Alysa Liu’s Passion for Chainsaw Man: A Perfectly Sharp Obsession

Alysa Liu, a distinguished figure skater with two Olympic gold medals to her name, has become the standout sensation of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Her rise to fame isn’t solely attributed to her remarkable performances on the ice; she’s also making waves with her unabashed enthusiasm for anime. Liu captured the hearts of anime fans worldwide when she made her grand entrance at the Olympics, clutching a plush tissue box modeled after Pochita, the beloved figure from Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man.

During numerous interviews, Liu has openly expressed her deep-seated love for anime, with a particular fondness for Chainsaw Man. Her journey to Olympic glory mirrors the struggles depicted in the series, drawing a parallel between her life and that of the protagonist, Denji. This shared narrative of overcoming adversity resonates strongly with Liu, cementing her connection to the story.

Even before she wowed the world at the Winter Olympics, Liu’s passion for anime was evident. In an interview preceding the Games, she was asked about her favorite anime series and eagerly shared her eclectic list, while noting it was in no specific order: Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan, Madoka Magica, and Soul Eater. She enthusiastically highlighted Chainsaw Man, exclaiming, “Chainsaw Man for sure — a new chapter dropped today, so it’s a big day.”

Alysa Liu Carried Chainsaw Man’s Pochita With Her Into The 2026 Winter Olympics – In More Ways Than One

Brett Cardaro

Even before she stepped out onto the ice in this year’s Winter Olympics, Alysa Liu’s love for anime took center stage. In an interview in the lead-up to the Olympic Games, Alysa Liu was asked about her favorite anime, to which she responded with a top-tier list (though she made sure to specify that they weren’t ranked in order): Jujustu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Attack on Titan, Madoka Magica and Soul Eater. When mentioning Chainsaw Man specifically, Liu told the interviewer, “Chainsaw Man for sure — a new chapter dropped today actually, so today is a big day.”

That chapter would end up being Chainsaw Man Chapter 229, “Nightjar and Asa,” a major turning point in the story that Liu was undoubtedly reading alongside other manga fans the day it dropped. Liu later admitted that Chainsaw Man is the only ongoing manga she’s currently keeping up with, and even joked, “honestly, that’s my focus here in Milan… to keep up with the Chainsaw Man series, and to spread awareness about Pochita.”

She has definitely had a fair share of success in that department. Alysa’s love for anime, and specifically Chainsaw Man, has become a viral talking point among the anime fandom. This is a big deal for someone with her platform. This past year, Donald Trump indirectly attacked anime by proposing a 100% tariff on foreign movies, including last year’s biggest anime hits: Chainsaw Man — The Move: Reze Arc and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Within that context, a US Olympic champion supporting anime is a huge win for Japanese animation in the West.

It’s even bigger for Chainsaw Man specifically. Chainsaw Man is a story that is more than just the ultra-violent, bloody action it presents on the surface. The series explores a profound level of depth in its main protagonist, Denji, by detailing his attempt to experience the kind of genuine human connection he could only dream about as a kid who grew up in abject poverty. That desire for human connection is personified in Alysa Liu herself, who made headlines for hugging Japanese Olympic bronze medal winner Ami Nakai after her set. “That’s all I want in my life,” she confessed, “human connection.”

But Chainsaw Man isn’t all about heartwarming themes. The manga is also known for refusing to hold back on its critique of America’s flaws as a country. This is embodied in the main villain of CSM Part 2, the War Devil, who has a particular love for America, because she appreciates its history of dominance in war. Loving a series with that kind of message would seem at odds with her role as a representative of America on the world stage, but Liu has never shied away from sharing her personal views. In the past, she has reportedly posted in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, and the only two political figures she follows on social media are prominent progressive politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani.

As someone who is not afraid of speaking her truth, it makes perfect sense that Alysa Liu would love Chainsaw Man, even though she is also proud to represent the United States in the Olympics. Those two things aren’t as incompatible as the manga’s critics would think. Chainsaw Man is a story about duality; like the duality between Denji’s nature as both a human being and a devil, or the duality in Denji’s realization that happiness and pain go hand in hand. By both standing up for justice and also being patriotic enough to wear the American flag around her back, Alysa Liu embodies the duality that Chainsaw Man so strongly champions.

