Sign in

Chainsaw Man Thoughts

@csmthoughts.bsky.social
520 followers 102 following 156 posts

🇵🇸 she/her ✦ thoughts and feelings and theories ✦ eng/fr/日本語OK! ✦ spoiler warning www.twitter.com/csm_analysis chainsawmanthoughts.tumblr.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
bic 🦝✌️ @shogiboyplus.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
also briefly wish to comment that asa disallowed from being the hero, due to her gender, and forced positioning as "chainsaw man's woman". she must sacrifice it all (her school life, female connections, college funds, her own damn body) to conform to that role, and ultimately, lose all autonomy.
1304
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
bic 🦝✌️ @shogiboyplus.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
this is a story about cycles: interpersonal abuse, generational trauma, the violent construction, destruction and restructuring of the state. and fujimoto provides no solution to these. it is just a presentation of it with these characters. it is hard to pin a "point" to the narrative.
1282
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
violence @creature.gay · 24/03/2026
i think a really interesting aspect of reading chainsaw man as it was coming out was the weekly increasing realisation that fujimoto was having some very complicated feelings towards the art he was making
322632
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
Bayleaf 🍃 @iceghost.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
“Sorry Denji but constant unsustainable escalation is built into shonen. The only way out from a life of constant world-ending existential crises is to escape the genre itself”
310112
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
Bayleaf 🍃 @iceghost.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Still thinking and loving the idea of it more and more. It feels almost like an intentional rejecting of shonen ideas. Its saying that Denji could never have a normal life because he was the protagonist of a shonen manga.Only by removing the protagonist status is he able to just live a life. Its rad
1116526
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
bic 🦝✌️ @shogiboyplus.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
denji's reaction to this stressor is to embrace the manic, heart-pounding identity of chainsaw man, and it inevitably leads to his destruction of any semblance of a normal world. it is the death of the idea that chainsaw man even works. it is like fujimoto murdered his story lol
1242
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
War Devil @wardevil.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
A story without catharsis about catharsis being a trap. No climax for Denji. No climax for us.
38114
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
artemis "crimes" deville @theartdevil.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
It's been an hour, I did a little more thinking and wrote some more, some of it retreads the same ground as this thread but I think it's a little more coherent and a little less 'figure it out on your own'.
Maybe it's because I can't envision one but in a story about trauma that sends its characters this deep down the death spiral there can be no ending for her character that isn't steeped in horrific tragedy. Asa went through unimaginable torture and it broke her will to live several times over such that much of her final time spent on-page is trying to take her own life. How you feel about that in and of itself is based a lot on what you think the artistic intent was, whether it was venting, deliberate, careless, a morality play, misogyny, etc. It's something you can't just heal from, especially when put into context of the apocalypse, and any solution to it would have felt cheap. There's also the more bleak option of letting it just destroy her, and that's that, but that's... well, even more bleak. I don't think that would've 'solved' it. 

