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Two youngsters experience a private, gentle moment at the neighborhood high school’s outdoor pool after hours. As they float as one, suspended beneath the stars in the stillness of the evening, the sequence portrays the ephemeral, exhilarating excitement of adolescent love, utterly engrossed in the moment, ramifications forgotten.

About 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, it became clear such moments are the core of the movie. The love story became the focus, and all the contextual information and character histories I had gleaned from the anime’s initial episodes proved to be largely irrelevant. Although it is a canonical entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a more accessible starting place for first-time viewers — regardless of they missed its prior content. The approach brings advantages, but it also hinders some of the urgency of the movie’s narrative.

Created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man chronicles Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a world where demons embody specific evils (including ideas like getting older and obscurity to specific horrors like insects or historical conflicts). When he’s deceived and killed by the criminal syndicate, Denji makes a pact with his loyal devil-dog, Pochita, and returns from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to completely destroy fiends and the terrors they represent from existence.

Plunged into a violent conflict between devils and hunters, the hero meets a new character — a charming coffee server hiding a deadly secret — sparking a tragic clash between the two where love and survival intersect. This film picks up immediately following season 1, delving into the main character’s connection with his love interest as he wrestles with his feelings for her and his devotion to his manipulative superior, his employer, forcing him to decide among desire, faithfulness, and survival.

An Independent Romantic Tale Amidst a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our imperfect main character the hero falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a lonely young man seeking love, which makes his heart vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come basis. Consequently, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate mythology and its extensive cast of characters, Reze Arc is highly independent. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and guarantees the romantic arc is at the forefront, instead of weighing it down with unnecessary summaries for the uninitiated, especially when such details really matters to the complete storyline.

Despite Denji’s flaws, it’s difficult not to sympathize with him. He is after all a adolescent, stumbling his way through a reality that’s distorted his sense of right and wrong. His desperate longing for affection makes him come off like a infatuated puppy, although he’s prone to barking, snapping, and making a mess along the way. His love interest is a perfect pairing for Denji, an compelling femme fatale who targets her prey in our protagonist. You want to see Denji earn the affection of his affection, despite she is clearly concealing a secret from him. Thus when her real identity is revealed, audiences cannot avoid wish they’ll in some way make it work, even though internally, you know a positive outcome is never really in the plan. As such, the tension don’t feel as intense as they should be since their romance is doomed. This is compounded by that the film serves as a immediate follow-up to Season 1, leaving little room for a love story like this amid the more grim events that followers know are coming soon.

Breathtaking Visuals and Artistic Craftsmanship

The film’s visuals effortlessly combine traditional animation with 3D environments, delivering stunning visual appeal even before the excitement begins. From cars to small desk fans, digital assets enhance realism and detail to each scene, allowing the animated figures stand out beautifully. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which frequently highlights its 3D assets and shifting backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed finale, where those models, though not unappealing, are more apparent to spot. These smooth, dynamic backgrounds render the movie’s battles both visually bombastic and surprisingly easy to understand. Nonetheless, the method shines brightest when it’s unnoticeable, improving the vibrancy and movement of the hand-drawn art.

Final Impressions and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a good starting place, likely leaving new fans pleased, but it also has a drawback. Telling a standalone story limits the stakes of what ought to seem like a expansive animated saga. It’s an example of why following up a successful anime season with a movie isn’t the optimal approach if it undermines the series’ general storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by concluding multiple seasons of animated series with an epic movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the problem entirely by acting as a prequel to its popular show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc charges forward, perhaps a bit foolishly. However that doesn’t stop the movie from being a enjoyable time, a excellent point of entry, and a unforgettable love story.