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Two youngsters share a intimate, gentle moment at the local high school’s outdoor swimming pool after hours. As they float as one, hanging under the night sky in the quietness of the night, the scene captures the ephemeral, exhilarating excitement of teenage love, utterly engrossed in the present, consequences forgotten.

About 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, it became clear such moments are the core of the film. The romantic tale became the focus, and all the contextual information and backstories I had gleaned from the series’ initial episodes turned out to be mostly irrelevant. Although it is a canonical entry within the franchise, Reze Arc offers a easier entry point for first-time viewers — even if they missed its prior content. This method has its benefits, but it also hinders some of the urgency of the film’s story.

Developed by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a indebted fiend fighter in a universe where demons represent particular dangers (ranging from ideas like Aging and Darkness to terrifying entities like insects or historical conflicts). When he’s deceived and killed by the criminal syndicate, Denji makes a pact with his loyal devil-dog, his pet, and returns from the deceased as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the power to completely destroy Devils and the terrors they signify from existence.

Thrust into a violent struggle between devils and hunters, the hero meets Reze — a charming coffee server concealing a deadly secret — sparking a heartbreaking confrontation between the pair where love and existence collide. This film continues immediately following season 1, exploring Denji’s relationship with his love interest as he grapples with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his controlling boss, his employer, forcing him to decide among passion, faithfulness, and self-preservation.

A Self-Contained Love Story Within a Broader World

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry story, with our imperfect protagonist the hero becoming enamored with Reze right away upon meeting. He is a lonely boy seeking affection, which renders him vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come, first-served. Consequently, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s complex lore and its extensive cast of characters, Reze Arc is highly self-contained. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara understands this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than weighing it down with filler recaps for the uninitiated, especially when such details really matters to the overall plot.

Despite the protagonist’s imperfections, it’s hard not to feel for him. He is still a adolescent, fumbling his way through a world that’s warped his sense of morality. His desperate craving for affection makes him come off like a lovesick dog, although he’s prone to barking, biting, and making a mess along the way. His love interest is a ideal match for Denji, an effective seductive antagonist who finds her mark in our hero. You want to see Denji win the ire of his affection, despite Reze is clearly concealing a secret from him. So when her real identity is revealed, you still cannot avoid hope they’ll in some way succeed, even though deep down, you know a happy ending is never really in the plan. Therefore, the tension fail to seem as high as they ought to be since their relationship is doomed. It doesn’t help that the film serves as a immediate follow-up to the first season, leaving minimal space for a love story like this amid the darker events that fans know are coming soon.

Breathtaking Animation and Artistic Execution

The film’s visuals effortlessly combine traditional animation with 3D environments, providing impressive eye candy even before the excitement begins. From cars to tiny desk fans, 3D models enhance realism and detail to each shot, allowing the animated figures stand out beautifully. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently highlights its digital elements and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its explosive climax, where those models, while not unattractive, become easier to spot. These fluid, dynamic environments make the film’s fights both spectacular to watch and remarkably simple to understand. Still, the technique shines brightest when it’s unnoticeable, improving the dynamic range and motion of the 2D animation.

Final Impressions and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a good starting place, likely resulting in new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Presenting a standalone narrative restricts the stakes of what should feel like a sprawling animated saga. This is an example of why following up a successful anime season with a movie isn’t the best strategy if it weakens the series’ general storytelling potential.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle succeeded by tying up several seasons of animated series with an grand film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the problem entirely by serving as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc charges forward, maybe a slightly recklessly. But that doesn’t stop the movie from being a enjoyable experience, a excellent introduction, and a memorable love story.