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Tag: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

  • The Small Details in ‘Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc’ That We Can’t Stop Obsessing Over

    Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc released this year. We loved it a normal amount. And ever since it hit digital platforms, Mappa’s adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s madcap manga about a boy with a chainsaw for arms and a head has felt almost illegal to own and watch whenever you want.

    Naturally, after rewatching the film roughly 10 times (chump numbers, we know), we’ve uncovered small details that make an already phenomenal film truly even better upon rewatch. So here are five small details about Reze Arc that have our brains in a perpetual loop of producing happy and melancholic chemicals.

    All the references, cheeky animation sequences, and cute impact frames

    Reze Arc fits a bunch of rad moments in both innocuous and obvious places. Key among them are neat references to Fujimoto’s other works, Goodbye Eri and his one-shot 17-21 as posters during the opening song; impact frames showing Pochita’s giant orange doggo face; and a black-and-white sequence that for damn sure put the Uzumaki anime’s one good episode to shame.

    © Mappa

    Somehow, the film manages to go above and beyond with a litany of movie references without feeling derivative, while also honoring Fujimoto’s unbridled love of cinema—something the 2022 anime’s opening did brilliantly. Among Reze Arc‘s pop culture references are nods to:

    • Constantine
    • Bande à part
    • Us
    • 28 Days Later
    • Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
    • Saving Private Ryan
    • Sharknado
    • Blue Spring
    • Leon: The Professional
    • No Country for Old Men
    • Battle Royale

    Reze’s reluctance to fight Denji to the death

    Chainsaw Man Reze (5)
    © Mappa

    You don’t have to be a genius to discern that the Bomb Devil, aka Reze, makes a lot of explosions in the Chainsaw Man movie. It is such an obvious point of the film that the official X/Twitter account posted a teaser showing just how many explosions she used. With literal bombast in animation being a key selling point for impact frame and sakuga lovers of anime, Fujimoto sharing the small detail in the companion booklet for Japanese audiences that she actually feels immense pain whenever she explodes, and that she prefers to avoid conflict, adds a whole new layer of texture to her as a character.

    With that context in mind, when she pulls the pin from her choker necklace, exploding herself into her Bomb Devil form (a character design the manga has yet to top); propels herself forward in combustive bursts; or blows her head off to throw like a grenade, it is an immensely painful act of passion for Reze.

    Having that all be spurred by her feeling rejected for putting herself at risk, knowing he worked for devil hunters, and asking Denji to run away with her—with the added sting that Makima (whose motives the anime has yet to divulge, but the movie hints at being the most untoward) is the reason why Reze would hurt herself to at least kill her darling—is romantic in a messed-up way. And boy, does she put Denji in a blender the entire movie.

    But in freeze-framing moments of the film where she’s running the dozens with Denji, Mappa went out of its way to showcase that Reze was still avoiding hurting Denji even if she was beating his ass from ass to appetite to the point where he’d try to rev his engine, believing he was cooked preemptively.

    She’s kicking him in his legs, using her forearms and the palms of her hands in many instances that’ll surely hurt, but knowing he can regenerate, the only thing that’ll kill him is taking his heart. In an impact frame, we can see that she avoids piercing even when she transforms her fist into a missile, piercing his ribcage. It’s all very romantic, we swear.

    The pool scene

    Chainsaw Man Reze (3)
    © Mappa

    The pool scene will probably be primed for dissection until the heat death of the universe. It’s an intimate scene in which Reze teaches Denji how to swim, a life skill that’ll help him survive. Aside from it being a racy scene where they skinny dipped, it also leans into the vulnerability of the whole moment—a moment in which she drops her manic pixie dream girl veneer to voice genuine sadness about Denji being happy with a bare-minimum existence. An existence, mind you, that she also feels trapped in as a child soldier.

    That, coupled with their moment being juxtaposed by the image of a spider ensnaring a butterfly in its web (a clever analogue of their whole relationship), only for both to be killed by a tsunami, is as on-the-nose a metaphor for their summer romance as any. Seeing Denji take a moment to sniff the chlorine on his skin, a sensation he’s never felt before because he’s never been in a pool, is heartwarming to rewatch every time.

