#manga # Chainsaw Man - Part 1 ![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Chainsawman.jpg) [Author:: Tatsuki Fujimoto] [Status:: Finished Part 1] [Approximate_Start_Date:: 2023-06-25] [Finish_Date:: 2023-07-01] ## [Rating:: 93] loved this shit, it's so good. # Reading Notes - Read the manga on mangadex, definitely considering getting physical versions and supporting the author because this shit rules - Screenshotted a lot of the panels I liked # My Thoughts - The idea of goals and dreams and what drives us towards them is something that's kind of an obvious theme - Makima is like ACTUALLY a real villain in the sense that she is hella manipulative. - The Gun Devil is a good sort of nebulous villain that drives the plot forward. Definitely an interesting idea of a driving force too. Gets the Man vs. Not quite Nature vibe going - Denji also rules. - chapters 75 onward have been fucking devastating dude ## Power Power RULES. - Her wacky, zany, cocky, demeanor - Her relationship with Nyako / Meowy - How she just ISN'T LIKE OTHER GIRLS - AND SHE'S VOICED BY AI FAROUZ LIKE JOLYNE IN [[Stone Ocean, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure - Anime|STONE OCEAN'S ANIME]]?! - The fact that she's apparently based on Eric Cartman?!?!?! - chapter 76. :( , so unceremonious. ## Distinct Eyes as Windows to the Soul - The eyes of characters are so incredibly distinct, there's no way that they're not used to represent each character in some way. - [[Watch the Eyes - How To Read an Anime Scene]] - Power's eyes and Makima's eyes in particular are the ones that stand out to me the most. - Power's eyes are these crosses that immediately make her stand out from others as a fiend (beyond her horns), which makes her objectively very different from everyone else - Himeno also only has one eye because she sacrificed one of them to a ghost demon so that she could have their powers, and she has seen some SHIT with countless "buddies" dying as a result of her work. ### Makima's Eyes - Makima's eyes being concentric rings almost draw the observer to them (made more effective by the color gradient in the anime), which is just very enticing. They're bewitching. They're hypnotizing. They're her defining feature - she IS the Control Devil. You could've known that from the first moment you saw her bewitching eyes. #### Lack of Eyes / Not Seeing Eyes as a Means to Obscure Initial Motives (Chapter 1, Pg 48-53) - When Makima is first introduced, her presence is faceless, we cannot see her eyes. The first time we see her eyes they look as if they're a spiral, a focal point amidst the light and darkness of the panel. The next page shows her exact visage, with both eyes being the focal point of every single frame she's in, drawing both Denji and the reader to focus explicitly on her eyes. But then the next page she hugs Denji as Chainsaw Man and her eyes are closed, actively blinding Denji and to an extent the reader, to her true intentions of using Denji to kill devils. - This is something kind done in general with character, hiding their eyes to hide their intents from the reader, but it's done especially often with Makima. #### Alluring Denji in Chapter 12 - Denji got what he wanted thanks to Power, and Makima can tell this by looking at just how many circles are in her pupil on Page 10 of Chapter 12. They contrast agsinst Denji's essentially broken and vacant pupils - When trying to show Denji what true intimacy feels like as a way of manipulating him, Makima's eyes are always the focus of the panel - Despite feeling her ears, Makima's eyes are the central drawing point of the panel on Chapter 13 - Page 14's bites really empahsize Makima's eyes as an intense source of fcus. The panels on the top left of the page contrast Denji and Makima's eyes to show control. Middle panel shows this as well. - Makima's eyes are dark from the rings in her pupil. ==Hypnotizing==. - Page 19 is also a realy well framed spread in general too. Love the framing of the page. - but she can't control him outright the way she does with everyone else. ### Reze's Eyes In the more revealed spread that shows Reze and Makima, while Makima has deep golden eyes, Reze has bright green eyes instead. Even in black and white, these eyes initially appear somewhat normal, but they're definitely different than every other "normal human" because they have more than just a black pupil. ## Influence of "Cinema" Fujimoto is definitely a cinephile. Between chapters being named after movies (Sharknado), and many panels having cinematic staging (see the conversation between Denji and Himeno on the rooftop of the apartment complex as an example). ### The 'Movies' Chapter Makima and Denji go to the movies, and they're unmoved by all but one. What was up wit that chapter? It's clear that the mangaka, Fujimoto, is a major cinephile, so there's got to be some kind of meaning there. This is a chapter that otherwise doesn't have a hugely distinct purpose in the plot, so I'll be keeping an eye on it. Yep, at the end of chapter 93, when Denji asks Makima if the world she wants to make will have bad movies. Makima saying that there will be no bad movies in her perfect world is what brings Denji to act one last time. # Favorite Moments / Memories - Power's relationship with Nyako - the absolutely brutal chapter 81 # What were you doing when not reading this? - Read the few first chapters while Erin drove through a thunderstorm on our way home from Saukville # Relevant Links See also: [[Chainsaw Man - Anime]]