#also: kill Fumiko

[normal-about-charcters]

Double Denji?????!!??!!?!??!?!?!

FAKESAW MAN?!?!?!?!?!?!

If that is Fakesaw and its somehow a real Denji then that could cause some serious problems, botb for Denji and public safety

[ocdhuacheng]

wtf @ the new csm chapter

[sugar-grigri]

Fujimoto has never talked so much about love as in this chapter 

This chapter is incredible, not only for the multitude of answers it offers but also for the beauty of its writing on first reading alone. 

It opens with a man who appeared in chapter 101 of CSM, as passers-by passively walked past him, this stranger was actually right: humans, one of whose major causes of death are demons, are leading to a cold war (ironic to talk about a Cold War for a manga set in the 90s)

But it's as if the whole of society refuses to notice, that everyone hides behind Chainsaw Man and consumes all these derivative products like lucky charms. Chainsaw Man embodies a demonic anomaly, a demon at the service of the people who make them forget this war. 

And that's exactly why Yoru has a grudge against him. Chainsaw Man is an instrument of peace, wielded in times of peace and sacrificed in times of war. Chainsaw Man is there to make us forget the conflicts or become the scapegoat, in either case, he is there to make us forget the war in which humanity is trapped.

A machine into which all hopes are projected, cries of suffering directed, whose childlike quality is seen only by the predators who exploit him constantly. 

What we need to see in this dialogue between Nayuta and Fumiko is a struggle for domination. As we have seen, Fumiko is someone who, despite her aggressions, drowns them in a constantly contradictory protection: she wants to protect a child, but moleste Denji, plays a game in which she places him as older in order to hide her predation, and has saviour syndrome.

Fumiko thinks she's easily understood the nature of weapons, she's sensitive to Quanxi's bodily sacrifices and only repeats to the one she's abusing like an unrestrained fan of a child. Fumiko is the symbol that even when she belongs to the same camp as those she intends to protect, she still can't understand them.

She thinks it's either Nayuta who finds humans weak, or the fact that Barem supports Denji's demonic quality, that they are threats to his well-being when they are the ones who know him best. This is normal, because the strategy of public hunters is to bank on Denji's human side, but this strategy is not enough.

In chapters 136 and 137, Denji is mistreated when he's playing as a human being, getting into fights at school, being treated badly by his teachers, molested when he was thinking about a date at the cinema, and the closer he gets to normality, the more he suffers.

She symbolises not only Denji's sexual trauma, but also the paradox of the hunter system: a system that intends to offer Denji a family framework, but which is not only failing but also traumatising.

Nayuta says she wouldn't kill humans because they're weak compared to demons anyway. It would be as boring as killing ants! It's a continuation of Makima's point that the demon of control isn't interested in things that can be mobilised or easily controlled, it's powerful demons like Pochita that she wouldn't be able to control. Because the only way to establish a link for this demon is to find a demon as powerful as her, of her rank. Nayuta's superiority complex is always balanced against Denji's inferiority complex.

While the demon of control is only interested in demons, the demon who was martyred by humans cannot conceive of himself without them, but we'll come back to that later. 

I just want to point something out: isn't it paradoxical to reproach Denji for the education he gives Nayuta when Fumiko is supposed to regard him, as she claims, as a child? Once again, Fumiko is in constant contradiction, protecting by controlling and attacking, conceiving of a child as an adult, she is the hold over a child she can't help but see as a weapon while vouching for his condition. 

What's more, Fumiko's thinking is purely human, not universal like Denji and Nayuta. For them, feeding the dogs and their cat is a mission of the utmost necessity, it's like acting to protect one's family, whereas Fumiko refutes this.

Denji has been considered a dog for part of his life, and has bonded and merged with a demon in the shape of a dog, which is the first form of love he received: it was not humans who first gave Denji love, but animals. In the same way, the demon of control likes to form a relationship with dogs who take pleasure in their domestication, either as a form of denunciation or as a clearly established hierarchy. 

Fumiko proves that human sensitivity only stops at their peers, while the rarer demonic sensitivity is more universal and intense, whether it's treating animals as precious beings or forgiving unforgivable acts like Denji's continued love for Makima.

The fact that Denji and Nayuta appear to have no moral barriers is what allows them not to be prisoners of their own, and to conceive of love more extensively, whether it be harmful or inter-species. 

All this just goes to prove Barem's point that, as a weapon, he has a very good understanding of the different species and what they have in common: death is what binds us together.

When humans no longer find interest in a figure, it is destruction that attracts them. In other words, it's intrinsic to them. Even when they have been spared the demon of fire, they intend to spread it. Isn't it ironic, then, that Fumiko intends to protect two demons at the expense of their animals? Humans only see the world in terms of hierarchy, whereas demons and animals recognise that there is more to it than just a food chain. 

Nayuta's emphasis on the exhilaration that comes from abusing and killing demons is spot on. In chapter 137, Denji had fun beating up all those men, even concluding that "this" normal life wasn't so bad. Why was that? Because it's the daily life of a demon.

Denji, who belongs to both camps, has human needs just as much as he has demonic needs, so Nayuta has a point. But just as living solely as a human doesn't satisfy Denji, acting solely as a demon doesn't work any better. 

Denji works through the concrete, through sensations, and what he materialises through his senses, the fact being that he's had at least one kiss without any major damage with a human his own age.

Just a harmless touch is what allows Denji to connect with humanity as a whole, to be sensitive to their plight, even though he has no morals and takes pleasure in human suffering.

It wasn't until Denji struck up a relationship with Aki and Power for the first time that he was able to feel human and stop feeling like an animal. We are empathetic to the fate of those who resemble us, Denji is a universal being, animal, human and demon, he is the one who brings these different worlds together. Barem is right: death is what binds species together. But Pochita and Denji are the symbol that love can also be a common denominator. 

