I did not really enjoy Chainsaw Man the series so I really did not read this volume. I am not that much of a fan of the art, so I can not really recommend the book.

I am so loving this series! Imma keep myself from saying much about what happens in this volume because I don't want to give anything away; suffice it to say there's lots of action fighting a demon who wants Denji dead. This is a hardcore fight, it tests the team- will they betray Denji, or will they fight together? I'm enjoying the character development as it gets teased out, and the complicated relationships that are evolving between characters. The dialogue, as always, has a good share of snappy repartee, and that frickin' cliffhanger! Geez!

#ChainsawManVol3 #NetGalley

This picked up the pace from the previous volume by so much. Action-packed and dramatic, volume three reminded me of the work's visceral and relentless potential. It is engaging to see Denji cut and cleave through the monster of many faces for several pages in all its blood and gore. This is a volume filled to the brim with action and surprisingly romantic/sexual tension. This brings in a new dynamic and intrigue to the team thus far outside of work. In addition, the introduction of a new threat beyond the demons we have encountered before provides more excitement on where the work will go. Overall, this was a needed pick up from the last volume and I look forward to what is in store next volume.

This is volume 3 in the story of Denji who was a small time devil hunter. After he was killed his friend/pet devil saved him by turning him into Chainsaw Man. In this volume they are still trapped in the hotel from volume 2. The demon promises to let them all go if they will kill Denji.

Volume 3 has the same feel as previous issues. The monsters are creepy, the dialogue is witty, and the battle scenes are intense. My only complaint with this book is that the battle scenes are so intense it does seem to make it a little harder to figure out what is going on from time to time. I read review copies on my phone and I think that is part of it. It isn't quite as bad in the physical book.

Overall this has become one of my favorite series. I cannot wait for volume 4 to come out and I have already added this manga to my comic pull list at my local shop. It is well worth checking out. Plus the little chainsaw demon, cutest damn thing ever!

Chainsaw Man is as bloody as ever! Even one of the seemingly main characters is no longer with us by the end of this volume. This series is already fairly popular and is guaranteed to become even more so once the anime adaptation premieres. Suggested for older high schoolers and adults.

Still completely batty, over the top, cynical and bloody, volume 3 finishes one storyline and starts the next with a bang. Several, in fact. The craziness of the first two volumes is starting to settle in and we're starting to get a feel for the longer narrative. The art is gripping, but the quite moments are actually better drawn than the action scenes which are sometimes quite hard to follow. Not sure where things are going to go from here, but unless vol 4 is a huge cop out, this book is going in a very different direction than other ensemble manga. Excited to see what happens next!

Chainsaw Man Vol. 3 begins with the end of the Eternity Devil arc. In the last volume, Denji and the others were trapped on the eighth floor of a hotel, and that’s where we catch up with them now. As the situation leads to their emotional and mental collapse, the Eternity Devil gave them the proposition of killing the protagonist, which some of them are seriously considering.

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The manga does a great job of portraying their breakdown. The characters are visibly worn out, with dark circles under their eyes and sweaty, disfigured facial expressions. It also affects their behaviors, with Kobeni and Arai being hit the hardest in the sanity department while the others (specially Denji and Power) are mostly the same as usual. Still, it’s hard to really consider them truly sane or normal, to begin with.

In fact, Denji’s madness and lack of common sense are a big part of the dispute’s resolution. The battle with Eternity Devil is a bloody affair born of insanity, with horror and gore aplenty, not to mention Denji’s disgusting tactics as scenes drive home the reality of the situation.

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It’s not just about having power; surviving demands a specific mindset. Only someone capable of thinking beyond normalcy would be able to deal with such a twisted situation and come back alive. Messed up people in a messed up world is a strong suit of author Tatsuki Fujimoto and he certainly delivers it in spades.

This is also explicitly mentioned by Himeno’s mentor in a flashback. As she sees the situation develop, it’s impossible for her not to be reminded of his words about how fearsome devil hunters with some screw looses are. The volume offers another glimpse at her relationship with Aki through various small bits, which was previously mentioned in volume 2.

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Then comes the aftermath. A big welcome party acts as a small breather, allowing characters to hang out a little at an izakaya. Besides the food and drinks, Denji is obviously nervous about finally having the chance to get his first kiss. After Makima shows up and Himeno gets really drunk, the situation gets a little messy to the point Denji gets an experience that’ll definitely be hard to forget.

The volume ends with an unpredictable turn for the worse as a new arc begins, reminding the readers that death is commonplace in a world of powerful demons. With an ending that hangs in the middle of the conflict, confusion ensues, and the consequences will only be fully understood in the next volume.

