#denji meta.

[jikoku-a]

denji / ✧ jjk verse !

born in the outskirts of tokyo, denji was brought up in poverty by a sickly mother and an alcoholic father, with neither parent aware of jujutsu. just four years after his birth, his mother died from heart disease, her family left with a sizeable debt of forty million yen as a result of years of failed treatments.

his father's alcoholism only grew from there, and his verbal outbursts became physical. at the age of six, denji's cursed technique manifested in an act of self defense, and he killed his father. shortly after, the oyabun of the yakuza faction would discover the boy alongside the corpse. the incident was determined a suicide to allow them to continue to collect their debt from denji, who developed dissociative amnesia and believed the circumstances of his father's death to be true.

with little he could do to make up the balance owed at his age, denji was put to work as a curse user. dangerous exorcisms aside, he would aid in bigger criminal operations and collecting bounties on both sorcerers and civilians to be given a marginal cut of the payout. for shelter, he was given a run down shed in the back of one of the yakuza's properties, where he would live with his dog pochita.

after being coerced into selling his organs ( testicle, kidney ) to pay off more of his debt at fifteen, denji was falsely called out to a job by the oyabun, who sought to get rid of him as he began to question his little pay. nearly killed by the powerful cursed spirit present there, he was saved by government contracted sorcerers on the scene, who performed the exorcism and brought him in to be treated for his wounds. once his past affiliation was revealed, he was taken into custody for his crimes and charged. with his only other option being execution, denji chose to attend school at tokyo jujutsu high.

denji is currently a second year and a grade 2 sorcerer. he is able to utilize cursed energy to form 'chainsaws' of cursed energy at his arms and head, though he can only activate his ability through a cord in his chest. despite his rank, he's currently on 'probation' due to his unpredictable nature and history, and is not allowed to go on missions without another grade 2 or grade 1 sorcerer present to subdue him if necessary. due to his unique circumstances, he almost always accompanies grade 1 sorcerers, meaning the higher ups aren't too concerned about him meeting the execution he subverted at the hands of a cursed spirit instead.

#denji meta. #this is a post because #i know i'll never finish denji's bio oTL #i really wanted to implement p/ochita as a cursed spirit that #becomes his heart like in canon? #but i figured that'd make him too much of a special case #ANOTHER special high schooler that avoids execution #so it's just his technique! #and pochita's just his dog #he hasn't gone to school basically ever #but he's good at fighting! and that's really all they need from him

[iridescentscarecrow]

there's something so human and compelling to asa's wants. a grappling with her fear of being perceived in her clumsiness but then that raw sense of being acknowledged, her little grin. she's so real it hurts.

#UMM. #umm. i wrote a whole para in the rbs abt denji//asa parallels re the screen if that. if thats anyth #chainsaw man #csm meta #im normal abt her #crow.txt #csm spoilers #csm 138 #asa mitaka

[chilled-ice-cubes]

thinking about kobeni

like yeah she’s the comic relief butt monkey but there’s something about her being the only one of the devil hunter squad (arai, himeno, aki, kobeni) to escape death and resign from the bureau that feels important. she’s younger than the other three and unlike them she’s working at the bureau not out of her own will but because it’s better than being prostituted out by her family. she’s exploited by her family to send money back home so her brother can go through college and basically treated as an indentured labourer. she chauffeurs them around in the car she bought!

kobeni is probably the closest parallel denji has in the manga. she’s a “dog” too and her master is her family. like denji she accepts being exploited in exchange for money and fulfillment of the most basic needs.

kobeni is a denji who’s resigned to the system. she joins the bureau because her family makes her, she joins family burger (the abusive business she works at as a temp employee is literally called family burger! fujimoto stop this) because her family is still forcing her to work and send them money and when denji tells her of his realisation that he’ll always be someone’s dog, she counters by telling him that this is what normal life is like.

and like. for a moment denji believes her. everything he’s gone through should make him wholeheartedly believe kobeni’s world view. but then after he sees the broadcast he realises that in spite of all the pain and suffering, being chainsaw man has still made his life better. a “normal life” isn’t one free from bad things, it’s one where you can aspire beyond the bare minimum, where you’re not treated like an animal and have to focus solely on surviving.

