Chainsaw Man has joined a wave of significant anime film releases that have propelled Japanese animation to unprecedented levels of popularity and critical acclaim in 2025. Following the footsteps of Demon Slayer’s groundbreaking Infinity Castle, as well as the cinematic contributions from Jujutsu Kaisen and Dandadan aligned with their respective anime series, this year has been thrilling for anime enthusiasts. Yet, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc stands out as a pivotal moment that challenges the conventional expectations of Western animated films.

Adapted from Tatsuki Fujimoto’s highly acclaimed manga, Chainsaw Man tells the story of Denji, a young man who undergoes a dramatic transformation after a brutal encounter with a Devil. After meeting a grisly end and being discarded, Denji forms an alliance with the Chainsaw Devil, gaining the ability to become a chainsaw-wielding human-Devil hybrid. Despite the bizarre premise, the series has soared in popularity due to its underlying themes of humanity amidst chaos and bloodshed. Fujimoto’s work stands out because it consistently highlights the shared humanity that persists, even when depicted through gore and violence.

The film adaptation, particularly in the Reze Arc, poignantly captures this human essence through its compelling love story. The debut of Chainsaw Man in cinematic form brings a unique emotional depth, a quality that’s increasingly scarce as the anime industry grows more commercialized. Unlike the typical recap films that simplify narratives for audiences, Chainsaw Man offers a bold and invigorating experience, immersing viewers into its world without spoon-feeding them.

Nowhere is Chainsaw Man‘s humanity more apparent than in the poignant love story that makes up the Reze Arc film. There’s a special kind of heart that Chainsaw Man’s film debut carries which the anime industry increasingly runs the risk of losing the more profitable it becomes. In an era of anime recap films that hold the viewer’s hand every step of the way, there’s something deeply refreshing about how Chainsaw Man pushes the viewer into the water without teaching them how to swim.

Reze and Denji’s Romance Treads Uncharted Waters For Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc’s story picks up directly from where Season 1 of the anime ended. Denji has settled into life as a Devil Hunter and grown more comfortable in his relationships with his reluctant roommates Aki and Power. The series’ sense of humor is prevalent from the moment Power mercilessly punches Denji in the stomach to start out the film, reminding viewers of what makes Fujimoto’s characters so lovable.

At the same time, it’s a starting point that is by no means difficult for the complete newbie to the series to pick up on. In the context of where this movie falls after the first season, the Reze Arc’s story is a completely new direction for the series. Things slowly ramp up from the beautifully-directed moment Denji first lays eyes on Reze. One of the most iconic images from the arc in the manga, depicting Reze holding a flower Denji had given her, is handled with the utmost care, making it hauntingly apparent how much MAPPA took to heart the Japanese CSM fandom’s criticisms of Season 1 as having strayed too far from Fujimoto’s original manga art style.

In fact, the opening scene of the film acts as a sort of reassurance to anyone uncertain of whether this film was going to respect the source material. It portrays a full black-and-white dream sequence that even takes on the square ratio of a manga panel as though pulled directly from Fujimoto’s original work and conjured into motion by some contract with a Devil. Fans of the manga will have an uphill battle finding anything to criticize about this adaptation.

For anime-only viewers who don’t know what to expect, the incoming slow-burn romance storyline may catch some by surprise. The film’s entire first half can only be described as a romantic comedy with a dark supernatural twist. And yet, it should never feel tonally inconsistent for anyone who has come to know Denji throughout the prior 12 episodes. Where the action is lacking, the series’ effortless sense of humor takes over. It will infallibly pull out a chuckle from anyone who has ever been a 16-year-old boy once, or at the very least known a 16-year-old boy in passing. Denji’s hormonal hijinks make up the brunt of the laughs, but the character of Reze is even more unforgettable on the big screen than she already was in the manga.

Reze Arc’s Embellishments on the Manga Breathe New Life Into Chainsaw Man’s Beloved Characters

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Reze has always been a fan-favorite character for manga readers, but she takes on surprising new life on the big screen. She and Denji’s banter is perfectly timed by the voice actors (Reina Uda and Kikunosuke Toya play Reze and Denji respectively in the original Japanese version), and the cinematography consistently captures angles and perspectives that give a candid feel to their most intimate moments. As much as Reze might claim otherwise, her charm in the Chainsaw Man movie is not all just an act.

