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Is Nail Fiend actually the Curse Devil?

It was awesome to see the Nail Fiend (and Katana Man) return this chapter

Back when the Nail Fiend was first introduced, a common theory has been that rather than being possessed by the Nail Devil, they are actually the fiend-ified Curse Devil. Opinions on this theory seem to be pretty divided, and since the Nail Fiend is coming back into the spotlight with this latest chapter, I felt it would be worthwhile to make a post re-evaluating this theory in its entirety.

The main reason for this theory is that the Curse Devils choice of weapon is a nail, just like the fiend's, with both Aki and Santa Claus needing to pierce their victims with a nail to trigger the Curse Devil's attack

In addition, the Curse Devils attack takes the form of a crucifixion, and when the "Nail Fiend" debuts, they hang up the church schoolkids with nails in a crucifix position.

There's also the fact that a Nail Devil doesn't really seem like they'd be that powerful at all under CSM's fear based system, and considering that fiends have a further reduction in power compared to devils, the speed and competence that the "Nail fiend" shows could be considered unreasonably powerful for just representing the concept of nails.

You could argue that the Nail Devil also represents the hammer and nail curse ritual (Ushi no toki mari) to give a reason for its power, but the Curse devil already clearly takes inspiration from that. It would be incredibly redundant to make the Nail Devil just represent the exact same thing as the Curse Devil, and it would make more sense to just re-use that devil, it's not like Fujimoto has had a problem with reintroducing devils from Part 1.

The main counterargument for this theory that I have seen is the fact that the fiend's introduction chapter was named "Guns, Nails, Katana", with people arguing that because the chapter title uses the word "Nail" that the fiend must then must be the Nail Fiend.

I don't think this argument really holds any weight, the chapter had "Nails" in the title because the fiend used a bunch of nails and the chapter title was describing what happened in the chapter. It's like how the "Guns" in the title refers to how the chainsaw church followers used a bunch of guns, not that they were contracted with the Gun Devil. If anything the title "Guns, Curse, Katana" would be really strange and out of place, because it would be revealing something that wasn't actually revealed in the chapter itself.

At the end of the day this theory is still unconfirmed though, and we'll really just have to wait until we see the Nail Fiend show off a bit more of their powers before we can really call it one way or the other. Though I am definitely hoping to see some curse action in the upcoming chapters.

Also: if they really are the Curse Fiend, then them being paired up with Katana Man is pretty funny, considering they straight up murdered him in Part 1. This fact doesn't really affect the likeliness of the theory, but I think it's pretty neat.

#csm #chainsaw man #csm manga #csm spoilers #chainsaw man part 2 #chainsaw man spoilers #csm analysis #csm theory #nail fiend #csm 159 #katana man #csm part 2 #curse devil

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The Guillotine Devil's Incredibly Well-Executed Design

The Guillotine Devil has quickly become one of my all-time favorite devil designs in Chainsaw Man.

The exceedingly tall stature of the devil perfectly captures the tall and unwieldy shape of an actual guillotine, and while I would like to say a little more of substance with this post than just "it looks cool"… it cannot be overstated how fucking cool this design looks. The long wings of the bird creating a circular cloak that doubles as the frame of the guillotine is genius.

The skeletal "body" of the devil, if you can even call it that, hangs limply so that attention is drawn to the guillotine device itself, which adds a wonderfully cold and unsettling element to the design, fitting for a cold metal murder machine.

The bird motifs that have been present throughout Part 2 are on full display here, with a design that harkens back to the crows that have been seen throughout the series (Most notably the one Denji stepped on), but with a pigeon head to emphasize its birdbrained nature.

With a tilted head the devil echoes Fami's own signature scale-tilting lean to draw a connection between itself and its owner, similarly to how the Falling devils love of cooking connects it to the food-loving Famine devil.

But while the tilted head's similarity to Fami is great, my favourite aspect would have to be the way that the entire upper body of the Guillotine Devil resembles a severed head after an execution, with the feathers around its shoulders creating a birds-nest-looking basket much like those placed under a guillotine.