There’s also a small extra with tidbits on Power’s personality. As the character is amusing, those extra pages offer decent comic relief while also explaining her traits.

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Overall, Chainsaw Man Vol. 3 is an excellent example of the manga series’s chaotic energy. Changing quickly between dark comedy and bloody battles is a reminder of how the messed up fun so far won’t be without consequences even though the story is still in its early stages.

Denji's life was bad enough before he was hacked apart. His pet devil-dog Pochita saved his life by merging with his body, turning him into Chainsaw Man. Now he's a working with some devil hunters to take out the monsters of the world before they can harm innocent people. Along the way, he hopes to kiss a girl and maybe touch a boob.

While the humor in Chainsaw Man is still pretty juvenile, this volume ups the ante in terms of the story and the overall mythos of this world. The first half deals with a monster that's taken over a hotel, trapping Denji and a few other devils hunters in a perpetual loop. This creature is specifically targeting Denji and will stop at nothing to eat his heart. Fortunately, the guy can transform into a chainsaw beast so he's far from defenseless.

The design for Chainsaw Man is so very awesome. Creator Tatsuki Fujimoto shifts gears when this thing comes out, leaving the comedy behind and embracing pure gory action. Chainsaws come out of Denji's arms and face. His jaw extends with rows of sharp teeth as he bathes in the blood of his enemies. It's badass.

We learn something more about this transformation too. It's basically powered by blood. If Denji runs out, he turns back to normal and is weakened. It the chainsaws suck up a bunch of blood from the monsters, it can run seemingly forever.

The second half of Chainsaw Man: Volume 3 introduces a similar entity, albeit powered by blades, taking the fight to the devil hunters in a big way. The book gets serious as lives are in danger in a way they weren't before. Sure, battling these powerful creatures is harrowing, but it's like this thing has a target on all of them and it's ready to go through anything to take them out.

One thing I'm noticing with manga volumes is that they're not always complete stories with beginnings and ends. Instead, they're more often pieces of a chapter. This volume finishes up a story from the last one and then starts a new one, but doesn't finish it. It ends right when the battle is really heating up. While that works to keep you plugged in and dying to grab the next book, it feels a little weird to leave us hanging like that.

Up until now, Chainsaw Man was playful with pieces of gore thrown in. It's about this fun-loving guy who turns into a chainsaw creature and tears through demons. Fujimoto pulls the rug out from under us with this volume, showing the real stakes for these characters and what they must be willing to do to keep the world safe. It's a major step up for the series.

Chainsaw Man Volume Three follows Denji and his companions, who are trying to hunt down the Gun Devil.

Chainsaw Man Volume Three
Written by: Tatsuki Fujimoto
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: February 2, 2021

The first three chapters in this volume continue the story where it left off in Volume 2, with Denji, Aki, Power, Himeno, Arai, and Kobeni stuck on the eighth floor of the building. The demon that’s trapped them there offers to make a contract: let it kill Denji, and it will let the others go free.

The scene where the group debates about making the contract with the demon highlights their personalities. Well, except for Arai and Kobeni, since they’ve gone crazy out of fear. We get to see more of their personalities later in the volume. Aki is the most level-headed and realizes that Denji’s death would somehow benefit the devils, so he refuses to make the contract.

In the end, it surprisingly ends up being Denji who comes up with the plan to defeat the devil and help the others escape. I don’t think he truly knew whether or not it would work, but he decided to jump into action with it anyway, since he felt he had nothing to lose. In the end, they manage to escape and get a piece of the Gun Devil.

This section also provides us another flashback for Himeno and how, as his mentor, tries to keep Aki from going after the Gun Devil. While her attempts don’t work, these flashbacks clearly show how she feels about him.

After this, we get roughly three chapters that help to develop the characters some more, as well as providing the reader a “breather” between the action that took place in the earlier chapters in the volume and the events that happen right near the end of the volume. It’s basically a “calm before the storm,” if you will. Like I said earlier, we got some more development for Arai and Kobeni, but there’s also more of a focus on Himeno. I should have suspected that something important would happen to Himeno, considering how much focus she was getting in this volume, but I didn’t. All I will say is that during the last bit of this volume, Himeno plays a very pivotal role and something happens to her.

Makima appears during these three chapters, and we see Denji feel conflicted, since he’s about to get the kiss Himeno promised him in the previous chapter if they escaped when Makima joins the group for their celebration. We later see an interaction between Makima and Denji, and in some respects, Makima almost comes across as a mother figure with some advice she has for him. Almost, anyway. In some respects, it’s still a mystery to the audience what kind of feelings or relationship that Makima feels she has with Denji.

