Chainsaw Man aired its episode 5 on Tuesday and we got to see Denji finally fulfill his dream of copping a feel, as well as some insight on Aki’s tragic backstory featuring his family. The episode started right where it left off last week, with Denji and Power in the bathroom ready to complete their deal. Unlike they typical shy protagonists, Denji doesn’t hesitate and instantly does what he’s been dreaming about since we first met him. The major emotion he feels, however, is confusion. While Power clearly thinks nothing of it and carries on normally afterwards, we see Denji completely spaced out until his talk with Makima.
Despite becoming a powerful devil, Denji is still a young boy who’s had no experience with women. The fact that he’d been dreaming of that moment for so long meant his expectations were high, and so his disappointment also made sense. After this, Makima gave him more to look forward, explaining that it feels better with a person he understands and that she’d fulfill any wish of his if he defeated the Gun Devil. The finger biting and letting him touch her was clearly too much for Denji, and it seems like he’s ready to do anything for Makima at this point. She knows what she’s doing, and I wonder if she really thinks he can defeat the Gun Devil at all considering that the devil was powerful to wipe 1.2 million people in under 5 minutes 13 years ago while Denji just got a hold of his power.
As she explained the power of the Gun Devil, we saw a flashback of a young boy with his family (CV: Ayumu Murase). He had a little brother who’s sickly, and that’s why his parents couldn’t give him as much attention. However, the little brother looked up to the boy, and he still wanted to play with him. They went into the snow and had a snowball fight, after which the older brother told the younger to go inside and get his glove to play catch so he wouldn’t catch a cold. He watched him enter the house, and we instantly see the house get obliterated and the young boy left in shock. A few moments later we see that the boy is actually Aki, and his motivation to fight the Gun Devil to have his revenge is already clearly higher than any of the other agents from the Special Division 4.
After a funny scene where Aki gets Denji and Power to ‘mind their manners’ with pieces of gum, we are also introduced to Himeno and the two other rookies, Kobeni and Arai. Himeno offers a kiss on the cheek to whoever kills the devil they’re after, which turns into a tongue kiss for Denji after he says he doesn’t care for it. Arai seems to have huge respect/a crush on Himeno, although he might not live long due to his determination being a bigger factor than skill. Meanwhile, Kobeni apparently has the skills, but she is too timid. She shows this throughout the episode, and it will be interesting to see whether she overcomes it or if it costs someone their life.
For me, the most interesting part of the episode was Aki’s backstory. He seems like someone who is kind but pretends to be cold to protect others. The fact that this comes after losing his entire family in the past makes it emotional, and it really makes you wish for him to get his revenge on the Gun Devil. We got to briefly see Kishibe (CV: Kenjiro Tsuda), and learn that he trained Aki. Kishibe said this to Himeno, after she lost her 5th partner. He introduced him as rude, but that trained to be of some use. Himeno seems like a kind person as well, and she repeated the words “don’t die” to Aki in the present just as she told him upon meeting in the flashback. We also saw her contract with the Ghost Devil, and she gave her right eye to be able to use a ghost hand.
The episode left with them confused in the building, and we will have to wait for next week for an explanation and probably see them face the devil that’s causing it.
If you enjoyed episode 5 of Chainsaw Man, don’t forget to vote for it in week 6! It has ranked 2nd for the last 3 weeks.
Images via Crunchyroll
©Tatsuki Fujimoto / Shueisha, MAPPA