The fact that he thinks of Asa is symbolic because, without knowing it, she is the one who understood the plurality of species in Denji. She began by dehumanising him, Denji's animal phase, placing him below the cat (proof that she too places animals before men), then she had budding feelings for Denji before being disturbed by Chainsaw Man. 

That's why Chapter 101 is so important to understanding this chapter: because in it, Asa makes friends with both humans and demons, getting to know Yuko just as she does Yoru. She is not outraged by the idea of killing, as Yoru asks her to do, having put aside her human nature and accepted the world as it is, which is ruled by death.

But she is no fatalist, and in the face of a demon, she protects Yuko, continuing to love despite her mistakes "as long as her heart is in the right place". What matters is not so much our actions as the cursor through which we place ourselves to apprehend the world. 

Relationships are full of mistakes, imperfections, misunderstandings and a game of dominance. Denji doesn't realise it, but the one who kissed him wasn't Asa but Yoru, and it was for a bad purpose: to turn him into a weapon. Paradoxically, in wanting to make Denji a weapon, Yoru conceived him as he was, a hybrid being, a weapon. It was the first kiss in which he was seen for what he was.

But not only that, just as Asa loves the different natures of the multi-species being that is Denji, so Denji loves Asa's dual nature, what holds him together is as much the memory of the human in the aquarium as the physical contact with the demon inside her.

While Asa, in her desire to protect Denji, was distancing herself from him, hurting him and making him doubt himself, it was paradoxically the demon, with evil intentions, who gave him some peace of mind.

The chapter is called Devil's choice, an expression which means that we only have two choices, that we can't have everything. In this case, that would mean choosing a species, a side. But what Asa and Denji still represent in this Shakespearean symbolism is not belonging to any side, but loving in a universal way.

The rejection of men has opened up other perspectives for both of them, be it the animal or the demonic connection. 

Once again, the answer lies in plurality, in what begins with two: Asa and Denji decide, on the contrary, to have it all, there is no Devil's choice. 

By deciding to bond with animals rather than humans when they lost their parents, Asa and Denji forged a destiny guided by love without barriers.

Their bad experiences - sexual harassment for Denji and bullying at school for Asa - at the hands of adults have naturally created a distrust of humanity that is rekindled by contact between the two of them. It's when Denji and Asa come together that they regain hope, because they are the definition of loving each other fully.

Those who stand in the way of this universal love are the public hunters who avoid this natural crossing.

The public hunters are there precisely to fuel the fight against humans and demons, the link they carry is not love but the other common denominator, death, destruction. Even if it means crossing the moral barrier to exploit children with Yoshida by forcing them to harm other children like Asa, Fumiko being once again the symbol of this danger.

Denji has both human and demonic needs, so he's destined to love Asa because she's both human and harbours a demon with a thirst for violence. Chainsaw Man was used to make us forget the war, but by loving the demon of war, they both unravel.

Only Chainsaw Man and the demon of war can conquer death, because love is the second common denominator that links the species. Why? Because everyone has a heart. Even demons. Who not only have one, but become one.

[my-fancy-hat]

Denji's hypersexuality is a common coping mechanism in SA victims, to try to give the assault a logical meaning of why did it happen, or to get to know the foreign at getting close to the act itself. Genitalia in this case would be representative not only of his lust but also the element reminder of his trauma: "wanting to have tons of sex lead his life to end up miserably", so, the victim blames himself for feeling hurt, accuses himself as the perpetrator of his still ongoing tragedy. The yakuza reminds him of his failure in performing manhood, as Katana Man calls him weak, crybaby, "Chainsaw woman" as kicking his genitals joking to stick them in his behind, and Makima to have twisted his idea of love and taken advantage of his needs, making Denji believe he isn't deserving of forgiveness. At the end it all falls into self-harm, the result of this macabre recipe to make a human to hate every facet of his being: his identity as Denji, as CSM, as a man / his existence: to have born in poverty, orphan, to have killed his father and adoptive family, suggested to perform downgrading gender roles in prostitution (accused woman's job to give men pleasure) / his hopes and dreams for the future, everything is poisoned on his mind. This chapter is about relapse and realization.

Denji is under layers and layers of misconceptions, he is unable to see things through. He thinks his lust is the reason of his tragedy, when he hasn't took an active role in doing anything sexually inappropriate to anyone to get blamed on. He isn't the one to punish for not being strong enough to stood by himself sooner against his abusers and let them have their way, and yet, he still capable to recognize the act is wrong and undeserving (even if he was told through all of his life men should always accept a sex offer and sex = love/joy), ex with Fumiko he inmediatly recognized she assaulted him. So saying sex is his drive in life is utterly wrong, sex isn't Denji's priority and never was actually, and that's something admirable on itself when the world has told him otherwise, because is important to never forget how his happiest was with Aki and Power, putting their friendship above everything else, even above Makima's offers.

I don't think cutting his genitals or even transitioning will fix anything, it would be an impulsive act by trying to escape from the natural progression of the stages of grief and give the instant solution Denji wants so bad right now, where the real cause of his grief is the guilt of the survivor, his self-hatred for having been treated as an object of repulsion and failure through all his life he ended up believing it; to have suffered so much abuse which lead him to see his priorities and identity unclear, amoung other things, seems like it started to click on his mind. This is why Yoru, of all characters, is the one who offers to give Denji "the solution", the character who exists to inflict pain and death on CSM. Also, because he's a hybrid, it will regenerate eventually. It's not gonna happen, probably.

[tenjiiku]

how sweet!

based on cherry magic

You are upset at of a lot of things; finding out your favourite coffee shop is closing at the end of the month due to declaring bankruptcy, your parents’ incessant meddling in your non-existent love life, and your grumpy coworker — Rin Itoshi — whom you heavily believe you upset in a past life given his constant vitriol you are made victim to.