    And despite Reze claiming at the end of the film that she learned to blush and that her flirting was all an act, she still voluntarily chose to put herself in a weakened state, drenching herself in water, so she couldn’t transform into the Bomb Devil to kill Denji like she claims she was out to do the whole time. Still, for a moment, the scene, scored to perfection by series composer Kensuke Ushio, was perfect for Reze and Denji.

    The countdown

    You know how office buildings in cities sometimes use their lights to write a holiday message for folks to see as they drive by? Well, Reze Arc did that too, in the most blink-and-you’ll-miss-it way possible. Toward the film’s climax, Denji and Reze have a standoff where the pair of jilted lovers slowly raise their arms as we frantically cut back and forth to them.

    In the background, a giant building is counting down toward their big “draw” moment. It even stays at zero as Denji does his harebrained chain maneuver to defeat Reze. It’s probably one of the more minor details in the film that doesn’t make logical sense, as the whole city descends into disaster-film pandemonium. One can’t think office workers would be cheeky enough to do this while a giant baby engulfs the town in a tsunami. Still, it’s a flourish where the animators at Mappa clearly had fun thinking of every possible way to elevate the film’s cool factor.

    The lyrics and performance of Kenshi Yonezu and Hikaru Utada’s ‘Jane Doe’

    The thought of Chainsaw Man opening theme artist Kenshi Yonezu and J-pop regent Hikaru Utada working together on “Jane Doe,” the ending theme of Reze Arc, could cause an anime fan’s brain to explode. Their song features Yonezu’s gruffer voice as Denji, while Utada’s restrained yet emotional vocals portray Reze. As the film’s final note, the pensive love song continues to resonate with the core emotional anguish and yearning of its doomed lovers, and learning more about the musicality of Utada and Yonezu’s song only adds a layer of beauty to the film’s ending theme.

    Things I learned while voluntarily hurting myself scrolling through YouTube videos of professional musicians breaking down the science and artistry of their songs: the call-and-response in its bridge is less of a duet and more like lyrics that brush up against each other. The moment after they harmonize, Yonezu continues alone, just like Denji does at the end of the film.

    Where are you? (I’m here)
    What are you doing? (I’ve always been watching over you)
    Let’s fill this world with mistakes
    Stay by my side, let’s go have some fun
    Where are you?

    Another thing I learned is that Utada used a vocal technique called a “pop scoop” (or vocal scoop), in which a performer sings a note below where they intend their pitch to slide up toward. Musically, their decision perfectly captures how Reze will put on a shallow front before inevitably breaking down her walls and being earnest about her feelings for Denji.

    Likewise, Yonezu would use something called a head voice, the high register, while occasionally cracking into a mixed voice (a blend of head and a richer chest voice) when belting out his emotional lyrics throughout the song.

    This, too, is a perfect representation of Denji’s struggle to suss out the dangerous feelings swelling in his heart for Reze, his attempt to match her cadence, and his barreling into his unbridled emotional expression of them. For a character questioning whether he has a heart or a mind to think for himself, Yonezu did a superb job putting those messy feelings to song.

    Of course, these are just the tip of the iceberg of small details we’ve made a mountain out of from our rewatches of Reze Arc. Feel free to sound off in the comments with any neat details from the film you’re currently infatuated with as we await Chainsaw Man‘s second season.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Isaiah Colbert

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  • Anime Movies Faced a Defining, Precarious Theatrical Crossroads in 2025

    If the question of whether anime is mainstream was still on anyone’s lips, 2025 emphatically etched the medium in stone as an emphatic hell yes. Still, despite the banner year anime has had in theaters, it’s also been a year at an impasse about whether we’ll see it in its brilliant final form or only get glorified previews and compilation events masquerading as cinematic experiences moving forward.

