Summary
The announcement of the new movie release forChainsawMantitledChainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,at Jump Festa 2024, finally gave the series' fan base some much needed clarity on the future of the anime. MAPPA Studio’s adaptation ofTatsuki Fujimoto’s highly acclaimed manga seriesattained a great deal of praise for its first season last year, but there were no updates about the anime for quite some time after the first season ended. In a similar vein, despite the release of a teaser trailer,Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arcstill has no official release date, and there is currently no certainty about when this information will come to light.
Given the film’s title, it is likely to cover the entirety of the Reze Arc, which takes place almost immediately after the Katana Man Arc that closed outChainsaw ManSeason 1. This was thefirst recorded instance of a Devil-Human Hybridother than Denji appearing in the story, and it also offered some level of insight into what might lay ahead for the main cast. For those who have not yet read the manga, there are certainly many pressing questions that were left lingering at the end of the first season, especially with respect to Denji’s significance in the larger world of Humans, Devils, and Hybrids.
Old Flames And New Introductions
Picking up immediately after the Katana Man Arc,Chainsaw Man—The Movie: Reze Arc, is set to adapt chapters 38 - 52 of Part I of the manga, beginning withDenji’s recurring dream about opening the doorin his subconscious mind. While this arc can get quite intense and downright tragic in certain parts, the initial story beats are a radical departure from the more macabre and grim tone generally adopted by the series.
Just before Reze’s introduction comes a segment that is as close to fan service asChainsaw Manmay ever come, featuring Denji spending a day at the movies with none other than Makima, the subject of his infatuation. Having lusted after his supervisor at Public Safety since the very first moment she was introduced,Denji’s dynamic with Makima is one of the mostinteresting aspects of the series, especially due to the latter entertaining yet never fully giving in to Denji’s many awkward advances.
While this sequence may only be a set-up for future events, it does well to establish Makima’s character beyond Denji’s love-struck view of her, painting her in a more relatable light. It also givesDenji the first taste of one of the thingshe aspired to most while living in extreme poverty with Pochita — the simple act of going on a date.Denji will also encounter an aggressive new ally in Beam, the Shark Fiend, who will probably make his first appearance in the movie, just prior to the actual debut of Reze, who is the main focus of this arc.
The Mystery Behind Reze
A mysterious yet alluring new introduction to the series, Reze was at the center of the promotional material shown at Jump Festa 24, which offered insights into how she will play a part in the upcoming film. The teaser trailer only offered a few glimpses of her characterand her future interactions with Denji, but for those familiar with this arc from the manga, it is fair to say that these breadcrumbs provide a good deal of information about how she will be involved as the story moves forward.
On the face of it, Reze is a captivating young woman with purple hair and striking emerald eyes, whose tantalizing glances towardsDenji betray a sense of romantic interestthatChainsaw Man’sprotagonist has likely never experienced before. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to this shift in his life, from a time when he yearned for the attention of the opposite sex, believing it to be a pipe dream that he would never live to see. Scenes of the pair bickering, skinny-dipping, and hold hands in a rare moment of tenderness have sown the seeds for the upcoming film and its exploration of Reze’s character.
Finally, the trailer also showcases a great deal of imagery related to flowers and other forms of vegetation, which have all been visually linked to Reze herself. In fact, flowers have a great deal ofsymbolic value in the Reze Arc from the manga, and MAPPA Studio’s decision to highlight this in the trailer is an apt yet interesting choice. There also appear to be some slight tweaks in the art style for the film when compared to Season 1 of the anime, but it remains to be seen whether this is solely for the purpose of the teaser, and will be altered later to cohere with the original visual aesthetic of the anime for the final release.
A Difficult Choice For Denji
Since there are already strong hints of the possibility of a romantic relationship developing between Denji and Reze, this calls into question his feelings for Makima, who was the sole focus of Denji’s attention throughout Season 1. There are a number of parallels between Denji’s view of both Reze and Makima, and these may be realized in moreways than one as the anime progresses furtherin adapting the manga’s content. Faced with a difficult choice, Denji might have to make a decision on who he chooses to pursue — either by reciprocating Reze’s affections, or moving ahead to fight the Gun Devil in order to get his wish for intimacy to be granted by Makima.
One interesting detail from the trailer, is the marked absence of any other member of the main cast,including Aki Hayakawa, Power, Captain Kishibe, and even Makima herself. Considering that all of them were heavily involved in preceding story arcs from the anime, it may come as a surprise that none of them were afforded even a moment’s worth of screen time in the teaser. On one hand, there is always the chance of this being a constraint imposed by the limited run time and content available to promote the movie, and MAPPA Studio’s incredibly packed recent release schedule serves to reinforce this idea.
Alternatively, it could also be a conscious decision to shift the audience’sconcentration towards Denji and Reze’s reationship, which will almost certainly be the beating heart of this movie. Set against a bleak black backdrop of dismembered hands and chainsaws lying in a pool of blood, the trailer somehow manages to exude an air of optimism in the soft notes of the piano piece that accompany the frames of Denji and Reze getting to know one another. Whether this will be the actual tone of the film is something that only manga readers will know for sure, but rest assured, this arc is sure to be just as much of a roller coaster as the first season ofChainsaw Man, and its conclusion will set the stage for an even more exciting Season 2.