#basically kobeni and denji have a lot of parallels and their last convo is peak csm #free my girlie fujimoto i wanna see her again #kobeni best girl actually #chainsaw man #kobeni higashiyama #csm: mine #anya.txt #csm meta #(?) ig

[paintalyx]

explaining chainsaw man part 1: "you know, when you're 16 and also a boy it really does feel like every girl you try to talk to wants to murder you and like there are chainsaws shattering your body to bits every single day"

explaining chainsaw man part 2: "you know, when you're 16 and also a girl it really does feel like you can't take two steps without tripping and like the only person who wants to talk to you is the bloodthirsty demon possessing your body"

#my stuff #csm #chainsaw man #chainsaw man part 2 #csm part 2 #asa mitaka #denji hayakawa #chainsaw man is just an elaborate metaphor for puberty actually #someone asked me what csm was really about since i fanboy about it with my friends in the hallway every time a new chapter drops #and this was unironically my answer #i could probably churn out some semi serious meta on that if one hasn't been written already #if i only rub my remaining two shrivelled braincells hard enough to produce a coherent thought unrelated to college

[os-eclipses-tamen-son-yuri]

One of my favorite things about this arc from Part 2 is how Denji has a perpetual face of someone who's stumbled into the wrong room by accident and is completely out of the loop.

Which is precisely the point.

Denji is part of a narrative where everyone else is treating him as the idea of the (diegetic) character of "Denji/CSM". A narrative where he is supposed to play the character of "Denji/CSM".

This is no longer about the protagonist's story, but the story of the idea of him.

Denji is now a stranger in his own narrative.

#csm chapter 156 #csmmanga #csm manga #csm #csm spoilers #meta #csm meta #is it meta squared if im also in a way making assumptions on the idea of my perceived characterisation of denji? oh fujimoto your mind

[my-fancy-hat]

Introducing the Fall Devil as one of the Primal Fears tied this arc and maybe whole part 2 principal themes in one entire concept: the trip and fall into solitude and depresion in the starving desire for food, an allegory for our emotional needs, for connection, home. This chapter unpacked a lot of things and clear the landscape of Asa's modus operandis and psyche a bit more, as well as her dynamic with the rest of the cast incluiding her current motifs: cats and bucky, thematically speaking. Fall Devil supposedly is the first cheff in "cooking" nostradamus' prophecies, a direct request from the residents of hell, to feed hell's devils humans as food. She introduces just a taste, and appetizer like she calls it, of what is coming, and oh god it started really hard for Asa.

In the past I called Yoru unassertive for have chosen such an impractical person for her ends, after all Asa is a very lonely and awkward person who sucks to establish bonds, but now I kind of regret that statement, because in the recent flashback I did understand why Asa is the way she is and why the story chose her as War Devil's host: because she's self-loaded on guilt. Guilt is the special ingredient to make the perfect weapon, something that War Devil takes with pride. That's how Asa mutilates herself, prefers to sacrifice her own belongings and hurt herself instead of other people; she IS the perfect weapon for Yoru to use. Mitaka prefers cats rather than people, she doesn't know what's right or wrong in how she was willing to kill Denji even tho she knew he didn't deserve it, because when she trusted the wrong person to take care of her cat believing she did the right thing (the cat would feel better with other cats) it didn't end well, and in the aftermath, this person blamed Asa for having more than her and the other orphans that lost everything, as if this was rightful justice. Sounds familiar? yeah, Denji is his last breath in ch1 though the universe was punishing him for have wanted more, for having dreams of a better life. Here, Asa is punished for have loved more, in fact, the last memento of her death mother, a death that could have been easily prevented. Asa invalidates her feelings because acting on them have only made her fall, trip on the most crucial moments, to fail. She fell on top of Bucky, the devil she had to kill and eat, right after she had the epiphany she wanted to be recognized by her classmates, she fell while carrying Yuko from a certain death by the bat devil right after she decided to live by what she feels right, she fell and broke her cellphone right after she wanted to feel useful, she fell for Denji when he gave her attention and a couple of words of praise only to get stoop up in their 2nd date, she fell for Yoshida that easy because she's starving for companionship, and so on. She ends up right where she started, no changes. It's God punishment, she thinks. "She better off dead", no way of living is worthy for her, she's too little for such great things such as friendship, a boyfriend or family, hell, not even to have a pet.

