Chainsaw Man Rewatch Analysis: Episode One

ive been meaning to rewatch chainsaw man recently, as it quickly became a favorite anime of mine last year. with the announcement of the assassins arc getting animated soon, i thought now would be a good time to do so. 

a disclaimer i feel the need to give is that while this will obviously not contain spoilers for anything that hasnt happened yet in the anime or its film, i have read the full manga, and there will be discussions of foreshadowing events that can be considered spoilers if you havent read it. continue reading with caution :)

something this episode does a good job of doing is introducing you to important key elements of Denji's character: the first of which being that he's often compared to or treated like a dog due to his loyalty, and the second being that no matter his circumstances, he was doomed from the start- even without being burdened by his father's debt, he would have eventually succumbed to the heart condition he inherited from his mother. 

another thing this episode does well is introducing important core concepts to the franchise. in Denji's flashback showing how he met Pochita, he offers Pochita his blood in exchange for helping him pay off his father's debt to the yakuza, because Pochita was injured and could heal himself by drinking Denji's blood. later on, the Zombie Devil explains the contract that it had made with many of the yakuza members: their own autonomy in exchange for demonic power, not knowing that demonic power would be being controled by the Zombie Devil. we're then later reminded of how fiends are created in this world: a devil takes over a dead body, in this case Pochita taking over Denji- though Pochita lets him stay in command for the majority of the time. 

one of the most symbolic aspects of Denji and Pochita's relationship is that early on in the episode, Denji brings up that his mother died from a heart condition that he inhereted. when Pochita makes the contract with Denji he chooses to take the place of Denji's heart, which both revived him and saved him from his heart condition.

lastly, one of the most important themes this episode introduces is the contrast between greed, desire, and control. Denji is broke, an orphan, in debt because of his father, and essentially homeless. he does work for the yakuza both to pay off his father's debt and for the chance of being able to fulfill his desires of having a normal life. the yakuza dont have any of his problems, but they still "desire" more- more money, and more power. they make a contract with the Zombie Devil hoping to achieve that, because they were offered demonic power- but the Zombie Devil wants to destroy devil hunters in order to gain power over them, and controls turns the yakuza members into zombies instead to control them. Denji kills the Zombie Devil, who had control over the yakuza, who had control over him... which perfectly sets up Makima's introduction, as she quickly becomes the new person in control of Denji.

a first episode is meant to introduce you to important themes, worldbuilding concepts, and characters. all in all, Chainsaw Man's first episode does a good job of all three