Chainsaw Man — Anime, Manga, Film, Novel, Other

Overview

Tatsuki Fujimoto's action-horror manga follows Denji, a young Devil Hunter revived with Pochita's heart, and his life in Public Safety. Its completed 24-volume story has expanded into television animation, film, prose fiction and stage adaptations.

At a glance

First publication / release: 2018

Synopsis

In a world where Devil Hunters make a living fighting devils, Denji works alongside the Chainsaw Devil Pochita to repay debt inherited from his parents. His work offers little escape from poverty, and betrayal by his employer costs him his life. A contract with Pochita brings him back with a devil's heart, setting the story in motion. Makima recruits Denji into Public Safety Special Division 4. His relationships with the more experienced Aki Hayakawa and the Blood Fiend Power change his previously isolated life. The three occupy different positions: Aki is human, Denji has acquired a devil's heart, and Power is a devil inhabiting a human corpse. Their often comic interactions exist alongside work in which death is a constant possibility. Part 2 introduces Asa Mitaka, a high school student isolated from her classmates. An encounter with a devil overturns her everyday life and brings school life into the story's foreground. An introduction to the television adaptation's Public Safety setting therefore does not cover the entire manga, which also develops Asa's perspective. This overview focuses on the starting situations of the two parts without detailing their major identity revelations or endings.

Publication history

Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga began in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issue 1 of 2019. English-language publisher VIZ dates the beginning of serialization to 2018: the year printed in the magazine's issue designation is not the same as the calendar year in which publication started. The first-publication field here uses the supported year, 2018. Part 2 moved to Shonen Jump+, beginning with chapter 98 on July 13, 2022. Chapter and volume numbering continued from Part 1 instead of restarting. Volume 12, which opens the second part and introduces Asa Mitaka in its publisher's synopsis, was released in Japan on October 4, 2022. Chapter 232 was published on March 25, 2026. Shonen Jump+ labels the series completed, and the final Japanese volume, number 24, was released on June 4, 2026. As checked on September 29, 2026, the Japanese manga is complete in 24 volumes; older anime pages describing it as ongoing do not reflect its current publication status. VIZ publishes the English-language edition as Chainsaw Man.

Creators

Tatsuki Fujimoto writes and draws the original manga. Shogakukan's award biography identifies his hometown as Nikaho in Akita Prefecture, names Love Is Blind as his debut work, and lists Fire Punch among his previous works. VIZ describes Fire Punch as his first serialized work, completed in eight volumes, and dates Look Back to 2021. A Shueisha-hosted conversation with Hiroaki Samura offers a direct account of Fujimoto's artistic interests. Fujimoto said he wanted to draw like Samura and asked which artists he should study to approach that goal. This documents an admiration expressed by the creator himself; it does not establish that any particular Chainsaw Man scene quotes another work. The television adaptation was directed by Ryu Nakayama, with scripts by Hiroshi Seko, character designs by Kazutaka Sugiyama, music by kensuke ushio, and animation production by MAPPA. In an interview with UOMO, Nakayama explained that he wanted to translate the manga's cinematic atmosphere into animation that felt as though a camera were recording people who really existed. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed The Movie: Reze Arc. The manga creator, the staff responsible for each adaptation, and the creative intentions those staff members describe should be understood as distinct contributions.

Media expansion

The television anime began broadcasting on TV Tokyo's network at 24:00 on October 11, 2022, equivalent to midnight on October 12 under ordinary calendar notation. This is the adaptation's broadcast debut, not the start of the manga; mixing Japanese late-night broadcast dates with calendar dates creates an apparent one-day discrepancy. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc opened in Japan on September 19, 2025. It follows Denji's encounter with Reze, a girl who works at a cafe and meets him while he is sheltering from the rain. Hiroshi Seko's script work, Kazutaka Sugiyama's character designs, and kensuke ushio's music continued into the film. Its theme song is Kenshi Yonezu's IRIS OUT, and its ending theme is JANE DOE by Kenshi Yonezu and Hikaru Utada. On December 21, 2025, Chainsaw Man – Assassins Arc was announced as a sequel to the film. That production announcement is distinct from a completed release; no unverified release date or episode count is supplied here. The prose spinoff Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories was released in Japan on November 4, 2021, with the original work credited to Fujimoto and the novel written by Sakaku Hishikawa. Its original stories explore partnerships including Power and Denji, Kishibe and Quanxi, and Himeno and Aki, rather than simply retelling the manga in prose. The stage production of the Reze arc was officially scheduled for July 25–August 2, 2026 at Tokyo's Tennozu Galaxy Theatre and August 7–12 at Kyoto Theatre. Fumiya Matsuzaki handled the script and direction, with music by Shunsuke Wada. Naotake Tsuchiya played Denji and Yui Soma played Reze. This is a live stage adaptation with its own performers, separate from the animated production and its voice cast.

Behind the scenes

The television anime's changing ending sequences were a deliberate production feature. In a MEN'S NON-NO conversation, Nakayama and producer Keisuke Seshimo recalled that discussion of a special ending for an individual episode developed into using a different ending throughout the series. Musicians were briefed on the lingering feeling desired for each episode, making the endings part of the adaptation's dramatic rhythm rather than merely a list of songs. In UOMO, Nakayama also singled out Aki's morning routine in episode 4. He described the waking-up and tooth-brushing sequence as an anime-original addition that develops the character through ordinary actions. Its everyday subject matter illustrates creative choices outside the show's conspicuous action scenes. The manga was a winner in the shonen category of the 66th Shogakukan Manga Awards, announced on January 19, 2021. On December 12, 2025, the anime's official site released a MAPPA-produced dance animation featuring Reze and invited viewers to post videos using the Japanese Reze-dance hashtag with IRIS OUT. This is a documented official participation campaign, not evidence by itself of a fandom-wide consensus or the origin of a broader trend.

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