MANGA REVIEW | "Chainsaw Man" - Volume Seventeen
Damn, Denji just can’t catch a break. All our Chainsaw Man hero wants is a normal life, surrounded by dogs and Nayuta, the reincarnation of Makima. But no, life’s not fair. The world’s in chaos, everything is on fire, and normalcy no longer exists. Even when he does his best to hold back, there’s nothing that can hold Denji back from pulling that chord in his chest, especially with what happens in Volume Seventeen.
First thing’s first: those damn Chainsaw Man churches. Denji’s heroism has transformed a whole community into a power-hungry cult. With members making many devil deals, the rise in fake Chainsaw People escalates. Even those who are minding their own dang business somehow have a chainsaw coming out of their faces. And those numbers pile up!
As for Asa Mikata, she has her own problems to deal with. A weirdo reciting “Kumbaya” enters her building, and attempts to chop her into little pieces. But with some magic words, a delightfully ballistic new blade appears in her hand, rendering her enemy’s tactics useless. Her presence in this volume of Chainsaw Man may be short, but it does an effective job on why Asa is a Grade-A badass!
Nayuta even has the chance to showcase what she can do. Her powers can be a little scary and unpredictable, but thankfully, Denji keeps her on the straight and narrow. Alas, when Denji and Asa arrive back home, he can’t do the same. Our anti-hero is greeted with a horrifying sight, and it pushes him to come back to Chainsaw Man in the same way John Wick came back to the world of violence.
And honestly, it’s a hell of a good thing that Chainsaw Man returns. I get that the narrative has changed a whole lot since its early beginnings, but many people want to see Tatsuki Fujimoto’s violent concoction. His reemergence doesn’t disappoint, as he takes on other devils while giving a verbal lesson on the art of massages. Yes, it’s a crazy discussion, but it wouldn’t be Chainsaw Man if there wasn’t some sort of life lesson shoe-horned in.
However, this now leads to the next thing: the people’s perspective. After seeing all the fake Chainsaw People causing havoc, they no doubt feel like the real Chainsaw Man will do the same. Denji tires his damndest to keep control, to the point where he even takes some shocks from an electric net. But these damn angry humans had to go and poke the bear one too many times.
Will Chainsaw Man now be seen as an enemy? Or can he find a way back to be seen as a hero by the masses? I don’t even think Fujimoto even knows, but at least that means we’re all in for some good surprises when we see what happens next. Volume Seventeen of Chainsaw Man brings our hero back, even if Denji didn’t want to resort to the devil’s return. But hey, at least he seems happy…right? Oh who are we kidding? We all know how Denji actually feels!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