And it seems that a higher deity had taken pity on you: because on the morning of your thirtieth birthday, you developed the incredibly terrifying ability to read minds. A Sunday, luckily. The only person made victim to your hysteria when your power developed was your coolheaded friend, Emi.

(“I don’t know why you’re freaking out about this. It only happens when you touch someone? That’s fucking sick. Just don’t use it on me or I’ll kill you.” Emi states as you have your face buried in your arms, seated at a table in the middle of a breakfast diner. Luckily it is 1pm, no one is around to witness your breakdown.

You lift your head up and sniffle, wiping the last few stray tears away.

“I—I guess you’re right.”

“I always am,” Emi mumbles, snatching the basket of fries in front of you, “I’m taking these.”)

Today was Monday. You were supposed to work in office. You would be a liar if you said you were still not as much of a nervous wreck as you were yesterday. But, you work in IT at this mega insurance company, in a dingy secluded office hidden across the janitor’s room. So, surely you would not accidentally graze shoulders with any intimidating finance folks. Or, god forbid, the human resources women. (You had an inkling they despised you after you refused to assist them with their monitors for the five billionth time in a span of a month.)

Your commute is normal. You get your small treat (today, it was a chocolate danish) from Reiko-san’s cafe, pet her Siberian cat, Yoko, and head inside the large building — scurrying towards the elevators.

There are others waiting. They scan your appearance head to toe which makes you want to shrivel up into yourself. You did not necessarily need to take pride in your appearance considering you operated as a ghost for most of the work day. Still, this ritual was ever the humiliating.

When the elevator doors open, it fills in. You find yourself pushed to the corner, faced against the wall. Turning around, you make a sound between a grunt and a whimper when you hit another wall. Only, it isn’t another wall. It’s Rin Itoshi’s rather broad chest. Your hands instinctively press against him, which only makes heat travel directly to your head.

You look up towards the man — and notice he is not even staring at you. Shyly taking one hand away, you intended on taking away the other and returning it to your side — until you hear a familiar, deep voice, one that has been directed towards you in awkward, often unpleasant conversation.

Shit. She smells so good.

Your head instantly snaps up towards Rin. The man looks towards… the wall. But his thoughts are loud and true — his inner voice sounds in pain. He is taller than everyone in the elevator so you cannot really tell who he is thinking about, given he is not even looking at anyone. Which makes him only weirder, in your opinion. Whoever this poor girl he was thinking about was — you felt sorry for.

You take your hand away, but you still brush against Rin’s arm. You take the moment to try and look at everyone else to your left. There’s Kate-san from America. She is pretty and has long legs. But she is taken for, you would be surprised if Rin didn’t know given how long he’s been working here. There’s also Fumiko-chan and Nanami-chan. Could Rin potentially like one of them?

What does someone put in their hair to smell that way? Shit did I put on deodorant today?

Your lips quip up. Something was seriously wrong with this man.

The elevator doors open, and when some people leave, more people enter. You yelp when Rin suddenly pushes against you, his hand that was once over your head bending. Your breath quickens and hitches when you hear his next thoughts.

Fuck. I can feel everything. I am a degenerate. What the hell is she hiding under that stupid cat sweater?

You flounder and cough. Your cat sweater? You quite liked it! Wait. No way. The girl who smelled good? He wasn’t talking about—

“Sorry,” he mumbles, quickly removing himself off of you — but still too close for comfort.

You blink and look up into his eyes. This time he is looking down at you. His hair brushes over his forehead. In this lighting, it looks like his cheeks are a bit flushed. There was no way. There was no way.

You make a weird sound. There’s something stuck in your throat. You try to say it’s fine but it only comes out as, “M—Mmm.” You nod, hoping it saves you.

Rin breaks eye contact and adjusts his tie.

What the hell was that sound? Her hands are so small. Shit. That’s so stupid. I hate her. Why is she so cute?

Your heartbeat quickens. You need to get off this elevator immediately. There was no way this man; who glared at you every time you entered the same room, who insulted your lunch choices (calling it rabbit food), who came with the most idiotic technical problems whenever you were in office — there was no way he liked you.

The elevator stops at your floor. And, coincidentally Rin’s as well. You cough when he doesn’t get off, tugging on his sleeve.

“I—Itoshi-san, I— I get off here.” You speak quietly, feeling out a breath.

She touched me. I need to die.

“Oh— sorry.”

Rin exits first. You follow after but he has longer legs and disappears from your view. When you enter your office, you succumb against the door. You place your cold hands against your now heated face and bury your head in your trembling knees. Rin Itoshi liked you? Rin Itoshi liked you.

Shit.

[iridescentscarecrow]

chainsaw man chapter 156:

thinking about yoshida as a framer. he’s the one who presents this frame to denji - one between normal and abnormal, the two choices he offers. a lot of the way this attempts to lend direction to denji’s journey borrows from how part one forms its narrative with its human/devil dichotomy.

there’s a lot of nuance as to how this dichotomy is presented, and denji itself isn’t strictly a vessel for these values (this categorisation to them is rather conversed with through his mirror aki). denji’s existence as a hybrid searching for warmth and intimacy and his own dream confounds these values, this set structure. 

because while the human/devil rift is resolved as false, it’s also clearly human built. devils are ideas that are built out of human fears and imaginings. we see devils being used as tools by the public safety while simultaneously being the ones they fight against.

this carries over into part two with fandom. i’ve talked about fumiko in specific to fandom multiple times already so i have little to say here but 

fandom in part two, with the use of ideas, with its iconisation is ultimately a concentrated and transparent version of the nature of part one’s devilhood. possession of this icon and its dispossession (non participation in this idea of yourself that decontextualises you from Family - nayuta) is the dichotomy here because the human/devil of part one is turned onto denji almost forcibly.

in p1 he receives aspects of this human/devil conundrum but his connection with pochita crystallised into hybridism builds onto this and in the end resolves it with the response to nayuta. the love.

