Chainsaw Man chapter 183: Denji has another flashback as he finds a way out

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 was expected to focus on Denji’s flashback to the trip he took to Hokkaido with Aki Hayakaa and Power, which many thought would be a full flashback. Officially released on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the issue instead focused on Denji in a contemporary sense, devoting very little time to the Aki and Power flashback.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 also saw Denji have two other miniature flashbacks, focused on Bomb Hybrid Reze and Control Devil Nayuta. Likewise, as Denji made his way through each of these flashbacks, he had a major revelation regarding his will to live and came up with a plan to escape the Aging Devil’s world.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 sees Denji realize and accept that loss is a part of life

Chainsaw Man chapter 183: Bitter memories

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Chainsaw Man chapter 183 begins immediately where the last issue ended, reusing the panel of Aki Hayakawa and Power on the boat with their backs turned to Denji. He questions why he just thought of that trip, saying he still had fun even though it was cold. However, he’s interrupted by the act of throwing up another Devil head, this one much larger than the Snow Devil’s head.

Asa is shocked and disgusted to see this, while Denji calls the Devil’s taste bitter, revealing it to be the Bitterness Devil. He then races towards the lake in front of them to drink some water but falls into it instead. He thinks of Reze and the bitter coffee he drank with her as he falls in, also thinking to himself that all the people he loves disappear from his life in the end.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 sees him assert that this is true for every single person he loves, with a panel of Control Devil Nayuta running with the dogs and Meowy appearing after. Denji, still underwater, questions how he kept smiling before despite all of the terrible experiences he’s had in his life.

Pochita appears at Denji's lowest point yet again in Chainsaw Man chapter 183 (Image via MAPPA Studios)

Pochita then appears and begins swimming towards him with a smile on his face. This leads Denji to realize that Pochita didn’t eat those Devils to make him forget those memories but instead threw them up through Denji to make him remember. Denji doesn’t elaborate here, but he clearly means that Pochita wanted him to remember all the good moments in his life that were worth living for.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 sees Asa Mitaka pull a dazed Denji out of the water, berating him for his actions and asking what he was thinking. Denji instead says that she and Pochita were right, elaborating that he’s been through awful situations like losing his family (in Aki and Power) and Nayuta all being dead.

He adds that while he thinks he’ll be hopeless for the rest of his life, the sushi he ate earlier tasted delicious. He also elaborated that he became aroused earlier when he and War Devil Yoru were kissing.

He parlays this into a definitive statement that “as long as the world has grub and girls,” Denji still has something to live for. The panel that sees him say this outlines him with a clearly determined expression on his face and fire in his eyes.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183: A way out

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Chainsaw Man chapter 183 sees Asa confused by this, telling him to start making sense since the Aging Devil’s world is already crazy enough. However, Denji ignores this and instead claims that it’s not true that Devil powers won’t work here. He bases this assumption on the size of the Bitterness Devil’s head, which is shown to be comparable in size to a human’s upper body.

Denji asserts that, since there’s no way the Bitterness Devil’s head could fit inside his own stomach, “Chainsaw Man’s stomach” (i.e., Pochita’s) should still be in the real world. A panel appears which seemingly confirms this, showing the Hero of Hell’s battered corpse lying motionless on the ground in the real world.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183 sees Asa question what his point is, prompting Denji to say he came up with a “super-smart plan.” The issue ends with Denji, who still has fire in his eyes and a determined look on his face, promising that he’ll get them out of the Aging Devil’s world this time.

Chainsaw Man chapter 183: In summation

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Chapter 183 is momentous and significant for a multitude of reasons, with the biggest being Denji’s character development and a way out of the Aging Devil’s world. While it remains to be seen if Denji actually can get him and Asa back to reality, the look on his face, as he promises this, suggests that he may actually have a plan to do so.