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Two teenagers share a intimate, tender moment at the local secondary school’s open-air swimming pool after hours. As they float as one, suspended beneath the night sky in the quietness of the evening, the sequence portrays the fleeting, heady thrill of teenage love, utterly caught up in the moment, ramifications forgotten.

About 30 minutes into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the core of the movie. The romantic tale took center stage, and all the background details and character histories I had gleaned from the anime’s initial episodes turned out to be mostly unnecessary. Despite being a official entry within the franchise, Reze Arc provides a easier starting place for newcomers — regardless of they missed its prior content. The approach has its benefits, but it simultaneously limits some of the tension of the movie’s story.

Developed by the original creator, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a universe where demons represent particular evils (ranging from concepts like Aging and Darkness to specific horrors like cockroaches or historical conflicts). After being betrayed and killed by the criminal syndicate, he forms a contract with his faithful devil-dog, his pet, and returns from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the ability to permanently erase Devils and the horrors they signify from reality.

Plunged into a violent struggle between demons and hunters, the hero meets a new character — a charming coffee server concealing a deadly secret — igniting a tragic clash between the two where affection and survival intersect. This film picks up immediately following season 1, delving into the main character’s connection with his love interest as he wrestles with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his controlling boss, Makima, forcing him to decide among desire, loyalty, and self-preservation.

A Self-Contained Romantic Tale Amidst a Larger World

Reze Arc is inherently a lovers-to-enemies story, with our fallible protagonist the hero falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a isolated boy 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 lore and its large cast of characters, Reze Arc is highly self-contained. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara understands this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, instead of weighing it down with filler recaps for the new viewers, particularly since none of that is crucial to the overall storyline.

Despite Denji’s imperfections, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He’s after all a adolescent, stumbling his way through a world that’s warped his understanding of morality. His desperate longing for affection makes him come off like a lovesick dog, even if he’s likely to barking, biting, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a ideal match for Denji, an effective femme fatale who targets her prey in our hero. Viewers hope to see Denji earn the affection of his affection, despite Reze is obviously concealing something from him. Thus when her real identity is unveiled, audiences cannot avoid hope they’ll somehow make it work, even though deep down, it is known a happy ending is never really in the cards. Therefore, the stakes fail to seem as high as they should be since their relationship is fated. This is compounded by that the movie serves as a direct sequel to the first season, allowing little room for a love story like this among the darker developments that fans know are approaching.

Stunning Animation and Technical Execution

The film’s visuals effortlessly combine traditional animation with computer-generated settings, delivering impressive eye candy even before the action begins. From cars to tiny office appliances, 3D models add depth and texture to every shot, allowing the 2D characters stand out beautifully. Unlike Demon Slayer, which often highlights its 3D assets and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed climax, where those models, though not unappealing, become easier to identify. These smooth, ever-shifting environments render the film’s fights both visually bombastic and remarkably simple to understand. Nonetheless, the method shines brightest when it’s invisible, improving the vibrancy and motion of the 2D animation.

Final Impressions and Broader Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good point of entry, probably leaving first-time audiences pleased, but it additionally carries a drawback. Telling a standalone story limits the stakes of what ought to seem like a expansive animated saga. It’s an illustration of why following up a popular anime season with a movie is not the best strategy if it undermines the franchise’s general storytelling potential.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up multiple seasons of animated series with an grand movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the issue completely by serving as a backstory to its well-known show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a slightly recklessly. However that doesn’t stop the film from being a enjoyable time, a terrific point of entry, and a unforgettable love story.