🔗 Share this article

Two youngsters experience a intimate, gentle instant at the neighborhood high school’s open-air pool after hours. As they float as one, suspended under the stars in the quietness of the night, the scene captures the ephemeral, heady excitement of adolescent love, completely caught up in the moment, consequences overlooked.

About 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, it became clear these scenes are the core of the movie. The romantic tale became the focus, and every bit of contextual information and character histories previously known from the anime’s first season proved to be mostly unnecessary. Although it is a canonical entry within the franchise, Reze Arc offers a easier starting place for newcomers — even if they missed its single episode. The approach brings advantages, but it also hinders a portion of the tension of the film’s story.

Created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a debt-ridden fiend fighter in a world where Devils embody particular evils (ranging from ideas like Aging and obscurity to specific horrors like insects or historical conflicts). After being betrayed and killed by the yakuza, he forms a contract with his loyal companion, his pet, and returns from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to completely destroy fiends and the horrors they signify from existence.

Plunged into a brutal struggle between devils and hunters, Denji encounters Reze — a charming coffee server hiding a deadly mystery — igniting a heartbreaking confrontation between the pair where love and existence collide. The movie continues immediately following the first season, exploring Denji’s relationship with his love interest as he grapples with his emotions for her and his devotion to his manipulative superior, his employer, compelling him to choose between passion, loyalty, and survival.

An Independent Love Story Amidst a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our imperfect protagonist the hero falling for his counterpart right away upon meeting. He’s a lonely boy looking for love, which makes his heart vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come basis. Consequently, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s complex mythology and its extensive ensemble, Reze Arc is very independent. Filmmaker the director recognizes this and ensures the love story is at the center, rather than bogging it down with unnecessary summaries for the uninitiated, particularly since such details really matters to the overall storyline.

Despite Denji’s imperfections, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He is after all a adolescent, fumbling his way through a reality that’s warped his understanding of right and wrong. His desperate longing for love portrays him like a lovesick puppy, even if he’s prone to barking, snapping, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a ideal pairing for him, an compelling femme fatale who targets her prey in our protagonist. Viewers hope to see Denji earn the affection of his affection, even if she is obviously hiding something from him. So when her true nature is revealed, you still cannot avoid hope they’ll somehow make it work, even though deep down, it is known a happy ending is not truly in the plan. As such, the stakes don’t feel as high as they should be since their relationship is fated. This is compounded by that the film serves as a immediate follow-up to Season 1, allowing little room for a love story like this amid the darker events that fans know are coming soon.

Stunning Visuals and Technical Craftsmanship

This movie’s graphics effortlessly combine 2D animation with computer-generated settings, providing stunning eye candy prior to the excitement begins. Including cars to tiny desk fans, 3D models add depth and detail to every scene, allowing the 2D characters pop beautifully. Unlike Demon Slayer, which often showcases its digital elements and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, particularly evident during its explosive finale, where such elements, while not unattractive, are more apparent to spot. Such fluid, ever-shifting environments render the film’s battles both visually bombastic and remarkably easy to understand. Still, the technique excels most when it’s unnoticeable, enhancing the dynamic range and movement of the 2D animation.

Final Thoughts and Wider Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a good point of entry, likely leaving new fans pleased, but it additionally carries a drawback. Presenting a self-contained narrative restricts the tension of what ought to seem like a sprawling anime epic. This is an example of why following up a popular television series with a movie isn’t the optimal approach if it undermines the series’ general storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by tying up multiple installments of anime television with an epic film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the issue entirely by acting as a backstory to its well-known show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a slightly recklessly. But this does not prevent the movie from being a enjoyable time, a excellent point of entry, and a unforgettable romantic tale.