Ironically, I believe the horsemen sisters and Denji will serve in Asa's proclamation of her own right to live (someone already tried but the narrative didn't want that *cofcof* Yuko). Kiga/Famine comfronts Asa with her needs not only for food, but for human connection, that's why her plan backfired because she and Denji bonded in the aquarium and worked together to escape and save everyone; Asa needs to recognize what she want. Yoru is already a less-friendly-Pochita for Asa, not only for have given her a 2nd chance to live (in a very controlled way) but in the sense to help her to take pride of her own life and feel unremorsed to fulfill her needs/dreams; it's ok to fail and trip. And lastly, Denji will help her to slowly open her heart and guide her way throught because, just like him, she's buried in regrets, past trauma and hunger too.

Denji *wasn't allowed to eat* cake, but went for it anyways and eat it with his bare hands, Asa *didn't bring herself to eat* fish, but at the end she took it in gag and tears.

To conclude this mess I just wrote and my personal thoughts, I love this new approach Fjmt is cooking aha it just hits right in my alley. Fall devil in her attacks kind of reminds me of Arael from Evangelion, the angel that invades Asuka's mind in showing her his deepest fears to defeat her. YES give me introspection and traumatic flashbacks. As Denji approach the area he will maybe have to face part 1's events in this mental landscape, to revive Aki and Power's deaths again, and if they both fall to hell, there's a chance he will encounter the gun devil and blood devil and worse the situation for him?! fuck. Here we go with the fucking doors again. I have no idea how they will defeat a primal fear devil tho, only Nayuta has the power to send her right back to hell if I have to bet. Anyways this looks promising af, I'm impatiently waiting for fujimoto to open the depression store next week

#asa mitaka #denji #csm #chainsaw man #chainsaw man spoilers #csm meta #i love asa sm i think she's my new fav character in the manga #reading

[suzu-kun22]

This made my stomach physically turn.

(I know I’m not the only one that thinks something is Off with Pochita but YALL something is fucking OFF with Pochita).

Also the fucking, horrific shit. Just, Denji has been repeatedly and unendingly violated over and over and fucking over again by people who wanted to use him. People who saw him as a means to an end. People who wanted to steal what little he had. Himeno and Reze and Makima and Yoshida and Fumiko. Denji transformed to save one of the few people who has never violated him. (Nayuta.)

And it gets him here. Violated in what might be the most brutal way so far.

I feel sick.

#chainsaw man #csm #csm 156 #denji #nayuta #csm spoilers #chainsaw man spoilers #yoshida hirofumi #makima #himeno #reze #pochita #csm meta #suzu speaks #tw gore

[sioboi]

denji in part 2 is such a great continuation of his character in part 1. being chainsaw man is so important to him because it’s the only way he’s ever gotten to be in a position of status and power. ever since he was a kid, he was forced to do others’ bidding. forced to pay a debt that wasn’t his.

early p1 denji believed that the key to his happiness was some sort of sexual gratification, but his experiences in public safety taught him the value of emotional connection. he learned what it was like to love another person as an equal, as a friend, as family. however, all those dreams shattered when makima broke them apart. he didn’t know what else to do with his life except take on a role of complete submission. he had nothing else.

denji wants to be chainsaw man so bad because he’s already had a family of his taken away from him. normal isn’t enough for him because he knows what it’s like for your normal life to get lost completely. being chainsaw man is all he has left. it’s the only way he can have some sort of control in his life. whether or not it’s the right choice , i don’t know. but control is what he needs.

#thoughts idk.. brainrot #i couldve missed something i havent reread p2 in sometime #im rereading all of csm from the beginning tho so 😭 #on my way! i guess #wait and #him being a kid in the latest chapter when he says i want to be csm!!! #its his dream!! #auhfgjfj fujimoto why do u do this to me #other #csm #chainsaw man #chainsaw man spoilers #denji #denji csm #csm part 2 #chainsaw man manga #csm spoilers #csm meta #csm 150

[belindarimbi13]

There's something heartwarming about Denji thinking of the answer for Aki's question while staring at their laundry outside.

