“Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” (2025) is a sequel to the anime television series and continues to adapt Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga series. Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), a sixteen-year-old devil hunter who is a hybrid of human and devil, is in a love triangle with Makima (Tomori Kusunoki), the head of Public Safety Division 4, i.e. his boss, and a girl that he met one rainy day, Reze (Reina Ueda), who wants him to stop working and run away with her. Will he find a way to work and have a girlfriend?
Compared to his life before, Denji is living the good life. Before he had to sell body parts and eat garbage to survive, but thanks to Pochita (Shiori Izawa), a chainsaw devil that resembles a cute, fluffy dog with a chainsaw instead of a button nose, who became Denji’s heart and resurrected him, now Denji has friends, his coworkers and roommates, Power (Ai Farouz), a pink haired Blood Fiend who drinks blood and can shape it to wield as she sees fit, and Aki Hayakawa (Shôgo Sakata), a neat human with a personal reason for joining the team who made a deal with some demons to have enough powers to survive and fight his nemesis, the still off screen Gun Demon, who is the biggest bad of all. Pochita does not physically appear in “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” but Denji has the ominous dream of Pochita warning him, and it gets the big screen treatment. It is drawn in an elemental way that feels more chilling than before.
The bulk of the first act of “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” consists of two different dating partners with Makima and Reze, and the revelations about both run the gamut from quotidian to explosive. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara really revels in showing the precious details and stillness of civilian life with the dust in the air, a fallen petal, a ladybird walking along a stem. Makima and Denji have a movie day (that theater must have opened when the cock crowed). Writer Hiroshi Seko uses the scene as a love letter to movies, but also to illustrate that Makima and Reze’s lives are so different from ordinary people, that their emotions are muted, and their stamina is unrivaled, but they also have feelings that can be touched in the simplest of ways. In contrast, Reze seems bubbly and carefree as she tells him about school and is outraged that instead of being a normal boy, he works for the government and risks, which is a fair criticism, but does not resonate with Denji because he got a better life because of that job.
Unfortunately, Denji may have endangered Reze and attracted devils who would disrupt this peaceful life. Everyone is still after Denji’s heart, and each devil is more fearsome than the last. The Typhoon Devil (Eri Kitamura) creates storms that are either normal and may influence behavior to destroying everything in their path. An unnamed punk who is a serial killer tortures devil hunters’ loved ones to get them to surrender. His appearance in “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” makes it feel like a true crime movie and is deeply unsettling. Then there is Bomb Demon, who seems unstoppable. She moves like a rocket and has a pin like a grenade to activate herself. She can explode repeatedly with a snap of her fingers, and the fallout is devastating. She looks mostly naked but has an apron that looks as if it consists of sticks of dynamite so T&A. This movie is rated R for nudity, but it does not include realistic details.
Fortunately for Denji, there are devils willing to help fight them. Angel Devil (Maaya Uchida) furthers the theme of feeling enslaved and forced to be productive and work instead of just existing. Beam (Natsuki Hanae), a Shark Fiend, is a huge fan of Denji, rapidly moves through everything like water and has strong, wound resistant skin. Violence Fiend (Yûya Uchida) looks like he is wearing a plague doctor mask and has a shockwave kick. He shifts the tone of “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” in an unexpected and rewarding way. Power does not play a huge role in the movie and appears in the bookends. Apparently, the girl quota got met with Reze. Well, Kobeni Higashiyama (Karin Takahashi), a Devil Hunter who is in it for the money to financially support her siblings, makes a cameo but functions like Violence Fiend.
Seeing “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” was an overwhelming experience. During the major fight scenes, it is challenging to process everything happening, and it is kind of awesome. Combined with the music, it feels like being at a rave that doubles as a video game. All the detail in the quiet scenes becomes violent slashes, strong colors and rapid editing. Sometimes when television series get adapted for the big screen, they still feel small, but with this anime, it is the television screen that is too small for the epic material. It also reflects the big feelings whether teen angst or trauma, especially for Denji’s inner monologues, but also for Aki’s extreme desire to save lives, which was an obstacle that he had in the television series.
“Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” brings to the forefront the issue of exploiting children to fight these overblown battles for mysterious, unseen figures on both sides of the divide. Denji’s history is the story’s foundation, and Bomb Demon’s backstory is revealed as worse, but Makima’s story is still not revealed. Considering Makima’s power level is depicted as more fearsome than Bomb Girl’s, it implies that maybe she experienced an even worse childhood than either of them yet seems so even keeled. Were these children randomly or deliberately chosen? Reze says that Denji’s desire is the bare minimum standard of living, but the universal truth in reality and fiction is that the minimum is an unobtainable goal, and even if achieved, there is still danger.
It seems obvious that the Gun Demon is a symbol for gun violence. Bomb Demon feels like a metaphor for terrorism and how young people are manipulated and mutated to destroy themselves repeatedly for a cause that they are not even personally invested in. It is a perversion of natural developmental markers that makes these kids feel silly for reacting normally when they are being conned. It is a devastating tragic story.
If you have never seen an anime on the big screen, but are a fan of the genre, even if you did not see the television series, sit down and binge the series then see “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.” It is worth it to have this experience at least once. While you could understand the movie without seeing the series, you would probably be a bit lost. It is inappropriate for kids because of the mature content.
