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A pair of youngsters share a intimate, tender instant at the local high school’s open-air pool after hours. As they float together, hanging under the night sky in the stillness of the evening, the scene portrays the fleeting, exhilarating excitement of adolescent romance, utterly engrossed in the moment, consequences overlooked.

About half an hour into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the core of the film. The romantic tale took center stage, and every bit of background details and character histories I had gleaned from the anime’s initial episodes proved to be largely unnecessary. Although it is a official installment within the franchise, Reze Arc offers a more accessible starting place for first-time viewers — regardless of they haven’t seen its prior content. The approach has its benefits, but it also hinders a portion of the urgency of the film’s story.

Developed by the original creator, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a indebted fiend fighter in a universe where demons embody specific dangers (including concepts like Aging and obscurity to specific horrors like cockroaches or historical conflicts). After being betrayed and killed by the yakuza, he makes a pact with his faithful devil-dog, his pet, and returns from the deceased as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to completely destroy fiends and the terrors they signify from existence.

Thrust into a brutal conflict between demons and hunters, the hero meets a new character — a charming barista hiding a lethal secret — igniting a tragic confrontation between the pair where love and survival collide. This film picks up immediately following the first season, exploring the main character’s relationship with Reze as he grapples with his emotions for her and his devotion to his controlling superior, his employer, compelling him to choose between desire, loyalty, and self-preservation.

An Independent Love Story Within a Larger Universe

Reze Arc is fundamentally a lovers-to-enemies story, with our imperfect main character the hero falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a isolated boy looking for affection, which renders him unreliable and up for grabs on a first-come, first-served. Consequently, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate lore and its large ensemble, Reze Arc is very self-contained. Director the director understands this and guarantees the romantic arc is at the forefront, rather than bogging it down with unnecessary summaries for the new viewers, especially when such details is crucial to the complete storyline.

Despite Denji’s imperfections, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He is after all a teenager, fumbling his way through a world that’s warped his understanding of morality. His intense longing for affection portrays him like a lovesick dog, even if he’s prone to growling, snapping, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a perfect match for him, an compelling femme fatale who finds her mark in our protagonist. Viewers hope to see Denji earn the affection of his love interest, even if she is clearly concealing a secret from him. So when her true nature is unveiled, you still can’t help but wish they’ll in some way succeed, even though deep down, you know a happy ending is never really in the cards. As such, the stakes don’t feel as high as they ought to be since their romance is doomed. This is compounded by that the movie acts as a direct sequel to the first season, allowing little room for a romance like this amid the more grim events that followers are aware are approaching.

Stunning Visuals and Artistic Execution

This movie’s visuals effortlessly combine 2D animation with computer-generated settings, delivering impressive visual appeal prior to the excitement begins. Including cars to small desk fans, digital assets add depth and texture to each scene, allowing the animated figures pop strikingly. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently showcases its 3D assets and shifting settings, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its explosive climax, where such elements, while not unattractive, become easier to spot. These fluid, dynamic backgrounds render the movie’s battles both spectacular to watch and surprisingly simple to understand. Still, the method excels most when it’s unnoticeable, improving the dynamic range and motion of the 2D animation.

Concluding Impressions and Wider Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good starting place, probably leaving new fans satisfied, but it additionally carries a downside. Presenting a self-contained narrative limits the stakes of what ought to seem like a sprawling anime epic. This is an illustration of why following up a popular anime season with a movie is not the optimal approach if it undermines the series’ overall storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by concluding several installments of anime television with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the problem entirely by serving as a prequel to its popular show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc charges forward, maybe a bit foolishly. But that doesn’t stop the film from being a great experience, a excellent introduction, and a unforgettable love story.