I really love how the actual answer was being transmitted through this scene.

I wonder how little Denji's clothes before he met Aki and joined the Public Safety Hunter. I bet he never even hangs his laundry that much. And seeing how his clothes, Aki's, Power's hung out there... maybe it's small realization that he finally has family.

#denji chainsaw man #denji #aki hayakawa #hayakawa aki #hayakawa family #power chainsaw man #chainsaw man meta #chainsaw man #fujimoto tatsuki #tatsuki fujimoto

[ddenji]

asaden nation…. how are we feeling….

okay but on a real note…. denji acknowledging the way that violence informs all of his relationships and how he wants to escape that so badly!!! he wants something good and normal, or perhaps just normal to the extent that he’s not getting hurt, which is like the baseline thing you could ask for in a relationship!!! on the flipside, readers know that yoru was technically the one who kissed him & she is actively trying to kill him from inside the body of the girl he likes…. which does not seem promising for his goal of not getting hurt!!!! but also the girl he likes does like him, as both a human and chainsaw man no less, which does seem promising for his goal of being in a relationship!!! idk. to me, i feel like their relationship & how they treat each other is gonna be a big part of this story /the ending bc they’re both so vulnerable & desparate for connection. overall, fujimoto has set up some amazing tension from all angles regarding their relationship & when it’s resolved its either going to be amazing or soul crushing.

#chainsaw man #csm #chainsaw man manga spoilers #csm 149 #csm meta #spence.speaks #OKAYYYY listen. i have lots of thoughts on the ways that love and violence are intertwined in this story. #and i dont think fujimoto ever really separates them even in his truest depictions of love #but also denji deserves to not be hurt. he deserves to be HAPPYYYYY #im circling back around to they are both so vulnerable and desparate for connection: #they are they kind of love starved that will change the plot. like either it works out and then they both have something to fight for #or it doesnt and they both become so much worse. like i could see either of them facing one more rejection or instance of betrayal #and then deciding to fuck it and join the devils or let yoru do whatever she wants y'know?? #like the love means so much to them both and either it will be good or it will be so bad. personally

[iridescentscarecrow]

what frustrates me about fandom interpretations of makima as a one note Source of evil, apart from the fact that the manga itself refutes this, is that her character haunts and ties together so much of part two that it's impossible to fully understand without understanding her.

makima isn't ever a unilateral antagonistic force. she's an agent of the institutional evil that looms over all of CSM. she's in as much a commentary on gender and performance of gender as denji is.

and fjmt in part two enacts the "haunting the narrative" trope in such an interesting manner because you see flashes of makima in every female character. you see elements of her diluted into, most visibly, the characters of asa, nayuta and fumiko.

in asa, i see makima in that yearning for connection. i see her in the way that asa herself is fundamentally unable to approach the relationship of equals that she so desperately desires, partly due to her own social awkwardness but also because of yoru's threat: everyone she gets close to turns into a weapon. the fundamental inequality to human relationships that makima is unable to overcome.

during the aquarium date, you see asa echo makima again and again in lines that evoke makima's purposing of denji. that weaponising. "i'll grant you any request / save me chainsaw man! / you don't have to think about a thing."

and her connection with denji also founds itself upon this. yoshida talks to asa about parasocial relationships -- rerendering makima's idealisation of the CSM in how asa sees denji as a love interest. asa and denji parallel each other so organically in their gendered suppression and portrusion of desire. it's a punctuation of denji's search for intimacy that's mirrored by makima's in part one. exploring how asa is different from makima is perhaps the most intriguing part of this reflection though: an example being the way asa overthinks her outfit for her date with denji while makima seamlessly models herself into an Effortless woman.

