, the first season’s finale, Chainsaw Man Episode 12, found a stopping point by combining elements from the middle of manga Volume 5: Chapters 38 and 40, which is when Reze first showed up.
This stopping point allows the story to wind down from that crazy scene when Denji and Aki engage in a “ball-kicking tournament” as a requiem for the fallen Himeno.
Still, this bittersweet stopping point leaves just as many questions since Gun Devil is still on the move. And then there’s Denji’s dream about Pochita warning him about “the door”…
The door scene came from the final pages of Chapter 38, which also had Denji waking up from the dream only to see that Power has unexpectedly sprouted long horns! Presumably, this scene will be adapted by the anime sequel.
Although the Chainsaw Man anime sequel was teased by showing Reze and letting audiences hear her voice, it was odd that the final scene was not at the movie theaters since the OP video teased it from the beginning. Stopping with that scene would have offered a better semblance of plot resolution since Makima actually provides some heartfelt guidance for a worry that has been nagging at Denji.
Why Chainsaw Man Movie: Bomb Girl Arc seems plausible
Since the first cour only had 12 episodes it’s believed by some fans that a Chainsaw Man movie becomes necessary based on the pacing of the manga’s story. In order to finish adapting manga Part 1, the Public Safety Saga, the 2nd cour of the anime TV series will need to be extra long like Attack On Titan: The Final Season Part 1, perhaps 15 or 16 episodes.
But it just so happens that the Chainsaw Man: Bomb Girl Arc is conveniently placed in the middle of the Public Safety Saga. With only 13 chapters (14 when you include Chapter 39), the story arc would be the perfect fit for adapting into a film that has a runtime of fewer than 1.5 hours.
The chapters are filled with action sequences that can be quickly adapted by animation, but MAPPA could also extend the fights as they’ve done with the first season. The final big fight is also so large scale and involves so many moving pieces from a typhoon that the animation quality would be better if produced on a movie budget. There’s also one particularly epic moment that would be better seen on the big screen.
It’d also make sense to adapt the Bomb Girl Arc as a film based on TV censorship issues since it contains one full-frontal nude scene and a lot of partial female nudity during action sequences (Bomb Girl even calls a “time out” and complains about fighting while naked). While a still manga panel can conveniently position objects to block the reader’s view of the character that’ll be difficult to pull off in animated form.
The only problem with adapting the Bomb Girl Arc as a movie is that it ends on a fairly dour note (although Power does her best to cheer up Denji). But the same could be said for the ending of the first season.
Regardless, adapting the Bomb Girl Arc as a movie solves more problems than it creates. Since the first cour adapted most of the first 38 chapters then the film could adapt these 14 chapters, then Chainsaw Man Season 2 would only need to adapt 34 chapters to finish the Public Safety Saga. That would make it easier for Japanese TV broadcasters since the second season would fit into the conventional broadcasting time slots.
Chainsaw Man: Bomb Girl anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: It’s possible that these spoilers may pertain to a Chainsaw Man movie rather than Chainsaw Man Season 2. This summary also attempts to hide certain major spoilers so anime-only readers can enjoy them.
Does Denji actually have a heart? Everyone wants a piece of the Chainsaw Man heart, but Denji is questioning his own emotional capacity since he wonders if his own heart is gone or replaced.
In the aftermath of the Katana Man incident, Denji goes on a movie date with Makima! When Denji poses the question that has been bugging him, Makima answers by confirming that he has a heart by listening to his chest.
But Denji is still filled with questions and conflicting desires. Denji so, so, so desires a real girlfriend. But when he stops and thinks about it, every woman in his life has attempted to kill him at one point or another.
Denji is convinced that his heart already belongs to Makima, but when he bumps into a cute new girl named Reze he quickly falls in love. They meet up at a cafe where Reze works and they instantly bond.
Poor Denji is conflicted since when he envisions his future he sees both Makima and Reze! But a wonderful night with Reze where they go skinny-dipping in a pool together is more than enough to convince him that he wants to run away with the new girl even if she is a little more than crazy.
Denji’s heart may be in turmoil but everyone else just wants a piece of the Chainsaw Devil’s heart. A killer is sent by the Typhoon Devil to target those who Denji loves and Reze fits the bill perfectly.
It’s the appearance of the mysterious Bomb Devil that tears out Denji’s heart once again. The fearsome female opponent ruthlessly rips into Denji’s allies in the Public Safety squad with the help of the Typhoon Devil but some of her actions make Denji reconsider where he stands. Who will Denji choose: Reze or Makima?
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Chainsaw Man Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!