Chainsaw Man chapter 182 all but confirms a key Pochita theory

Modified Nov 27, 2024 15:09 GMT

Chainsaw Man chapter 182 all but confirms a key Pochita theory (Image via MAPPA Studios)

With the end of mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-week break came the official release of Chainsaw Man chapter 182, continuing its focus on Denji and War Devil Yoru/Asa Mitaka. While chapter 182’s events were likewise expected in a general sense in this regard, the exact occurrences that took place in the issue were particularly shocking and surprising.

One of the most so was Denji throwing up the Snow Devil’s head in Chainsaw Man chapter 182, which brought snow to the Aging Devil’s world. However, it also gave Denji a memory of Power and Aki Hayakawa. Likewise, this seemingly confirms a fan theory fans have had since Pochita first ate the Snow Devil and others in chapter 174.

Chainsaw Man chapter 182 essentially confirms that Pochita erased Devils with Denji’s trauma in mind

Expand Tweet

The aforementioned fan theory was born shortly after the release of chapter 174. In this issue’s final panel, Pochita is said to have eaten and erased the Octopus, Mouth, Snow, and Bitterness Devils. Fans immediately noticed that most of these had to do with the traumas Denji had experienced up until that point, with the exception of the Snow Devil. However, Chainsaw Man chapter 182 explained what the trauma associated with the Snow Devil was in its final panels.

Given that the first thing to occur after Denji threw up the Snow Devil is a flashback focusing on Aki Hayakawa and Power, this flashback is likely home to the corresponding trauma. This trauma is most likely the first time where Aki and Power said they loved Denji and acknowledged him as a family. This makes sense both from a general standpoint and also given that it relates to Denji and Asa’s current conversation about finding reasons to live.

In other words, Chainsaw Man chapter 182 all but confirms that Pochita erased the Snow Devil to also remove this painful memory of Denji’s former family from his mind. The fact that this is the very first thing that Denji thinks of and readers are shown after the Snow Devil’s return further supports this. Likewise, the other trauma associations that can be linked to the other Devils also support the overall idea that Pochita erased Devils with Denji’s trauma in mind.

Expand Tweet

For example, the Octopus Devil is most obvious as being Hirofumi Yoshida’s main combat Devil. Given that Yoshida has served an opposition-like role, and arguably an antagonistic one at times, to Denji in Part 2, the connection there is obvious. Likewise, the Mouth Devil is equally obvious; Pochita recognizes that people are constantly after Denji for his own Erasure powers, which cannot be utilized if neither Denji nor Pochita have mouths.

The Bitterness Devil harkens back to when Denji had his first kiss with Himeno, which he said at the time would forever stain the memory with the taste of vomit. This is, of course, a very bitter taste for the stomach acid, which makes up vomit’s liquid base. There’s also likely a symbolic, literary aspect of Pochita erasing any and all bitterness from Denji’s life. In any case, it’s clear that each Devil, now including Snow, can be traced back to a specific, traumatic memory.

Final thoughts

Denji's loss of Aki and Power would qualify as trauma, which Chainsaw Man chapter 182 suggests to be the case (Image via MAPPA Studios)

With all of this in mind, it seems incredibly likely that Pochita was indeed erasing Devils while considering Denji’s trauma. In turn, this shows that Pochita truly does care for Denji, despite the pair’s last direct interaction with each other having a somewhat sinister vibe on Pochita’s part. Fans can expect this to be fully and formally confirmed sometime soon, although it’s a very safe presumption to make contemporarily considering the above evidence.