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Chainsaw Man - thoughts, overreactions, etc.
I won't do too much clean-up of my points here, I just needed to get them out before they ate me up.

Chainsaw Man thought dump: Season 1

Both in the manga and in the anime, I have a lot of pity for Denji as a person for the amount of exploitation and abuse he goes, for many - without even realizing. And even when the reality of it strikes him in the face, he still tries to believe in a good outcome due to his naive nature and that kills me. I also love how in the beginning Pochita had mirrored all the love he had given her back to him - I wish she had stayed with him beyond just giving him her heart, it feels like he really doesn't have anyone to rely on for now - Aki is sane ish, but for how long?

"How could she be any less than (good)" is how Aki speaks of Makima, so even he isn't enough of a reality check for the boy. Moving towards Adult and Child dynamics in this anime, the way those two boys are preyed upon by grown women, yet their lives are clearly shaped by them and they hold a lot of sentimental value to the memories they've made with them.. LOUD. SIGH. It is complicated. And sad to see them being 'saved' by Makima only to pay the consequences of their trust through their brains and bodies being used as tools

The way people die all over the place in this series will never stop to amuse me - it reminds me how in JJK a lot of people got surprised how, nearing the end, a lot of the kids developed an interesting reaction to their colleagues dying, but it is sort of realistic - it comes with the job to die. Your faves will die, and your other faves will either be numb, have panic attacks over it, or go through a morality episode like Denji when he had realized he didn't shed a tear over Himeno.I also like their 'restrained' friendships with each other, because some of the hunters have had enough of losing people dear to them, so they'd rather not form bonds at all.

For the last arc of the anime, I liked how the opposite was shown, too, for the antagonists - guy slashed through his own coworker just to get to Denji.. Wow. Another moment that really struck me in here was when one of the men had heard a raven, got freaked out from a sense of impending doom, only to get crushed like a soda can by Makima. That was a very unsettling way to show off her power, which also matches how unsettling She is, herself.

One more - Denji and his hypersexuality. A lot of the way he acts, and the sexual violence done to him makes me squirm in my seat. For the first, because his hypersexuality is both a result of these traumas and something that's been encouraged and made worse by the adults around him. When Denji acts out inappropriately, alongside cringing, I feel a whole lot of pity for him. What I see from other people is either mislabeling him as a total creep ...or celebrating that he pulled 2 adult women x_x Now he's a pixel and you can do what you want, but sometimes people really have a shallow view of characters and their stories, the meme-fication of Denjis hypersexuality being one example that doesn't sit right with me.

And for last - the heading screenshot. Aki reaching for a cigarette over some food while in hospital stay really struck me as a visual. The breakdown he had after having a flashback of her offering him a lighter. More on the cigarettes - Himenos devil stopping mid-fight just to hand him a cigarette very much reminded me of Geto-Choking-Kenjaku moment, that lives rent free in my brain.

screenshot of a spider webbing away a butterfly

Chainsaw Man thought dump: Reze Movie

screenshot of a person about to step over a caramellized treat dropped on the ground

The pool scene, with the spider and the butterfly - that imagery struck me. So did the moment right before Reze bit off Denjis tongue.

There is a lot of a sense of naivety or vulnerability/restraint in this movie, it feels like. Aki restrains himself from telling others of his lifespan, but is also expressive about his vulnerability towards how sick he is of seeing everyone die around him. Despite hating devils, or claiming to, he saved Angel. Despite knowing to not be attached, he risked his life before, trying to prevent a close ones death despite the consequences eating away at his own lifespan.

Angel calls himself an uncaring person that thinks people deserve to suffer in their last moments. Despite this, he is shown to be uncomfortable before telling Aki that he now has two months left to live. Despite his claims, he comforts a dying woman and tells her to not be afraid, that she will go to heaven. And he rids her of her misery, rather than let her die out slowly and painfully. And, when it comes to killing Reze, he leaves Aki behind to do it alone, rather than string him along.

Reze claims to have never cared or liked Denji - I considered a lot of this to be true still, but also believed that she at least held a bittersweet opinion of him. So when by the end, she sprinted towards the cafe only to be stopped by Makima, to reminisce on the fact that she never got to be a child, go to school, and view herself - or be viewed at as anything but a tool since a very, very young age just like Denji.. To die wondering why she hadn't killed him the first day of their meeting... Good lord.

Denji is a little different to this, and I've mentioned it before - when reality hits him, he still chooses to believe in good things. When Reze tells him she never cared for him and is about to run away, he begs her to run away with him, or opposite - to stay. He promises to wait for her at the cafe and he does, while Reze bleeds out not too far from the door, to which Denji will stay unaware for.. How long? Until Makima tells him about it? Or until the day he dies?

Great animation, great characters, cried much, great soundtrack 10/10

Verdict: 10/10 Cried for both