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Two youngsters share a private, tender moment at the local high school’s open-air swimming pool late at night. While they drift together, hanging under the night sky in the stillness of the night, the scene captures the ephemeral, heady thrill of adolescent romance, utterly caught up in the moment, consequences overlooked.

Approximately 30 minutes into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, it became clear such moments are the core of the film. Denji and Reze’s love story took center stage, and every bit of background details and character histories previously known from the anime’s first season proved to be largely unnecessary. Although it is a canonical entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a more accessible entry point for newcomers — even if they haven’t seen its single episode. This method brings advantages, but it also hinders some of the tension of the movie’s narrative.

Created by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a world where demons embody particular dangers (ranging from concepts like getting older and Darkness to terrifying entities like cockroaches or historical conflicts). When he’s betrayed and killed by the criminal syndicate, Denji forms a contract with his faithful companion, Pochita, and returns from the deceased as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the power to completely destroy Devils and the horrors they represent from reality.

Plunged into a violent struggle between demons and hunters, the hero encounters Reze — a charming coffee server hiding a deadly secret — sparking a tragic confrontation between the pair where love and survival collide. The movie continues right after the first season, delving into Denji’s connection with Reze as he wrestles with his feelings for her and his loyalty to his controlling superior, his employer, forcing him to choose between desire, faithfulness, and self-preservation.

A Self-Contained Love Story Amidst a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our fallible main character the hero becoming enamored with Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a isolated young man seeking affection, which renders him unreliable and up for grabs on a first-come basis. Consequently, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate mythology and its extensive cast of characters, Reze Arc is very self-contained. Filmmaker the director understands this and ensures the love story is at the forefront, rather than bogging it down with filler recaps for the uninitiated, particularly since none of that is crucial to the overall storyline.

Regardless of Denji’s imperfections, it’s hard not to feel for him. He’s still a teenager, fumbling his way through a world that’s distorted his understanding of right and wrong. His desperate longing for love portrays him like a lovesick dog, even if he’s prone to growling, snapping, and causing chaos along the way. His love interest is a perfect pairing for him, an compelling seductive antagonist who finds her prey in our protagonist. You want to see the main character earn the affection of his love interest, despite Reze is obviously concealing a secret from him. So when her real identity is revealed, audiences cannot avoid wish they’ll somehow make it work, even though deep down, it is known a happy ending is never really in the plan. Therefore, the stakes don’t feel as high as they should be since their relationship is doomed. It doesn’t help that the film acts as a direct sequel to Season 1, allowing minimal space for a romance like this amid the more grim developments that fans are aware are coming soon.

Breathtaking Visuals and Artistic Execution

The film’s visuals effortlessly combine 2D animation with 3D environments, providing stunning eye candy prior to the action begins. From vehicles to tiny desk fans, digital assets add depth and texture to each scene, making the 2D characters pop strikingly. Unlike Demon Slayer, which often highlights its 3D assets and changing settings, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed climax, where those models, while not unattractive, become easier to identify. Such smooth, dynamic backgrounds make the movie’s fights both visually bombastic and remarkably simple to follow. Still, the technique excels most when it’s unnoticeable, enhancing the vibrancy and movement of the hand-drawn art.

Final Impressions and Wider Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a good point of entry, likely resulting in new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Presenting a standalone story limits the tension of what ought to seem like a sprawling animated saga. It’s an illustration of why continuing a popular television series with a film isn’t the best approach if it undermines the series’ general storytelling potential.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up multiple installments of animated series with an epic film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the issue completely by acting as a backstory to its popular show, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a bit foolishly. However that doesn’t stop the movie from being a enjoyable experience, a terrific introduction, and a unforgettable romantic tale.