    Just to get them out of the way, because we’ve thoroughly glazed them in the past and their accolades bear repeating, anime films in 2025 were defined by the meteoric success of ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Mappa’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. As they should be. The former, arguably the repopularized inception point of anime as a theatrical experience, exceeded already high expectations among its fandom with the studio’s crisp animation, a likeable ensemble, and blisteringly fast action, which added to the spectacle of being the first of a film trilogy to conclude the series, a hat on top of a hat of hype.

    But most importantly, what Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle had to showcase was new and felt like a movie (with the conceit of the first leg of a film trilogy). Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc had the same high quality, yet somehow more so, in that it encompassed a complete arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s series as a cinematic experience that’ll occupy real estate in the frontal lobe of anime fans for years to come. 

    © Mappa

    Still, despite these two big marquee films of 2025, fans were also graced with the gift of theatrical releases of movies that deserve as much shine for being a cinematic experience, mostly thanks to the effort of GKids and its initiative to make anime films more than just rereleases of retro greats like Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Studio Deen’s Angel’s Egg remastered in 4K. Those films include the likes of Science Saru’s synesthesia-fueled music anime The Colors Within, Rock’n Roll Mountain‘s film adaptation of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, and creator Uoto’s emotional track-and-field epic, 100 Meters.

    One recently established format of anime in cinemas that’s quickly become a bit of an annoying hanger-on is theatrical preview events. Whether they be compilations of past seasons of shows like Jujutsu Kaisen or episodes stitched together as a three-episode test sampling of newer shows like Witch Watch, these events have started to leave a lot to be desired as theatrical experiences.

    On paper, they were interesting. Basically, they were for the FOMO-averse who wanted to check out assuredly hot anime like Dan Da Dan before spoilers hit their timeline, as well as a way of being a part of those who beat the artificial scarcity of watching Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX weeks before they hit streaming platforms. They had some growing pains at the start, adding documentary content from creators positioned before the episodes themselves, scooping whatever surprises lay in wait. But this phenomenon began to lose its luster in part because of the forthcoming cinematic explosion of Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man and the diminishing returns of this format.

    Mappa Anime Jujutsu Kaisen Jjk 2
    © GKids/Mappa

    The first pang of annoyance with this anime film format was inevitable: having to wait for new episodes, weeks into shows that had finally aired. It’s basically like having the blowback from a gun you shot smacking you in the face. Sure, it was your fault for buying into the preview ahead, but strong-arming your disposable income for a steeply priced movie ticket to basically watch three (maybe four) episodes of an anime to feel like the “They don’t know” meme whenever patient anime fans have water cooler talk online about said episodes routinely became a bitter pill to swallow.

    Aside from seeing the opening themes of those shows, moviegoers were basically resigned to not really feeling part of the whole weekly experience because they ponied up the cash to be cursed with knowing where things were going.

    And while Jujutsu Kaisen fans know no shame regarding spoiler culture etiquette, nobody wants to be that guy who accidentally ruins the fun for folks because they basically did what video games have been admonished for with paid service subscriptions: accessing a game days earlier than everyone else. Speaking of Jujutsu Kaisen, its hybrid compilation film-preview event for its upcoming season, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, was among the worst of both worlds in this format.

    As a compilation film, it didn’t do a good job of showcasing the season’s best moments. Not to be mean, but TikTok content creators do a better job of not cutting around the emotional thrust of these sorcery-fighting moments. The film’s handling of it only highlighted the weaker points of the series’ fair-weather story when condensed rather than spread out in an episodic format. And because the series is such a dense information dump of concepts and power sets, the actual new content in it wasn’t worth the squeeze, with its inevitable cliffhanger ending making even its action, the series’ strong point, feel a bit pyrrhic on the big screen, as the whole thing was bogged down by jerry-rigging itself into an arc redolent of an actual movie.

    To be fair to JJK, it was a far cry from the worst of these formatted anime movies (in name only) theatrical experiences. That’d probably be Shaft’s Virgin Punk Clockwork Girl, a mostly documentary film and a preview event. While pretty, it wasn’t giving FOMO but ROMO (relief of missing out), given how expensive movies are and how little it lived up to the price of admission.