Fujimoto absolutely cooked with this design.

#csm #csm manga #chainsaw man #csm spoilers #csm 158 #chainsaw man part 2 #chainsaw man spoilers #chainsaw man analysis #guillotine #guillotine devil #famine devil #fami #csm part 2 #csm analysis #character design

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oh, to live a mundane life. how sweet and how cruel can it be.

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The Tragedy of Hayakawa Aki - chainsaw man, tatsuki fujimoto

grief lessons: four plays by euripides, anne carson // chainsaw man, tatsuki fujimoto // deathless, catherynne m. valente // “untitled,” 2016, ink on paper, kara walker // james, clementine von radics // slide tackle, japanese breakfast // how to cure a ghost, fariha róisín // red glove, holly black // the letter, richard paul evans // interview with james hall, richard siken // ptolemaea, ethel cain // iq84, haruki murakami // the godfather, mario puzo // god's silence, franz wright // crush, richard siken // tumblr user ojibwe // when i was done dying, dan deacon

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I know that alot of people think that Denji and Nayuta are going to run into Yoru at their apartment, but honestly I think it's more likely that they run into Fami there.

The idea of Fami ending up in their apartment at some point has already been set up with the house rules. Not to mention how suspiciously absent Fami has been in the events so far despite being directly responsible for everything that is going on currently.

The entire reason that Denji and Nayuta want to go home is because they are worried about their pets starving. And if Fami IS at the apartment, then the implications are... concerning.

#chainsaw man #csm #csm manga #csm spoilers #asa mitaka #csm 149 #famine devil #denji #nayuta

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Nayuta didn't just inherit Denji's good qualities huh

#chainsaw man #csm #csm manga #csm spoilers #csm 149 #denji #nayuta

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God but Asa wasn't even the person who kissed him then, it was Yoru trying to turn him into a weapon, this is so fucking sad.

#chainsaw man #csm #csm149 #denji #asa mitaka #yoru #csm manga #csm spoilers #mitaka asa #nayuta #csm part 2

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The Truth Behind Famine, Fakesaw, and the Falling Devil

Welp, I promised that I would make a full post about my opinions on Fakesaw, but the only way to do so is a full analysis of the previous arc. Ever since the Falling Devil arc, it seems that the pervasive belief about Fakesaw Man is that he is working against Fami, but I completely disagree, in fact I believe that Fakesaw saving Asa and Denji in Hell was all a part of Fami's plan.

Super quick recap, while Falling is attempting to serve Asa to the residents of Hell, Denji attempts to fight her but is defeated, then a mysterious person appears and uses their blood to revive him. Later on while Denji is trying to escape Hell with Asa, Fakesaw Man shows up and carves up Falling, saving Asa and Denji.

First off, who is the mystery man who feeds Denji blood? Well this one is pretty straight-forward, it is most likely the Church's resident Sword Hybrid: Miri Sugo. Not only do his shoes match the mystery man but they have been a consistent aspect of his design even in part 1 (None of the other hybrids were even given detailed shoes but for some reason Fujimoto chose to specifically give detail to Miri's).

The motive for Miri to help Denji in this way is obvious, he likes Denji and feels indebted to him after being saved from Makima's control. But one thing that isn't obvious is the question of opportunity, Miri happened to be in exactly the right place to save Denji from Falling, even though the entirety of the Falling Devil's attack took so little time that Public Safety was unable to effectively send a real response other than nearby devil hunters.

The fact that the Falling Devil was about to be unleashed on earth was completely unknown to Public Safety right up until the moment it happened, and Fami isn't exactly just going to tell random members of the church that she is responsible for the biggest devil attack on Japan since the Gun Devil. The only way that Miri could have been on the scene in time is if he was ordered to be there by Fami.

