As Denji gears up for his battle against “Katana”, we are made fully aware of the threat at home
This week’s episode of Chainsaw Man does a lot of things, but one thing it does exceedingly well is making sure you understand before the end of this episode that Makima is not to be trusted. While the anime has made sure to hint at how manipulative she towards Denji and Aki, and how her intentions may be quite as pure as we’d like them to be, in this episode we see a near Machiavellian side of Makima. This first becomes apparent in a dinner conversation with Kishbe after thanking him for training Power and Denji. It’s only after it’s revealed he has begun to grow fond of his new pupils, that he asks the same question that was asked of Makima a few episodes ago. How much did she know about the attack? And was the death toll preventable? The answer we get is an odd one because she once again dodges the question, but qualifies it as she is doing everything she can to save human lives from devils. This also puts out the fact that she is not human.
Kishbe simply calls her a liar.
If you were still team Makima after that, it’s in her meeting with the Yakuza where it’s revealed that there’s a rogue faction of gangsters working with the Gun Devil, exchanging money for guns, where her mask slips yet again. When she requests the names of all of those working against Public Safety and also the names of other Yakuza clans, the men attempt to intimidate the young woman into rescinding her request. “Attempt” is the key here, because not missing a beat or losing her trademark smirk, she pulls out a paper bag filled with the eyes of their loved ones. It’s there we get the idea that while Makima is against the Gun Devil, she may also be a threat to our protagonists.
This keeps bringing me back to a conversation between Makima and Aki while he was driving her back from a meeting. Aki remarks how unremarkable Denji is, while Makima utters something along the lines that “every devil has a name.” Given her power and how names are a big part of that, that statement is something I keep replaying given she has threatened both Denji and Power multiple times. While for now they are both in good standing and therefore safe, it’s worth realizing how powerful of a threat we realize that was coming from Makima.
Pacing-wise this is a brisk episode for for our main protagonists and is light on exposition. After presumably getting bested by Kishbe yet again, Power and Denji are told the next day they are going on their first “real” mission with the Devil Hunter to get the “Kitana” and the young girl who killed most of Special Division 4.
The next day while storming the building where “Kitana” is holed up that we get introduced to the rest of the Team who have been hanging out in the OP since the beginning of the show, the “Shark Devil”, the “Violence Fiend” and the “Angel Devil” who are all now fighting alongside Denji, Power and Aki. After losing his contract with the “Fox Devil” and now looking for an edge, Aki is now contracted with the “Future Devil” who gives him the ability to see a few seconds into the future against an opponent putting him on a more even footing with his inhuman colleagues. We actually get to see a good bit of the battle, as the new blood is pitted against a sub basement garage filled with Zombies left over from the “Zombie Devil” from the first episode. Of note is while we get to see the new guys use their powers, we really don’t get to see any of what Kishbe has imparted on his young padawans, yet.
For those that might be wondering where these guys came from. Remember the dinner where other agents were asked about their fiends and devils and remarked how lucky Aki was, that Power was a bit more passable as human?
When this episode wraps up Aki is fighting the young girl who killed Himeno with the battle between “Chainsaw” and “Katana” left for the series finale, which is fair. This roughly puts at the end of Volume 4 of the manga going into the fifth volume which is a decent amount of story covered for the season so far and leaves us with just enough for a possible season 2 and maybe even a season 3 given Fujimoto’s current output. I think given fan reaction to not only the show, but to the manga it seems like it might be a done deal that we will at least get all of the Public Safety story at least.
See you next week!
New Chainsaw Man episodes are released on Tuesdays and can be viewed with English Subtitles on Crunchyroll.