So, what's the solution to this conundrum? We could do a time skip after the danger is over, show the aftermath, the fallout, the therapy sessions, the montage of growing better and better while still carrying that massive weight forevermore, only lightened by the burden of time. Or, it could be undone. Cheap? Maybe. Kind? Maybe. More satisfying than the alternative of showing the realistic fallout of surviving the worst nightmare conceivable? Maybe. The version that exists in your head as an abstract idea of something better is always something better by virtue of it being abstract. We don't need to show kindness to fictional characters, nor to our audiences, but there's something to be said for an ending that states, "the most whole version of this character is the one that didn't have to endure all of this suffering, that wasn't anything other than a brief diversion in the middle of someone else's story". In that way I think it carries forth the general critique of CSM part 2
29612
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
hyperreal creatura @hyperrealcreatura.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
does art need to resolve every tension it brings up for its audience? I don't think so. but if I were to engage by, like, sitting with the fucked up dynamics on the page and reflecting on them by myself, I think the ending (+ some other writing decisions) pretty much works against that approach
0122
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
hyperreal creatura @hyperrealcreatura.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
for my benefit, he didn't _need_ to explicitly convey "the sexual assault was bad" but I don't think the story did much of interest with the disconnect in my experience of 167 and the characters' experience of 167 by the end to justify muddying the waters on such a delicate topic
182
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I can’t explain exactly how but I like that you can tell this Denji is a different person to the one we followed. I can’t pinpoint it, but there’s something in the way he acts and talks that indicates… maturity? more organization? this time around.
10983
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
anyway, for now,
58020
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
And this is still my takeaway! A better world is only possible if we stop believing that we can cut out and forget all that makes it suffer and start seeing other people as humans unto themselves rather than what they mean to us.
06211
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
meljel @melmeljeljel.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
in a way part 2 has always been the academy saga. even if not in a school physically, then metaphorically through its examination of how structures of "normalcy" propagate and what effects they have on people. but not even yoshida's forbidden-ness destroying the physical building could save us from
1314
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
How this came about? what was sacrificed and shakily told and squandered as a means of barreling towards it? more reservations than a michelin star restaurant. but the concept of the ending itself? I’m liking it with each reflection.
2171
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
despite all my quibbles with how Asa herself was handled in regards to it… I absolutely think this was the best ending to asaden’s relationship and resolution of what was driving them together. they now live in a world in which they do not /have/ to matter to each other, and they’re better for it
6746
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
did Yoru win, really? is this not her biggest fear coming to fruition, exactly as she said it would?
4565
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
bic 🦝✌️ @shogiboyplus.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
🧵; #csm232 "would you rather be a city mouse, or a country mouse?" has a poor premise. angel describes that his heart is with the country, and he is forced to be a city mouse by makima. to frame it is a choice is laughable. most things in life are not within your control whatsoever.
16610
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
👁️🍄🪸 @bloomfilters.plus · 24/03/2026
the more i think about csm's ending the more 1) i hope fujimoto gets some rest from the hellish schedule 2) it's undoubtedly an era defining work, and the concept of "battle media" not just in animanga but in general has shifted in a way not seen since HxH maybe
945064
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
I think Fujimoto definitely wanted to say a lot of things with the story but wanted to say very little through the characters- they are not intended to be morality plays. There’s no “moral lesson” in any of them. but! but! in his silence with them, he also did, unintentionally, say a lot.
3573
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
👁️🍄🪸 @bloomfilters.plus · 24/03/2026
i am feeling a tiny bit happy that the 'chainsaw man is about Chainsaw Man and denji is stuck as the protagonist and cannot be free until he escapes the narrative' reading we had from early part 2 was a thematic prediction that ultimately did come true though, even with all the bumps. yay
439734
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
3726
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
artemis "crimes" deville @theartdevil.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Alright, Asa Mitaka. What do I make of you? "Yeah, she didn't deserve all that and it's good she got dumped back into normalcy without her groomer teacher" is surface-level good in a similar way to what it is for Denji. But interrogating deeper from there is more complicated. 🧵
420129
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Ok my What The Fuck Happened This Chapter synthesis thread Yoshida was killed and/or eaten by Death and turned into one of her pawns, then given the role of being the on switch/trigger of whatever plan she has against Yoru. She did this because Yoshida cannot be harmed or killed by Denji nor Yoru.
1368
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Like I have always known that Yoshida is cooked on some level, he's just a soft human in the apocalypse of the Chainsaw Man world trapped in an organization that demands sacrifice BUT I'm still gutted? What was I expecting, exactly?
0100
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
bombs sent to denji by others who cared nothing for their humanity, only wishing for a world where they could’ve had a peaceful school life with him
010619
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Feeling so sick irl
2130
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
Momo-pc @momo-pc.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Wonder what’s up with apocalypse sisters getting wired when Yoshida shows up #csm213
1132
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
bic 🦝✌️ @shogiboyplus.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
the intentional lack of sexual leveraging in their relationship
0375
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fiona 💀 @storekn1fe.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
i really do love how unsubtle fujimoto is in his political messaging. no metaphors no beating around the bush just panels of charred corpses with the american antham being played over it.
1154
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
1121
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
#csm204 #chainsawman It's Seigi Akokover.
0200
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
So she was LARPING???
1586
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
#chainsawman Re: vol 20 inside cover, we get the sense that Asa is relegated to the role of observer. Together with the front cover this paints a new picture: the transition from past to present. Asa is displaced, dismembered (for a time), and the city is devastated. Past Asa was +
2424
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
I've always thought that even if she was being specific as a means of convincing nayuta to her side, the core of it all was entirely honest- she really was just doing all of this to preserve the pleasures of humanity. To me, her rejection of public safety was recognition that
161
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
artemis "crimes" deville @theartdevil.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
i've been saying from the start! fami is totally honest with what she actually desires out of this. she's a foil to makima in that regard, someone who kept her true motive secret until the very end
081
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
Sol ☀️ @gojotron.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Heart of glass
0203
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
#csm194 #chainsawman Bet you a million dollars he's thinking back to when he and Denji cut class and went to the movies...sulking Yoshida kicking my ass
3170
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Man I tried the first chapter of that "Kirei na Kimi ni Korosaretai" and can't say I recommend it at all
140
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
#csm194 #chainsawman 🧵Revisiting this thought in light of chapter 194. Fami preferring her nickname over "Famine", working against the "age of devils"...Fami's human-favouring trait has been spelled out for us. She lives to savor HUMAN experiences in particular, seeking to preserve the age of +
3399
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
that’s the power of yoshida on the cover baby. face card has no credit limit never gets declined can buy ANYTHING
3536
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
kai @th3kph0enix.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
15724
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
War Devil @wardevil.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Makima was the embodiment of the post-911 neoliberal surveillance state. Yoru is the embodiment of the fascist military state that emerges from the collapse of the liberal state as it falls to contradictions. And thus, she is Makima, but worse.
513428
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
#csm193 Kino panelling here as well. Love how she encroaches on him with every point she makes.
0272
Chainsaw Man Thoughts @csmthoughts.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
#csm193 #chainsawman Oof, the empty chair included in this panel. Asa's absence is truly felt here.
0304
Reposted by Chainsaw Man Thoughts
fangy @jeannesfangs.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
he tried to end it by giving up and letting pochita kill him after forcing him to vomit ear (which why pochita ate him rather than kill him) change my mind
2262