This directly contradicts Fami's stated plan of starving Yoru, and it isn't the only contradiction. The hard-cut to Nayuta in school does a good job of hiding it, but the chapter where Fami explains her plan to Nayuta actually hides a vital clue towards Fami's REAL goal. Asa is unconscious during this chapter, and she wakes up next chapter lying on a couch in a hospital. So here's a question, how did she get there?

Denji didn't take her there, he was unconscious. So it must have been either Nayuta or Fami, but Nayuta doesn't even like Asa. Plus she doesn't seem to have any qualms about Fami turning War into a pawn, considering that once Fami explains the plan her only problem with it is that she is busy with school. So Nayuta would have left Fami alone with Asa. Fami then - instead of taking advantage of Asa being unconscious to try and starve her - brought Asa to a hospital. Why?

Because taking Asa to the hospital while she is unconscious creates a very important misconception in Asa's mind, it makes her believe that she was saved by Chainsaw Man, and what does Famine immediately do after the events of the Falling devil arc?

Put simply, the entire Falling Devil attack was nothing more than a performance, Miri saving Denji, Fakesaw attacking Falling, it was all part of the plan. Fami never intended to harm Asa in any way, she instead wanted Denji to save Asa in order to make her indebted to Chainsaw Man. Fami then immediately uses that sense of gratitude and responsibility, combined with a photo prepared in advance, to achieve what this entire arc was about…

Getting Asa and Yoru to join the church.

#csm #chainsaw man #csm manga #csm spoilers #asa mitaka #denji #denji hayakawa #famine #fami #falling devil #fakesawman #miri sugo #nayuta #chainsaw man part 2 #war devil #mitaka asa #yoru

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Yoshida and Public Safety

In light of the latest chapter, I want to say that it genuinely cannot be overstated how important it is to Yoshida's characterization to understand that he says "I" when he is talking about actions he is personally choosing to take, and "We" when he is talking about Public Safety's orders/actions.

It was Public Safety's call to kidnap Nayuta, and Yoshida then chose to kidnap Denji in order to keep the situation under control and deliver his ultimatum.

Yoshida specifically brings Denji to the protestors as a warning, we now know thanks to the latest chapter that Public Safety does want to neutralize Denji and is perfectly happy with putting him down. Yoshida makes it clear that he thinks Denji should no longer transform into chainsaw man to avoid further escalating the situation.

Public Safety are gearing up to kill/imprison Nayuta independently of Yoshida, the situation isn't that Public Safety kidnapped Nayuta in order to convince Denji to stop being Chainsaw Man, Public Safety is neutralizing Nayuta because she is the control devil, and Yoshida's ultimatum is to try and prevent this from happening.

Yoshida slips up and drops the act here because he is upset at things not going to plan, he refers to Public Safety as if they are completely separate from himself, an organization he has no say in or control over.

Yoshida's distress is made even more appropriate with the reveal that Public Safety is completely fine with Denji being turned into a weapon due to his continued autonomy being inconvenient for them.

And of course:

Since Public Safety want Asa to turn Denji into a weapon, Yoshida telling Asa to stay away from Denji here is a flagrant act of rebellion against Public Safety in order to protect Denji. And, considering that Public Safety has surveillance on Denji, their first move after Asa turns him into a weapon would most likely be to instantly order Special Division 7 to kill her and take the weapon. Him issuing this order is also protecting Asa from Public Safety.

Yoshida is a lot more than just some heartless Public Safety lackey.

#chainsaw man #csm #csm manga #yoshida hirofumi #csm yoshida #hirofumi yoshida #chainsaw man spoilers #csm spoilers #csm 145 #csm analysis #csm theory #yoshida

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Umm… Does Public Safety know how Barem triggers his hybrid form? It's not like any of the other hybrids still have their memories from when they were under Makima's control.

I'm asking this because if they DON'T know, and they try to lock him up with the same method they used on Denji (Stripped down, then tied up to prevent activating starter), they'll be in for a nasty surprise when he clicks his tooth with his tongue.

