Chainsaw Man Episode 9 Finally Unleashes Makima's Power

It is often theorized that the "Chainsaw Man" manga feels so unlike anything on Weekly Shonen Jump because it was the magazine's way of compensating for rejecting "Attack on Titan" back in the day. If it wasn't already clear by now how violent and subversive "Chainsaw Man" is, then this episode doubles down on the shock and gore aspect of the show in delightful ways, all of which revolve around Makima.

One of the best characters in an already rather phenomenal show, Makima is a clever take on the archetypical female anime character, usually quiet and stoic, ready for our protagonist (and the audience) to obsess over because of how unobtainable she is. Yet "Chainsaw Man" never downplays how obviously manipulative she is to Denji, and how sinister her superficial pleasantries actually are. We understand why Denji jumps at the chance of doing anything she asks, but we also understand why it would still be his safest choice to get on her good side rather than her bad.

That's because, oh boy, we finally get a look at Makima's bad side this week, and she might just be the most dangerous person alive in the show.

We continue where we left off, with Himeno sacrificing herself, and Katana Man fighting the Ghost Devil. Himeno's final act before dying gets the Ghost Devil to kickstart Denji's heart, turning him into the titular Chainsaw Man and pushing him to fight the Katana Man.

Unsurprisingly, the fight between Denji and Katana Man is breathtaking. It's become clear that, rather than aiming for a recreation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's inventive artwork, Studio MAPPA is going for a rather grounded look that feels more inspired by live-action than manga. This approach works wonders because it juxtaposes a very realistic look (especially during slice-of-life scenes) with, well, all the over-the-top absurdity of the show.

Case in point, Denji's fight is not about slick movements and fast-paced thrills, but giving weight to every move so we feel how tired and beat up Denji is, and how unprepared he was for this situation. Sadly, even when he seemingly gets the upper hand and grabs a hostage, our devil hunter simply gets sliced in half by Katana Man.

Meanwhile, turns out Makima is alive! Apparently getting a bullet to the head isn't that big of a deal for her, and she leaves a bunch of dead bodies behind with huge holes in their chests with minimal effort. What is rather strange is that she denies getting shot at all. Consider this red flag number one.

Realizing the devil hunters in Tokyo are also under attack, Makima asks for 30 death row convicts to be sent to a nearby shrine. Again, the show excels at doing small, grounded scenes in-between the big fights to make the characters and the world feel real. We get a small scene of the convicts on a transport en route to the shrine, with the animation focusing on their subtle hand and mouth movements as they have their last meal.

Likewise, the scene immediately after shows Makima changing into less-bloody clothes, and the animators absolutely go to town in adding a richness of detail to Makima's clothes and how they move subtly while Makima changes into them. It may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it is what makes this show's visual style distinct because it draws you in with moments of normalcy before unleashing the craziness.

We cut back to Denji, whose upper body is being carried away by the Gun Devil's henchmen until one of them starts freaking out seemingly out of nowhere — before getting literally pressed down like a can and squeezed into just a pool of blood. We have no idea what happened, but Akane (the girl with the Snake Devil contract) immediately recognizes this as the work of Makima and starts panicking.

In an episode full of bloodshed, in a show full of horror imagery, we haven't had anything as unnerving as the scene of Makima performing her ritual. The show does a good job of adding tension to Fujimoto's panels through editing, and this is no exception. The camera quickly cuts away between extreme close-ups of Makima's hands pulling what looks like a sinister version of the hand signs from "Naruto," and shots of all the Gun Devil agents being smashed down and pressed into jelly, while the convicts fall to their death one by one in a sadistic exchange of lives. Add her extremely stoic and calm demeanor and you get a rather chilling scene.

We have no idea what Makima's abilities are or who her devil is, but there is no denying that she is the most powerful character in the show so far, and she is terrifying.

Back to poor Denji. He is still in the hands of the Gun Devil agents until he is saved not by Makima, but by Kobeni. Everyone's least favorite mediocre employee who tries to kill her colleagues returns and finally shows why Himeno thought so highly of her skills. Not only does Kobeni easily dispatch the old lady that killed Arai, but she parkours on top of the Snake Devil like she's Kobe running across the court, then cuts one of Katana Man's arms with a knife, all while evading a bunch of bullets.

Sadly, Akane escapes with a wounded Katana Man, but at least Kobeni rescues Denji's body — after using it as a meat shield, but still!

The episode ends with a couple of last-minute reveals. Makima is now in charge of all special divisions, which are being absorbed into Special Division 4 due to almost everyone dying. Also, Madoka accuses her of knowing all of this would happen. If true, that would make her not just scary, but outright diabolical. Why would she allow such horrible deaths for most devil hunters under her care? What purpose would it serve?

Madoka decides he's had enough, that the job has become way too dangerous, and resigns. It is interesting to see how "Chainsaw Man" avoids falling into the way "Attack on Titan" dealt with heroic sacrifices for seemingly no reason. That show had wave after wave of soldiers dying meaningless deaths, with those left behind struggling to add meaning to the deaths by arguing they pushed some grand goal forward a little bit. In turn, those who cowered and hid from the man-eating Titans were usually portrayed as either weak or overly traumatized — but still clearly in the wrong compared to the valiant protagonists who jumped straight into danger.

"Chainsaw Man" is different. Here, anytime things get tough, we see devil hunters simply quitting and leaving that life behind. This show makes it clear that those who leave are not cowards, but they are actually the smart ones for choosing to walk away. Those who stay are instead portrayed as having either a loose screw or a death wish. This is why Kobeni is so compelling, because she is the only character we know who doesn't care one iota for the job. She's only here because her family forced her to after denying her a college education, and she just realized that the job isn't even worth that.