🔗 Share this article

Two youngsters experience a private, gentle moment at the local high school’s open-air pool late at night. As they float together, hanging beneath the night sky in the stillness of the night, the sequence portrays the ephemeral, heady thrill of adolescent romance, utterly engrossed in the moment, consequences overlooked.

Approximately 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, I realized such moments are the core of the movie. Denji and Reze’s love story became the focus, and all the contextual information and character histories previously known from the anime’s first season proved to be mostly unnecessary. Despite being a canonical installment within the franchise, Reze Arc offers a easier starting place for newcomers — regardless of they haven’t seen its single episode. The approach brings advantages, but it simultaneously limits some of the tension of the movie’s story.

Created by the original creator, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a world where demons represent specific dangers (ranging from concepts like getting older and obscurity to terrifying entities like cockroaches or World War II). After being deceived and killed by the yakuza, Denji forms a contract with his faithful companion, his pet, and comes back from the dead as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the ability to completely destroy Devils and the terrors they signify from reality.

Plunged into a brutal conflict between devils and hunters, Denji meets a new character — a charming barista concealing a deadly mystery — sparking a tragic confrontation between the pair where love and existence collide. The movie continues right after season 1, exploring Denji’s connection with his love interest as he grapples with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his manipulative superior, Makima, forcing him to choose between passion, loyalty, and self-preservation.

An Independent Romantic Tale Within a Larger Universe

Reze Arc is fundamentally a lovers-to-enemies plot, with our imperfect main character the hero becoming enamored with his counterpart almost immediately upon introduction. He is a lonely boy looking for affection, which renders him vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come, first-served. As a result, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate mythology and its extensive cast of characters, Reze Arc is very self-contained. Director the director understands this and guarantees the love story is at the center, rather than weighing it down with unnecessary summaries for the uninitiated, especially when none of that is crucial to the complete storyline.

Regardless of the protagonist’s flaws, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He’s after all a teenager, stumbling his way through a reality that’s warped his understanding of right and wrong. His intense craving for love portrays him like a lovesick dog, even if he’s likely to barking, biting, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a ideal pairing for him, an effective femme fatale who targets her mark in our protagonist. You want to see the main character win the ire of his affection, despite she is obviously hiding something from him. Thus when her real identity is unveiled, you still can’t help but wish they’ll in some way make it work, even though internally, you know a happy ending is not truly in the cards. Therefore, the stakes fail to seem as intense as they should be since their romance is fated. This is compounded by that the film serves as a immediate follow-up to Season 1, allowing little room for a love story like this amid the more grim developments that fans are aware are approaching.

Breathtaking Animation and Artistic Execution

This movie’s graphics seamlessly blend 2D animation with 3D environments, providing stunning eye candy prior to the excitement kicks in. Including vehicles to tiny desk fans, 3D models add depth and detail to every scene, making the animated figures pop strikingly. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which frequently showcases its 3D assets and shifting backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed climax, where such elements, though not unappealing, are more apparent to identify. Such fluid, dynamic backgrounds make the film’s battles both visually bombastic and remarkably simple to understand. Still, the method shines brightest when it’s invisible, improving the dynamic range and movement of the hand-drawn art.

Concluding Impressions and Broader Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good point of entry, probably resulting in first-time audiences pleased, but it also has a drawback. Presenting a standalone narrative restricts the stakes of what should feel like a sprawling anime epic. It’s an example of why continuing a successful television series with a film isn’t the best strategy if it weakens the franchise’s overall storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up several seasons of anime television with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the problem entirely by serving as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a bit foolishly. However that doesn’t stop the film from proving to be a enjoyable experience, a excellent point of entry, and a unforgettable love story.