When asked why Denji fights against the Devils and what is the end goal of this action, Denji replies that he fights because he wants people to know that he is Chainsaw Man. Once this happens in Denji´s mind the ladies will be all over him. Essentially Denji´s current goal is precisely the one that he states before his final battle against Makima. He wants to be Chainsaw Man because that way he´ll be able to gain all sorts of things, like the attention of ladies and good food. He is chasing an upgraded version of his previous dream.Â
I find Denji´s approach interesting because it in away mirrors the problem that he had previously. In Part 1 during the Bomb Girl Arc, Denji comes to the painful conclusion that every woman he has met has tried to kill him, and that all these people he has encountered, are only interested in Chainsaw Devil´s heart. “What about Denji´s heart?”, the boy asks. This is even the biggest flaw of Makima, as her eventual downfall was that she did not register Denji at all, but only cared about the Chainsaw Devil.Â
So in Part 2 is interesting that Denji is now trying to use his status as Chainsaw Man, to reach the things that he wants to attain. Maybe this approach will be the struggle that he has to solve, because in my mind it is rooted in the same issue as Part 1. The bond, relationship or attainability of material needs starts with Denji´s status as Chainsaw Man.Â
Watching the Chainsaw Man anime and experiencing the story again, it’s hitting me that Denji is just a good kid who had a shit life. He’s a teen who just needed to be given a chance. Despite how much he says he only saved Power to touch her boobs, it’s clear he saved her because he sympathizes with her struggle. She wanted to save Meowy no matter what, which is something Denji understands.
Not only that, but despite how rude and fowl-mouthed he is, Denji is weirdly considerate of others. He tells civilians in battle to run away. He’s trying his best to behave at Aki’s place. And I feel like all of it is summed up in this line:
He’s grew up in poverty, so he knows how important food is. How you should never waste it and how you should respect the people who make it possible to have. Denji is just a weirdo who needed a chance to actually grow up instead of fighting to survive.
what a beautiful thing, to be queer. how lovely it is to be strange, to have edges that spill out over the lines, to be undefinable. the oddity of our hearts is something to be treasured. never change for anyone.