and from his conversation with yoshida, we’re given denji defying the p2 dichotomy also because of pochita, the dog dream, the nayuta to it all (this connection, the family which i’ve already mentioned in quite a few of my earlier threads)

and yoshida here is instead the vessel for these values, turned upon denji. personally a lot of his mannerisms come across as him himself understanding his role in this categorisation but the thoughts i have on him are still mere speculation. argh

i do find it very interesting here then how the dissection differs. denji in part one is killed as a human by the zombie devil and pochita stitches him back together as he is torn apart by the yakuza’s brutal violence. 

it’s quite the opposite here. pochita is the one who informs him about his body’s condition, its inability because in part this dissection is because of pochita. it’s nothing like the brutality of the yakuza, it’s cold and clinical. denji is regarded as a devil, entirely.

his body parts which were cast away into the dumpster in part one are instead kept as precious treasures by his fan.

fujimoto’s commentary on idealisation threads its way through his writing on devilhood, on religion and so much of this

is centred around the body. his writing of bodyhood when it comes to the weapon hybrids is something i’ve already written a little about, how its coming apart, its immortality is significant of its decontextualisation as conjectured with the context and the history offered by family and connection. and eating also becomes a carrier of the idea of the body (with the cannibalism in part one and even in fire punch).

denji’s story is devastating because of how it blurs between different structures and thus challenges them, is swallowed by them, is victimised by them. and this blurring is partly because of the very real underlying theme of love below all this. the love that makes pochita give life to denji, the same craving for intimacy that makes makima seek the chainsaw man and want to live together, eat together, sleep together with him,

the same love, conflicted and borne out of life under exploitation that denies and makes use of this love, which makes nayuta sacrifice herself for denji and denji struggle out of bed, having broken the rules for both the chainsaw man makima designed for him, and for nayuta.

[uusercatt367]

⭐️ My Main Diabolik lovers Oc’s ( Info / about ) ⭐️

A better look at them without the shading 👇

⭐️⭐️⭐️

( Something I have to add before you read their info, I haven’t thought of a surname for them and This Oc’s I’m gonna ship with Yui ofc, I remembered I promised to write more about my DL Oc’s so here you go ^^ )

—————————————————————-

( apologies early if there’s some spelling mistakes / English isn’t my first language 😭😭😭 )

Diabolik lovers Oc’s info

- First name: Mari

- Race: Vampire

- Age: 18 ( physically)

- Highly intelligent

- Very cold

- Her beauty is admired by many girls and guys at school but because she is so cold people are afraid/ uncomfortable with talking to her.

- She has a sister ( Ari )

- She and her sister don’t get along but Mari doesn’t hate her sister she rather feels guilty and responsible for what happened to her sister’s right eye.

- She tries to act softer and nicer to her sister even tho Ari is still hurt and mad about her and what happened when they were kids.

- Will protect and fight for people she cares and loves.

- abused in childhood to be perfect and number 1 in everything ( Like Ayato but not that worse like him )

Gets along with:

- Reiji, Ruki ( obviously) and surprisingly Kou also.

Natural:

- Subaru, Kanato, Yuma ( even tho she gets annoyed by him sometimes), Azusa and Shu ( even tho she kinda hates his whole laziness but in some way she can understand him. )

Absolutely despises:

- Ayato ( she hates how he tries to be better than her and finds him annoying and stupid, and it’s just a No. ), Laito ( she despises his perverted mind and behavior, she mostly pity him for that )

- And obviously she hates Shin and Carla and they hate her back cuz she’s a vampire ;w;

- First name: Yuu

- Race: Vampire ( honestly I’m thinking of making her an Adler / Eagle, not sure yet )

- Age: 16 ( physically)

- Very Optimistic

- She is also admired by everyone in school for her talent for singing

- She is a trainee for becoming an Idol

- Kou is her main inspiration and inspired to be like him

- Even tho she doesn’t have such a bad childhood like some other characters but her parents were killed by some unknown demons when she was a kid but she never became depressed by it, she keeps smiling and having fun in her life

- Ari, Mari and Fumiko aren’t her real sisters but she still treats and loves them as they were blood related.

Gets along with:

- Kou ( ofc ) she sees him as her idol ( literally ), Ayato and kanato.

Natural:

- Reiji ( she respects him nothing more than this ), Ruki, Azusa, Yuma ( she tries to get along with them as much as possible ). And Laito ( she not always likes his dirty behavior but sometimes she finds him hilarious )

Absolutely despises: ( I wouldn’t really say she despises because she tries to get along with everyone but she fails to get along with.. )

- Shu ( doesn’t understand his lazy behavior, she hates when people are lazy to do anything like you’re waisting your life like this. )

- Subaru ( tried to get along with him but he doesn’t seem like he wants to talk to her + they are in the same class )

- +Shin and Carla

- First name: Fumiko

- Age: 17 ( physically )

- Race: Vampire

- Despises men.

- She is the only one out of the 4 who is un attracted to men in any way.

- Into goth Lolita fashion

- She also acts cold like Mari but more of a weird way

- Talking like she’s a dead corpse to freak people out on purpose

- Into witchcraft and more creepy stuff

- The reason she acts weird and mostly quiet around people is due to her heavy trauma during childhood, She was living with her mom who clearly didn’t want to do anything with her and found her useless, while also being abused by random men her mom was bringing home ( not gonna really say in which ways but u get my point:,) )

- Eventually ran away from home in the age of 10

Gets along with: ( even tho she rather not interact with men or anyone She still gets along with few )

- Shu ( he doesn’t bother her and because he is lazy she doesn’t fear he will do something bad to her, even tho sometimes he can make a dirty joke which she hates ) Azusa, kanato ( they just honestly have the same vibes as her and that’s it. ) and Subaru.

Natural:

- Ruki and Reiji ( likes how calm and serious they are )

Absolutely despises:

- Laito ( I dont think I need to explain ), Ayato, Kou ( even tho she tries to get along with him because Yuu is his friend ) and Yuma

- +Shin and Carla.