There’s a Lot of Chainsaw Man’s Denji in Alysa Liu’s Personal Journey as a Figure Skater

Image via MAPPA

Alysa Liu’s appreciation for Chainsaw Man makes even more sense given how much her journey of getting to the Olympic podium mirrors the tale of Denji’s growth. Alysa Liu experienced a roller coaster of ups and downs in her life as a figure skater. She gave the sport everything she had from the time she was a young child, leading her to become the youngest-ever champion in US women’s figure-skating history at only 13-years-old. Then, in 2022, at the age of 16, Alysa became the first American woman in 6 years to medal at the World Championships, taking home the bronze.

But few saw the trade-off Alysa had to make for that success. In late 2022, Alysa announced that she would be retiring from figure skating. She explained that she had been “so into skating that I didn’t really do much else. Skating takes up your whole life, almost.” Alysa simply wanted to experience the parts of her life she felt she had missed out on as someone who traded so much of her early life to skating.

There’s so much of Liu’s story that resonates with Denji’s story in Chainsaw Man. Denji lost his family when he was very young, and struggled to survive on his own. As a result, Denji grew up houseless and never attended school, and he never got to learn or experience the things most kids his age did. He never got to have personal relationships with kids his age, and could only imagine what it would be like to even have friends other than his Chainsaw Devil companion, Pochita.

Like Denji, Alysa Liu just wanted to have a regular life and enjoy the little things that other kids got to, which is why she quit skating. Also like Denji, she had a dramatic comeback that changed everything. In Chainsaw Man, Denji dies in the first chapter of the series, after being betrayed by Yakuza thugs. Denji had been working to pay off a debt that his father owed the Yakuza, but they decided he was worth more as a sacrifice to the Zombie Devil, leading to his untimely demise at the tender age of 16.

In a way, Alyssa Liu’s decision to give up on skating at 16 was like her own symbolic death, because she let go of the one thing that had come to define her whole life up to that point. That couldn’t have been easy for her to do, even if it might not have hurt quite as badly as Denji being literally chopped to pieces and stuffed into a dumpster by the Yakuza. But even after that symbolic “death,” Alyssa Liu’s story — like that of Denji — wasn’t over just yet.

During a family skiing trip, spending some time hitting the slopes reminded Liu of the kind of adrenaline-boosting excitement that she once had while ice skating, and it inspired her to take to the ice once again. But this time, it would be on her own terms. Alysa Liu had begun living for herself; pursuing skating because it was her dream, nobody else’s. Similarly, after being reborn as Chainsaw Man, Denji was able to live for himself and experience the parts of life he had missed out on before, finally pursuing his dream of living a normal life.

Even Alysa Liu’s Iconic Hairstyle Bears a Hidden Connection to Chainsaw Man

Alysa Liu’s journey to the gold was one that’s all about retaking fate into her own hands, and pursuing her own happiness, just like Denji. That’s part of what made her decision to walk into the Olympics with Pochita under her arm even more special. However, Pochita wasn’t the only reference to Chainsaw Man Alyssa showcased during the Olympics.

Alysa was asked during an interview about her unique gold and black “halo” hairstyle, and what inspired her to go with that look. Alysa explained: “The concept is, I’m basically like a tree. You know how trees have rings for their age? So, I thought, every year I’m going to add a new ring halo around my hair.”

Whether directly intended or not, this decision to represent a “tree” with her hair is uncannily similar to what happens in a recent arc of the Chainsaw Man manga. As Denji learns later in the series, humans in the Chainsaw Man universe can turn into trees if they live long enough. “It’s a mechanism innate in humans,” the Aging Devil of the series explains to Denji, “when they reach the culmination of thought, they turn into trees.” Perhaps after taking some time off from skating to self-reflect, Liu felt she had reached the “culmination” of her own thought, turning her into something of a tree herself.

A prominent talking point ever since Alysa’s gold-medal win has been the sheer ‘joy’ she displayed during her free skate performance. That’s because, for the first time ever in her life, Alysa is skating because it’s what she wants to do, and not because she is doing it for anyone else.

Denji was a person who was pushed to do things he didn’t want to do because he never felt he had a choice, and it wasn’t until he lost everything that he was able to have a better life. Like Denji, who was resurrected by his Chainsaw Devil heart after being cut to pieces, Alysa Liu has picked up the pieces of herself to finally follow her own heart. That makes it all the more poetic that she carried Pochita with her into the Olympics, and then proceeded to brutally cut through the ice in pursuit of her dreams.

Created by

Tatsuki Fujimoto

First Episode Air Date

October 12, 2022

Cast

Kikunosuke Toya, Tomori Kusunoki, Shogo Sakata, Fairouz Ai, Mariya Ise, Karin Takahashi, Taku Yashiro, Kenjiro Tsuda, Shiori Izawa