Part 2 started off fairly decent, to be honest. I actually enjoyed Denji's dynamics with Asa and Nayuta more than with Power and Aki.
Looking back on it, I can't quite pinpoint where the moment was when readers started losing faith in Part 2. It felt like a very gradual decline that still could have been salvaged at many points.
I will always point towards Nayuta's death as the tipping point of Part 2 and where the quality of the writing really fell off but the decline started earlier.
The early Asa chapters were also pretty much Part 1 level but once we switched back to Denji's POV, the gradual decline started until it went full tilt with the Church arc and Nayuta's death. After that, people really did start coping that Fujimoto was planning something but well we got this instead.
I mean almost every main side cast was killed in part 1 so I figured Nayuta might be dead for good. I don't think we even had "much" exposure to nayuta, unlike power. So the death was simply too early if it was gonna follow part 1.
Nayuta's death still feels so weird to me; rather than tragic it comes across as done for shock value which could have lead somewhere but just never did. It's not like Fujimoto is a stranger to shocking moments, but it's the aftermath which ended up feeling like so much nothing.
Honestly, I'd argue the handling of the justice devil is what initially started the decline for me. Like, the character just gets no grace, she's just murdered for the sake of setting up a "DID DENJI KILL HER?" mystery box that gets answered with a measly "no."
Nayuta's death just sealed the decline as inescapable. Whatever meaning the series wanted to have was gone. Is it about family? Not really, Denji has no family and can never make one. Is it about friendship? No, his closest friends from part 1 are dead, and the only people he could have been friends with in part 2, Yoshida and Asa, exploded for no real purpose or turned Michigan into a sword. Is it about moving past trauma? No, Pochita says it's literally impossible for Denji. So is it about the permanent soul crushing effects of trauma? Again, no, because Pochita magics Denji into a new timeline and erases his memory.
It's not even a nihilistic ending, it's a nothing ending.
Diria que es eso el punto del final, la nada misma. Entrado al capitulo dice que Denji no sabe describir si lo que vivio fue un buen o mal sueño, ni siquiera sabe como definirlo o sentirse al respecto; esto me lleva al punto que, no es como que en la vida haya algun final bueno, solamente son finales que a veces no significan nada y no hay ningun resultado, osea se, una perdida de tiempo.
I agree. Nayuta's death just was a notable downhill because afterwards there wasnt really any baddies, goals for Denji, anything left for him to care about.
The in universe line about Chainsaw Man's "character" spiralling out of Denji's control felt very meta. Fujimoto probably wanted something different but felt constrained by expectations. Well, it didn't make the fans happy and I doubt he's satisfied so we're all in limbo I suppose.
2.2k
u/[deleted] Mar 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment