Chainsaw Man Episode 11 Review: Prepares Us For The Season Finale By Introducing New Characters
Cast: Kikunosuke Toya, Shiori Izawa, Tomori Kusunoki
Director: Hiroshi Seko
Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
In the last episode, Chainsaw Man had its protagonists intimately deal with death, while Aki mourned Himeno and Denji tried to understand why he couldn’t cry. But out of the commotion, Makima has mobilized Public Safety Division 4 in an attempt to make them stronger, leaving Aki in the presence of the Future Devil and Denji and Power under the leadership of the devil-hating Kishibe. Now, in Episode 11, “MISSION START,” audiences see the fruit of that labor. The penultimate episode of the first season of Chainsaw Man (recover the review of Chainsaw Man 1×10 here) puts the accent on the hitherto latent chirality of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s work, offering us a decisive change of focus and focusing on the fate of a now different Aki Hayakawa from the one known in the first episodes.
Chainsaw Man is undoubtedly one of the most successful titles of recent years, capable of capturing millions and millions of readers around the world thanks to the topics covered within it, its eccentricity and the eclecticism of its author Tatsuki Fujimoto. The success of the paper version then turned into real hype for the animated adaptation by the MAPPA studio; the Chainsaw Man anime, in a season full of important sequels and returns in style, was undoubtedly the most awaited title of this Autumn 2022. This hype for the transposition of Denji’s misadventures, up to now, has been amply satisfied by an adaptation that is both faithful but authorial and by meticulous attention to every single detail.
Chainsaw Man Episode 11 Review: The Story
The episode opens with the devil hunter ready to make a pact with the Future Devil who, by deciphering his fate, offers him his service in exchange for a condition of surprisingly negligible gravity, but which hides the will “not to rage” from part of those who know the cause and the terrible ways of the boy’s death. Makima, meanwhile, continues to operate in secret and through increasingly tangled machinations, “convincing” the Yakuza to provide him with the names of those responsible for the attack on Public Security. After the hard training, Denji and Power are chosen to be part of the new Special Division formed by other devils and majins that we get to know by catching them in the act of eliminating the zombies available to the bombers and sharing the mission with the protagonists.
Separated from the others, Aki comes face to face with Himeno’s executioner, Akane Sawatari. In the Chainsaw Man episode 11 Aki has nothing left to lose: we have seen him, a little boy, witnessing the death of his family at the hands of the Pistol Devil, for that of Sawatari (and his Phantom Devil) forced to separate from his closest companion, for revenge abandon even himself. Nothing to lose, a single goal to pursue even at the cost of getting lost and consumed, of giving up life, which inexorably gets shorter, getting closer to the end with every stroke of the katana. He is a darker, more disturbing, more serious Aki (before he was only tremendously serious), more determined and a leader, now the owner of a “sharingiana” memory ability (after all, the devil hunter resembles the more famous Sasuke in appearance) which allows him to see events a few seconds in advance, launched in what has all the trappings of a final mission.
Aki is the character with the greatest growth, with the deepest evolution, the true protagonist of the last few episodes who, in reality, rather than proposing his growth, decree his descent into hell, into the abyss of revenge. In short, he is the character with the most interesting development, not exactly original (indeed rather classic, so much so that he deserves the accusation of looking like the “protagonist of a manga”, in a nice line of dialogue during the episode that becomes a witty self-referential mention), but in any case positively linear and moving, always effective in arousing the spectator’s empathy despite the cold and detached appearance, which is perhaps the reason for the greater drama of his collapse.
Chainsaw Man Episode 11 Review and Analysis
The anime takes, in general, a more battle shonen turn in these last bars, with the end of the training that seems to have made Power and Denji stronger, with an ocular ability (that of Aki) which is a typical power-up of the genre, with new characters that are certainly very bizarre and singular by the standards of a battle (and this is the other great feature of Fujimoto’s work) but very “Shonen-like” in their presentation and characterization as wrestlers. There is the Devil Angel, with the power to drain the life of the victim with a simple touch, the Majin Shark, able to “swim” through solid objects, the Majin of Violence, whose power is contained by a mask similar to that of a plague doctor, the Devil Spider, who assumes the chimerical form of a half spider, half girl.
Characters whose introduction is just one episode from the end reveal the will to exploit their potential, especially in the following season, however interesting and bizarre, aesthetically between the funny and the grotesque, with curious skills and over-the-top characters. Sharing the scene with Aki is, once again, Makima, who continues to act in the shadows, plotting behind the scenes, killing without being noticed, more than ever embodying a perfect deus ex machina (he is, moreover, in possession, more than the others of the divine, or rather demonic powers), not yet revealed in its nature, even more, indecipherable than before, really ambiguous in the conversation with Kishibe, ultimately difficult to deploy in the chessboard of the conflict in the making.
On the technical front, the episode is not memorable like the previous releases, however maintaining a good level but renouncing both the directorial virtuosity and the proverbial attention to detail to which the anime has accustomed us, with drawings, this time, not always perfect and meticulous, especially in the total fields of the most static. The character design of the newcomers is well made, exaggerated that of the Majin Shark, terrifying that of the Devil Spider, intriguing that of the Future Devil, in appearance a forest creature with fantasy influences.
Like every previous episode, Chainsaw Man episode 11 also features a multi-layered story. Here we have a vengeful Aki trying to defeat his enemies, but who carries the memory of Himeno with him, especially in the final moments of the episode. This episode demonstrates the importance of creating emotion with visual storytelling and few words. Aki’s fight against the devil who took Himeno’s life through his contract is painful. On the other hand, while we see Aki driven by emotions, Kishibe teaches Power and Denji to do the opposite. The two dynamic characters are driven by their desires to the point of losing perspective on the battles around them. While we don’t see this aspect in this episode, it sets the stage for next week’s finale.
But while we see Power and Denji able to center themselves for a future battle, episode 11 of Chainsaw Man goes big. It introduces four new demons and devils that push the animation capabilities of the MAPPA studio. The first is the Shark Fiend. With a shark head and human body, he swims across surfaces, walls, and so on, munching on enemies. The Violence Fiend is an unbridled force, with a gas mask to curb its uncontrollable power. Then there’s the Devil Angel, a pretty face, and a small body, but one touch drains your life. And finally the Devil Spider. Human on the outside, with a line across her face, she pops out to reveal killer spider legs that move in a way that pushes the action choreography of MAPPA.
But through it all, Makima is the star of Chainsaw Man episode 11. She is terrifying in her composure and her ability to unflinching violence thanks to her dedication to the state is terrifying. Although we have seen Makima manipulate Denji with her sexuality, her stoicism in a room full of yakuza, coupled with the ability to kill with a glance shown in the last episode, makes her unique in the series. While other characters wear their emotions and their contract with the devil, Makima is a fortress, and that’s what makes her scary. Chainsaw Man Episode 11 may not be the most shocking of the penultimate episodes of the season, but it has raised the bar for the action. Now, all Episode 12 has to do is go wild.
Chainsaw Man Episode 11 Review: The Last Words
The penultimate episode of Chainsaw Man drags us decisively towards the showdown, leaving us with an Aki ready to carry out his revenge, introducing bizarre characters who renew the series just one episode before ending. Chainsaw Man rediscovers itself as a team and entrusts the reins of the episode to Aki and Makima, giving us on the one hand the best evolution among the characters of the first season, on the other the most intriguing mystery concerning the nature and intentions of the most dangerous devil hunter.