The last three chapters see Makima, Denji, and the others coming under attack at various locations. It’s obvious why Denji is being targeted, but not so much for the others. My guess is that they’re being targeted since they have connections to Denji. As I alluded to earlier, something major happens to Himeno during these attacks, and it’s going to have a lasting impact on the characters. Between this volume and the previous volume of Chainsaw Man, Himeno was given enough development to give some weight to this event for the reader as well. Volume Three ends with a cliffhanger that will make readers wants to come back for the next volume in order to find out what happens.

Chainsaw Man continues to be an interesting read, and I believe that like me, other readers of the series will be riveted by the events in the final chapters of this volume and want to continue the series in order to find out how the story continues, as well as to see how Denji continues to develop as a character.

Chainsaw Man has quickly become a favorite among Shonen Jump fans and over the last two volumes, the horror, action, and best boi protagonist Denji has proven why. Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 2019, the series created by mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto is published in English by VIZ Media through its Shonen Jump imprint (with individual chapter available on the Shonen Jump app). Translated into English by Amanda Haley and featuring touch-up art and lettering by Sabrina Heep, Chainsaw Man Volume 3 picks up immediately after the events of volume 2.

Capturing chapters 17 through 25, Chainsaw Man Volume 3 has Denji trying to achieve his next goal, a kiss with Himeno—and with tongue. To land his prize he has to defeat the Eternity Devil and get the piece of the Gun Devil that it holds. But this won’t be easy. The large fleshy mass of a Devil is an immovable force keeping Division 4 trapped in a hotel with no food or water to survive. But, the Devil offers the group from Division 4 an ultimatum, feed it Denji and go free, or they can all die.

Chainsaw Man Volume 3 is a triumphant gut punch. In the opening chapters, you realize how Denji’s lack of worldly ties and simple dreams makes him extremely dangerous and unafraid to jump into the mouth of a demon to save his team. From that point, you also get the chance to learn how easy it is for Devil Hunters to die, and the wounds those deaths leave behind on their teams. We see this through Himeno’s flashbacks and her dedication to keeping Aki alive.

That said, in the final chapter of the volume, Fujimoto decides that a happily ever after where Division 4 gets to be happy and together isn’t the story he wants to tell. Instead, he follows up his promise that Devil Hunters can die at any moment, by seemingly killing a majority of the cast. At a breakneck pace, chapter 25 aims to break your heart. Packed with action and emotional close-ups, Chainsaw Man Volume 3 ends with a punch and the uncertainty of whether your favorite characters will be coming back in volume 4.

Beyond the surprising turn of events at the end of the volume, which is extremely well-executed, Fujimoto’s art is disturbingly grotesque. The Eternity Devil is terrifying uncomfortable to look at. A wall of flesh, faces, and hands, and the Devil looking to take Denji’s heart made me physically recoil. But while the twisting flesh is disturbing, it’s Fujimoto’s use of teeth and mouths is just unsettling. In some panels, Fujimoto uses mouths as eyes and in others, he illustrates gnashing teeth that make me shake the way nails on a chalkboard do. The pulp-style of Chainsaw Man is one of the reasons why I picked up the series and chapter after chapter, Fujimoto delivers disturbing pulpy Devils that are grotesque and creative at the same time.

Overall, Chainsaw Man Volume 3 is fantastically unsettling. It offers the wholesome Denji that readers have fallen in love with, excessive amounts of blood and violence, unsettling Devils, and ends with a gutwrenching chapter. If you’re not reading the individual chapters of the manga on the Shonen Jump app, this volume will push you to it with its ending.

3.5*

Well, that took a turn at the halfway point, and I'm not sure I'm completely on board with it. Before we delve further into that aspect of the book let's go back to the beginning. This book picks up right where the last one left off with our group of devil hunters trapped on an inescapable hotel floor. As I said in my last review, this is one of my favorite plot setups. It plays out in a rather interesting manner, but one that I felt was rushed and a bit poorly executed. We then got yet another brief respite from the action like with the last volume. We spent some time at a restaurant and mostly talked. Character development, you've got to squeeze it in somewhere. We then had this sudden shift in the plot that felt almost completely out of left field. I'm not sure where it's going but I definitely can't wait for the next volume.

This series never stops packing a punch.

The third volume ups the stakes, and brings more action and gore than ever. Our characters are put through even more horrific moments, but the humour and personalities are so on point that when the darker moments happen it’s still a shock to witness it. It never fails to shock, but it’s still fun to read.

The art is a bit less refined in this one. I don’t know if there was a rush to get this out, but some scenes felt more messy to make out.

I’m loving this series so much, and I can’t wait to see where it will go. The characters, the execution of topics — everything just works. It’s absurd, it’s gory, and I need more of it.