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A pair of teenagers share a intimate, gentle instant at the neighborhood high school’s open-air swimming pool late at night. While they drift as one, suspended beneath the night sky in the stillness of the night, the scene portrays the ephemeral, heady thrill of adolescent love, completely caught up in the moment, consequences forgotten.

About half an hour into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, I realized such moments are the core of the movie. The romantic tale became the focus, and every bit of contextual information and character histories previously known from the series’ first season proved to be largely irrelevant. Although it is a official entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a easier entry point for first-time viewers — regardless of they missed its prior content. The approach has its benefits, but it also hinders some of the tension of the movie’s story.

Developed by the original creator, Chainsaw Man follows the protagonist, a indebted Devil Hunter in a universe where Devils embody particular dangers (including concepts like getting older and Darkness to specific horrors like cockroaches or World War II). After being deceived and killed by the yakuza, he makes a pact with his loyal companion, his pet, and comes back from the deceased as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the ability to permanently erase Devils and the terrors they signify from existence.

Plunged into a violent conflict between devils and hunters, the hero encounters a new character — a alluring coffee server hiding a lethal secret — sparking a tragic confrontation between the two where affection and survival collide. The movie picks up immediately following season 1, exploring Denji’s relationship with his love interest as he wrestles with his feelings for her and his loyalty to his manipulative superior, Makima, compelling him to choose between desire, loyalty, and self-preservation.

A Self-Contained Romantic Tale Within a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our fallible main character Denji becoming enamored with Reze right away upon introduction. He’s a lonely boy looking for love, which makes his heart unreliable and easily swayed on a first-come, first-served. As a result, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s complex lore and its large cast of characters, Reze Arc is very independent. Filmmaker Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and guarantees the love story is at the center, rather than bogging it down with unnecessary summaries for the uninitiated, especially when none of that is crucial to the complete plot.

Despite Denji’s flaws, it’s hard not to feel for him. He is after all a teenager, stumbling his way through a world that’s distorted his sense of morality. His intense craving for affection makes him come off like a lovesick dog, although he’s prone to barking, snapping, and making a mess along the way. His love interest is a ideal pairing for him, an compelling seductive antagonist who finds her mark in our hero. You want to see Denji win the ire of his affection, even if Reze is clearly hiding something from him. So when her true nature is unveiled, you still cannot avoid wish they’ll somehow make it work, even though internally, it is known a happy ending is never really in the cards. Therefore, the tension fail to seem as intense as they ought to be since their relationship is doomed. This is compounded by that the movie acts as a immediate follow-up to the first season, leaving little room for a love story like this amid the darker developments that fans are aware are coming soon.

Breathtaking Animation and Technical Craftsmanship

This movie’s visuals seamlessly blend 2D animation with 3D environments, providing impressive eye candy even before the action kicks in. From vehicles to tiny desk fans, digital assets add depth and texture to each shot, allowing the animated figures pop strikingly. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which often highlights its 3D assets and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc employs them more sparingly, particularly evident during its action-packed finale, where such elements, though not unappealing, become easier to identify. These smooth, dynamic backgrounds render the movie’s battles both spectacular to watch and remarkably easy to follow. Still, the technique shines brightest when it’s unnoticeable, enhancing the dynamic range and movement of the hand-drawn art.

Concluding Thoughts and Wider Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a solid starting place, likely leaving first-time audiences pleased, but it also has a drawback. Presenting a self-contained story limits the tension of what should feel like a sprawling animated saga. This is an example of why continuing a popular anime season with a movie isn’t the optimal approach if it undermines the series’ general narrative possibilities.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by tying up several installments of anime television with an epic movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the issue completely by acting as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a bit recklessly. However this does not prevent the film from proving to be a great time, a terrific introduction, and a unforgettable love story.