Chainsaw man is just the latest in a series of great animated films that have taken Japanese animation to new heights of popularity and success in 2025. Demon Slayerit’s a record Infinite Castlehas Jujutsu Kaisen And Taste both releasing films to accompany their anime seasons, there’s been plenty to rev up anime fans’ engines this year. But Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc This feels like an explosive turning point for the anime medium that cuts through everything Western audiences take for granted about animated cinema.
Based on the immensely popular manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw man follows a teenager named Denji, who, after being killed by a devil, cut into pieces and thrown into a dumpster, makes a deal with the Chainsaw Devil to become an immortal half-human-half-devil hybrid who can sprout chainsaws from his appendages. As eccentric as its concept is, Chainsaw man has become one of the greatest shonen manga series due to the subtle humanity underlying its gratuitous violence and bloody mayhem. Fujimoto’s manga is special because he always takes care to remind the reader that each person’s puddle of blood splattered is always the same color.
Nowhere is there Chainsaw manThe man’s humanity is more apparent than in the poignant love story that constitutes the Arc de Rezé movie. There is a special type of heart that Chainsaw manThe film’s debut bears fruit that the anime industry is increasingly at risk of losing as it becomes profitable. In the age of anime recap films that hold the viewer’s hand every step of the way, there’s something deeply refreshing about the way Chainsaw man pushes the viewer into the water without teaching them how to swim.
Reze and Denji’s romance navigates uncharted waters for Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze ArcThe story picks up directly from where season 1 of the anime ended. Denji has settled into life as a devil hunter and has become more comfortable in his relationships with his reluctant roommates Aki and Power. The series’ sense of humor prevails from the moment Power mercilessly punches Denji in the stomach to begin the film, reminding viewers what makes Fujimoto’s characters so lovable.
At the same time, it is a starting point that is by no means difficult to understand for the complete beginner to the series. In the context of where this film is after the first season, the Arc de RezéThe story is a completely new direction for the series. Things slowly pick up from the beautifully realized moment when Denji first lays eyes on Reze. One of the most iconic images of the manga arc, depicting Reze holding a flower that Denji gave him, is handled with the utmost care, which hauntingly shows how much MAPPA cared for the Japanese. MSC Fandom criticism of Season 1 as having strayed too far from Fujimoto’s original manga art style.
In fact, the film’s opening scene acts as a sort of reassurance for anyone unsure whether this film is going to live up to the source material. It depicts a complete black-and-white dream sequence that takes on even the square ratio of a manga panel as if taken directly from Fujimoto’s original work and set in motion by a contract with a devil. Fans of the manga will be hard-pressed to find anything to criticize about this adaptation.
For anime-only viewers who don’t know what to expect, the upcoming slow-burn romantic storyline might surprise some. The entire first half of the film can only be described as a romantic comedy with a dark supernatural twist. And yet it should never seem tonally inconsistent to anyone who has known Denji over the previous 12 episodes. Where action is lacking, the series’ natural sense of humor takes over. This is sure to bring a laugh to anyone who has ever been a 16 year old boy, or at the very least known a 16 year old boy in passing. Denji’s hormonal hijinks make up the bulk of the laughs, but Reze’s character is even more unforgettable on the big screen than she already was in the manga.
Reze Arc’s Manga Embellishments Breathe New Life into Beloved Chainsaw Man Characters
Reze has always been a favorite character among manga readers, but she takes on a surprising new life on the big screen. Her and Denji’s banter is perfectly timed by the voice actors (Reina Uda and Kikunosuke Toya play Reze and Denji, respectively, in the original Japanese version), and the cinematography consistently captures angles and perspectives that lend a candid feel to their most intimate moments. As much as Rezé might claim the opposite, his charm in the Chainsaw man the film is not just an act.
As Reze sings a haunting out-of-tune lullaby, it becomes apparent that Reina Uda has been possessed by Reze’s spirit. Truly, the entire film is possessed by this spirit. The all-too-infamous scene where Reze and Denji swim in the pool is incredibly powerful, even compared to the one in the manga. The anime isn’t afraid to sit on these moments a little longer to draw the viewer in and really force them to feel what Denji is feeling in that moment.
