The titular protagonist ofChainsaw Man, a young teenager named Denji, fights against debt, Devils, and his own juvenile desires. Tatsuki Fujimoto, the creator behind the series, presents a central character who rejects heroic virtue in favor of his own goals. After his necessities—food and housing—are satiated, Denji finds himself in a series of awful, violent situations to pursue his goals of getting his first kiss, fondling breasts for the first time, and losing his virginity.
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Denji does not need higher ideals — all he needs is food and the promise of women paying attention to him. Such basic desires do not reflect a basic personality; however, given his impoverished past, Denji continually endures a great deal of pain for very little payout. From moments where he’s fighting for his life to moments where he finally reaches one of his “goals,” here are some of Denji’s best moments in Chainsaw Man.
10Denji Accepts His First Kiss
During the fifth episode, “Gun Devil,” Denji meets most of Division 4 in front of a hotel to track down more pieces of the Gun Devil. Himeno, a complete stranger to Denji at this point, announces that she will reward whoever kills the Devil on this mission with a kiss on the cheek. Denji initially rejects the offer since Makima had recently convinced him that physical intimacy is better with people whom you know.
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Himeno then ups her game and offers a French kiss to anyone who kills the Devil. Denji immediately rescinds what he just said and barges straight into the hotel to kill the Devil.
9Friend And Ally
After Denji (unfortunately) receives his kiss from Himeno and passes out at her apartment, the two of them wake up together and have breakfast at the beginning of Episode 8, “Gunfire.” Himeno notes that Denji is clearly attracted to Makima. In turn, she admits that she is attracted to Aki. Denji is both hilariously enthusiastic about declaring his attraction to Makima and incredulous at how anyone could be attracted to Aki.
In any case, Himeno promises friendship and alliance to Denji so that they can help each other with their respective love interests. Aside from how funny Denji is here, his openness earns him his first ever friend in his life—a moment which is sadly endearing.
8Denji Becomes A Cat Person
Everything about Denji is related to dogs. He is fused with his dog-like Devil, Pochita, and plenty of characters describe him as loyal, obedient, and useful like a dog. As such, it is no surprise that he does not care for Power’s fondness for cats in Episode 3, “Meowy’s Whereabouts.”
Even so, Power confides in him that her own cat, Meowy, was taken away by a Devil and that she’d practically do anything to get her back. Denji says that he would do anything for a dog or to touch some breasts, but not for a cat.
Power explains that Denji could touchherbreasts if he retrieved Meowy. Just like his initial rejection of Himeno, Denji immediately flips on what he just said and begins angrily yelling about killing the Devil that would do that to a poor, poor cat.
7Nuts Or Nothing
Denji is immediately enamored by Makima and believes that he has a shot with her—provided, of course, that she does not have a boyfriend. At the beginning of Episode 2, “Arrival in Tokyo,” Denji keeps pestering his new coworker, Aki, asking him if Makima is dating anyone.
In response, Aki starts beating up Denji in an alleyway and tells Denji to quit if he only cares about Makima and not about hunting Devils. Denji, never one to accept higher ideals over the promise of a woman paying attention to him, kicks Aki in the groin. Denji explains his strategy: when he fights a guy, it is “nuts or nothing.” After talking back and forth, Denji resumes kicking Aki in the groin; Aki, desperately in pain, thinks about how Denji wasn’t even lying about his strategy.
6Intellectual Training
During the tenth episode, “Bruised & Battered,” Denji and Power train under the alcoholic, highly competent Captain Kishibe. Understandably frustrated by being killed over 20 times while training with Kishibe, Denji and Power become even more upset when they realize they should beat his alcohol-addled brain.
At this moment, Power realizes that they couldoutsmartKishibe, especially with two brains against one. The next day, they each wear very smart-looking glasses as they ambush Kishibe, academic style. Kishibe deftly evades their attacks, countering Denji and breaking his glasses. Since we don’t see Denji lose very often, this moment excels at showing the limits of his power (even when he’s trying to use his brain).