- First name: Ari

- Age: 18 ( physically)

- Race: vampire

- Always acts Happy and optimistic around people.

- A very confident person.

- She loves feeling popular and admired.

- Her “ weird “ and eye catching appearance cough a lot of peoples attention.

- Plays in a band and is very talented so also helps Yuu out with her Idol training

- She’s dirty minded.

- No matter what gender you are if you offer her to do it she would most likely say yes.

- She hates her sister Mari.

- She is mad at her for what happened to her eye during childhood

- When they were small Mari was always more adored by her parents to be “ perfect “ and better than her in everything.

- One day they were practicing archery and Mari got jealous of Ari for doing something better than her for once, so she splashed a really toxic snake poison into her right eye, Mari wanted to make her blind completely but failed ( also the snake poison splashed on Ari’s skin so she has a few scars on her body ), Of course Mari regretted her actions right after but it wasn’t entirely her fault because of all her parents abuse and pressure for being perfect, she got scared of what will they think of her if they find out She’s not good enough.

- Obviously Ari’s parents didn’t care what happened to her eye and now found her more useless than she was before so they even tried to sell her to some random guy but before this happened Mari saved her and convinced her to run away.

- To this day Ari never and probably never will forgive her sister but she’s still thankful for her saving her.

Gets along with:

- Laito ( she likes his dirty mind and dirty jokes he makes sometimes, but they didn’t do it and will never do. ) Ayato ( she hates how he thinks he’s better than everyone else but still gets along with him. ) Kou ( she likes helping Yuu with Kou together and they get along very well ) Yuma.

Natural:

- Shu ( loves his passion for music but other than that nothing ), Kanato ( she is okay with him but she really likes to tease him for his height and other things. ), Subaru ( he’s okay. ) Ruki ( he can be annoying to her sometimes )

Absolutely despises:

- Reiji ( she finds him annoying and hates how good he is in everything like her sister Mari. )

- +Shin and Carla.

Something they all have in common:

- they all love Yui very much :3333 💗💗💗💗💗

*That’s it for now, I’ll be more than happy to hear your thoughts on them ^^ *

[possiblylando]

Chainsaw Man Chapter 148 not so early analysis

Bit later than usual cause college and I wanted to look into something from part 1.

Fumiko has been continuing the trend of being absolutely useless in every situation shes ever been put in to the point I feel confident in saying she CANT fight. This clearly isn't a kobeni situation where she can fight if necessary because she hasn't even really been trying to fight or protect anyone. It's the point I've actually started to believe the theory that Fumiko is actually Aldo in disguise.

For a refresher Aldo was one of the american assassin brothers who got picked off at the beginning of the arc by Power and Yoshida respectively. However Aldo survived the entire arc and has been awol ever since. He's also surprisingly durable since he survived both of these attacks with minimal injury.

He may or may not have been hit by halloween, Given his facial expression I it seems like he's faking it especially since Halloween was used on the doll devil and so should logically only effect her dolls which Aldo is not.

I went back through these chapters expecting to find a smoking gun that could prove this to be true. Specifically I was looking for a scene where he or one of the brothers was holding an ID card which could be matched against the way Fumiko holds it, But I did not find that.

This is the best I found but it's also standard practice so it isn't good evidence. Back to the chapter itself, It's clear now Quanxi is just going through the motions

She's clearly been lacking when it comes to combat and athletics in these previous few chapters in comparison to her original appearance. She's been sort of stumbling through these chapters with the help of her regeneration. Which is a bit strange until you keep in mind; Quanxi is more than likely SUPER depressed. The last time we saw her before this was when she fought Denji and the previous time before that was when everyone she cared about got murdered by Makima. It's probable that she blames herself for it because she took the job to kill Denji and thus got her and the girls into the situation that killed them in the first place.

Fuck you looking at bitch do something

The transition between these two pages is so good I had to do a double take because my immediate though was that Quanxi was the one who got her arm cut off. But then obviously it's Asa's. You can feel the inspiration from good movie transitions here.

This whole scene is very cool and also very interesting because Asa is able to block Yoshida's sword with her barehand. She got such an amp from the chainsaw fire attacks that she can do this. It also means she has basically the same base stats as yoru. Which is to be expected but I think is interesting.

It seems like this page was drawn before the rest of the one in this sequence because Yoshida is busting through a wall here despite the fact Room 606 was just destroyed; Thus there should be no wall to bust through to escape onto the street. Interestingly the other personality is absent in this scene entirely. We never see Yoru and Asa in the same panel which is an interesting choice. Its probably a creative choice to only have one of them around in major action scenes. Feels like a good time to mention a theory I saw on twitter. I've been trying to find it but I've had no luck. If I can find it it'll probably be apart of next week's post. To summarize the theory; Asa and Yoru are the same entity. Not two separate beings in one body. Asa the human we met at the beginning of part 2 has been dead since the justice (fire) contract user killed her. The Asa we see now is a split personality reconstructed using the intact memories in the body's brain at the time she became a fiend. If true it means Asa is an alternate persona created by Yoru in order to cause more conflict within herself (constant internal warfare) and as a coping mechanism due to the chainsaw devil massacre in hell. Its an interesting theory I want to put on the board incase something happens with it especially since Yoru is growing in strength rapidly. Probably how Black Pochita was schooling them during it.

[beedok]

Alright, time to format this slightly awkwardly, since you did it as a comment instead of an ask, but… 😛

There’s the four main characters. Lupin, femme fatal (is she another Fumiko? Something like Fumiko…), gun guy, and the samurai.

Gun guy and Fumiko are both sleeping with Lupin, but only gun guy actually cares about him, Fumiko just knows she can bend Lupin to her will since he’s sexually motivated.

Samurai might be asexual, depending on which colour of jacket Lupin is wearing.

