Crafted with stellar animation, a compelling score and surprisingly rich storytelling, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” explodes onto the silver screen as a perfect adaptation of the Japanese source material.

Continuing its anime adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga series “Chainsaw Man” and produced by the same studio, MAPPA, the film is a direct follow up to the events of the first season.

Concerned with his own humanity after becoming the Chainsaw Devil, Denji is left asking “Does he still have a heart” leading to seeking assurance from Makima, who takes him on a movie marathon date. Soon after Denji meets Reze, who he begins to lean on and seek assurance from instead. 

Whether it comes to bombastic action sequences or heart throbbing slice-of-life elements found throughout the film, the quality of a MAPPA production elevates the intended emotions and scale covered throughout the arc. Between Ghibli quality food art and horrific city-wide fights sequences, MAPPA continues to push its standard for animation further in this theatrical release. 

Led by returning composer and artist Kenshi Yonezu, the film’s theme song “Iris Out,” demonstrates an understanding of the wide variety of emotions “Chainsaw Man” as a series sets out to evoke.

By simply being a movie covering the “Chainsaw Man” series, there are several vital plates to spin to capture both the absurdity and sorrow that Fujimoto likes to include in his work. On top of this difficulty, the movie not only has to be a satisfying continuation of the larger series, but must also feature a satisfying enough beginning, middle and end to justify its film adaptation. Somehow, they’ve done just that.

Being able to intentionally whiplash the viewer from crude sexual humor to heartwarming moments — with both absurd settings and action sequences — is a tall order every member in production succeeds in bringing to the big screen.

While there are several ways to ingest and reconcile with what Tatsuki Fujimoto and MAPPA have put on your plate, there is no denying that the work itself carries significant substance. Themes of abuse, physiological and psychological needs, the manipulation of said needs and the existence and reconciliation with the art we might find compelling.  are all something talked about in a film with a flying shark and man made out of Chainsaws.

One way the film demonstrates this deliberate attempt to evoke something more complex and substantive is in its narrative rhyming scheme, where the setting and display seen at the beginning of the film will somehow reconnect and satisfy a larger metaphor with a completely absurd context. It’s weird, “Chainsaw Man” is somehow simultaneously absurd, abrasive and upfront with so much of its theming, but in this loud, disturbing explosion of a film, Fujimoto finds ways to also practice subtlety. Those put off by the MAPPA art style or coverage in the animated series should absolutely try again with this film, and then maybe read the manga. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is where the inherited vision of Fujimoto meets its absolute completion and perfection. 

The film was released Oct. 24 and is in theaters now.