    But in the wake of films like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man proving that anime is best experienced as a complete cinematic experience rather than a glorified trailer for streaming platforms, the anime industry feels like it’s on the razor’s edge in how it’ll release its projects moving forward. Either it can take its mainstream status as a launching pad to treat its movies as full-arc experiences, or it can continue to position itself as a neat novelty act. Hopefully, the global industry will decide to make its future theatrical experiences more like Reze Arc and less like glorified preview events from now on.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Isaiah Colbert

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  • Thank Pochita, the ‘Chainsaw Man’ Anime Will Return

    And it’s official, more Chainsaw Man is coming. During the anime’s Jump Festa panel, Mappa revealed it was already at work adapting the “International Assassins” arc, which is exactly as it sounds: Denji’s gained some international attention, after which killers from around the globe pop into Japan looking to take him out.

    This is some good news for Chainsaw fans, who’ve been expecting hoping for a while that the studio would reveal a continuation. The first wrapped all the way back in 2022, and interest in another sparked up again with the recent record-breaking (and really great, in our opinion) Reze Arc movie. Between then and now, Mappa’s also been really busy with other big projects like Hell’s Paradise, Lazarus, and finishing Attack on Titan several times. However, it’s worth noting that Mappa hasn’t revealed in what form this arc is being adapted. Is it season two of the anime, or is it a second movie?

    We’ll have to wait to find out, but even so, it’s nice to hear the studio’s got enough “free time” that it can return to Denji, Aki, and the rest of the Chainsaw Man gang. Since it mighth be a while, you might as well catch up on the first season and movie so you’re ready, or read the manga and see what’s in store. Spoiler: it’s bonkers.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Justin Carter

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  • The ‘Chainsaw Man’ Movie Carves Up a Box Office Win

    In a weekend of music biopics and romantic melodrama, the big winner in theaters was none other than Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.

    Per the Hollywood Reporter, Mappa’s anime movie made $108 million worldwide. It’s been out in Japan and other countries since September, and as of this weekend, made $90.7 million internationally. This weekend marked its North American debut, where it exceeded expectations of $11-12 million and wound up grossing $17.3 million. It’s another victory for Sony and Crunchyroll following the domestic debut of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle back in September.

    Chainsaw Man’s gotten pretty strong reactions from critics and audiences, as THR boasted its A Cinemascore and Rotten Tomatoes in the high 90s. The movie adapts the “Reze” arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s dark fantasy shonen, where Denji meets a teenage girl named Reze and develops a crush, which goes…not great for him or everyone else in the city, suffice to say. Helping the film’s success is the fair amount of buildup to it; not just trailers playing before movies, but it also had a New York Comic-Con panel earlier this month, and Sony’s made sure to promote its music and get the film on IMAX screens.

    Before Reze’s release, Mappa hoped the film would elicit enough excitement that the studio would get to make another season of the anime series. Last month, studio head Manabu Ohtsuka mentioned wanting to do right by Chainsaw Man fans, and only saying more when it was in a position to do so. Slightly less vague, vice president Hiroya Hasegawa talked about reevaluating how to tackle the anime going forward: “‘Are we going to do it as a series? Are we going to do it as a film?’ It’s another question we’ll be asking ourselves [after Reze],” he said.

    The next few weeks, Chainsaw Man’s got some big competition in Bugonia (October 31), Predator: Badlands (November 7), and Running Man, Keeper, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (November 14). Some of those will take its IMAX spots, so good to see it while you can.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Justin Carter

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  • Another Anime Movie Conquers the Box Office This Weekend

    Here’s what you need to know about Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.
    Photo: Tatsuki Fujimoto/Sony Pictures/Everett Collection

    This article originally ran on October 24. This weekend has seen Chainsaw Man beat estimates and top the box office this weekend.

    There’s yet another action anime blockbuster based on TV series based on a manga that has torn up the American box office this weekend. This one is called Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, and the Sony/Crunchyroll movie happens to be a fitting spooky-season release. Like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan before it, the Chainsaw Man TV series, which is streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu, is part supernatural horror, part coming-of-age story. The film serves as the latest chapter of the TV show, which is an adaptation of creator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s original manga. That made it a must-watch theatrical event for Chainsaw fans in the States and elsewhere. It dominated this weekend’s theatrical receipts, topping newcomers like Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and Regretting You as well the film that was expected to win this weekend, the still-hot Black Phone 2.