Also, most Lupin’s kill lots of people, but, uhh… pink jacket doesn’t?

Oh, right, and there’s Inspector Ryoga who 100% has the hots for Lupin, but it’s one sided. Is he Jigen? Jiigen?

Someone is Jigen.

Oh, and, uh, obviously, they steal stuff. But probably from people who are more evil than they are? Not quite robin hood, but at least to make them less hated by the audience.

Yes…. and gun guy may have attempted to adopt Conan on multiple occasions.

[octopuscontract]

so public safety has known about asa/yoru's whole deal for a while. not surprised if this was intel collected by yoshida himself.

is this implying that yoshida went against public safety's wishes by warning asa to stay away from denji? his mission, supported by kishibe, not just being to keep denji in line, but to protect him.

i always assumed yoshida forbidding denji from transforming was a ploy by PS for nefarious reasons (mainly for greater control over CSM and his image). but, this supports the theory that yoshida/kishibe made a deal with PS to have him not transform in exchange for not killing him. kinda similar to asa and yoru's loophole solution to killing CSM.

this is an interesting idea, and it would also explain why yoshida brought fumiko into this (besides hoping a cute girl would be better at manipulating denji, which obviously backfired). her story of wanting to "save" denji was literal, and not completely a lie.

this begs the question of who here is actually saving denji, because it's not yoshida, nor fumiko, nor asa.

[faintingheroine]

***

Taxonomy of Hair Colors:

Catherine is brunette, Isabella is blonde. Bihter is brunette, Nihal is blonde. Hanka is brunette, Jagna is blonde. Both Hatice and Nigar and Fumiko and Yoko are brunettes.

***

I think I will go with “Bihter - Nihal” because it is the only one completely without closure.

Catherine and Isabella are from the English classic novel Wuthering Heights. While Catherine is rather vicious to Isabella in revealing her crush to Heathcliff, Isabella still cries after Catherine’s death and even kisses her portrait alongside her brother’s before leaving for London. It is not that vicious. Also it is the only one here where there’s barely any rivalry, Heathcliff hates and is disgusted with Isabella.

Fumiko and Yoko are from the post-WW2 Japanese retelling of Wuthering Heights, A True Novel. Fumiko is the Nelly character, Yoko is the Catherine Earnshaw, there is no Isabella equivalent. Just like in Wuthering Heights, Fumiko (Nelly) partially causes Yoko’s (Catherine’s) death through her willful negligence, but here Fumiko (Nelly) is in love with the Heathcliff equivalent (unlike the Nelly in WH who wasn’t in love with anyone) so there is an element of romantic jealousy to her negligence. Pretty vicious, but they mostly got along in life, and Fumiko still feels sad after her death.

Hatice and Nigar are from the Turkish soap opera “Magnificent Century”. Hatice is the only character here who actively consciously tried to get her romantic rival killed, but later Hatice and Nigar get into a weird sort of understanding and seem to reconcile, and they are not that vicious to each other in general.

Hanka and Jagna are from the Polish animated film “The Peasants” based on the classic Polish novel of the same name. They are pretty awful to each other throughout the film but at the end of the movie Hanka basically says “God save you” to Jagna and smiles and is deliberately absent from Jagna’s final tragedy.

Bihter and Nihal are from the Turkish classic novel Aşk-ı Memnu. And there is no reconciliation or understanding at the end for them, and they are both pretty vengeful by the end. Nihal seems to not care about Bihter’s death. So I will pick their option.

[ocdhuacheng]

Was hoping denji would kill fumiko tho

[sugar-grigri]

Fans are Denji's source of unhappiness

First observation: Fumiko is worse than Barem

I don't like making meaningless comparisons, especially in a work like Chainsaw Man where when the characters aren't nuts, they remain at least morally gray. But this comparison makes sense in the sense that the construction of the chapter refers to it. As usual, let's analyze this by following the chapter's chronology.

This one takes place in a funfair, which is not an insignificant location, but we'll come back to that later. These few lines of dialogue already evoke a very simple idea: Denji isn't so stupid that he wouldn't know he was being manipulated. He knows full well that Fumiko was placed in Yoshida's care not to protect him, but to keep a close eye on him, to prevent him from turning and joining the church.

But she tries to disprove all this, evoking the ecstasy one might feel if one were Chainsaw Man. Being Chainsaw Man is also a source of unhappiness for Denji, who corrects her, and Fumiko adapts to his speech, looking for the first negative point that comes to mind. I think it was a real mistake for Fumiko to mention this point, but once again, she adapts to Denji's reaction. He's completely horrified at having been observed in the bathroom, so she shares his negative view of the situation.

She knows that Denji's main objective is sex-related, so she builds on that by downplaying what she's doing. This is fan behavior; fans are sexually obsessed with Denji in the hope that it will delight him. But Fumiko knows no bounds, either ignoring his consent or stalking him, which logically engages Denji's rejection reaction again.

Once again, he perceives the means of manipulation with the word "fan", and rejects it. So far, these experiences have only been negative and intrusive, and even when they have been positive, whether with Asa romantically or Power platonically, the demon of control, another female figure, has put an end to them.

But instead of stopping the manipulation, Fumiko goes on to confirm Denji's words even as they express pure disgust and rejection. For a character who knows absolutely no limits, she may also override stopping this conservation, but she continues with her family history. If public demon hunters know anything about Denji apart from his natural distrust and need for affection, whether sentimental or physical, it's his sensitivity.

I can't say that the story Fumiko tells is a complete lie, just as I can't say that she's telling the truth. She's a hunter, and anything she mentions could well have ended up in a report, especially given the national authorities' interest in the gun demon. But even if her story is true, the tragic aspect, not for her but for Denji, is even stronger.

Fumiko says she lost her parents because of the gun demon, that CSM didn't hear her cries for help. I'd like to remind you that chapter 79, the chapter in which she refers to Aki's death, is dedicated to the trauma of what it means to be Chainsaw Man.

