The opening for Chainsaw Man was released ahead of its international premiere on Tuesday and it came with a bunch of iconic movie references involving some of our favorite characters from the series. Watch the full, creditless opening below and if there are some we missed, let us know and we’ll add them to the list!
Pulp Fiction (1994)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Constantine (2005)
Fight Club (1999)
Don’t Look Up (1998)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Sadako and Kayako (2016)
The opening also referenced other things including a panel from Chainsaw Man Part 2, Neon Genesis Evangelion (or Naruto, depending on who you ask), The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, and even a widely popular political illustration depicting a man looking at a beautiful backdrop while another man is standing on a stack of books looking at what’s behind, but with its own twist to it if you look closely.
The first episode of Chainsaw Man aired on Tuesday blowing away everyone’s expectations. The opening reached over 1 million views within the first hour of its release on MAPPA’s official YouTube channel and on Chainsaw Man’s official Twitter. The ending reached the same feat as well a couple of hours later making Chainsaw Man just the third anime so far this season with at least 1 million views for both its opening and ending.
The opening theme “KICK BACK” is performed by Kenshi Yonezu. Shingo Yamashita directed and storyboarded the opening, Kazutaka Sugiyama worked as the chief animation director, and both Riki Matsuura and Souta Yamazaki worked as animation directors. Yamashita also worked on key animation for the opening as well alongside others such as the director of the series Ryu Nakayama, Tatsuya Yoshihara (action director), and widely known animator Keiichirou Watanabe (One Punch Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Mob Psycho 100).
Synopsis
Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita. One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as “Chainsaw Man”–a man with a devil’s heart.
Synopsis via Crunchyroll
Source: Official Twitter
Chainsaw Man ©Tatsuki Fujimoto / Shueisha, MAPPA