    So what is Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc all about, and how did it conquer the box office like prior anime and anime-inspired animated films like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and KPop Demon Hunters? Here’s a quick rundown of the new film’s whole deal.

    Very: Latest estimates have it coming at $17.2 million for the weekend, which is about $6 million more than was anticipated by many observers before the weekend. For comparison, the popular, Blumhouse-produced horror sequel Black Phone 2 brought in a current estimated $13 million, per Deadline, while the new Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You is coming in a close third at $12.8 million. Meanwhile, the Jeremy Allen White-fronted Springtsteen: Deliver Me From Home is hitting its lower-end prediction with around $9.1 million.

    For starters, it’s a very literal title. One of 2022’s most exciting debuts and produced by the animation studio MAPPA, the anime is a hodgepodge of demonic violence, crude humor, and speculative fiction. In the world of Chainsaw Man, World War II never happened and now “devils” run amok. At the start of the series, the Chainsaw Devil meets a young man named Denji, and together they become the Chainsaw Man, a superpowered tough guy with spinning chainsaws that stick out of his hands and head, and join a squad of devil-hunting cops.

    Light spoilers incoming: After a bloody battle against a demonic villain called Samurai Sword (picture Chainsaw Man, but instead of chainsaws, he has samurai swords sticking out of his hands and head), the first season ended with a mysterious young woman cryptically wondering whether Denji would prefer to be a country mouse or a city mouse. Manga fans will know that that woman is Reze, a.k.a. the Bomb Devil, a girl whom Denji will fall for romantically — a series of events complicated by his prior attraction to his fellow devil hunter Makima. The trailer tees up his infatuation rom-com style before spinning into explosive action.

    In international markets, it has already earned $68.3 million since debuting on September 19, according to the theatrical tally the Numbers. While it’s unlikely to dethrone fellow Sony-released title Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’s record-breaking box office, anime analyst Miles Atherton told Polygon it’s still among the most popular anime titles in North America. (Crunchyroll doesn’t share viewership numbers for its series.)

    Theatrical titles like Demon Slayer, Dan da Dan, and Attack on Titan all spun TV series into box-office moments, big and small. The release model has worked before for distributors Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Releasing, which hold the international rights to Toho’s Chainsaw Man franchise. Similarly, the anime-inspired KPop Demon Hunters managed to make back the cost of nearly its entire production budget over just one weekend with a limited singalong theatrical event, despite being released straight to Netflix months earlier. That one is coming back to theaters for Halloween because it worked so well the first time around.

    For now it’s only in theaters, but eventually, like most of the aforementioned anime titles, we can expect to see it on Crunchyroll. We can’t be certain when, though. (Remember the monthslong wait for The Boy and the Heron?) Unlike American live-action films and their now ubiquitous 30-day windows, anime titles tend to circle most of the globe internationally before they go to streaming release.

    It probably couldn’t hurt to dive deeper into the lore and relationships, but the movie is relatively self-contained. Chainsaw Man is generally pretty direct — did I mention it’s about a man with chainsaws for hands? — so if you’re worried you’ll be confused, don’t be. Or watch a YouTube recap or two beforehand. It’s worth a spin regardless.

    There is. We won’t say too much as that would risk getting too deep into the events of the film, but we will say: Don’t miss it. It doesn’t tee up the next season or anything, but it does put a nice capper on the events of the movie.

    Eric Vilas-Boas

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  • ‘Reze Arc’ Is ‘Chainsaw Man’ Polished to Explosive, Lush, and Unhinged Perfection

    ‘Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc’ captures studio Mappa in full bloom at the apex of the anime medium as we know it.

    Isaiah Colbert

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  • ‘Reze Arc’ Teases One Final Look Before ‘Chainsaw Man’ Hits Theaters

    Today at New York Comic Con, Crunchyroll unveiled one more new look at animation studio Mappa’s Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc before it revs into theaters later this month.