[it's not like asa borrows just from makima. for example, there are things to be said about the way she views her Body (as compared with reze and quanxi) but examining how mkm's character bleeds into asaden is quite compelling.]

nayuta being the most visible remnant of what makima was is also interesting because makima herself appears so little in nayuta beyond the surface. nayuta's role as the control devil is hinted at frequently as is her appearance resembling makima's

but her and denji's dynamic more often echoes the hayakawa family and pochita than anything else. consider: aki giving up his goal (his 'easy revenge' that he finally sees for what it is) for the sake of his family, that warmth of blood and platonic bodily intimacy that power embodies--

it's all referenced to again with nayuta and denji, in direct panel callbacks and the plot itself! nayuta is The Family that makima constructs for denji in part one to pull him along the plot she prepares. i'm thinking about how makima is an allegory for capitalism. and what the family unit means in a capitalistic structure. the propagation of an ideal that hinges on birth and descendancy, about narrative and reproduction of narrative, about how nayuta births herself from makima and denji's relationship.

and this is also why nayuta herself exerts so much control over denji in the plot, as well as why she's used as a piece to control him. in part one, family was used to create the Chainsaw Man from denji. in part two, it's used to make denji abandon the Chainsaw Man, this icon that the church and the public now take possession of. [something something alienation of the worker from the product. from the collective. from the self.]

fumiko is perhaps the hardest to pin down here because her role evolves as the fandomisation of the Chainsaw Man evolves too. in fact, as a denji fan, she represents not just makima but multiple people who see something in and want something from denji! (think of how she references reze in her highlighting how denji is just a child; how reze uses her commentary on denji to engage with her Self. it's fandomisation,,, and what is makima but Chainsaw Man's fan?)

fumiko most obviously calls back to these wants and their conceptualisation of denji in the raw sexual violence that the events in the theater scene moving into the karaoke scene embody. the undercurrent of sa that runs through p1 and p2 is brought to the forefront in this scene -- denji falling back into these cycles of abuse, him slipping into habitating the wants of others (his initial horrified expression and then his grin during the fight. his initial inner monologue and then the cut to him licking the tentacle.)

so much of CSM rests on this fandom of denji, this theme of what production and idealisation means, one you can trace through fjmt's body of work. and this fandom reaches its crescendo in p2. what's even more interesting about fumiko is her pathos under this layer. her seeing denji as denji at some level but in the end, her handling of him is so selfish. her echoing makima's uninhibited laughter at the horror of denji's situation, her predatory cruelty. denji simultaneously humanised and dehumanised through her fandom.

fjmt's characters exist as foils, as parallels and ideas. makima's character has such a stranglehold over part one and these ideas run over into part two naturally -- as a consequence of denji being a reciever of these themes, but also deliberately in fjmt evoking the Thing that is makima repetitively -- to underscore the forever re emerging structure that denji and now asa are trapped in. the same structure that makima produced and was simultaneously caged by.

#csm #also ahaha this was written pre csm 150 and then they drop those lines on family. okay. sooo good #chainsaw man #denji #makima #asa mitaka #csm part 2 #huuge thanks to my friend wingdings banger thoughts on fumiko #crow.txt #csm meta #csm 150

[normal-thoughts-official]

Something something Hayakawa Family eternal cycle of sacrifice for each other something something. Aki being willing to lose his lifespan to save Denji. Denji willing to be eaten to keep Aki from losing his lifespan. Aki getting stabbed for Denji. Denji jumping into the Eternity Devil's mouth for Aki. Aki claiming he doesn't care about Denji but cant let him die because he wants to kill the Gun Devil, when we know that in the end he was willing to give up killing the Gun Devil so he could save Denji and Power. Aki giving up his life again and again for the single purpose of defeating the gun devil and then giving all of that up (and with it, the life he had given before) for Denji and Power. Staying, knowing that he's going to die, for Denji and Power. Making a contract no matter what it takes, for Denji and Power. Letting himself be killed for Denji and Power. Something something

#csm #chainsaw man #hayakawa family #hayakawa aki #aki hayakawa #denji #denji csm #csm denji #hayakawa denji #denji hayakawa #csm spoilers #csm manga spoilers #chainsaw man spoilers #chainsaw man manga spoilers #meta #kinda? idk

[neonscandal]

Manga With Me: CSM and the Concept of "Want" and "Home"

Completely blocking out the events of the first Chainsaw Man segment after reading it is not a unique experience. I am not alone in this phenomenon but one thing I always think about is the idea of "want" or "desire" and how it's this really messed up impetus for Denji to go on living, at least in the hands of Tatsuki Fujimoto, and the concept of "home". I feel like not enough people are ruminating on this so now I have to.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: through CSM chapter 97.

