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Two teenagers experience a intimate, tender moment at the neighborhood secondary school’s outdoor swimming pool after hours. While they drift as one, suspended under the stars in the quietness of the evening, the scene portrays the ephemeral, exhilarating excitement of teenage romance, completely engrossed in the present, consequences forgotten.

About 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the heart of the film. Denji and Reze’s romantic tale became the focus, and every bit of contextual information and character histories previously known from the anime’s initial episodes turned out to be largely irrelevant. Although it is a canonical installment within the series, Reze Arc provides a easier starting place for newcomers — even if they missed its prior content. This method 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 universe where Devils embody particular evils (ranging from concepts like Aging and Darkness to specific horrors like insects or World War II). After being deceived and killed by the yakuza, Denji forms a contract with his faithful devil-dog, his pet, and comes back from the dead as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the power to permanently erase Devils and the terrors they signify from existence.

Thrust into a brutal struggle between devils and hunters, the hero encounters a new character — a charming barista hiding a deadly mystery — sparking a tragic confrontation between the pair where affection and survival collide. The movie continues immediately following the first season, delving into Denji’s connection with Reze as he grapples with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his controlling superior, Makima, forcing him to decide among desire, faithfulness, and self-preservation.

An Independent Love Story Within a Broader World

Reze Arc is fundamentally a romance-to-rivalry story, with our imperfect protagonist Denji becoming enamored with his counterpart right away upon introduction. He’s a lonely young man looking for love, which makes his heart vulnerable and up for grabs on a first-come basis. Consequently, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s complex mythology and its extensive ensemble, Reze Arc is highly independent. Filmmaker Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than bogging it down with filler recaps for the uninitiated, particularly since such details is crucial to the overall plot.

Regardless of Denji’s imperfections, it’s hard not to feel for him. He is after all a teenager, stumbling his way through a world that’s warped his sense of right and wrong. His intense longing for affection portrays him like a lovesick puppy, even if he’s likely to barking, biting, and making a mess along the way. Reze is a perfect match for him, an effective femme fatale who finds her prey in our hero. Viewers hope to see Denji win the ire of his love interest, despite she is clearly hiding a secret from him. Thus when her real identity is revealed, you still cannot avoid hope they’ll in some way make it work, even though internally, you know a happy ending is not truly in the cards. As such, the stakes fail to seem as high as they ought to be since their relationship is doomed. This is compounded by that the film serves as a immediate follow-up to Season 1, allowing little room for a romance like this amid the darker developments that followers are aware are coming soon.

Breathtaking Animation and Artistic Execution

The film’s graphics effortlessly combine traditional animation with computer-generated settings, providing impressive visual appeal even before the excitement kicks in. From vehicles to small desk fans, 3D models add depth and texture to every shot, making the animated figures pop beautifully. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently showcases its 3D assets and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc employs them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed finale, where those models, while not unattractive, are more apparent to identify. Such fluid, ever-shifting environments render the film’s fights both visually bombastic and surprisingly easy to follow. Nonetheless, the technique excels most when it’s invisible, improving the dynamic range and motion of the 2D animation.

Concluding Impressions and Wider Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a solid starting place, probably resulting in first-time audiences pleased, but it also has a downside. Telling a standalone story limits the tension of what ought to seem like a expansive anime epic. It’s an illustration of why following up a popular television series with a film isn’t the best approach if it undermines the series’ overall storytelling potential.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up multiple installments of animated series with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the issue entirely by acting as a prequel to its popular show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a bit recklessly. But that doesn’t stop the film from proving to be a enjoyable experience, a terrific introduction, and a memorable romantic tale.