Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Chainsaw Man 01

I loved this book since I saw the cover the series starts on a really high note and stays there I have the whole collection and I love it the characters and plot are really well written and fujimoto is a genius to creating a good story with good art denji the main character goes through major character development I find that his goals are relatable even for a fiction book about a guy who turns into a chainsaw

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nonnayurbiz's review against another edition

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dark funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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skydragxn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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deebauched's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.75

after binge-watching the first anime season i binge-read all the currently published chapters which would cover volume 1-12 at the moment.

the anime is a stunning cinematic adaptation that truly elevates the source material, a gory and rather dark series running in weekly shounen jump. in quite a lot of ways it's familiar shounen with its tropes and in many others it's darker in tones, more sexual in some themes, more psychological than expected. the art style has the impression of being between a raw but polished style, reminiscent of jujutsu kaisen and the likes.

the premise is fitting for a shounen jump series, nothing overtly new except - the main hero is half a man and half a literal chainsaw. which is. a serious what the hell moment but really intriguing when you see it. and this i'd say is how the whole series could be summarized as well. stuff happens that aren't completely fresh for a shounen jump series, lots of familiar tropes and plots, but at many points as it goes the story will throw at you these curveballs that leave your brain filled with a bunch of what the hell question marks and intrigue to go on and learn more. which is what makes it rather addictive and bingeable.

i personally like the type of mc this series has - denji - who goes on aloof and uncaring for things most people would care for, especially major protagonists. his thoughts seem simple to a point it's downright stupidity but at the same time it makes him very unpredictable, which is exciting. the cast expertly dances on the edge of shounen archetypes and characters you grow to care about regardless. the world is also familiar in its making, so even with basic world building you just know what you roll with because you've seen a series like this plenty of times.

when looked at closely most of this series' components are incredibly familiar, which could've easily made it into a generic shounen title, but what saves it from becoming formulaic is all those curveballs it keeps throwing at you in relative succession as the story progresses. it's dark, it's gory, it doesn't shy away from killing the cast from villager-b to mains. there are heavy themes of psychological manipulation throughout and at plenty parts you don't even know which side you should be rooting for. the story telling style can be a bit disjointed at times, which i'm not a big fan of but regardless it's an interesting read.

alas i don't see myself picking it back up until after season2 of the anime drops, which tells me that while i enjoyed it while it lasted it wasn't a strong enough story for me to become a fixation on its own. i am interested in reading how it finishes later on though, so it's really somewhere in the high middle ground around 3.75 stars.

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