Having been forced to kill a friend, Denji finds that his brain has turned to mush from despair. Without the motivation to keep going, he seeks help from Makima. But Makima is not what she appears, and Denji’s pain is only just beginning.
This manga began as some weird shounen with a fucked up sense of humor and Fujimoto had it evolve into something far greater. It has the potential of being this generation's Devilman/NGE. Only, rather than being an edgy copy, Fujimoto has offered a work with identity and personality. Although the later example explored escapism, depression and other similar topics, here the manga leans more on lighter themes: motivation for instance, or selfishness. The will to live, the one to create and destroy, the motor behind our actions and the way they impact each other...
This is a weird fucking manga. And it keeps getting weirder. But I'm all here for it.
going to kms in front of fujimoto and change the trajectory of his life forever as a result of the emotional and psychological trauma he's putting me through
And I thought the last volume was depressing. This volume is basically what happens when you lose the will to live. Makima makes such a awesome, evil, sadistic villain. Pochita gets to shine a bit here too, miss my dog. Power's surprising events are...well fucked up. The last couple chapters really push this into the what the fuck, holy shit, oh my god zone.
How will this end? I have no idea. I'm here for the ride though.
It's crazy how this just keeps getting better even as it leaves the rails and launches directly into space . . . to the moooooooooon!!! It's like one of those YouTube videos that starts with cute puppies jumping and swarming all over the place . . . then jump cuts to a hideous, blood-soaked clown lunging at you with a knife and a blood-curdling screech.
This book uses up all the WTFs in a ten-mile radius. Sorry, Omaha, no one else gets to say WTF today.
After being forced to kill one of his own dear friends for the greater good, Denji has fallen into complete despair for the first time in his life. Everything brings him pain. He can’t eat without vomiting it back up. He can’t find any meaning or joy in anything anymore. Not knowing where to turn, he seeks out the support of Makima to try and find a new sense of purpose. Now that Makima has Denji in a position of absolute desperation, she begins to reveal the true reasons behind why she took him in under her wing and gave him the life she did.
This manga has really spiraled out of control in the best way possible. I always had a feeling that something wasn’t quite right about the story. There were always bizarre and unsettling things constantly happening in the background that made things seem not nearly as simple or easy going as they appeared to be. And now all of those mysterious background details are being pulled forth into the center of the story and revealing what’s actually been going on the whole time.
Plot twist after plot twist completely changes the tone and context of the entire narrative, making things much more sinister and disturbing than anyone ever could’ve guessed they would be from the beginning of the series. Even the more comedic elements have gone full black comedy mode, being so morbid and unsettling that it made me feel a bit bad for laughing.
Makima is a menace to society. Her master plan of manipulation is finally bearing fruit and it’s pretty insane. Chainsaw Man has transformed into a surrealist bizarro fiction nightmare and the story has gotten surprisingly complex and thought provoking compared to where it started.
There's one more shocking moment near the beginning, a bit of hilariously black comedy, and a couple good reveals, but overall it doesn't quite reach the height of the previous volume. Most of it's just fighting. One loses track.
But we did know a bit more about Makima and what she has in mind...well...this is good, right?
(1) After so many fucking battles with so many fucking devils, the cityscape isn't doing well at all.
(2) But there is something I don't really understand, usually Denji just I don't really understand this change of heart.
(3) after the shocking events in vol. 9, we are in for even more damage and heartache.....
Updated@14/07/2023: Okay I'm fucking re-reading the whole thing again!!!
Review for vol. 8 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
I really wish this series still had some comedy, or was painfully relatable, or was recognizable in any form. It feels like this series has a planned ending soon because everything is going to shit, big series-long conspiracies are being revealed, and most of this volume is just a mindless battle. Devils fighting each other, lots of incredibly detailed action scenes that are nearly indistinguishable from each other in a splatter of blood and gore. I can't tell if there's an actual story behind all of this, it just comes out of nowhere.
The story and action picks up in this volume. After 9 volumes of me kind of enjoying this, I can finally say I really enjoyed a full volume. It's a rare manga that gets better as it goes along!
But yeah all the bits and pieces have actually built up into something pretty cohesive and interesting. I'm fully onboard to see Denji and Makima go at it.