For the demon from the future, Aki died in the worst possible way, not for him, but for Denji. It's clear that the little boy is forcing himself to continue this snowball fight he no longer wants to play.

At first, he tries to reason with Aki, forcing him to wake up, but when he himself is shot trying to spare one of his only loved ones, people won't let him lose. Chainsaw Man is a weapon of vengeance into which everyone projects their frustrations, the deaths of their loved ones. Denji was forced to be resurrected, to kill Aki not for himself, but for the community. Chainsaw Man never acts for himself. If Aki died in the worst way for Denji, it's because his fans, this community, forced him back to life to remove one of his sources of love.

Denji was traumatized by having to win.

Let's be clear: it wasn't Denji who ignored their calls for help, it was they who ignored his.

Isn't it tragic to criticize Chainsaw Man for not hearing Fumiko's cries for help, or the cries of all those people, when he was instead so compelled by them, like a machine that would be reset to kill a loved one ? Chainsaw Man, on the other hand, hears all the pain in the world. This doesn't mean that Denji is altruistic - he isn't. He's closer to amorality than compassion, but like a permanently dehumanized machine, he must serve others. It has no morals, so how can it live for itself ?

That's why what Fumiko says is so paradoxical: saving Denji means finally allowing him to live for himself, granting him the right not to hear all those voices.

She doesn't mean what she says when she says she's never thought of him as a god, but simply as a child in need of protection. She's only setting up a dissident discourse to that of the church, which idealizes him by banking on the part of identity that is Denji, while the church banks on Chainsaw Man. How can someone who is constantly sexually abusing Denji be competent to protect a boy?

This chapter is about setting limits for children. To have access to the merry-go-round, you have to be over 1m10 tall. These clear limits were never set for Denji, either when he was forced to kill Aki or even when he explores his sexuality.

Having killed his father, been martyred by the mafia and then manipulated by a demon, Denji is now at the heart of other vicious circles. He's condemned to being too young an adult, watching over Nayuta like a parent while children play behind him, not enjoying the funfair with friends, a girlfriend, being cloistered on that bench. The bench represents the stagnation in Denji's life, his questioning, placed on the bench of his own life, his name unknown to his fans, his nature instrumentalized, his age ignored.

Denji needs and must be considered with the age he is, a 17-year-old teenager. Yet even this characteristic, even the fact that he's still a child, is ignored by Fumiko, hence her insistence on the word "senpai".

The treatment of Fumiko is good, I find her to be the very embodiment of Denji's sexual trauma in the sense that she constantly manipulates him to play on his interests, and constantly ignores his own desires, his limits.

Fumiko manipulates, hence the emphasis on her outraged expression when Barem interrupts. If Barem's manipulation is more grotesque, it's not to manipulate Denji but to mock Fumiko's strategy. Although it's incredibly more insidious, the weapon has a clear idea of what she's up to.

And yet, in just a few sentences, it's right on target. It's much closer to Denji's reality than to Fumiko's human perspective. Weapons are seen as weapons, machines at the service of humans, whose immortality is a pain, as it leads them to the trauma of always winning.

Barem uses a cigarette, obviously reminiscent of those smoked by Aki, who had given in to Himeko's advances and needed an outlet for his stress. Aki's misfortune is to have spent his life on revenge, living to avenge the dead, not living for himself. The cigarette was his flaw, the proof of his humanity, the one he threw at Denji to spare him the pain of getting involved in the horrible business of hunting demons.

Whether or not it was there to manipulate Denji by reminding him of his older brother, whether or not it was there by chance, it conveyed the same message: proof of the humanity of a man who lived for others. A man who was executed once again for that same community.

This community, Denji's fan club, is the cause of his deepest misfortune. Chainsaw Man has never been so popular, yet Denji has never been alone. Because he's not allowed to have loved ones. Nayuta, too, is proof of this: she wants her brother for herself, and convinces him that he's loved by others by acting under the cover of Chainsaw Man.

That's why Denji's intervention to stop the attack in progress is much less certain. All these fans, this humanity waiting for Chainsaw Man, are the source of his misfortune. Of course the fan club will call Chainsaw Man. What's less obvious...

Will Denji listen to their cries for help?

[logicalalo]

Thoughts on CSM ch. 138

Alright, finally have somewhat organized my thoughts regarding this week's chapter and have some points that I would like to discuss. I would also like to add that some chapters are kinda foggy in my mind (I should definitely re-read them), so if there are errors, please let me know.

Introduction of Fumiko; Denji's bodyguard.

With her introduction and actions, yeah no, but we are stuck with her as she has been appointed to be Denji's bodyguard at school. In other words, Denji will have another figure from Public Safety keeping tabs on him. The way Yoshida explains Fumiko's job is that she will protect Denji so that Denji can enjoy a normal life. AKA since she is Denji's bodyguard, Denji can't have the excuse that he turned to CSM for self-defense. I would like to add that her addition to the cast and being another player for public safety makes me feel like the story is once again highlighting the two prominent sides of an impending conflict soon: Church of Chainsawman and Public Safety. Perhaps, we may have a school chapter soon where we can once again see the dividing attitudes of both groups via the students.

