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The Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories light novel is set to be released in English on July 25, 2023. While the Japanese version has been available for purchase since November 2021, fans will have to wait a few more months for the English translation. Thankfully, the above release date has been confirmed via Amazon and other major retailers.
The light novel is the first in the franchise to be written by Sakaku Hishikawa, along with original series creator, author, and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto providing bonus illustrations. Based on Japanese reviews thus far, Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories seems to be a must-read for any fan of the original series.
Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories will provide four all new stories focused on questions from mainline series
Release date and time, where to read
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The English release date, which is July 25, 2023, is not currently confirmed by VIZ Media unfortunately, which has only specified that the English release will come in Summer 2023. Likewise, it’s unknown exactly what time the light novel will become available to read digitally, if there will be any digital releases at all.
As far as the confirmed physical release goes, there is no confirmed list as to which retailers will be stocking Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories, aside from Amazon, who has a listing for it. However, fans can safely assume that it’ll be purchasable wherever the original series is. Per VIZ Media’s website, this includes Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, Kinokuniya, RightStuf, and general comic shops.
What to expect
The light novel centers around Power, who is masquerading as a self-proclaimed master detective, and Denji, who serves as her assistant in this adventure. The series follows her as she takes on three mysterious cases, focused on questions spawned from the main story’s events. For example, one mission focuses on Kishibe and Quanxi, and what their relationship was when they were partners.
Another mission from Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories focuses on how Himeno and Aki met and what happened on their first mission together as Public Safety Devil Hunters. The third focuses on Denji and Power themselves, taking on a mix between a mystery for them to solve and just giving fans some much-needed additional interactions.
In addition to these three stories, a bonus fourth story is included, which is titled Dream of Enoshima. It focuses on Denji, Power, and Aki’s dream trip to Enoshima. This is the trip which the trio and Makima attempted to take during the International Assassins Arc, but were prevented from doing so by the surrounding events. Like two of the above mysteries, it’s a great way to fill in the blanks which the main story could not.
Follow along for more Chainsaw Man anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