First things first, in no way am I insinuating that Denji's reasons to live are not valid nor am I implying that a character with his background is better off dead. I think it's important to mention because we've seen that play out with the likes of Ash Lynx as an example and I hated that.

Tatsuki Fujimoto, the Jackass Genie

When we're introduced to Denji, he's not exactly living the life. Trying to offset the massive debt of his father, he'd sold off several organs including an eye and a testicle and was forced to work off as much as he could by handling the dirty work of the yakuza debt owner. Treated inhumanely and frequently left with barely enough money to feed himself, Denji appears to remain relatively upbeat with his only friend Pochita at his side.

Solely motivated to simply survive the day, hopes beyond that are seemingly out of the realm of possibility for him beneath all of his inherited burdensome debt. It isn't until he gets a seemingly second shot at life that Denji can dare to dream. Mind you, this is after he's discarded like garbage but it just furthers how alone and pitiable he is to be treated in such a way.

Even with this newfound life, his hopes are comparatively low hanging fruit to the average reader and yet, at every turn, Fujimoto takes these innocent asks and twists them into such unpalatable experiences. Most notably being his first kiss.

What's particularly interesting is the space between Denji's idealization and, of course, the subsequent reality of his wishes. For instance, have you ever wanted something so bad for so long that when you finally got it, it could never measure up to what you'd dreamt in your head? Because you'd sunk so many hours into thinking about it and putting it on a pedestal but... as we saw above, Denji really only had time to think about survival for the better part of his life. So the drastic difference between wanting a solid meal, wanting his first kiss, wanting to touch boobs, wanting a girlfriend, etc. They were so relatively short lived before being obtained, and yet, so catastrophically unsatisfying each and every time. It seems like everything Denji gravitates toward is inevitably something that will cause him great displeasure which we see most readily apparent in his attraction to Makima.

For all this suffering, you'd assume Denji would have had to have done something to have earned such karmic punishment but, to the reader, his only sin seemed to be being born to a recklessly selfish father. Especially when a great deal of his origin seems to be kept hidden behind a figurative locked door which is constantly teased and shown to be something Pochita urges him never to open.

You Can't Go Home Again

This, of course, brings us to the crux of why I wanted to talk about this in the first place. We see Denji's door, something he regards with unfamiliarity and trepidation, a few times throughout the story. Not knowing its significance until the very end of the arc but, for the sake of this discussion, we will consider this and his life with Pochita Denji's "home". Denji's wariness, his avoidance, it's not unique to him.

POWER

Now we know Pochita can seemingly read the heart of Denji (being that he is the heart of Denji) but I wonder how much Power the fiend knows of her former human life. From her introduction, she was likely murdered and left naked in the very woods that Power found the body in. Power is shown to be boisterous and very self-serving, her affection for Meowy being a severe aberration, at least at the beginning of her character arc. Again, not exactly living the life, enthralled only by the taste of blood and the act of killing until she finds herself somewhat domesticated through her employment with Public Safety.

What we know of Hell, Devils that die on Earth go to Hell. Devils that die in Hell go to Earth. Power wasn't exactly avoiding "going home" but her return to Hell destabilized her semblance of safety and comfort by way of facing the Darkness Devil. Even of the devils faced on Earth, Power always faced them with the same bravado that she demanded humans to kneel before her with. Either to generally disguise her relative strength or lack thereof (being that she was fighting in a group) or, in retrospect, perhaps her fear, too. With all the confidence, we don't consider what the Blood fiend's experience may have been down in Hell, whether she was top of the food chain or not. Topside, her experience may have been a little different when you have humans and lesser devils in the mix. But the fear she experienced upon her return to Hell caused debilitating PTSD where she had to lean on Denji and Aki a lot more as she was unable to care for herself or be left alone. In this sense, it tempered her connection to Denji, especially. Almost as if the progression from a life of survival to a life of relative comfort is toppled by the harrowing reminder of one's origins.