    To celebrate the film’s impending arrival, Mappa took to NYCC to drop a new PV, as well as tons of behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated new movie. You can check out the whole panel here, but the new footage starts around 40 minutes in, if you want to go straight to that:

    Reze Arc follows Chainsaw Man’s 2022 first season, swapping its muted tones for vivid color. In it, Denji meets Reze, a charming new girl who quickly throws him into romantic confusion, made all the worse by her being yet another foe after his heart. Though in the case of his down bad crush on Makima, Reze’s obsession with Denji’s heart is more figurative and romantic (to the extreme) than literal. All the same, Japan descends into chaos as Denji and Reze engage in an explosive, romantic battle for the ages.

    Hype for the Reze Arc movie is at a fever pitch, and for good reason. The anime originally premiered in 2022, but Mappa was radio silent, sharing little information with fans about confirming a sequel season. All they had to sit on was a stinger moment, teasing the arrival of Reze. Plus, understandably, Mappa had been busy with its hands in other anime pies, with the likes of Jigokuraku: Hell’s Paradise, Attack on Titan‘s final season, Jujutsu Kaisen‘s second season, and the Ranma 1/2 remake.

    For a time, Chainsaw Man lingered in limbo, and fans questioned whether it might follow the same trajectory as Mappa’s other titles—Dorohedoro, which teased season two plans in production, or, worse, Yuri!!! On Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence, the sequel film to Crunchyroll’s inaugural Anime of the Year-winning ice skating series, which Mappa cancelled last year.

    Thankfully, fans were given a sign of life with the awesome announcement that more Chainsaw Man was on the way, as the Reze Arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga was being adapted into a feature-length film. And since its first trailer hit the internet, Mappa has been hitting the ground running, putting its entire creative effort into all but christening Reze Arc as a film more than worthy to grace IMAX screens on the global stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with another anime juggernaut, Demon Slayer, which just released Infinity Castle, the first of its film trilogy finale.

    While anime movies aren’t uncommon, with the likes of Toho and GKids making it a tradition to host preview episode events as theatrical releases ahead of their streaming debuts—or the modest global release of films that otherwise wouldn’t have had one before their partnership, with the likes of 100 Meters or The Colors Within— Crunchyroll and Mappa are very evidently putting forth a concerted effort to ensure Reze Arc will live up to the hype. In a strategy that aligns with the streaming release of compilation films to catch viewers up to speed, Mappa has been drip-feeding fans with more incentives to check out the film.

    One standout move by the anime studio is enlisting J-Pop icon Hikaru Utada, celebrated in both anime and video game circles. Alongside them, Reze Arc features a musical collaboration between them and series musical artist Kenshi Yonezu, who performed the anime’s platinum-certified theme “Kick Back” and who joins Utada to sing the film’s opening and ending tracks, “Iris Out” and “Jane Doe.”

    In typical anime fashion, Mappa released a catchy AMV of “Iris Out” that serves as a highlight reel (possibly giving away too much from the film’s climax) on YouTube for free, as well as a sentimental live-action music video featuring Utada and Yonezu. Both of which embody both the chaos and the sentimentality that characterize Reze Arc as one of Chainsaw Man‘s most adored arcs as an ongoing manga series.

    Fans have already taken on the role of internet detectives, uncovering Easter eggs related to Fujimoto’s other works, references to the artwork of manga chapters, and hints at events that occur beyond the scope of the Reze Arc in the opening movie. Given that Fujimoto is a big movie enthusiast, Mappa’s Marvel-ification of his manga must’ve had him geeked out. Good for him.

    While Mappa hasn’t said if Reze Arc‘s box office success will result in either a season two confirmation or future feature film adaptations of Fujimoto’s popular manga, it will certainly reevaluate its options depending on how well the film performs.

    Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc hits theaters October 24.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Isaiah Colbert

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  • The ‘Chainsaw Man’ Movie Is Hitting Theaters Even Earlier Than Expected

    Animation studio Mappa‘s upcoming theatrical release of Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc has bumped up its premiere date. Now, the film arc continuation of the 2022 anime will hit theaters—including select IMAX screens—a few days earlier than initially scheduled. The film will now premiere in theaters on October 24.