#chainsaw man #csm #csm manga #csm barem #barem #csm 145

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I'd like my analyses to reflect a single idea: see how Chainsaw Man is so RICH, that the smallest detail in a chapter is overflowing with meaning and can be exploited? How much Fujimoto loves his audience, knowing full well that his readers can cope with a story with so many facets and so much complexity?

I love chapter 145 so much, it says everything and nothing at the same time, it's up to us to draw the conclusions

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I agree that Nayuta saving Denji and Asa wasn't part of the plan, but i do think that Fami was lying to her. I'll make a full theory post soon.

It's honestly kind of wild that the prevailing opinion on Fakesaw Man seems to be that him saving Denji and Asa from Falling Devil means that he isn't on Fami's side and is some sort of traitor. I honestly don't agree with this take at all. I should probably make a more detailed post about this but I really think that Fakesaw saved Denji and Asa on Famine's orders.

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It's honestly kind of wild that the prevailing opinion on Fakesaw Man seems to be that him saving Denji and Asa from Falling Devil means that he isn't on Fami's side and is some sort of traitor. I honestly don't agree with this take at all. I should probably make a more detailed post about this but I really think that Fakesaw saved Denji and Asa on Famine's orders.

#chainsaw man #chainsaw man manga #fakesawman #csm #csm manga

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No, Power Hasn't Been Forgotten

I saw someone on twitter the other day say that Fujimoto had forgotten about Power, they genuinely tried to argue that he has dropped the Blood Devil storyline in Part 2. Obviously I know that most chainsaw man fans aren’t this dense, but the post did get me thinking about the fact that some people aren't really aware of how the Blood Devil storyline is being setup in Part 2, which is crazy because Power has been referenced in every single arc of Part 2 so far.

In the Justice Devil arc, Denji's literal first scene is him saving a cat that is clearly modelled after Power's blood devil form (Not to mention the fact that cats are a motif strongly associated with Power). The idea of Denji ignoring a choice put in front of him to instead save a cat (Power) is definitely some sort of symbolic foreshadowing for future events, though it's too soon to predict exactly how.

In the Endless Aquarium arc, Denji refers directly to Power, clearly showing that he still thinks about her, and In the Falling Devil arc, we literally see Power, manifesting in Denji's flashback. I know it's easy to sort of disregard this as a wink-wink nudge-nudge bit of fanservice to bring back memories of Part 1, but that sort of thing is honestly pretty uncommon with Fujimoto.

Every instance of a side character returning to Part 2 from Part 1 has been preceded by basically no direct references to the character ahead of time. Both Quanxi and Katana Man appear out of nowhere, and Kishibe – who given recent events is almost certainly making a comeback – has similarly received no direct mentions or even allusions yet.

I think the fact that Fujimoto is setting up Power / The Blood Devil so early clearly shows that she is going to be an important part of the narrative.

And finally, in the current arc, when Denji is talking to Pochita in the toilet, Meowy enters and then the scene ends. Meowy is clearly symbolically representing Power here (Meowy has only ever been relevant to the plot in their relation to Power), and is being presented as a clear counterpoint to Denji's assertion that he no longer needs to fight. Not only are there consistent references to Power, but this one – even more obviously than "Save the Cat" – positions her as a crucial narrative piece of Denji's dilemma going forward.

I hope this hasn't all been a bit too obvious, it's definitely possible that most fans have noticed this already, but honestly I just want everyone to be on the same page regarding Power's involvement in Part 2. Not only will the Blood Devil be a major plot point in Part 2 in the future, she already is one now.

#chainsaw man #power #power chainsaw man #csm manga #csm spoilers #chainsaw man theory #chainsaw man discussion #blood devil

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Umm. The implications of this parallel on the direction Asa's character will take are... concerning

#chainsaw man #csm #csm143 #asa mitaka #mitaka asa #csm spoilers #csm 143 #chainsaw man spoilers

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Holy shit

#chainsaw man #csm #csm manga