Chainsaw Man burst onto the anime scene in late 2022 and instantly became one of the best anime of that year. Everything was praised: the story, the characters, the animation, and the godly soundtrack (which included 12 different Ending Songs). This anime was a banger, and after Episode 12 aired, we were all eagerly awaiting the announcement of a second season, but that never came. Instead, we had to wait two years for an announcement of any kind, and that was the reveal of the next chapter for this series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Once again animated by MAPPA, was this film worth the near three-year wait, or has it left me disappointed?
I watched this film with the English Dub and will be talking about the English voice cast.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc takes place right after the end of Season 1. Denji, Power, and Aki are all still working with Public Safety, hunting down devils. After a check-in with Makima (the head of Public Safety), Power is left with her for the time being. Now, without his partner, Denji is assigned a new partner, Beam, the Shark Fiend.
On their first patrol, Denji and Beam are caught in a sudden downpour of rain, and Denji is forced to take shelter. While waiting for the rain to pass, he meets Reze, a girl who seemingly has taken an interest in Denji. After a few chance meetings, Denji thinks he might be falling for this mysterious new girl. But his heart still belongs to Makima, who gave him his current life. With the constant threat of the Gun Devil, can Denji sort out his feelings in time before the whole city explodes?
This was a perfect continuation of the story from Chainsaw Man Season 1, and I specifically liked how it refocused the series onto Denji and his trauma. This was in Season 1 as well, but it kinda got a bit lost when the series was introducing all the characters and major plot points. But this film really homes in on Denji as a character and gives him a counterpart in Reze. Both characters' stories share a similar throughline (abuse from others, not having normal lives), and made me not only care even more about Denji, but also Reze; this film (which is only 100 minutes long) made me care so much for her. I was emotionally invested in both of these characters, and I would go into it more, but then I’d be getting into spoiler territory.
It’s not just Denji and Reze that this film does wonders for; Aki also gets some unexpected development. He isn’t in the film much, but his reluctant partnership with the Angel Devil was interesting to see unfold. And when you take into account everything Aki’s been through, it makes his decisions in this film all the more heart-wrenching, especially when his usual stoic façade is dropped.
I could go on and on about all the expertly crafted moments and the foreshadowing, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the experience for anyone. Suffice to say that I adored every second of this story, and I didn’t want it to end.
Similar to Season 1, the performances from the entire cast were immaculate. The standouts for me were, to the surprise of no one if you’ve read this far, Ryan Colt Levy as Denji and Alexis Tipton as Reze. Both actors brought their best to every line of dialogue, and their chemistry was phenomenal to boot. Ryan nails the crass and naïve Denji flawlessly, and you can tell that he understands the character even better compared to Season 1. He also says fuck a lot, which made me laugh every time. We only got a snippet of Reze at the end of Season 1, but I knew from those few seconds that Alexis was going to kill it, and she delivered. She plays the mysterious newcomer perfectly and captures all aspects of Reze’s character. I also nearly teared up a bit at some of the moments between Denji and Reze because the performances were just so good.
The rest of the cast from the first season returns, with three getting the focus aside from Denji and Reze. Reagan Murdock once again kills it as Aki, and the way he can give so much emotional depth to this character with his performance is incredible. Suzie Yeung also returns as Makima, and Suzie’s performance perfectly encapsulates the controlling vibe of the character (side note, but after the ending, Makima can get in the bin). The performance I was most looking forward to, however, was Derick Snow as Beam the Shark Fiend. I adore Derick as an actor, and I was slightly disappointed when he was only in Season 1 for like, five seconds. But he takes on a prominent role in this film, and his performance brought a needed levity to what were some pretty intense situations.
Chainsaw Man was already a beautiful anime on a seasonal budget, but MAPPA has taken things to another level with this film. This is the most visually stunning film not only of this year, but of the past several. And I’m not talking about just the fight scenes (although they are phenomenal), but even the slower moments are painstakingly animated. The first half of this film is the more character-driven portion, and you would be forgiven for thinking it was done by Studio Ghibli; it’s that fantastic. The little movements, the attention to detail, and even nailing when characters blush from embarrassment were all exceptional.
And then there’s the fight scenes, or should I just say fight scene, because the entire second half of this film is one long battle, and it’s the best thing I’ve seen this year. The dynamic movements from all the characters involved had me glued to the screen the entire time. I did have a concern that these fights would be hard to follow, like they were in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 (which MAPPA also animated) but it seems the studio learnt their lesson, and I was able to keep track of everything, even when shit got chaotic. Also, Denji ends up riding a Devil Shark while using chainsaw blades as reins, which is just cool as fuck.
And then there’s the soundtrack, which is just as phenomenal as the rest of the film. The main theme of the film is “Iris Out” by Kenshi Yonezu, a certified bop that has been on repeat since I left the cinema. The rest of the soundtrack is no slouch either, with tracks like “ride the storm” and “edge of chainsaw (typhoon version)” making you feel like you could be fighting devils as well. But then you have tracks like “Reze”, which add a melancholy vibe to the film, and even just hearing the first few seconds brings back all the emotions.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc might just be my favourite film this year, beating out both Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle and Kpop Demon Hunters, it’s that phenomenal. I adored everything about this film, and I struggle to find any faults whatsoever. The only thing would be that if you haven’t watched the anime, you would be lost, as the film doesn’t explain much at all, but I would hardly say that’s a critique of the film. I adored this film, and I highly recommend everyone to watch Chainsaw Man Season 1 and then this film as soon as humanly possible!
Have you seen Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc? What did you think? Is it the best film of the year? Let us know in the comments where we can all agree that Reze is best girl.