Likewise, the serial killer stalking Denji takes on a particularly creepy atmosphere that really justifies the fact that this film comes out so close to Halloween. The musical score does much of the heavy lifting in dramatizing the delivery of these moments. In the iconic scene highlighted in the trailers where Denji imagines Makima and Reze lying side by side, the music masterfully shifts the chords as well as the shifting perspectives between the characters, flashing between these intimate internal visions of Denji and a horrifying scene taking place elsewhere at the same time.
Beautiful added scenes, like a shot of a spider holding a moth in its web, create incredible foreshadowing and metaphorical imagery. Likewise, there is an additional motif of a flying shot at opportune moments that has a deep meaning for Reze that wasn’t there in the original manga. It’s like the anime respects the source material to such a degree that it can’t help but add scenes that fit Fujimoto’s manga so much that they feel like they’re always there.
The anarchic action of Chainsaw Man reaches dizzying heights with the organized chaos of Reze Arc
Arc de RezéThe first half of definitely takes its time to build up and get the audience to care about the characters, but it’s not like everything doesn’t build into something. The part of Chainsaw man most embellished manga in the Arc de Rezé the film is its action. While most of the fight choreography in the first part of Bomb Girl’s introduction is pretty much a one-to-one adaptation, there is a moment when the battle really begins where the anime team clearly had a lot of fun taking liberties with the combat and going all-out with the fight choreography.
This ends up creating a constant adrenaline rush characterized by intense, upbeat music that shifts from high-velocity dance sounds to intense heavy metal. That, combined with the constant influx of flashing lights, explosions, animations, and surreal colors, this might very well be the closest shonen anime gets to attempting a psychedelic experience.
The music itself is still beautiful. Kensuke Ushio outdid himself with the film’s music, which organically alternates between relaxing, melodic piano sounds that could be played in a coffee shop (much like the one where Reze works) and droning industrial beats that ring out right amid the clanking of chainsaws and slicing flesh. Even in the simplest scenes, a sense of artistic expression and experimentation permeates every aspect of the film.
Just as much as this applies to the soundtrack, it also applies to the visuals. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is the only animated film at this point that comes close to Demon Slayer’s deservedly record-breaking spectacle: Infinite Castleanimation. And yet, Arc de RezéIt’s always more special, because it constantly comes up against Demon SlayerThe industrially polished exterior with a form of unfettered chaos that could not be Chainsaw man.
Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Redefines “Cinema” in a Way Future Animated Films Must Learn
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is by far the best animated film of the year, without competition. Anime fans and movie buffs in general need to see this film.
Unlike other animated films of the genre, nothing on the Arc de Rezé the film seems forced. He doesn’t hold the audience’s hand, coddle them, or denigrate his viewers. There’s no recap scene at the beginning to “bring the audience up to speed”, and there’s no major cliffhanger at the end to convince viewers to tune in for the next season. It doesn’t reassure the viewer that everything will be okay when Denji’s worst tragedies come, and it doesn’t hold back from providing peak grandeur during Denji’s high emotional moments.
Chainsaw manThe new film simply presents the complete story of Reze’s Arc in exactly the way it was meant to be told from start to finish. It’s undeniably faithful to the manga, but also wise enough to know where to dare to push beyond the source material. In short, it’s the kind of ideal adaptation that all animated series should aspire to.
Early in the film, Denji asks Makima if he has a heart – a sentiment he’s carried over from season 1. Denji is worried because he often feels like he can’t empathize with others the way he’s supposed to, and things don’t always affect him the way society tells him they should. After placing her ear against Denji’s chest to listen to his heartbeat, Makima confirms to Denji that he does in fact have a heart, and this moment energizes him. In the same way, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is the kind of film that leaves audiences energized after reminding them that they too have a heart.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc arrives in theaters worldwide on October 24.
- Release date
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September 19, 2025
- Director
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Tatsuya Yoshihara
- Writers
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Hiroshi Seko
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Kikunosuke Toya
Worthy (voice)
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- True to the manga
- Art direction and animation
- Soundtrack
- voice acting