    This date adjustment came with the release of a new English dub trailer of the film. The story, created by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Look Back), follows Denji, a down-on-his-luck young man who, after fusing with his chainsaw-headed pet dog, Pochita, gains the ability to transform into the most feared devil of all, Chainsaw Man. The series is set in a world where concepts that humanity fears, such as guns, war, and blood, physically manifest as humanoid devils. The level of universal fear surrounding these concepts determines the power of these devils.

    After being lured into enlisting in the Devil Hunter Association by its enigmatic leader, Makima, Denji is thrust into a series of battles with devils as he grapples with the warped contours of his own hierarchy of needs. High on his list is chasing romantic love in a world shaped by violence, control, and the looming arrival of the Gun Devil.

    Reze Arc, which picks up after the anime’s season finale, sees Denji run into a new girl on the block named Reze, sending the lover boy in a tizzy as he weighs whether he likes her more than he likes Makima. Unfortunately for Denji, his meet-cute with Reze gives way to him discovering she’s actually the Bomb Devil.

    To make matters worse, she’s just as crazy about Denji as he is about her and will stop at nothing to get him to join her side with the Devils, even if it means transforming Tokyo into an all-out warzone.

    The English dub of the film will see the return of the Crunchyroll voice actors, including Ryan Colt Levy as Denji and Suzie Yeung as Makima. The film will also have theme songs “Iris Out,” by Kenshi Yonezu, and “Jane Doe” by the incomparable J-Pop regent, Hikaru Utada, as well as an extended version of nu metal/hardcore punk band Maximum the Hormone’s outro song, “Hawatari Nioku Centi.”

    Crunchyroll also uploaded a series recap video to get fans up to speed with the movie. The handy recap represents one effort by Mappa and Crunchyroll to ensure folks are ready for Reze Arc.

    Another is a compilation release of the anime to get people hyped for the film without having any head-scratching questions about, say, why Chainsaw Man is riding the back of a shark into a typhoon to battle a lady with a missile as a head. The two compilation films are already playing in Japan, with plans to hit the U.S. and elsewhere later this month.

    Japanese language fans also got something to enjoy in the assortment of Chainsaw Man news, with a new trailer for the film featuring new scenes of Denji and Reze’s battle and his date with Makima.

    In the lead-up to the film’s release, Mappa president Manabu Ohtsuka and vice president Hiroya Hasegawa spoke to Anime News Network at Anime Expo 2025. In their sit-down interview, the presidents gave an update on the show’s future—sort of. It’s not yet clear whether the studio will continue its adaptation of the anime arcs in theatrical formats encompassing the manga or in episodic seasons.

    “We’re always thinking about what’s the best way to deliver Chainsaw Man to the fans who love the franchise. That’s what’s always on our minds,” Ohtsuka said. “But how we’re going to do it, if we’re going to do it, we’ll announce it when we announce it. We can’t talk about it.”

    “As Ohtsuka-san mentioned, [Reze Arc] is a continuation of the first season. We are being loyal to the original content. We asked ourselves, ‘How are we going to do it?’ We thought that the cinema was the best way to deliver the Reze Arc. After Reze, if we are going to create more Chainsaw Man, we’ll probably follow from there,” Hasegawa said. “And then we’ll reevaluate and think, ‘Are we going to do it as a series? Are we going to do it as a film?’ It’s another question we’ll be asking ourselves at that time.”

    The film’s credits includes the following:

    Seeing as how Mappa is already busy with Jujutsu Kaisen‘s upcoming arc, Culling Game, this coming January, as well as its remake of Ranma 1/2 second season premiering on Netflix this October, and the forthcoming second season of Hell’s Paradise—a manga from Fujimoto’s Fire Punch assistant, Yuji Kaku—it’s understandable that it’d take a beat to wait and see about reception for Reze Arc before officially announcing what lies ahead for Chainsaw Man.

    In the meantime, Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc hits theaters October 24.