Sword Man

The first time I read the chapter (in my 15-minute break), I had assumed that Sword Man was part of Public Safety/ part of Yoshida's team alongside Fumiko, but I then realize he isn't? Or more like nothing has been said yet about where he stands. For sure not with the Church of Chainsawman. We do see him wearing the school uniform and a Twitter user suggested that he could be the one that helped Denji back during the Falling arc*. Based on his choice of words, he seems to hold CSM in a higher regard compared to Asa who he described with the words "some fresh-nobody" and almost dismissive by saying how she is the Church's poster girl. His re-introduction did bring a lot of buzz, as seen on social media, with many hoping that past hybrids from the series make a return. * Tweet about Sword Man being the one that helped Denji in the Falling Arc

Asa and the Fame

Per a discussion and agreement with Fami, Asa is now actively fighting devils while being the "poster girl" for the church of Chainsawman. Asa and Yoru agreed while each having their own reason; to protect CSM (Asa) and to kill him (Yoru). In this chapter, we see Asa looking tired with a band-aid on her face while staring at the TV. Displayed on the TV, appears to be a talk show where the host describes Asa in a positive manner. The host used the word "beautiful" and Asa repeats the word as if to confirm that she did indeed hear correctly. Yoru then shares that it's not so bad receiving recognition which Asa attempts to downplay by saying that "[they] aren't doing this for the praise...", she is doing it to protect CSM, and that it's creepy. However, Yoru sees through. We, the reader, also understand that it's not entirely true as Asa is shown smiling in a certain manner. Her smile makes me think of those smiles we sometimes make unknowingly when nervous or lying. Either way, the smile Asa gives feels questionable. The smile does low-key remind me of the smiles Yoru would make in previous chapters. Regarding Asa's development in this chapter, it looks like it could take the route where the newfound fame gets to Asa's head. I'll explain a bit below, but most of the time that this conflict is used in media, it doesn't serve the character well. It's sort of always used as a cautionary tale about fame getting to people's heads. Although, I can't blame Asa for feeling the way she did because getting recognition/praise feels good; she seen. It's human to seek approval at times because it also affirms our actions as 'correct'. I could more in-depth about this another time. On a lesser scale, something similar to what is occurring has played out. Remember the Aquarium arc? Asa was all smiles and confident when she pulled out that cell phone because she had others saying good things about her as she became their hope for a way out. Unfortunately, she fell and in came Haruka's criticism that crushed Asa. Wonder if something like this will play out again as falling at important moments has been an explicitly stated problem Asa has. Perhaps, she will deal with a 'fall' during her peak as a Devil Hunter? This is really random, but I suddenly made the connection with Mean Girls regarding Asa's current predicament. To be exact with the trope 'becoming the mask'. I think the trope loosely applies to Asa. Below are the comparison drawn between Asa and Cady (main character of Mean Girls). - Join a group that they were told to join where both were skeptical at first base on what they saw and heard. For Asa, it was Fami telling her to join the Church of Chainsawman and for Cady, it was Janis who told her to join the Plastics. - Once in the group, they become accustomed to it and lose their original self. Here it's where it can loosely apply to Asa since it's implied the fame may be getting to her head, but we still don't see the severity of it. While in Mean Girls, Cady took over Regina's role and lost herself along with her friends/ unrecognizable to those close to her. By the end of the film, Cady acknowledges that being at the top of the chain by being a plastic made her lose her way, her friends, her parent's trust, and made her feel lonely ( ex. eating lunch alone again). Cady reverts to her true self and repairs those bridges; becoming happier. Who knows, maybe Asa will also go through something similar to that as it seems to be a pattern when the problem in a story is about a character letting fame get to them (Shark Tale is another example of that conflict in media lol) I have so much more to say about Asa in general, but I think I will leave that for another day.

Fami better come back soon to clue us in a bit more on what her plan is with the church. Fami said that she wants to save humans, but her planning brings in a lot of questions. There is also the Fakesaw Man, Justice Devil being back, the weird thing that seems to be haunting/advising Haruka, and the list goes on. Only time will tell.

Thank you for hearing my thoughts which can sometimes be all over the place. I was really excited doing one of these posts since it's been ages. If you would like to talk more, don't hesitate to send me a message.

Edit: whoa it got a weird format when it’s posted.

[cheese-flavoured-dumpster-fire]

This was an excellent chapter, but also, Fuck Fumiko & Yoshida, Fujimoto please kill them with rocks also, WOOP WOOP, Nayuta may not be dead, this chapter is Joy & Suffering in one

[yaboirezzy]

What headcannons do u have regarding the yureimoto family? Any ideas what kind of kids fumi/haru & ken/ena might have?

Fumiko

- Being the eldest, she obviously went through a Candace/Lori phase when she was younger, nowadays she acts more like a responsible but fair eldest, but some cracks slip here and there

- Haru is her emotional support kappa

- "Being the eldest is hard, cause your own siblings could take you down" *chaos and destruction ensues behind her* "Belive me I know"

Kentaro

- He's a born party animal

- He sometimes rope Haru and Kenji into what he calls "Boys Night Out" where they go around and scare some so called 'Paranormal Hunters' which they become a squad because of it with Sam as the newest member

- "That's called "Boy Hunting" Ha ha ha!"

Ena

- She's the yokai Embodiment of Spongebob

- Her and Rin are parallels to Emily and Erma (which also makes Rin her Squidward)

- "*ecstatic laugh after some cotton candy and 'bang' drinks*"

Rin:" Ugh, when is the sugar gonna wear off?!"

*Ena passes out*

Yori

- She's just a tired mom man, give her a break

- She's calm on the outside but inside she's about to break

- Emiko: "Yori? are you okay?"

"Emi, I'm literally going INSANE" *teacup breaks'

Fumiko: "Yori! Here's another- ....tea"

Rin: "I gave her that teacup for her last birthday..."

Rin

- Looks like she could kill you, she's actually a cinnamon roll

- Likes to bite people randomly when she's younger

- Young Ena: "Fumiko! Rin is trying to eat me again!"

Mayumi

- She has a lot to say to others, mostly positive but also some negative

- Don’t call her slenderwoman, like how you shouldn't call Emiko 'Samara/Sadako'

- *Other yureimotos are wasted at a party*

'Each and every one of you is a huge disappointment in my face'

As for fankids, I feel like you have the right idea with FumiHaru, but for EnaKen I don't really have an idea yet

(I'll have you know that I did this while buying groceries, so you're welcome)