Chainsaw Man Episode 3 Review: Denji In Action And Delves Into The Character Of Power
Cast: Kikunosuke Toya, Shiori Izawa, Tomori Kusunoki
Director: Ryu Nakayama
Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
On Crunchyroll Chainsaw Man Episode 3 is now available for viewing, an episode of passage which deepens the character of Power only sketched in the previous episode and lays the foundations for a decidedly more intricate plot than the linear first bars (for completeness we invite you to read the review of Chainsaw Man Ep 2). The episode is dedicated to the first interactions between the Majin Power and Denji, it opens exactly where she left us, with the Devil Cucumber pulped (after the attack of Power) and then cleaned up, with the reprimand to the new devil hunters aside by Makima, with the launch of a new unofficial mission for the unlikely duo: rescue Power’s cat.
In this episode titled “Meowy’s Whereabouts” not much happens especially at the beginning, we just get to know the characters a little more. Specifically Power, the blood devil who was forced to work in the public demon-killing service. Power may appear a bit unsympathetic at first, but this seems to be where the episode focuses even if those who know the manga know that she will become very close friends with Denji. Denji is also discovered a little more in this episode, although he seems to focus only on trying to touch Power’s chest!!! But this is the tone we want to give to the episode, underlined by the fan-service shots on which the camera tends to aim.
Chainsaw Man Episode 3 Review: The Story
The pact between Denji and Power provides that the Majin satisfies the boy’s dirty desire in exchange for his help in rescuing Nyako, who has ended up in the clutches of the Devil Bat. As the two make their way to the place presided over by the devil, Makima engages in a cryptic conversation with what appear to be leading members of the organization, shady individuals interested in the success of the Denji and Power “dog” training operation. Makima then has a confrontation with Aki, who confirms his position towards the chainsaw man by expressing his dissent about his presence in the group and his aversion to the futile reasons that push the newcomer to devote himself to hunting devils.
The same reasons that lead Denji to fall into Power’s trap, who, upon arriving on the spot, stuns the boy and offers him as a sacrifice to the wounded Bat Devil in exchange for his beloved pet. The devil ends up gobbling both the hostage and the distraught Power (not before a brief flashback that reveals a fragment of the Majin’s past and the encounter with the malnourished Nyako), forcing Denji to transform and annihilate the monster, who has moved into cities to spread terror and create havoc. The chainsaw man finally returns, and the overwhelming action seen in the first episode returns, he does it with a fight of greater scope, with the same kinetic and adrenaline direction of the debut, but with a visual rendering even higher than previously seen, demonstrating the perfect staging and already excellent animation work in the first releases.
Chainsaw Man Episode 3 Review and Analysis
However, it appears as a passing episode and still definitely focused on the presentation and development of the characters, on the characterization of Power as a priority, on a parallel and reduced window on the mysterious machinations around the Hayakawa team (the special division seems destined to be used in conflicts not strictly related to the mere hunting of devils), useful juncture to shed light on the role appears as a subordinate of Makima and on the nature of banal experimental pawns of Power and Denji. An episode, in short, that adds little to the plot and that renounces to keep it going, preferring an impractical mission of redemption, unlikely in the premises, deliberately silly in the motive, certainly spectacular in the outcome sufficiently splatter and to say the least scenographic.
The figure of Power benefits from it, of whom we know the first sides of the grumpy and irreverent character and the thoughts opposed to those of the simpleton Denji, we discover a past on the contrary very similar to that of the companion, which denotes a character victim of similar traumas and misfortunes, like the protagonist abandoned to his solitude, comforted by the presence of a pet that constitutes the only affection. The skill of Tatsuki Fujimoto (and MAPPA) is evident in outlining the personalities of the characters in a few lines and summarizing the problems and conflicts with immediate backstory segments, almost skimpy, but indicative and full of meaning.
The infantile, liar, misanthropic Power hides a tender side; even the explosive Majin that she seems ready to explode at any moment conceals her weaknesses. And Denji who exposes more and more his naive idiocy turns out to be the perfect ingredient for a couple who have fun as they had imagined and who will recompose themselves and will most likely find an interesting balance in the next episodes despite the betrayal of Power. Makima remains the most interesting character, confirming himself as an impenetrable and indefinable figure, still unexplored but emanating a certain fearful and subjugating aura that Power, more than Denji, seems to suffer.
The final battle between Denji and the Devil Bat, then, is worth the price of the subscription, and raises the bar of the technical sector of the series, giving us a fight with breathtaking frames oozing epic, with the use of CGI that mixes wisely with the 2D animation resulting well blended and almost transparent (more than the first episode in which it appeared slightly more “cumbersome”) and offering seamless rapid and fluid movements, choreographing attacks reminiscent of the memorable clashes between Levi and the giants in Attack on Titan.
The final one is, in short, an almost scholastic fight in its purely shonen essence (with a Denji curiously more in the role of the pure hero than the anti-hero) but which once again expresses the immense potential of the series and the work of Studio MAPPA, up to now absolutely excellent even in the most static and dialogued parts (the character acting on the occasion of the bickering between Denji and Power is eloquent in this sense) and almost pioneering in the management of light. Impossible not to mention this week’s ending (the closing theme changes in fact with each episode) is crazy, musically and visually psychedelic, by far the best so far, able to best express the purely metal soul of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s work.
Chainsaw Man Episode 3 Review: The Last Words
Chainsaw Man Episode 3 is configured as a passing episode, which adds little to the horizontal narrative of the series, but builds a lot around the character of Power and the turbulent relationship with Denji. The final clash between chainsaw man and the Bat Devil moves the bar of visual excellence achieved with the previous instalments even higher, offering us a fight with a scholastic structure but spectacular in all its sequences.