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    Isaiah Colbert

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  • You’re Getting More New ‘Chainsaw Man’ Before the Movie

    As fans eagerly await the theatrical arrival of Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Crunchyroll is dropping a couple of treats to help recap the anime’s blockbuster first season. It’s a helpful strategy to lure Chainsaw Man newcomers—or readers of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s wildly popular source-material manga—who want to get a feel for the MAPPA-produced anime ahead of its big-screen moment.

    But the recap films also contain a bonus for existing viewers: the compilation films will include some brand new material in the form of Chainsaw Days, adapting the manga’s own bonus material into new anime scenes.

    Here’s what to expect, courtesy of Crunchyroll. First, an overview, followed by a breakdown of each part:

    Chainsaw Man – The Compilation

    “Denji is a young boy who works as a Devil Hunter with the ‘Chainsaw Devil’ Pochita. One day, as he was living his miserable life trying to pay off the debt he inherited from his parents, he got betrayed and killed. As he was losing his consciousness, he made a deal with Pochita, and got resurrected as the ‘Chainsaw Man’: the owner of the Devil’s heart.”

    Chainsaw Man – The Compilation: Part I

    “Denji is a teenager who lives his life as a Devil Hunter. Aiming to pay off the debt he inherited from his father, he starts hunting devils for the yakuza with his buddy Pochita, a ‘Chainsaw Devil,’ while living a tragically poor life. Just when things seem like they couldn’t get any worse, Denji is summoned by the yakuza.”

    Chainsaw Man – The Compilation: Part II

    “Becoming the ‘Chainsaw Man’ and fighting with an insane, unhinged battle style, Denji finally succeeds in defeating the ‘Eternity Devil.’ After the battle, the members of Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division 4 return to their daily lives and hold a ‘welcome party’ for the new recruits. During the party, Denji brings up the kiss that Himeno had promised him before the fight.”

    You can watch both parts of Chainsaw Man – The Compilation this September on Crunchyroll, as the hype builds for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc in theaters October 29.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • ‘Chainsaw Man’ Has a Movie on the Way, and Here’s What We Know

    ‘Chainsaw Man’ Has a Movie on the Way, and Here’s What We Know

    One of the newer anime in the last few years is Chainsaw Man, another bloody, devil-filled anime from MAPPA. Following the boob-loving character of Denji, the first season was a hit, but in lieu of a second season, fans are getting a movie instead.

    The first season of Chainsaw Man, adapted from the manga created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, aired at the end of 2022, so fans have been waiting a while to hear the fate of the show and its characters. While there has been no official announcement of a second season, the studio has offered us something else instead. The movie was announced on December 17 at the Jump Festa ’24 event, the annual manga and anime festival held in Tokyo, and we also got the title: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.

    The movie will follow immediately after the events at the end of the first season and gives us a proper introduction to a new central character, Reze (voiced by Reina Ueda), whom we briefly saw at the end of the first season.

    The above video, which has already received 4.2 million views since its release, focuses on Reze, who will act as a love interest to Denji—a bombastic one, at that. The teaser shows Denji and Reze spending time together, hinting at a romantic and close relationship. The film looks to cover the “Bomb Girl” arc of Fujimoto’s manga, which runs from Chapters 40–52 and has been extremely popular with fans. Here, Denji’s relationships will be tested, and the fights and action sequences are expected to go up another notch.

    Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc will continue to move the story along, and perhaps we can finally get an announcement on a second season afterward. The first season received such fantastic reviews that a lot is riding on this movie to carry on the same fantastic visuals and storytelling. MAPPA has been producing some quality work recently, with Jujutsu Kaisen doing phenomenally well, too.

    We can only hope though that they address the issues that led to many of their staff walking out and create a better working environment for their animators who bring the stories to life and bring the studio so much acclaim.

    Not much is known about the release date of the movie or where it will be available for watching. We’ll have to wait for the studio to reveal a full trailer and more information, hopefully without too long a wait, but if you wish to reacquaint yourself with the first season, you can head over to Crunchyroll.

    (featured image: MAPPA)

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    Laura Pollacco

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