When I was at Planet Comicon this year, I saw a Chainsaw cosplay, which was really cool looking. I had no idea where this was from. A friend pointed it out to me and said it was from a manga and anime series called Chainsaw Man. My interest was piqued, and I was able to find a copy of the first volume of Chainsaw Man. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Chainsaw Man is a gore-filled revenge story featuring the cutest chainsaw dog I have ever seen.

Chainsaw Man centers around Denji, who is trying to pay off his father’s debt. He partners with the Yakuza by working as a devil hunter. Denji finds friendship in Pochita, a devil dog with a chainsaw on the top of its head. Eventually, Denji is betrayed by the Yakuza and is saved by Pochita. Pochita lives within Denji, and when Denji becomes threatened, he can become the Chainsaw Man. Denji can’t keep his newly acquired abilities secret, which leads him to be recruited as a devil hunter for the government. As Denji gets more involved in professional devil hunting, he realizes that the people he’s working for may also have their own agenda in Denji’s life.

Let’s be real, Pochita is the cutest demon dog I have ever seen! I would continue reading this series for Pochita, and that’s it. Pochita is the demon that Denji befriends early on and becomes a major reason why Denji can turn into Chainsaw Man. Besides Pochita, I felt that the first volume was a lot of build-up. There isn’t a whole lot revealed about the other characters and their backstories. I’d be curious to read more about Makima, the woman who is leading Denji’s team. It seems like she’s up to something, and it’s difficult to interpret whether it’s good or bad. I will say that even though there’s a lot of story-building in the first volume, I read through it pretty quickly. Each chapter had its own adventure, which I found interesting.

I think the only thing that bothered me or got old fast was Denji’s obsession with boobs. This feels stereotypical of a manga series or character where there’s a male protagonist who is obsessed with women and their bodies. I don’t think this ruined the experience of reading Chainsaw Man, but it was constantly mentioned that Denji wanted to be with a woman. I’m curious if that will exist in future volumes or if Denji will mature and grow up.

With all of that being said, I liked Chainsaw Man a lot, and I would continue on in the series. I rated Chainsaw Man Vol #1 four stars on Goodreads.