AKI

Aki is the best literal example of the negative ramifications of "going home". As he packs the kids up for a reluctant trip to Hokkaido to visit his family's graves, Power and Denji remain immature handfuls even on the tail end of the Darkness Devil drama. But as the snow falls and Power sleeps, Aki confesses to Denji:

Every year, when I went to visit their grave, I'd remember nothing but bad things. It was depressing. But this time, you guys were such pests that I didn't have the time to get lost in that.

It's bittersweet, this acknowledgement. Seeing their behavior somewhat changed, his own resolve toward them softening, he questions whether his pursuit of the Gun Devil justifies the possibility of jeopardizing the peace he's cultivated with his found family. A distinct change of heart in light of his previous attitude toward devils and fiends, not just Power and Denji. But moreso an outright defiance of the very thing that has driven his survival thus far. That, of course, being to avenge his family's death by killing the Gun Devil. His decision to pull from the expedition is, of course, manipulated by Makima by using her purview over Power and Denji to solidify his participation. The irony of his found family enabling him to resolve his need for revenge being the bargaining chip to keep him on the hook is dastardly. Moreover, the knowledge that vengeance was never even on the table for him.

The linchpin in this is, of course, the fact that, what precedes Aki's end is not his return to home but the Angel Devil's who he inadvertently and without knowing accompanies. A past Angel Devil had forgotten, courtesy of Makima, precipitates Aki's death and evolution into the Gun Fiend. As the battle wages, the fact that it plays out as the snowball fight with Denji was devastating in light of his previous losses.

DENJI

With Denji's integration into society, his many goals thwarted by the unsatisfying reality of them, and the comfort he establishes with Power and Aki, we see him grow to understand the world a little better. He's still a neglected and immature kid but his emotional intelligence sharpens with his aspirations even if they only go so far as to wish to impress Makima. With all the trauma he'd suffered prior to joining Public Safety and even the trouble he experienced with them, fighting and killing Aki the Gun Fiend proves to be too big of a breaking point for him. It doesn't hit him immediately. But he finds himself unable to enjoy such simple pleasures with the guilt and turmoil of killing someone he hadn't realized meant so much to him and comes to understand the loss and pain so latently. The end of Aki's character arc as punctuated by Denji, even as prophesied, was shattering to watch unfold. Especially juxtaposed with the innocence of the snowball fight in his consciousness.

This altercation, too, was preceded by a door Denji didn't want to open. A door we'd seen many times over. A door that he'd decided was best left closed wayyy back in Hokkaido. 👇🏾

Aki's death yields a significant windfall of money willed to Denji to take care of he and Power. Money, the driving factor in his previous suffering, is no longer a problem for him and he uses it to taste and experience more but they do not quell the unrest within him.

Even though Denji grown to adjust to the world he finds himself in with his rebirth as Chainsaw Man, this loss, in particular, forces a deeper reflection beyond the frivolity of why touching his first boob is unsatisfying. He laments the fact that every choice, every want inevitably goes to crap just as Makima finds him. Ultimately, this extremely low point (not unlike the misery she'd initially found him in), is exactly where we see their relation to one another come full circle: Denji, a dog to Makima's whims.

As Denji submits to Makima, we immediately see the cost of his allegiance. Not only by means of Power's death but the fact that her orders completely conflict with what Pochita has been urging him against this whole time. Never mind the fact that this is the second time where he knew precisely to what end the door he was opening would reveal. Aki. Power. But, even though his expectations have been met at the other side of that door, whether it be Aki's or Makima's, it never prepares him for the big reveal. The worse turning worst case scenario. Denji's shock at Makima making good on her word allows for her full plan to come into focus.

The door opens, the true depth of Denji's backstory is revealed. The irony of Makima, the Control Devil, condemning the actions of a child trying to survive the abuse of his father is something the reader doesn't have time to reconcile it before the next big twist to the story is revealed, the next big fight.

