Chainsaw Man Episode 6 Is A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
"Chainsaw Man" has stunning action sequences with creative visuals — including a hallway fight that gives "Inception" a run for its money — but it is a rare action anime that places a big focus on character animation. More than the fights, the quieter moments where characters just sit around and contemplate absurd existential horrors really showcases the great work Studio MAPPA is doing with this adaptation.
And this is an absurd world the show is set in. I've said before that part of the appeal of the juvenile and bizarre humor in "Chainsaw Man" is that it serves as an in-universe coping mechanism for the characters to try and survive the horrors of their world. Case in point, how the one person acting normal in this episode is the guy with the largest number of loose screws.
We pick up right where we left off, with Public Safety Special Division 4 trapped in an infinity loop of a hotel floor haunted by a devil. They can't escape, and they can't even wait for backup because the devil has also frozen time. With nothing better to do, Denji offers a simple solution: why not take advantage of this fancy hotel and just sleep it off? This may be a dumb thing for dumb Denji to suggest, but he does have a point. One, he's never been to a nice hotel before. Two, when life is hell, why waste the small pleasures you are offered?
It's a mad world
Continuing the subversion of shonen tropes in "Chainsaw Man," now that we're fully introduced to the whole team, it is clear that this is not the elite Survey Corps from "Attack on Titan," or the Hashira in "Demon Slayer" or even the Team 7 from "Naruto." Special Division 4 is more like the first Suicide Squad from James Gunn's version, the one that dies instantly and has both a weasel and Pete Davidson on the team. Everyone on the team is dumb, afraid, and unequipped to deal with this situation.
It makes sense that, when the situation becomes as absurd and desperate as an infinity hotel, the only sane ones are Denji and Power. While Aki becomes obsessed with work, Arai locks himself up to have a panic attack, and Kobeni loses it and tries to drink toilet water. Denji, meanwhile, is fully rested, and Power? Well, she decides she's going to try to both win a Nobel prize and also become a Prime Minister, with her first act being passing a 100% sales tax to make humans suffer. Sure, they may be acting dumb, but they are also the only ones not freaking out, so maybe they have a point.
Indeed, as they hear from Himeno, she once heard from her own mentor that the only hunters that devils truly fear are those with a loose screw — and who has looser screws than Denji and Power? Plus, they definitely have a reason to have a loose screw, as they live in a world of cruelty and injustice. We learn that Kobeni only became a hunter because her parents could only send one kid to college and they chose her older brother. So her only options were to either be a sex worker or make a contract with a devil and get a job with a sky-high mortality rate.
The eternity devil
And now, they are facing a devil. Not just any devil, but the Eternity Devil, who of course is literally shaped like the number 8 and can seemingly not be killed. Making matters worse, the devil is obsessed with killing Denji, and offers to let the others go free if they deliver Denji's corpse. This leads to a debate, with Arai and Kobeni wanting to kill Denji so they can leave the hotel, and Power wants to kill him so she can go out and win her Nobel prize.
Unsurprisingly, Kobeni snaps under pressure and tries to stab Denji, but Aki dives in and takes the hit for him, realizing that they should probably not hand in Denji if the devil is so desperate to get him. What none of them counted on was Denji being very stupid and very brave, as he takes matters into his own hands and dives right into the mouth of the devil, dead set on killing it himself.