‘Chainsaw Man’ Is Going to Some Dark Places

Chainsaw Man is, at its heart, a story about a boy and his dog. Tatsuki Fujimoto has even said that he modeled Denji and Pochita after Adventure Time‘s Finn and Jake. But what happens when your dog is … uh … not a natural-born dog? And then you break your promise to that dog-not-dog?

Chainsaw Man‘s newest chapter, 171, sure has some thoughts about that.

Part 2 has been really bleak recently, even by Chainsaw Man standards. The big development of chapter 171 directly reflects how bleak things have been—enough so that, essentially, Denji’s contract with Pochita has been broken.

We’ve been here before …. and we haven’t

Major spoilers for Chainsaw Man ahead

This isn’t the first time in Chainsaw Man that Denji’s life has gotten so dark that his contract with Pochita is broken. Remember, Denji’s contract with Pochita is simply to show Pochita his dreams. If all of Denji’s sources of joy get taken away, the contract is broken. The fact this has now happened twice in the series is rough stuff.

The first time was at the end of the first saga, after Aki’s transformation and death, Makima’s murder of Power, and Makima herself coming under (seemingly) lethal threat. When the contract is broken, a leash of intestines shoots up and wraps around Denji’s neck, and when he transforms into Chainsaw Man, it’s Pochita’s true form that comes out. Denji’s no longer in the driver’s seat … or even conscious.

Last time, the results were some of my favorite moments of Chainsaw Man. This monstrosity goes into a fast food restaurant and starts shouting, “VAM! VAAVAA!” And then goes on a date with Kobeni, where it turns out she’s a Dance Dance Revolution prodigy. Although the incidents came with a very literal headcount, Pochita was trying as best as he could to deliver Denji’s dreams back to him. Pochita didn’t begrudge Denji for breaking the contract.

Now, fast forward to the series’ present day. All arc long, Denji’s been having an existential crisis about whether or not he’s happy with his seemingly complete family life. But since then, all of Denji’s pets—Meowy and Makima’s horde of dogs—seemingly burned alive in a fire. Denji himself was completely dismembered and then had to be put together again from the boxes his various body parts were in. Then (from his perspective) the girl he likes offers to dis-member him, which perversely results in him cumming in her hand and her saying she’s not interested.

And now, Nayuta, who he regarded as dearly as if they were biological family, is dead, her head delivered to him on a platter in a sushi restaurant.

Such a deep low counts as a breach of contract. And the same thing happens as last time: the explosion of the intestines-leash, the subsequent transformation into Chainsaw Man’s true form.

The first thing Denji does, before the transformation is even complete, is kill that Chainsaw Man Church asshole. Which that guy deserved. The irony is that his death is the inevitable outcome of the very thing he was trying to achieve: making Denji break his contract so that the true Chainsaw Man emerges.

It’s also noteworthy because it seems to be a dual action that both Denji and Pochita make together, leaving open the possibility that, unlike last time, Denji is still conscious in there. But for the time being, we can assume that Pochita is now the one in charge of Denji’s body. Still, this is a new, more thorough low for Denji. If and how Denji can be lifted from that low remains to be seen.

Will there be more VAM-VAAVAAs?

The next chapter of Chainsaw Man will likely see the true form Chainsaw Man fight against the new Special Division 5 of the Devil Hunter squad. It’s truly bizarre to sit in how the Devil Hunters have essentially shifted from good guys to bad guys in our current point of view, but here we are.

The next chapter, 172, will be released on the Shonen Jump app on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. The manga usually drops around 11 AM ET / 8 AM PT.

My question is: where is Kobeni? She’s the only major protagonist, other than Denji and Kishibe, to have made it out of Part 1 alive. She’s hanging around somewhere. And if anyone can drag her out of her hiding and force her into the sunlight by pure, ridiculous accident, it’s the Pochita Chainsaw Man.

The transformation makes me wonder how close we are to the end of Part 2. In any case, I want Chainsaw Man and Kobeni to eat vam-vaavaas together this time.