Chainsaw Man: Episode 4 EARLY ACCESS Reaction!
Added 2022-11-02 17:00:06 +0000 UTC**ROOMMATE-WORTHY HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
The battle with the Bat Devil was just the beginning, as Denji has to face his "love" to save Power and Meowy -- and only THEN can he deal with Aki and the rest of Division 4!
Makima proves to be quite capable of keeping our chaotic trio in check, and the "And then they were Roommates" trope gets a heavy dose of madness, as our poor straight-laced Aki is forced to share an apartment with not only Denji, but now Power as well...this will surely be just fine!
LINK TO REACTION: https://streamable.com/v31vhd
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
I think it's definitely worth noting how Denji's lack of someone helping to raise him has impacted his naivety and innocence with the world, despite how "grimly" he's been brought up -- and that's a great point that Aki may be the first positive male influence in his life which is...something, eh? I agree, there's more depth to his character, he just comes off as super innocent because of how little he seems to know about society itself in this world, having only the Yakuza around him. One could say that "mother issues" is a Freudian connection to being fascinated by breasts, or it could be him coming into puberty and acknowledging sexual attracting; either way, he's still at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs pyramid and it'll be neat to see him hopefully climb up it! Thanks so much for the kind words and comment! I'm soooo ready for the next episode, too!
Romaniablack
2022-11-14 14:41:05 +0000 UTCOf course I have to come in with a comment in the last second, I'm a very bad procrastinator. There are a lot of things that I could talk about but something that I've been meaning to mention since the second episode now - you talked about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs but I don't remember if you mentioned Denji's parents. I honestly feel like I haven't seen a single reactor who's taken that into consideration, most fans don't as well until it hits them in the face. But Denji had different experiences with his parental figures and I think that affected his behaviour toward men and women greatly. No spoilers obviously, I promise, this is just stuff from simple observation. Judging by Denji's words about his mother - "they said she died from a heart disease that made her cough up blood" - we can say that she died while he was very young, so young that he doesn't even have memory of her death. So that means he practically never had a mother figure in his life and never received proper motherly love and judging by his circumstances I don't think he ever had any other woman in his life either. In my eyes, women being unknown to him made him unconsciously put them on a pedestal. And that got mixed in with his later perception of them through the media he would come across (like let's say magazines) or the words of the Yakuza men he was around. Can he even differentiate between types of affection, does he realize that women can play different roles other than "a lover"? Society puts value in that role the most, at least when it comes to teenage boys I guess. As for his father, we don't know anything about him but we know that Denji had never experienced something as simple as bread with something on it so it's obvious that he's been born and raised in poverty. His dad letting his son live like that, having so much debt and getting involved with the Yakuza is definitely not a good sign. After his death, Denji was surrounded by what seems like... only vile men who didn't treat him as a person and even saw prostitution as something that young Denji could engage with if needed to. We can only imagine what kind of crap he went through even while having Pochita by his side, him saying that "when he fights guys he only aims for the crotch" is funny at first glance but it also tells us that fights with men have been something he's went through a lot, to the point of building a "technique". Aki might actually be the first positive male presence he's had in his life. It's easy to brush off Denji's reaction as just a teenage boy being a teenage boy, but I think there's so much more depth to it. Also, Makima as a maternal figure and her ties to motherhood - this is one of my favorite elements in Chainsaw Man and something that I'm always eager to talk about, but I'll have to leave the essay for the end of the series. I found it funny when you compared her to Rei from NGE back in episode 2 because my mind went immediately to that exact theme. It's not something that hits you in the face while reading, Fujimoto relies more on subtext than outright stating something, but sometimes people miss certain things. This is one of the things that he actually had to confirm in an interview "Yes guys, Denji's fixation on breasts comes from his mommy issues", even though I guess he expected people to make the connection in the first few chapters?? But yeah, I already left a whole wall of text so I'll just leave the rest for the next episodes. Great reaction and commentary as always, can't wait for the next video!!
Moon
2022-11-09 02:53:58 +0000 UTCI love the moments we see between Aki and Denji in their apartment in this episode! It was so beautifully animated and I really enjoyed it! Denji going over the edge against the leech devil, Kon making an appearance, Makima being creepy, it all was soooo wonderful and I loved the directions this episode went in! And YES! The Fox and the Hound! And now...the Cougar joins as well! <3 Thanks for the kind words and comment!
Romaniablack
2022-11-08 05:13:37 +0000 UTCThat's actually hilarious! Thank you for the information -- I can SO see the FLCL influence!
Romaniablack
2022-11-05 12:12:32 +0000 UTCOohhh, that IS interesting!
