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Two youngsters experience a intimate, tender instant at the local high school’s outdoor swimming pool late at night. While they drift together, hanging beneath the night sky in the stillness of the evening, the scene portrays the ephemeral, heady excitement of adolescent romance, utterly engrossed in the present, consequences forgotten.

About half an hour into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the core of the film. Denji and Reze’s romantic tale became the focus, and every bit of background details and character histories previously known from the anime’s initial episodes proved to be mostly irrelevant. Although it is a canonical installment within the series, Reze Arc provides a more accessible starting place for first-time viewers — regardless of they haven’t seen its single episode. The approach has its benefits, but it also hinders a portion of the tension of the film’s story.

Created by the original creator, Chainsaw Man chronicles Denji, a indebted Devil Hunter in a universe where demons embody specific dangers (including ideas like Aging and Darkness to specific horrors like cockroaches or historical conflicts). When he’s betrayed and killed by the criminal syndicate, Denji forms a contract with his faithful devil-dog, Pochita, and comes back from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the ability to permanently erase Devils and the horrors they represent from existence.

Plunged into a violent conflict between demons and hunters, the hero meets a new character — a alluring barista concealing a lethal secret — igniting a tragic confrontation between the two where affection and survival collide. This film picks up immediately following the first season, exploring Denji’s connection with his love interest as he grapples with his feelings for her and his devotion to his manipulative superior, Makima, forcing him to decide among desire, loyalty, and survival.

An Independent Romantic Tale Amidst a Larger World

Reze Arc is fundamentally a lovers-to-enemies story, with our imperfect protagonist the hero becoming enamored with Reze almost immediately upon introduction. He’s a isolated young man seeking affection, 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 large ensemble, Reze Arc is very independent. Director the director recognizes this and ensures the love story is at the forefront, rather than weighing it down with unnecessary summaries for the new viewers, especially when such details really matters to the complete storyline.

Despite the protagonist’s imperfections, it’s hard not to sympathize with him. He is after all a adolescent, fumbling his way through a world that’s warped his sense of right and wrong. His desperate craving for love makes him come off like a infatuated dog, even if he’s likely to growling, biting, and causing chaos along the way. His love interest is a ideal match for him, an compelling seductive antagonist who targets her prey in our protagonist. Viewers hope to see Denji earn the affection of his affection, despite Reze is clearly concealing a secret from him. So when her true nature is unveiled, you still can’t help but wish they’ll somehow make it work, although deep down, you know a happy ending is never really in the cards. As such, the stakes don’t feel as intense as they should be since their relationship is doomed. It doesn’t help that the movie acts as a direct sequel to Season 1, allowing minimal space for a love story like this among the more grim events that fans are aware are approaching.

Breathtaking Visuals and Technical Execution

This movie’s graphics seamlessly blend 2D animation with 3D environments, delivering impressive visual appeal prior to the excitement begins. Including cars to tiny office appliances, 3D models add depth and detail to every shot, making the animated figures pop strikingly. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently showcases its 3D assets and shifting settings, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its explosive finale, where those models, though not unappealing, become easier to spot. These fluid, ever-shifting environments make the movie’s fights both spectacular to watch and remarkably easy to follow. Still, the method excels most when it’s unnoticeable, improving the dynamic range and motion of the hand-drawn art.

Final Thoughts and Wider Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a good point of entry, likely resulting in new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Telling a standalone story restricts the tension of what should feel like a sprawling anime epic. It’s an illustration of why continuing a popular anime season with a movie is not the optimal approach if it undermines the series’ overall storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by concluding several seasons of animated series with an grand movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the problem entirely by acting as a prequel to its popular series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc charges forward, maybe a slightly recklessly. However that doesn’t stop the film from being a enjoyable time, a excellent introduction, and a unforgettable love story.