5A Shared Dream
At the end of the first episode, “Dog & Chainsaw,” Denji andhis pet devil, Pochita, are seemingly killed by the minions of the Zombie Devil. Both Denji’s and Pochita’s bodies are left in a nearby dumpster, where Denji’s blood revitalizes Pochita.
As Pochita awakens, so too does his memory — he remembers Denji talking to him in a forest, saying that Pochita should take over his body if he dies. That way, Pochita won’t be alone and might not be hunted down so easily. As the memory fades, Pochita revitalizes Denji, in turn, fusing into his body and awakening. Due to Denji’s love and consideration for the Chainsaw Devil, Denji emerges from death as the titular Chainsaw Man.
4Denji’s Ambition
During Episode 2, “Arrival in Tokyo,” Denji and Aki go on their first mission together — killing a Fiend, a Devil inhabiting the corpse of a human. Aki orders Denji to use his Chainsaw Devil powers, but Denji quickly disposes of the Fiend with a simple axe. After Aki bashes Denji’s head into a window for killing the Fiend painlessly—for having any sympathy for Devils—Aki leaves the room, frustrated.
With Denji alone, histrueintentions become clear — he didn’t care about sympathy or a painless death for the Fiend, he was simply careful not to get blood on any of the pornographic magazines on the ground. Seeing the porn makes him reflect on his life—how he now has food and shelter but feels something missing. The porn, oddly enough, revitalizes an old goal of his, becoming a new goal to live by, which is fondling a woman’s boobs.
3The Bat & Leech Devil Fights
In his heroic and perilous quest for second base, Denji inadvertently ends up fighting the Bat Devil at the end of Episode 3, “Meowy’s Whereabouts.” As the Bat Devil (a massive, muscular bat) flies off toward Tokyo, Denji clings to his leg as they fly into the city, and their fight begins midair. As their fight develops, Denji saves several civilians, all while shouting about how much he wants to kill the Devil to cop a feel.
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After Denji slays the Bat Devil, however, the Leech Devil (the Bat Devil’s lover, oddly enough) shows up at the beginning of Episode 4, “Rescue.” Denji continues to fight the Leech Devil as well. The Leech Devil engages in classic mid-fight exposition, stating how she and the Bat Devil had a noble dream of destroying humanity. Denji, by contrast, challenges her to a “dream battle,” where he believes the non-idealistic strength of his dream—feeling some boobs—will prevail. Denji, somewhat fittingly, loses this fight and is immediately saved by Aki.
2The Eternity Devil Fight
At the beginning of Episode 7, “The Taste of a Kiss,” Denji transforms into his Hybrid form and begins violently slashing into the innards ofthe Eternity Devil. As Denji begins losing blood and his chainsaws retract accordingly, he starts biting into the Devil, drinking its blood. Even when Denji is knocked down, Himeno uses her Ghost arm to revitalize him by pulling the cord on his chest.
By drinking gross blood and having his allies help at a safe distance, Denji is able to fight forthree days straight. The Eternity Devil ultimately relents, asking Denji to kill it. This is among the wild, unhinged instances of Denji doing the most (fighting a devil for three days) for the least (getting a vomit-infused kiss from Himeno).
1The Katana Man Fight
In the final episode of Season 1, “Katana vs. Chainsaw,” Denji andthe mysterious Katana Manengage in a fight that jumps between buildings, ultimately landing on a moving train. As the fight escalates, Katana Man believes he wins when Denji’s chainsaw head breaks after clashing. Convinced that Denji (not the Zombie Devil) killed his yakuza grandfather, Katana Man tries to make Denji apologize for killing him.
Employing his intense training from Kishibe, Denji argues that the chainsaw on his head is irrelevant—indeed, he reveals a brand-new chainsaw jutting out from his leg. After this ploy has been announced, Katana Man falls, having been split in two. This fight is the culmination of his training, revenge for the grandfather’s poor treatment of Denji, and revenge for Himeno’s death at Katana Man’s hands.
