How many arcs will the Chainsaw Man anime's first cour cover?

With less than three weeks until the series’ official premiere, fans are clamoring for any information they can get on the imminently arriving Chainsaw Man anime adaptation. The TV anime equivalent for author and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s original manga is receiving tons of attention and build, especially in the wake of its latest trailer.

However, one question about the Chainsaw Man anime series, which fans can’t find an answer to, is exactly how many arcs the first season will cover. In an even narrower sense, fans are specifically curious about how much of the story the season’s first cour will adapt, given the confirmed 12-episode count for the installment.

Follow along as this article speculates exactly how many arcs of the Chainsaw Man manga the series’ first cour will adapt.

---

MAPPA’s trailers indicate most of series’ animation finished, but fans unsure of what Chainsaw Man’s first cour will represent

One of the biggest clues in determining how much of the Chainsaw Man manga the anime’s first cour will adapt comes from the trailers MAPPA has put out for their series. Astute manga readers may have noticed that a few scenes shown come from the ending arcs of the series’ currently available story, more specifically within the last roughly 12 issues of Part 1.

As a result, it seems clear that MAPPA Studios is prepared to show and has already animated the entirety of the manga’s first part for their anime adaptation of the series. That would include 97 chapters, with a total page count being well above 1800 pages, potentially even stretching into the 2000s.

A typical, seasonal anime adaptation of a manga will adapt roughly three chapters per episode when moving at a rapid pace. Even at their slowest, seasonal anime adaptations typically turn a bare minimum of 2 manga chapters into one anime episode. However, the Chainsaw Man manga is unique in that, especially in the early series, plenty of pages and panels lack dialogue altogether.

This is a somewhat unique characteristic of Fujimoto’s original series, which will likely result in a rapid animation pace, even for a series as dense as this. Therefore, the adaptation will probably convert at least three chapters into each episode, if not turning four into each episode.

At a rate of three chapters per episode, the Chainsaw Man anime would adapt roughly 36 chapters from the series’ manga and 48 at a rate of four per episode. The former figure would adapt almost the entirety of the Katana Man arc, while the latter approach would see the first cour ending amidst the climax of the Bomb Girl arc, with four issues left for that specific arc.

As a result, it seems more likely that the adaptation team will stick to a rate of 3+ chapters per episode without approaching anything near four per on a regular basis. While it is possible they do at least four chapters per episode, allowing them to finish the Bomb Girl arc, this may even make for a rushed adaptation at such a rapid pace. In a way, this is just as big of a problem for fans as a slowed adaptation.

As such, it’s most likely that the season’s first cour will cover through the entirety of the Katana Man arc, only briefly dipping a toe into the pool that is the Bomb Girl arc, if touching it at all. This would mean that the Intro arc, Bat Devil arc, Eternity Devil arc, and Katana Man arc would all be entirely adapted within the first court’s 12 episodes.

There’s also the unlikely possibility that the Bomb Girl arc will be included after the Katana Man arc. However, this comes with its own set of unique, aforementioned problems, especially when it comes to how fans will rate the Chainsaw Man anime series.

---

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.