This cycle of violence and revelation without reflection breeds an odd disconnect from the events, probably not unlike Denji's own perceived experience. Perhaps it informs our collective amnesia when it comes to the story, again, not unlike Denji's as he's forced to play the part of Chainsaw Man. A blessing and a curse, born of affection and the belief that Denji should get to lead a normal, fulfilling life. But Pochita's kindness is unexpectedly barbed despite his innocent and unassuming appearance because the Chainsaw Devil is one so feared, one so renowned, it is marked and killed by many devils but he arises again and again.

Almost as if Pochita was avoiding the burden of his own nature like Denji avoided the truth of his past... I don't know, perhaps this rant was a bit self-indulgent but whenever I think about these 3 (to 5 if we count Angel and Pochita) characters floating through the ether of life only to be connected and summarily destroyed by the fact that they finally found something worth living for really just spoils my thoughts for where this story is going, what the grand message is. If there's even a grand message at all.

#manga with me #manga with me csm #csm #tatsuki fujimoto #dark trio #chainsaw man #aki hayakawa #hayakawa aki #denji #meta #power #anime #manga #denji hayakawa #hayakawa denji #power csm #power hayakawa #hayakawa power #csm meta #fujimoto tatsuki #denji csm #hayakawa family #manga analysis #pochita #csm pochita #makima #csm makima

[os-eclipses-tamen-son-yuri]

Well isn't that something...?

#asa i fear you have been utena'ed #csm #csm manga #csm chp165 #csm spoilers #chainsawman #asa mitaka #denji #rgu #utena #revolutionary girl utena #anthy himemiya #csm meta #never love a concept

[denjhenge]

I feel so bad for Denji. There's people out there making bank on Chainsaw Man merch & Chainsaw Man himself is stuck selling cigarettes to hobos for Nayuta's college money...

& Now he feels himself fading into the background & it only becomes apparent when he sees that CSM merch on the DISCOUNT RACK..but hey at least he can afford it...

#csm spoilers #chain saw man #denji #csm141 #nayuta #chain saw man chapter 141 #csm analysis #csm meta #csm memes #chainsaw man chapter 141 spoilers #csm comic #chain saw man 141

[my-fancy-hat]

I can definitely see the vision that Yoshida's perse Denji's personal arc and relationship can be read as the queer closeted experience too as some people have pointed out in these past chapters. Both who share the same feelings of disconnection with their environment, in addition to an inherited social ineptitude and naivety about what it really means to be normal, in which they assume that the origin of their frustration and sadness comes from their weirdness and not from the rejection that the same scheme who ignored them now inflicts on them. This uncertainty of knowing that, despite the fact that you are doing what the manual says, what the majority does, you still do not get the same results of satisfaction and personal fulfillment that everyone gets, is what increases this frustration and pilled anger against their surroundings and against each other; Yoshida has faith that this is the path to take, that the results are guaranteed by logic so tries to persuade Denji to trust on his good intentions, while Denji is submerged in an existential crisis from said normality that feels more transgressive than comforting, even though he already has what he wished for and maybe what Yoshida envy of him. Them forcing each other to do things they both know it won't make them feel any different from the usual apathy and sense of losing themselves in the progress with so little reward such as doing the expected of their asigned gender roles (men always wants girls, always wants sex) for example, only increasing their solitude as a result.

Like, we all know the obvious, that all of this comes from their respective backgrounds and duties, Denji as the extremely poor orphan kid forced into child-labor and, taking Yoshida's subtle wording, it makes you think he's not so different from him, like a child soldier raised by the state similar to Makima and Reze. These feelings of the uncomfortable normality that secures your place as the "social failure" despite your desperate attempts to prove yourself to be worthy of acceptance, are very common around a lot of groups incluiding the one mentioned on here, as on top of that is so valid to take in consideration the not so-subtle tension (and poor tasted jokes), misunderstanding but at the same time complicity between Yoshida and Denji makes this interpretation really interesting, to me.

#i dont ship them but i want to study them under a microscope bc their dynamic is cooking. gay or not lol #and pls dont say denji is happy beating the mob in last chapter thats the adrenaline and relief of pilled frustration coming out #we both know denji's face of happiness and thats not it #denji is capable of living outside of violence bc his happiest were with aki and power together #chainsaw man #csm #denji #yoshida hirofumi #yoshiden #this whole theme reminds me of that legendary asuka compulsive heterosexuality meta post so so good