REVIEW: Chainsaw Man (manga, vol. 3) by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translated by Amanda Haley

Chainsaw Man is a blend of action, horror, and comedy. I bought this volume new.

Review:

Denji and the others have been trapped on the eighth floor of a hotel. They're going to starve to death if they can't figure out how to escape, but the only option available seems to be making a contract with the Eternity Devil that trapped them, which has said it will let the rest of them go if they let it eat Denji.

After the Eternity Devil portion of the story, the group winds down with some drinking (which Himeno also hopes will convince newbies Arai and Kobeni not to quit - their experience with the Eternity Devil was pretty traumatic). The volume ends with everything going all to hell.

This volume should come with a warning: if you're the sort to feel sympathetic nausea when stories include vomiting, approach this with caution. Or maybe flip forward several pages the instant Himeno kisses Denji. It's full-page awfulness, and Fujimoto milks every ounce of grossness out of it. 

I don't know if Denji's age was previously mentioned, but in this volume we learn that he's about 16. Which puts another spin on Makima's efforts to seduce Denji into doing her bidding. Also, in this volume Himeno almost has sex with Denji - granted, she was super drunk, but I can't help but think about her relationship with Aki (who I think was a minor when he became her partner).

Not that there was any time to process any of that, because then the last bit of the volume happened and everything, as I said, went to hell. No punches were pulled, and yet it still wasn't enough. Denji's already proven that he won't let a little thing like "the villain is possibly immortal" stop him from throwing himself into a fight (speaking of which: I enjoyed the psychotic energy of his battle with the Eternity Devil). Still, things look really bad.

I'm interested in finding out how things turn out against this new villain, but here's hoping the series never includes anything like the vomit kiss again. I wouldn't blame readers who are on the fence about this series for stopping here. I, however, own a bunch more volumes, so I'll be continuing on.

Extras:

A four-page bonus comic devoted to Power. After the way the volume ended, the tone switch in the bonus comic just about made me dizzy. It was a relief, but still jarring.