Chainsaw Man proves Barem didn't understand Makima at all in chapter 169

Modified Jun 27, 2024 04:59 GMT

Chainsaw Man proves Barem didn't understand Makima at all in chapter 169 (Image via MAPPA)

Earlier this week, author and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s flagship Chainsaw Man manga series released its latest, highly anticipated chapter, much to fans’ delight. Likewise, while the issue didn’t progress as fans expected, readers were happy to see it set up the next major fight in the series with the reappearance of Barem Bridge.

While Barem’s reappearance primarily served as a transition into this next stage of the current Chainsaw Man arc, it also serves another purpose. Fans saw Barem comment on the nature of animalistic adaptation, eventually parlaying this into seemingly trying to convince himself that Devils aren’t supposed to feel sadness like animals aren’t.

Beyond being a factually incorrect statement based on the opening chapters of the series and its focus on Pochita, the statement also revealed a side of Barem that fans have yet to see. Likewise, it brings into question his previously established devotion to Makima, and how well he truly understands her and her goals for the world as the Control Devil.

Barem’s main motivation in Chainsaw Man seems to be one he doesn’t fully understand himself

Expand Tweet

At the end of Chainsaw Man’s first part, Pochita and Denji have a conversation on the first night, and Control Devil Nayuta goes home with Denji. Here, Pochita confirms that the Control Devil’s dream, or, in other words, Makima’s dream, was to have something like a family. However, she couldn’t achieve it because she could only form relationships through the power of fear. In other words, Makima’s goal in “making a better world” was her attempt to fulfill her own dream.

In the series’ second part, fans are formally introduced to Barem Bridge, one of the Weapons Hybrids who fight alongside Makima at the end of the series’ first part. Shortly after Barem’s initial introduction, fans see him ramble about his love for Makima, how his heart belongs to her, and how he wished she could create her “better world.”

Yet in Chainsaw Man chapter 169, Barem makes it clear that he doesn’t understand anything about why Makima wanted this world with his comments on Devils and sadness. It shows that he failed to recognize that Makima ached for a better world from the pain and sadness she felt in isolation, within the context of forming equal relationships with others.

Expand Tweet

Likewise, it brings into question the accuracy of his devotion to her. While he’s unquestionably devoted to Makima, it’s clear that this devotion is misguided in the sense of misunderstanding her beliefs and desires. It also shows that he did not understand, for lack of a better term, the Devil condition (i.e., the human condition), which guided how she lived her life and the goals she pursued.

In other words, he didn’t understand what truly motivated Makima as the Control Devil, and even if he were fully devoted to her, nonetheless he’s far from qualified to comment on her goals. This is especially true if he feels Devils aren’t supposed to feel sadness, which the very essence of the Control Devil’s dream proves as factually incorrect, let alone the manga’s opening chapters.

It also portrays Barem as an interesting foil to Denji from Part 1. Whereas Denji was devoted to Makima despite his awareness of not knowing her true goals until her end, Barem was devoted to Makima as a result of deluding himself into thinking he understood her, when in reality he still doesn’t. It’s an interesting inversion which yet again emphasizes that Barem truly didn’t understand Makima, let alone Devils in general.