The Japanese portal Yahoo! News Japan shared an article listing why the Chainsaw Man anime adaptation is dominating in popularity during the Fall-2022 (October-December) season , highlighting four main aspects: the author's background, production decisions, cast of voices hired, and the announced musical variety.
« Chainsaw Man television animation began on October 11. Immediately after the announcement of the anime adaptation, there was a huge response, and when the first episode aired, it nearly dominated the top trending topics on Twitter. This project is one of the most anticipated titles of the season, but why is it such a hot topic? In this article, we bring you the reasons why you can't help but have high expectations for Chainsaw Man, broken down into four elements: original story, staff, cast, and music ."
« Original Manga: The original author, Tatsuki Fujimoto, is a young manga artist born in 1992. When his serialized debut “Fire Punch” began on the Shonen Jump Plus service in April 2016, its shocking setting and other aspects caused a stir in the net. The second serialization of it was “Chainsaw Man”, the first part of which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2018 to December 2020, and the second part is serialized in Shonen Jump Plus from July 2022 ».
« The manga was voted No. 1 in the “Male readers” section of the “Kono Manga ga Sugoi!” list, and the total number of printed copies (including electronic editions) has exceeded 16 million copies. Keep in mind that Fujimoto has only published two serialized manga at this point ."
« Ryuu Nakayama directing, production decisions: This is the first time director Ryuu Nakayama has worked on an animation, in this case “Chainsaw Man”. He previously worked as a storyboard director on the nineteenth episode of “Jujutsu Kaisen” and wrote, storyboarded, and directed the sixteenth episode of “Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari,” and also created the music video for the song “Raison d' être” by singer-songwriter Eve, known for the opening song “Kaikai Kitan” from “Jujutsu Kaisen” . ».
« MAPPA is in charge of the production of the animation. He has worked on 'Jujutsu Kaisen', 'Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season', 'Dorohedoro', 'Zombieland Saga', 'BANANA FISH', 'Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni', among others, and in 2023 he will be responsible for the anime adaptation of the manga 'Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku', which was serialized in 'Shonen Jump Plus'. On the business side, the fact that the Chainsaw Man anime is produced and financed only by MAPPA, rather than through a production committee system, has also drawn a lot of attention ."
Following the airing of the first episode, “ Dog & Chainsaw,” there was praise on social media for the “zero restraint” high-quality action depiction, including bloody and violent battle scenes, with comments such as “divine artwork ” and “I felt the seriousness of MAPPA”. By the way, fans have speculated that the opening sequence may pay homage to various films, since the author, Mr. Fujimoto, is a cinephile.
« The cast is full of young promises: The role of the main character, Denji, is played by Kikunosuke Toya, a 23-year-old born on November 30, 1998 , who plays the main character for the first time in a television animation. The four main cast members, as well as Toya-san, are made up of young voice actors in their twenties.The role of Makima, a demon hunter who reports directly to the Cabinet Secretary, is played by Tomori Kusunoki, who also stars in “Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai” and is a singer. The role of demon hunter Aki Hayakawa, Denji's superior, is played by Shougo Sakata, who had a leading role in "Fairy Ranmaru: Anata no Kokoro Otasuke Shimasu" .
« The role of the blood demon Power is played by the young Ai Fairouz, recognized for her participation in “Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru?” and “JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean”, maintaining an increasingly dense and populated line of leading roles. These four youngsters are flanked by veterans Kenjiro Tsuda, Maaya Uchida, Natsuki Hanae, and other magnificent faces ."
« Unmissable musical variety: When talking about the anime “Chainsaw Man”, music cannot be left out. The opening theme "KICK BACK" by Kenshi Yonezu is the result of a very strong team, with Tsuneta Daiki (King Gnu, Millenium Parade) as co-arranger. Also, the insert-song was “Hawatari 2-Oku Centi” by Maximum The Hormone, and the ending theme was one song out of a total of 12, which will change weekly! The impact of the closing theme is as strong as the title song ».
Source: Yahoo! NewsJapan
©Tatsuki Fujimoto/Shueisha/MAPPA
