Chainsaw man is just impossible to put down. There are the elements of horror and the supernatural seamlessly woven into the story, so on the surface it feels like a monster style horror title. Underneath that is the dynamic between the characters which sits on the border of pathetic and hilarious all while feeling like a superhero story gone terribly wrong!

Denji and his Devil Dog are just impossible not to like. They have this best friends status and broke college kid aesthetic that are disarmingly charming. They are so pathetic and cute together that the reader can almost look past his aching perv factor toward women, and bizarre discomfort around them. It's peak horror humor.

ARC From Netgalley.
They could literally rename this manga "Chainsaw Violence and Awkward Groping" LOL I can't wait to see this in an anime! If they get the right voice cast, it will be legendary.
Highlights:
- Denji revs up and kills the Bat Devil very violently, saving Power and Meowy, who were still inside.
- He then has to immediately fight the Leech Devil, who overpowers him easily. Denji is able to stall by challenging Leech to a "Dream Battle", as to who has the stronger dream (his being to grope a breast LOL). Aki and his Fox Devil are able to stop Leech, and they go to get medical help.
- Power moves in with Denji and Aki, and she is hilariously horrible as a roommate.... but it is at this moment that she decides that it is time for Denji to get to grope her. She gives him 3 squeezes, but he finds that it wasn't as life altering as he thought it would be. When he conveys his distress to Makima, she shows him that other touches (hands, face, ear THEN chest) will help bond you stronger to your lover and make that grope so much more powerful. She leans in for a kiss.....
- .... then pulls back and gives him his next mission: to find and destroy the Gun Devil. In return, she will grant him any one wish. (The implication is very sexual LOL) Taking out devils is yielding them parts of the Gun Devil, and when they have enough, they should be able to find him.
- The group, now joined by Himeno, Arai and two newbies, go to the Hotel Morin to take out a devil. Himeno (who is bonded with a Ghost Devil, allowing her to fight and choke others at a distance) promises a kiss to whoever kills the Devil.
- The group gets trapped on the 8th Floor by a growing blob of grossness called the Eternity Devil. He has them trapped and will only let them out if they sacrifice Denji and his Chainsaws.

Cliffhanger Ending! Moving on to Volume 3.
This is great. High recommend.

This is more-or-less the same as the previous volume - Denji being charmingly simple yet dim-witted with the Devil Hunters. Denji does confront his feelings on finally touching a pair of breasts which become a sort of melancholic realization of how even the most exciting prospects can only do so much. Quite honestly, it was the best part of the manga as I saw Denji maturing beyond his primal origins. The volume however does slow down for more introduction and insight of the Devil Hunters, namely Aki and his team. Aki is given substantial development from his childhood to his early days as a Public Safety official with his mentor, Himeno. Tragic, certainly, and gives another dimension to this character. It is halfway into the manga that I felt it loses momentum. The scenes get messier and hard to follow as the plot goes on. While the first half is engaging in character development for the aforementioned characters, I feel the second half drags since there is only so much to learn from each person whether it be the new recruits or even Himeno. Perhaps the third volume can bring a change of pace, yet where Volume 2 leaves left me unsatisfied

Okay, I'm loving this series! Denji and Power play so well off each other, and this volume sees the secondary characters getting fleshed out more. The dialogue is snappy and fun, the action scenes are, well, good and action-y, and the devils are pretty creepy. The gore isn't super gross for the most part, which I appreciate; I also appreciate Denji's dedication to fulfilling his dreams, however small they may seem to the others. I'm looking forward to seeing this team of devil hunters come together into a true team dynamic, and to seeing Denji grow as a character. This story is lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to the next volume, and to the anime in 2021!

#ChainsawManVol2 #NetGalley

I know people are enamored with this series and it's certainly not bad...but I don't think it says much that I apparently completely forgot that I read this two weeks ago and then couldn't remember a thing about it. Skimming through the volume, I remembered just how off-putting the art style of the eyes is. The rest of the art is perfectly serviceable for a horror manga, but there's just something about the eyes I really don't like at all.

All that said, I am aware that I appear to be in the minority when it comes to this title. With the additional news that the series will be adapted into anime, I think popularity will continue to surge and really must suggest it for public library collections with adult graphic novel collections, or teen collections that skew older.

To achieve the greatest goal in the history of ever, touching a boob, Denji will risk everything fighting the devil bat. But will it make him happy?

Starts out without with a massive fight scene. I love how funny the dialogue is. Everything is crazy and they are surrounded by death, but the characters really just have that "ah whatever" attitude. He isn't fighting the creature because it is the right thing to do, he really just wants to touch a boob.

I was only 20 pages into the book before calling my comic shop and making sure that they would add Chainsaw Man to my pull list. I do not want to miss a single book. The chapter breaks have the little chainsaw devil in the corner and I love it so much. It has all my favorite things in a book. Amazing fight scenes, adorable monsters, and an obnoxious cast of characters.

