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CHAINSAW MAN

Author: Tatsuki Fujimoto

Volumes: 13 English/ 15 Japanese (ongoing at 150 Chapters)

Publisher: Shonen Jump [click HERE for digital chapters]

Tatsuki Fujimoto excels at writing raw, gritty stories and, very believably awkward/ out of touch main characters. His understanding of the flaws that make us human and help us to grow are fascinating to see in a publication that tends to feature titles that play things much safer. Denji is a simple and exceptionally poor teenage devil hunter. In debt when we first meet him, he’s thankful to eat bread if he can afford it (dreaming of one day being able to spread jam on it) and socially deprived to boot, his only friend being the chainsaw devil “Pochita”.

He’s unfortunately betrayed and killed by the mob that kept him in this living purgatory until his chainsaw devil partner Pochita merges with him (Pochita’s dying wish being, that Denji starts living a happier, dream life for the both of them), turning him into the titular Chainsaw man. Adopted by the mysterious head of the Devil Hunter Association, Makima, Denji’s luck starts turning around.

His first goal in the series when things start to turn around for him (post jam on bread) is a desire to touch boobs, and where some japanese teen series would make this an end goal, Tatsuki takes this opportunity to address how ultimately unfulfilling the experience is when it’s the be all and end all of your dreams. People may be uncomfortable about this kind of subject matter being in the media for teens, but for me, it’s not the subject matter that’s the issue most of the time, it's almost always that the subject matter is handled poorly leading to the innacurate stigma that it can’t be done well.

The story is in 2 parts currently, part 1 being the first 97 chapters and part 2 is still ongoing at the time of writing. Part 2 feels like it’s building off the back of part 1 in a way that is hard to judge the overall value of right now. I have every faith that Tatsuki Fujimoto can pull it off, but for now I can only really recommend part 1.