writing this as of chapter 78

if you're at all plugged into the online anime or manga community, someone has probably pushed chainsaw man on you. the big draw is the intense hedonistic spectacle, like, dude has a fucking chainsaw for a head. it's insane. the art is killer, sketchy and dynamic with a keen attention to framing. the characters are all interesting, even though fujimoto has killed off more of them than exist in most ensemble manga casts. he never holds your hand through the plot and is more than willing to leave you in the dark. the whole comic runs on a frenetic, minutes from cancellation pace (maybe it is? i hope not).

the real beating heart of chainsaw man is the inescapable nihilism of its world. it opens with denji stuck in forever debt from his dead, deadbeat dad, dying from a zombie attack, and being saved by the sacrifice of his pet dog. sure, denji gets to live, but his best friend is gone. sure, he gets hired by a devil-hunting agency but his colleagues keep getting killed. sure, he finally makes some friends, but they are fated to die by his hand. nothing good lasts.

nothing matters, nothing gets better, you'll never get the girl, you'll never get to have a family. why not eat and puke and fight like you have nothing to lose. you have nothing to lose.

ch 81 update: i read this chapter and immediately wanted to lay down and die. i almost never react this strongly to fiction. the bad stuff that happens in this manga doesn't feel like shock for the sake of shock, it feels inevitable.