Creative Team:
Story and art by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Translated by Amanda Haley

Chainsaw Man Volume Two continues following Denji, a young man whose body is taken over by his demon dog, Pochita, which causes him to become the title character of the series.

Chainsaw Man Volume Two
Written by: Tatsuki Fujimoto
Publisher: Shueisha, Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: December 1, 2020

The beginning of this volume sees Denji defeating that Bat Devil that he encountered at the end of the previous volume. There were quite a few “action panels” in the first chapter, which cut down on the amount of dialogue that the reader has to read. Even though his partner, the Blood Fiend Power, tricked Denji into fighting the demon, he doesn’t get mad at her about it… especially after Power says she’ll let Denji touch her chest. However, when Power fulfills Denji’s desire later, he finds that attaining the dream of touching boobs wasn’t as fulfilling as he thought it would be.

When he confides this to Makima, she tells him that perhaps it was because he didn’t know the person all that well. Makima uses this to her advantage, though, and after toying with Denji, she asks him to take on the Gun Devil. She says that if he can kill the Gun Devil, she’ll grant him any wish of his choosing. While I got the feeling in the first volume that Makima was manipulative, I found her to be even more this way, especially with this particular scene. While Denj is obviously interested in her, I honestly can’t root for these two to get together. His feelings come from the fact that she’s the first person to acknowledge that he’s more than scum, and she just sees someone that she can manipulate and use for her own means.

We get a brief history of the Gun Devil, and it was interesting see the various locations that the backstory gives for where the Gun Devil struck and killed people. Most are countries (United States, Soviet Union, Canada, China, Mexico, India), but one thing stood out to me… Hawaii was included. Erm, Hawaii is technically part of the United States. Yes, it may be a chain of islands, but it’s still a state, so shouldn’t their numbers be included in the numbers for the United States? Yes, I’m being nitpicky, but this just made me do a double take.

With the Gun Devil Mission, Denji is assigned to work with Power, Aki, Himeno, Arai, and Kobeni. This section provides a little bit of backstory for both Himeno and Aki. It was nice to get to know a little more about Aki, since we first met him in the previous volume but knew next to nothing about him up to this point.

While the group finds a demon, it ‘s not the Gun Devil they’re looking for. Power manages to destroy it, but then the group finds itself trapped on the eighth floor of the building. It’s interesting to see how the various characters react to being stuck on this floor, especially after discovering that time seems to be standing still in this area of the building. Right at the end of the volume, there’s a great cliffhanger that will make readers want to see what happens when the next volume of the series is released.

The tone of the storytelling and the depiction of the characters is consistent between these first two volumes of the Chainsaw Man manga series. Denji is still the simple guy that readers were introduced to, and you find yourself feeling kind of sorry for him when you see how Makima is taking advantage of his simplicity. Perhaps his simplicity comes from naivete when it comes to dealing with members of the opposite sex, which makes it easy for him to be taken advantage of in this way. Denji isn’t necessarily the most likable of characters, especially for a protagonist, but there’s still just something about him that makes the reader care about him.

Chainsaw Man Volume Two perfectly continues the story of the characters and the world that they inhabit. It also does a good job at trying to expand the amount of characters and providing backstories for some of them. I can truly say that nothing felt boring in this volume, and that the cliffhanger at the end of it will keep readers interested in following the adventures of Denji and the other Devil Hunters.

This second volume leans more toward comedy and psychological horror than the previous volume which was definitely ok in my book. It's always good to see a series develop into its more full-fledged form as you get more than just a first volume. It's been a while since I read a sequel so forgive my statement of the obvious. I had a fun time with this story. In this volume, we basically had two different stories. We start with the conclusion to the previous volumes ending fighting off the bat demon. From there we get a breath of fresh air, interact with the characters, and build on their relationships with one another. We also see our main character gain a new life motivation, sort of. From here we move onto the second half of the story, the crazy hotel floor. God, I do love it when we have hotels that just don't work correctly. And that's where we end the volume. Again I had such a fun time with this book. I am interested enough to continue with the series which I wasn't so sure of with the last volume.

I am definitely going to keep reading this series. It has a great blend of action, humour, and gore, and the characters are fun to follow. It balances out the ridiculousness of the idea with a grounded story.

It follows directly after the events of the last volume, and the pay off is quick and cool to read. I’m enjoying our characters and their dynamics with each other, especially when you have some who act crazy and unhinged, while others are calm and put together. We are introduced to new characters, who are part of the devil hunting headquarters, and we learn about their backstories and their motivations. It was so cool to see them interact and work off each other.

We are also introduced to our main antagonist, the Gun devil, who has the potential to be quite a force to be reckoned with. There was one scene that shocked me in how brutal it was, and how out of nowhere it is. It’s interesting how that scene shed the least amount of blood on the page, but it stuck with me more.

And what I enjoyed the most was the last arc with the new demon. The monster are creepy and eye catching, but there is a psychological element threaded in that has me intrigued into where this might go.

Another great volume. I can’t wait to read the next one.