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A pair of youngsters experience a private, gentle instant at the neighborhood high school’s outdoor swimming pool late at night. While they drift as one, suspended under the night sky in the stillness of the evening, the sequence captures the fleeting, heady excitement of adolescent romance, completely engrossed in the moment, ramifications overlooked.

About half an hour into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized such moments are the heart of the film. Denji and Reze’s love story became the focus, and all the background details and backstories previously known from the anime’s initial episodes proved to be largely irrelevant. Despite being a official entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a more accessible starting place for newcomers — regardless of they haven’t seen its prior content. The approach brings advantages, but it simultaneously limits some of the urgency of the film’s narrative.

Created by the original creator, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a universe where Devils embody specific evils (including concepts like getting older and obscurity to terrifying entities like cockroaches or historical conflicts). After being betrayed and killed by the yakuza, Denji forms a contract with his loyal devil-dog, Pochita, and returns from the dead as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to permanently erase Devils and the horrors they signify from existence.

Plunged into a violent struggle between demons and hunters, Denji meets a new character — a charming barista concealing a deadly mystery — sparking a heartbreaking clash between the pair where love and existence intersect. This film picks up immediately following the first season, exploring Denji’s connection with Reze as he grapples with his feelings for her and his devotion to his manipulative boss, Makima, compelling him to decide among passion, loyalty, and survival.

A Self-Contained Love Story Within a Larger World

Reze Arc is inherently a lovers-to-enemies story, with our imperfect main character Denji falling for his counterpart right away upon meeting. He’s a isolated young man looking for love, which renders him vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come basis. As a result, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate mythology and its large cast of characters, Reze Arc is highly independent. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than bogging it down with filler recaps for the uninitiated, particularly since none of that is crucial to the overall storyline.

Despite the protagonist’s flaws, it’s hard not to feel for him. He’s still a adolescent, stumbling his way through a world that’s warped his sense of right and wrong. His desperate craving for love portrays him like a lovesick puppy, even if he’s likely to barking, biting, and causing chaos along the way. His love interest is a ideal pairing for Denji, an effective femme fatale who finds her mark in our hero. Viewers hope to see Denji win the ire of his affection, despite Reze is clearly hiding something from him. So when her real identity is unveiled, you still can’t help but wish they’ll in some way succeed, even though deep down, it is known a happy ending is not truly in the cards. As such, the stakes fail to seem as intense as they should be since their romance is fated. It doesn’t help that the movie acts as a direct sequel to Season 1, allowing minimal space for a romance like this among the more grim events that fans are aware are coming soon.

Breathtaking Animation and Technical Execution

The film’s visuals effortlessly combine 2D animation with 3D environments, providing stunning visual appeal prior to the action kicks in. Including vehicles to small desk fans, digital assets enhance realism and detail to each scene, allowing the animated figures stand out strikingly. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which often highlights its 3D assets and shifting backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed climax, where those models, while not unattractive, are more apparent to spot. These fluid, dynamic environments render the film’s fights both spectacular to watch and surprisingly easy to follow. Nonetheless, the technique shines brightest when it’s invisible, enhancing the dynamic range and motion of the hand-drawn art.

Concluding Impressions and Broader Implications

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good starting place, likely resulting in new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Presenting a standalone narrative restricts the tension of what should feel like a expansive anime epic. This is an example of why following up a popular anime season with a movie is not the optimal strategy if it undermines the franchise’s general storytelling potential.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up multiple seasons of anime television with an epic movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 sidestepped the issue completely by serving as a prequel to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, maybe a bit foolishly. But that doesn’t stop the film from being a great experience, a terrific point of entry, and a memorable love story.