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A pair of teenagers share a intimate, gentle moment at the neighborhood secondary school’s open-air pool after hours. As they float together, hanging beneath the night sky in the quietness of the evening, the sequence captures the ephemeral, exhilarating excitement of teenage love, utterly engrossed in the moment, ramifications overlooked.

About half an hour into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, I realized these scenes are the heart of the film. Denji and Reze’s love story became the focus, and all the contextual information and character histories I had gleaned from the anime’s first season proved to be mostly irrelevant. Although it is a official entry within the series, Reze Arc offers a more accessible entry point for newcomers — even if they missed its single episode. The approach brings advantages, but it simultaneously limits a portion of the urgency of the movie’s story.

Developed by the original creator, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a world where Devils embody specific dangers (including concepts like getting older and Darkness to specific horrors like insects or World War II). When he’s deceived and murdered by the criminal syndicate, Denji makes a pact with his loyal companion, his pet, and returns from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to completely destroy Devils and the terrors they represent from reality.

Thrust into a brutal conflict between devils and hunters, Denji meets Reze — a charming barista concealing a deadly mystery — igniting a heartbreaking confrontation between the pair where affection and survival collide. This film picks up immediately following season 1, delving into Denji’s connection with Reze as he grapples with his feelings for her and his devotion to his controlling superior, his employer, forcing him to choose between passion, loyalty, and survival.

An Independent Love Story Amidst a Larger Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a lovers-to-enemies plot, with our imperfect protagonist Denji falling for his counterpart right away upon meeting. He’s a lonely boy seeking love, which makes his heart vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come, first-served. As a result, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s complex mythology and its large cast of characters, Reze Arc is highly self-contained. Filmmaker Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than weighing it down with unnecessary summaries for the new viewers, particularly since none of that really matters to the complete storyline.

Despite Denji’s imperfections, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He is still a teenager, fumbling his way through a reality that’s distorted his understanding of morality. His intense craving for affection makes him come off like a lovesick puppy, even if he’s likely to barking, snapping, and making a mess along the way. His love interest is a ideal match for Denji, an effective femme fatale who targets her prey in our hero. Viewers hope to see the main character earn the affection of his affection, despite she is clearly concealing a secret from him. Thus when her real identity is revealed, you still cannot avoid hope they’ll in some way succeed, although deep down, you know a positive outcome is never really in the plan. Therefore, the stakes don’t feel as high as they ought to be since their relationship is doomed. It doesn’t help that the movie acts as a direct sequel to Season 1, leaving minimal space for a romance like this amid the darker developments that fans know are approaching.

Breathtaking Visuals and Technical Execution

This movie’s visuals seamlessly blend 2D animation with 3D environments, delivering impressive visual appeal prior to the excitement kicks in. From vehicles to small office appliances, digital assets add depth and texture to every scene, allowing the animated figures pop beautifully. Unlike Demon Slayer, which often showcases its 3D assets and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its explosive climax, where such elements, though not unappealing, become easier to spot. Such fluid, ever-shifting environments make the film’s battles both spectacular to watch and surprisingly simple to understand. Still, the method shines brightest when it’s invisible, enhancing the vibrancy and motion of the 2D animation.

Final Impressions and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good starting place, likely leaving first-time audiences satisfied, but it also has a downside. Telling a standalone narrative restricts the stakes of what should feel like a sprawling anime epic. This is an illustration of why following up a popular anime season with a movie isn’t the optimal strategy if it weakens the franchise’s general narrative possibilities.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by concluding several installments of animated series with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the problem entirely by serving as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc charges forward, perhaps a slightly foolishly. However that doesn’t stop the film from being a great time, a terrific introduction, and a unforgettable romantic tale.