Sage's Sanctuary

Warning: Major spoilers in this review

Love can be a very explosive feeling, especially when you’re a teen. There’s a lot of emotions running that you simply do not understand, but it often fizzles out without too much fuss. Sometimes, it can go beyond your younger years and works out quite well, but often times, it can explode not just in your face, but to literally everyone around you. This is what happens in the Reze Arc, where two young people do grow attached to one another till it becomes everyone’s problem, especially to one another. One where values and different powers clash like a tornado wrecking everything. A city mouse and a would be country mouse fight for what they think their love should be.

In this film, we follow Denji, the protagonist and actual Chainsaw Man. We come off the heels from S1 where Denji settles in more and more in his chaotic life fighting devils. He grew a stronger bond with Aki and Power. He is head over heels for his boss, Makima. Makima feeds into this infatuation that Denji has for her and goes on a movie date. Things do pan out pretty well for Denji, as Makima tells him that he does have a heart, but as we would later find out, she is after Pochita’s heart. Denji sees this as a bit of genuine intimacy, and only further falls for Makima. The movie date also showed how Denji had felt pretty indifferent to the films they were watching until he saw the last film where he teared up for a hug between two people, exemplifying this desire for a bond like that. Things progressed as usual until after Denji ends up running into Reze, a mysterious, whimsical girl around his age. They hit it off very fast with one another, and it causes a conflict of interest for Denji until it blows up in his face (literally).

I really like this dynamic that Denji and Reze have with one another. Denji is like a lost puppy who does know what he wants but his life before Makima was so struck with poverty and hunger that basic needs are a godsend to him, even though he still clearly lacks proper education a kid his age would have done already and then some. Reze recognizes this and is even charmed by Denji’s antics. Even after everything that does happen (we’ll get to it), you can tell there is still a sort of affection towards one another, despite shit hitting the fan.

Another relationship that I found interesting was the one between Aki, and his new partner Angel. Since Denji and Power are preoccupied, Makima assigns Aki to Angel and they don’t seem to get along much, what with Angel being a devil and Angel being super detached from everything. As the film progresses though, it seems that the two of them slowly gain more of a fondness towards one another, as this becomes particularly apparent with their last scene together. Aki risks his lifespan to save Angel, as just holding Angel can take months away from his life. Aki, through his pursuit of vengeance against the Gun Devil who took away his family, doesn’t really value his life all that much, but it is through his bonds with others, such as Angel here, where he slowly softens throughout the story. Aki even admits that he is sick of seeing people he cares about dying, as Himeno died during S1 and he was powerless to prevent that.

The production values for this film are also just phenomenal, especially in comparison to S1 (though, I actually liked how that looked). It maintains the look of S1 while still updating it, particularly for lighting and effects. The pool scene, the firework scene, and the fight scenes all look especially good. With the pool scene, you can just admire the strong blues of the pool as Reze teaches Denji how to swim, this sort of childhood innocence that had been robbed from both of their lives. the fireworks showcases the strong emotions of Reze and Denji during their kiss…Denji’s first kiss. One where things turn violent as they somehow managed to make Reze’s biting off Denji’s tongue more horrifying here than in the manga. This is when things, as usual, go wrong for Denji and this fight is the most destructive so far.

You can see how things immediately escalate as Reze, the Bomb Devil, quickly tears through the Devil hunters and keeps Beam, Angel, Aki, and the others on their toes. Even with all the carnage caused by Reze and the Typhoon Devil, you can still feel a sort of sorrow from both Denji and Reze. Denji very clearly says that everyone is after the Chainsaw heart, but no one is after his own heart, but Reze could’ve killed Denji much sooner than she tries to here. The fact that she spent so much time with him and expresses disappointment that Denji is in love with Makima means that the time she spent with him did mean something to her. The tragedy of this is that Reze did want to run away with Denji, as she wants to be the country mouse, someone who lives far away from the chaos of the city and the devil fighting, but Denji, who has come to love the danger and the simplicity of his new life, enjoys being a city mouse for Makima along with the new friends he had made up until now. Even so, you can tell that he feels conflicted as he and Beam tear through the Typhoon Devil and fight Reze to a standstill. Of course, them running away realistically wouldn’t have worked, as Makima and Angel quickly take down Reze right as she wanted to see Denji again in the cafe. A bitter end to this explosive romance, though by getting close to Denji, she had already been ensnared by Makima, just like how Reze had ensnared Denji throughout the first part of the film (symbolized by the butterfly trapped in the spider’s web).

The last thing I do want to talk about is the music and voice acting, which are both really freaking good. Kenshi Yonezu, who did do the Kick Back OP from Chainsaw Man S1, comes back to do the OP for this film. Aside from Iris Out being a total banger, the lyrics do also express the conflict that Denji has over his attraction towards Reze, such as “The way you look up at me is so adorable. It just kills me, it’s almost illegal. Scattering madness, I’d squandered it all. Before I knew it and your existence is to blame. Don’t care if it’s fake.” (English Translation). The ending song, Jane Doe, by Kenshi Yonezu and Hikaru Utada, is by contrast, more melancholic and not bombastic like Iris Out. “It’s as if we were the only two left in this world–I just couldn’t resist dreaming for a bit.” (English Translation). It sort of exemplifies this desire both Denji and Reze have for running away with one another, and how this sort of fantasy falls apart in real time.

As for the rest of the music, Kensuke Ushio leans on soft piano, muted electronics, and careful use of silence to highlight both the tenderness and danger around Reze and Denji. The music rarely explodes; instead it builds slowly, letting tension and sadness seep in until action scenes hit with sharper, more abrasive textures that are a mix of techno and choir.

The voice acting is also very solid, such as Reina Ueda being a perfect fit for Reze. She has this soft, playful voice that sort of puts you, and Denji, at ease, and hearing her throughout the fights as well as the “booms” she does are all very satisfying. Kikunosuke Toya also really pulls off Denji as this energetic but also often somber performance. Natsuki Hanae (voice of Okarun, Tanjiro, and many others) as Beam was also a perfect fit. He just has this somewhat chaotic energy to him that’s a lot of fun to watch, and he does play a big role in both saving Denji and helping him beat both the Typhoon Devil and Reze. Maaya Uchida’s voice for Angel is very soft and nonchalant, as someone who largely indifferent towards everything around him. The voice acting across the board is great, but those are the most stand out ones to me.

Overall, this was a phenomenal adaption of the Reze arc, and breaks my heart in the best of ways. It really makes me look forward to how they will adapt the rest of part 1, especially if it is in a similar style to this film.