Chainsaw Man anime's incredibly animated first episode lives up to the hype

The Chainsaw Man anime finally premiered early in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, bringing the long wait for the highly-anticipated series to an end. Fans took to Twitter almost immediately following their first watch-through, praising almost every aspect of the show from being a faithful adaptation to animation and pacing choices.

Indeed, Chainsaw Man’s first episode is worthy of this praise and much more. Everything from voice acting to background music to animation is incredibly well-done, making for a crisp, enjoyable series that almost feels life-like at certain points.

---

Chainsaw Man anime makes a splash with an episode nearly perfect from top-to-bottom

From the first moments of Chainsaw Man’s premiere episode, it has become abundantly clear that the manga’s gritty, uncensored approach to its story material has also been taken by the anime. The opening scenes leave viewers in utter shock and confusion, feeling disoriented as they’re swiftly introduced to protagonist Denji and his companion, Pochita.

These introductory scenes are very well done, with a beautiful, bird-eye view of their journey to work allowing for some fantastic animation. Kikunosuke Toya’s Denji sounds incredibly well-fitting, casually talking about selling his organs for money with that satisfied voice which manga readers imagined Denji with in this scene.

Pochita’s introduction is also masterfully done, leading viewers to believe that Denji’s companion is a regular dog until it’s clear that he isn’t. This instantly parlays into the insanity that is Tatsuki Fujimoto's work, which the opening theme only emphasizes and exaggerates to viewers before returning them to Denji, who is now standing on top of a Tomato Devil’s corpse.

The entire episode is filled with moments like this, so well-animated and well-backed with music that they turn even the most grim moments into something beautifully tragic. Even a young Denji standing in front of his father’s grave and being told to come up with 700,00 yen or die has a certain beauty to it thanks to the uniformly melancholic production of the scene.

Indeed, much of Chainsaw Man’s first episode can be described as beautifully melancholic.

Even Denji and Pochita’s living situation, although tragic and clearly underprivileged, has a certain beauty to it thanks to the bond they have with one another. In fact, nearly all of the episode’s brightly colored and optimistic scenes come exclusively when focusing on Denji and Pochita’s relationship and dreams for one another.

It’s this bond and partnership that makes the third act of Chainsaw Man’s first episode so heart-wrenching and sad. As Pochita sacrifices himself for Denji and is finally able to, with words, communicate the love he has for his caretaker, Denji and fans realize that the two have become one thanks to Pochita’s efforts.

However, for as fantastic a job as MAPPA Studios does animating the episode’s relatively mundane moments, they do even better with the closing fight scene. A beautiful mix of CGI and 2D animation blends to create a smooth and continuous action sequences, which appear to glide rather than jump as many other studios would choose to do.

Overall, Chainsaw Man’s first episode does everything it should as a new anime series looking to establish itself. It not only does everything it should, but it does it all right, and in most cases goes above and beyond what one could expect of a pilot episode for a new series.

From the beloved bond Pochita and Denji have for one another to the gory, closing fight scene, this series’ pilot episode is a masterpiece from start to finish.

---

Be sure to keep up with all Chainsaw Man anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.