Chainsaw Man Episode 8 Descends Into Madness
There it is. The moment it hits the fan and "Chainsaw Man" descends into madness. Last week saw the end of the prologue, as we now know all the major players and their deal, have a grasp of the stakes, the main conflict and villain, and our hero's goals.
With the introductions out of the way, the brutal, weird, relentlessly gory "Chainsaw Man" can truly begin. This is the show that manga fans have been clamoring for years, the "Chainsaw Man" that became a sensation in the manga world, that anime fans have been painfully anticipating from the moment it was announced. No one is safe, anything can happen, and it rules.
After last week ended with an indecent proposal, this episode pulls back and repeats last week's final scene from a different perspective. This is a rare move in anime, where repeat scenes aren't usually a thing unless it's to recap the story or to show some grand reveal we didn't see the first time. Here, we get an anime-only scene that follows Himeno as she carried Denji to her apartment and drunkenly stumbles around the place.
Like the slice-of-life scene back in episode 4, this is the best-looking scene in the episode, a sequence reminiscent of live-action movies in its choice of angles, its camera movements. Indeed, we even get a rare use of POV shots in anime, animated as if it was 60 FPS, motion-blur on and 4K upscale. The result not only helps immersion but completely changes the framing of the scene from last week's sexual tension to just a drunken ramble.
An indicent proposal
This POV sequence also helps recontextualize Himeno's proposal to Denji as more than just an adult woman trying to be intimate with a minor, but a woman who has her own flaws and desires, a woman hurt by jealousy over Makima, who has both Denji and Aki drooling over her. Even though Makima is barely in the episode, she looms large over it, having emotional power over the main cast even when she is not present.
She has such power that Denji cannot bring himself to accept Himeno's advances when he remembers that he got an indirect kiss from Makima via a Chupa Chup. He chooses to disappoint Pochita and save himself from Makima, which leads to Himeno proposing a new deal. She will help Denji score with Makima in exchange for his help in winning over Aki.
And then, all hell breaks loose. We catch up with Makima, who is on a train to Kyoto for a meeting. While she is talking about ordering food, all sound drops, we see the passengers surrounding her just crouch on their seats, before we hear the sound of their bags being unzipped. Then, it's just a shot of Makima and her aids getting brutally gunned down.
In what may very well be one of the most shocking moments in a first season of an anime in years, the camera cuts to essentially every character we've met so far as yakuza gun them all down. Arai and Kobeni? Gunned down by an old lady. The new guys we met last week who seemed nice enough? Gunned down.
All hell breaks loose
Even Denji, Power, Himeno, and Aki are attacked by a yakuza member. More specifically, the grandson of the mob boss Denji used to work for. Turns out, the guy has made a deal with a devil, a katana devil, and he can turn into a devil just like Denji, with swords for hands. But before he does that, he shoots Denji straight in the face and slashes Aki.
It is a brutal scene, with the quick cuts making the assassinations all the more shocking. It is a testament to Studio MAPPA's adaptation of "Chainsaw Man" that the episode is not really thrilling or exciting. Even when Aki finally pulls out his sword, which is tied to a contract he has with the curse devil, and even when we see the incredibly metal design of said curse devil, the tone is far from the kind of exhilarating horror action of "Attack on Titan," but a desperate attempt at stopping the inevitable, a lash out in anger because you know you've already lost.
And that's because not only did Denji get shot, but Himeno got hurt, badly. Power says she could be saved if they go to a hospital, but there's no escaping the katana man and her friend, a creepy girl with the worm devil. So, seeing no escape — and after presumably seeing Power run away — Himeno turns to her own ghost devil and offers a new deal, all of her, for all of her devil's power.
Once again, this is not a cool action scene, but a tragic one, and Kensuke Ushio's score reflects this, with dramatic music playing as Himeno starts to slowly disappear like a ghost. Hundreds of arms from her devil attack katana man, before the aforementioned worm devil swallows the ghost whole, and Himeno vanishes into thin air. With that, the darkest moment yet in "Chainsaw Man" ends, and all we're left with is pain.