Romaniablack
2022-11-05 12:10:17 +0000 UTCHAHAHA, and I've never been happier for them doing that! <3
Romaniablack
2022-11-04 03:56:34 +0000 UTCThat's a great point! Thank you for pointing that out -- I'll have to bring that up in the next discussion! :) I appreciate the comment!
Romaniablack
2022-11-04 03:21:46 +0000 UTCI love that we got to see A Day in the Life of Aki at the end😂it’s so peaceful & we get to see how he likes his mornings until the chaotic Power ruins it all😂now he has to deal with two loose canons 24/7 lol I feel so bad. That’s what it’s like having siblings & being the older sibling. Loved this episode, my mouth was open the whole time at the beginning. I LOVE the animation of Denji with his eye popped out, slowly losing consciousness falling backwards & quickly coming back into consciousness with the sound of the chainsaw & his fist shaking omg I was screaming😂that was so cool cuz it was so quick but a huge highlight for me as well as the reveal of Aki’s fox devil. That part made me jump. These characters are so cool I love them all so far except Makima lol she’s scary, makes me feel uneasy & I can’t figure her out. Can’t wait to see more. I loved Makima calling out Aki suddenly because I wasn’t expecting her to say Aki’s changing. With him telling Denji “listen to me” & it just made me feel like wow is a small part of him starting to care? I know he hates Devils & he doesn’t want any of them to die on the job but seeing that part of him questioned by Makima was really interesting & nice to see. Everyone is using eachother in this show tbh, so for all I know Aki wants no part in any of this. We’ll see but I loved that focus on him this episode. Denji is so close to his goal. Aki may interrupt next episode lol Also The Fox & The Hound is genius!
Nyjae
2022-11-03 22:08:42 +0000 UTCI think that it's worth mentioning that Fujimoto does tend to play games when he does interviews or gets on twitter. He, for example, described Chainsaw Man as: "a mix of some "Evil Furi Kuri (FLCL)" and "Pop Abara." Abara is a short manga by one of Fujimoto's commonly cited influences, Tsutomu Nihei. It has a MC named..... Denji.
Vertebration
2022-11-03 21:06:36 +0000 UTCOhh thank you for the correction ^^ I read it in an article that he said it in an interview, maybe both are right but thank you
alessia_collie
2022-11-03 10:13:33 +0000 UTCA slight correction. His initial name was Angel (tenshi) because of him fighting devils, but it didn't fit the voice and personality Fujimoto imagined for Denji quite right so he combined it with the word "Danger" and so the name "Denji" was born.
Moon
2022-11-03 08:15:41 +0000 UTCThank you SO MUCH! My brother's been so flustered with me, because I've swore him to silence, hahaha, and he is biting his tongue as well! :) Thank you so much though and I'm glad to be watching this show with you all!
Romaniablack
2022-11-02 23:35:05 +0000 UTCAbsolutely. I'll keep my trap shut then. Enjoy it. It's one of my favorite series so I definitely don't want to ruin the experience for you. I look forward to next week.
RevoltingPeasant
2022-11-02 23:31:40 +0000 UTCThank you so much for the comment, but PLEASE NO information about the manga! I'm planning to stay anime only and do not want any context from the manga! As far as the three act structure, I do realize that the series is continuing past season 1, but when the producers and writers sat down to make this season (and even Fujimoto treats arcs in a three-act-structure format in my opinion), they had a 3-act structure in mind -- or that has been how it's rolled with other multi-season series, like Mob Psycho, Free!, etc. So even if the series goes beyond the initial season, that season in particular can still hinder to the three-act structure. I hope that makes sense! :) Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to sit out and be anime only on this show, because it's been too fun being surprised! :) I appreciate it!! :D
Romaniablack
2022-11-02 22:22:01 +0000 UTCHey, thanks for the content. I've been enjoying it. Just wanted to mention that in your analysis of acts it may be worth considering CSM as a whole and not just season 1. I'm happy to say more if you don't mind information about the length of the manga and the pacing of the anime. I won't say more than that but I don't want to spoil at all so I'll wait for the go ahead before giving that context.
RevoltingPeasant
2022-11-02 22:17:03 +0000 UTCDid you know how Denji‘s name came to be? It’s a combination of the words Angel (tenshi) and battery (denchi), which both references that he is a chainsaw (an electronic appliance) and Devil hunter (the angel part). The author said this in an interview ^^ Anyway this episode was great as always \•~•/
alessia_collie
2022-11-02 19:48:50 +0000 UTCAki says Devils yearn for the deaths of humans. But Pochita wanted Denji to live. Chainsaw devil is always the opposite of Aki. Super intersting
Blue
2022-11-02 19:44:09 +0000 UTCmappa was like "fuck it, let's put as much animation into aki's morning routine as we did with the leach devil fight"
Matthew B
2022-11-02 18:00:53 +0000 UTC