By the time Reze sings a haunting lullaby out of tune, it becomes apparent that Reina Uda has been possessed by Reze’s spirit. Truly, the whole movie is possessed by that spirit. The all-too-infamous scene where Reze and Denji swim in the pool is shockingly powerful, even compared to that of the manga. The anime is not afraid to sit with those moments a bit longer to pull the viewer in and really force them to feel how Denji feels at that moment.

Likewise, the serial killer who is hunting Denji takes on an especially creepy atmosphere that really justifies the fact that this film is releasing so near to Halloween. The musical score does a good amount of the heavy lifting in dramatizing the delivery of these moments. In the iconic scene highlighted in the trailers when Denji imagines Makima and Reze lying side-by-side to one another, the music masterfully shifts chords alongside shifting perspectives between characters, flashing between those intimate internal visions for Denji and a horrifying scene taking place elsewhere at the same time.

Beautiful added scenes like a shot of a spider holding a moth in its web make for incredible foreshadowing and metaphorical imagery. Likewise, there’s an added motif of a plan flying overhead at opportune moments which carries profound meaning for Reze that wasn’t there in the original manga. It’s as though the anime respects the source material to such a degree that it can’t help but add scenes that so on-brand for Fujimoto’s manga they feel like they were always there.

Chainsaw Man’s Anarchical Action Hits Dizzying Heights With Reze Arc’s Organized Chaos

Reze Arc’s first half definitely takes its time to build up and make the audience care about the characters, but it’s not as though it isn’t all building to something. The part of the Chainsaw Man manga that is most embellished upon in the Reze Arc film is its action. While most of the fight choreography in the early part of Bomb Girl’s introduction is pretty much a one-to-one adaptation, there is a point when the battle really gets underway where the anime staff clearly had a lot of fun taking liberties with the combat and going all-out with the fight choreography.

It ends up making for a constant adrenaline rush characterized by intense upbeat music that shifts from high-velocity dance sounds to intense heavy metal. That, combined with the constant influx of flashing lights, explosions, surreal animation and colors, this could very well be the closest thing shonen anime has come to attempting to endure a psychedelic experience.

The music itself is consistently beautiful. Kensuke Ushio has outdone himself with the film’s score, which organically switches between relaxing, melodic piano sounds that could play at a coffee shop (not unlike the one Reze works at) to droning industrial beats that sound right at place amid the clatter of chainsaws and the slicing of flesh. Even in its most straightforward scenes, there’s a sense of artistic expression and experimentation that permeates every aspect of the film.

Just as much as that applies to the soundtrack, it applies to the visuals. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is the only anime film at this point that comes close to matching the deservedly record-breaking spectacle of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle‘s animation. And yet, Reze Arc’s always feels more special, because it is constantly pushing up against Demon Slayer’s industrially polished exterior with an unfettered form of mayhem that could only be Chainsaw Man.

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc Redefines ‘Cinema’ in a Way Future Anime Movies Need to Learn From

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Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is easily the best anime film of the year, with no competition. Both anime fans and film lovers in general owe it to themselves to see this movie.

Unlike other anime films of its genre, nothing about the Reze Arc film feels forced. It doesn’t hold the audience’s hand, coddle them, or talk down to it’s viewers. There is no recap scene in the beginning to “bring audiences up to speed”, and there is no major cliffhanger at the end to convince viewers to tune in to the next season. It doesn’t reassure the viewer that everything is going to be okay when Denji’s worst tragedies strike, and it doesn’t hold back on delivering maximal grandiosity during Denji’s emotional highs.

Chainsaw Man’s new film merely presents the full story of the Reze Arc in the exact way it was intended to be told from beginning to end. It’s undeniably faithful to the manga, but also wise enough to know where to daringly push beyond the source material. In short, this is the kind of ideal adaptation all anime series should aspire to.

At the start of the film, Denji asks Makima if he has a heart – a sentiment which he carries over from season 1. Denji is concerned because he often feels he can’t empathize with others the way he’s supposed to, and things don’t always move him in the way society tells him they should. After putting her ear to Denji’s chest to listen to his heartbeat, Makima confirms to Denji that he does, in fact, have a heart, and that moment energizes him. In a similar way, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is the kind of film that leaves the audience energized after reminding them that they, too, have a heart.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc comes to theaters everywhere on October 24.

Release Date

September 19, 2025

Director

Tatsuya Yoshihara

Writers

Hiroshi Seko

• Kikunosuke Toya

  Denji (voice)

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Pros & Cons

• Faithful to the manga
• Art direction and animation
• Soundtrack
• Voice acting