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A pair of teenagers experience a intimate, gentle moment at the neighborhood high school’s outdoor pool late at night. As they float together, suspended beneath the night sky in the stillness of the night, the scene captures the ephemeral, exhilarating thrill of teenage love, completely engrossed in the moment, ramifications overlooked.

Approximately 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the heart of the film. Denji and Reze’s romantic tale took center stage, and all the background details and backstories previously known from the series’ first season proved to be mostly unnecessary. Although it is a canonical entry within the franchise, Reze Arc offers a more accessible starting place for first-time viewers — even if they haven’t seen its single episode. This method brings advantages, but it simultaneously limits some of the tension of the movie’s story.

Created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man chronicles Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a universe where Devils represent specific dangers (including concepts like getting older and obscurity to terrifying entities like cockroaches or historical conflicts). When he’s betrayed and murdered by the criminal syndicate, Denji makes a pact with his loyal devil-dog, his pet, and returns from the deceased as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the ability to completely destroy fiends and the horrors they represent from reality.

Thrust into a brutal struggle between demons and hunters, the hero meets Reze — a charming barista concealing a lethal mystery — sparking a heartbreaking confrontation between the pair where affection and survival intersect. The movie continues right after the first season, delving into the main character’s relationship with Reze as he grapples with his emotions for her and his devotion to his manipulative boss, Makima, forcing him to decide among desire, loyalty, and survival.

A Self-Contained Love Story Amidst a Broader World

Reze Arc is inherently a lovers-to-enemies plot, with our imperfect protagonist the hero falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a lonely young man seeking affection, which makes his heart vulnerable and up for grabs on a first-come, first-served. As a result, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate mythology and its large ensemble, Reze Arc is very independent. Filmmaker the director recognizes this and guarantees the love story is at the forefront, instead of weighing it down with filler recaps for the new viewers, especially when none of that is crucial to the complete storyline.

Regardless of Denji’s imperfections, it’s hard not to sympathize with him. He’s after all a adolescent, stumbling his way through a reality that’s distorted his sense of morality. His desperate craving for affection makes him come off like a infatuated dog, even if he’s likely to growling, biting, and making a mess along the way. His love interest is a perfect pairing for him, an compelling seductive antagonist who finds her mark in our protagonist. Viewers hope to see the main character win the ire of his affection, despite she is clearly concealing something from him. So when her real identity is revealed, audiences can’t help but wish they’ll in some way succeed, even though deep down, it is known a positive outcome is not truly in the plan. Therefore, the stakes don’t feel as intense as they ought to be since their romance is doomed. It doesn’t help that the movie serves as a direct sequel to Season 1, leaving minimal space for a love story like this amid the darker events that fans know are approaching.

Stunning Animation and Technical Craftsmanship

The film’s visuals seamlessly blend 2D animation with computer-generated settings, providing stunning visual appeal prior to the excitement kicks in. From vehicles to small desk fans, 3D models enhance realism and detail to each shot, allowing the 2D characters pop strikingly. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which often highlights its digital elements and shifting settings, Reze Arc employs them less frequently, most noticeably during its action-packed climax, where those models, though not unappealing, are more apparent to spot. Such fluid, ever-shifting environments render the movie’s fights both visually bombastic and remarkably simple to understand. Nonetheless, the technique shines brightest when it’s unnoticeable, enhancing the dynamic range and motion of the 2D animation.

Concluding Impressions and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a solid starting place, likely leaving new fans satisfied, but it also has a downside. Presenting a self-contained narrative limits the tension of what should feel like a expansive animated saga. This is an example of why following up a successful anime season with a film isn’t the optimal strategy if it undermines the series’ overall narrative possibilities.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by concluding multiple installments of animated series with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the problem completely by serving as a backstory to its popular show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a slightly recklessly. But this does not prevent the movie from being a enjoyable experience, a excellent point of entry, and a memorable romantic tale.