Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

Note: This review contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man Season 1.

The overwhelming success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train appears to have started a trend, in which some anime adaptations adapt an arc from the source material as a feature film. Such was the case with 2024’s Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, as well as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Infinity Castle) earlier this year, and this trend continues with Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Reze Arc) (JP: Gekijō-ban Chensō Man Reze-hen), which takes place after Season 1 of the Chainsaw Man anime. Since I became a fan of Chainsaw Man through said anime, I was excited for Reze Arc after learning of its canon status, but the two-year gap since the ending of the first season led to me rewatching it again shortly before my appointed screening to get a reminder on what happened. After managing to catch a dubbed screening, I felt Reze Arc was worth the wait.

Following the events of Chainsaw Man Season 1, Public Safety Devil Hunter Division 4 now has the means to track down the Gun Devil, but need to strategize before going after it. Power (Sarah Wiedenheft) needs to be drained of blood to keep her in check, so Denji (Ryan Colt Levy) is assigned the Shark Fiend, Beam (Derick Snow), as a temporary partner, while Aki (Reagan Murdock) is assigned the Angel Devil (Casey Mongillo). After going on a movie marathon with Makima, Denji is relieved to figure out he is not heartless, leading him to develop feelings for a girl he meets named Reze (Alexis Tipton).

Denji (Ryan Colt Levy, right) develops feelings for Reze (Alexis Tipton, left).

Adapting chapters 39-52 of the manga, the story of Reze Arc feels like a natural extension of the first Season of Chainsaw Man, which featured a teaser for the arc at the end of the final episode. Though I haven’t read the manga, the events felt paced appropriately for a feature, something I felt was accomplished a little better than Infinity Castle. While the back half of the film is devoted to an extended battle with the Bomb and Typhoon Devils, I appreciated that it was presented more as a series of smaller encounters back-to-back, which added a lot of variety to the action sequences as the battle escalates. While there’s plenty of action scenes, all of which are beautifully and immaculately animated, there’s plenty of slower, low-key scenes that receive the same care, particularly in the first half as Denji and Reze’s relationship develops in a way that feels organic. One particular sequence, in which Reze teaches Denji how to swim, features some carefully chosen symbolism that adds some depth to the events and sets the stage for the rest of the movie.

From having watched them closer together, I noticed that, while the art style for Chainsaw Man Season 1 used a more refined version of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s style, Reze Arc presents as a more direct translation of his style, as seen in the animated adaptation of his manga Look Back. While budget (and Japanese reception to the anime) may have been a factor, I personally didn’t mind the presentation either way, but I will admit the scratchier look does give the film its own personality.

Since I went out of my way to catch an English dubbed screening, my opinions of Reze Arc are based more on that experience. The voice cast from the anime returns here, all of whom I found to be great matches for the characters, especially Ryan Colt Levy as Denji. Alexis Tipton proves herself a good fit for Reze, and I also particularly enjoyed Josh Bangle as the Violence Fiend in his limited screentime. Series composer Kenshi Yomezu returns for this film and contributes as high quality a soundtrack as ever, though a particular highlight is the opening song “IRIS OUT,” which I found to be such a banger that I was moving along to it in my seat.

For fans of the Chainsaw Man anime, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is a must-see both for its canon status and for its spectacular animation and storytelling. For the uninitiated, however, I would highly recommend watching Season 1 beforehand for story purposes.