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A pair of teenagers share a private, gentle instant at the neighborhood high school’s open-air swimming pool after hours. As they float as one, hanging under the stars in the stillness of the evening, the scene portrays the fleeting, exhilarating excitement of teenage love, utterly caught up in the present, consequences forgotten.

Approximately 30 minutes into The Chainsaw Man Film: Reze Arc, it became clear these scenes are the core of the film. Denji and Reze’s romantic tale became the focus, and all the contextual information and character histories previously known from the anime’s initial episodes proved to be mostly unnecessary. Although it is a canonical entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a easier starting place for newcomers — even if they haven’t seen its prior content. The approach has its benefits, but it also hinders some of the tension of the film’s story.

Created by the original creator, Chainsaw Man chronicles the protagonist, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a universe where Devils represent specific dangers (including concepts like Aging and obscurity to terrifying entities like cockroaches or historical conflicts). When he’s betrayed and killed by the yakuza, he makes a pact with his loyal companion, Pochita, and comes back from the deceased as a part-human chainsaw wielder with the ability to completely destroy Devils and the horrors they signify from existence.

Thrust into a brutal conflict between devils and hunters, Denji encounters a new character — a charming coffee server concealing a deadly mystery — igniting a tragic confrontation between the two where love and survival collide. This film picks up immediately following season 1, delving into Denji’s connection with his love interest as he wrestles with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his manipulative superior, Makima, forcing him to choose between passion, loyalty, and self-preservation.

A Self-Contained Love Story Within a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our imperfect protagonist Denji falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a lonely boy looking for love, which renders him vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come basis. As a result, despite all of Chainsaw Man’s complex lore and its large ensemble, Reze Arc is highly independent. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara understands this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, instead of bogging it down with unnecessary summaries for the new viewers, especially when such details really matters to the complete storyline.

Regardless of the protagonist’s flaws, it’s hard not to feel for him. He’s still a teenager, fumbling his way through a world that’s warped his sense of right and wrong. His intense longing for love portrays him like a infatuated dog, although he’s likely to barking, biting, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a perfect match for Denji, an compelling femme fatale who targets her prey in our protagonist. You want to see Denji win the ire of his affection, despite she is clearly hiding something from him. Thus when her true nature is unveiled, audiences can’t help but hope they’ll somehow succeed, even though deep down, you know a positive outcome is never really in the cards. Therefore, the tension don’t feel as high as they ought to be since their romance is doomed. It doesn’t help that the film serves as a direct sequel to the first season, leaving minimal space for a love story like this amid the darker developments that fans know are approaching.

Stunning Visuals and Technical Execution

This movie’s graphics seamlessly blend 2D animation with 3D environments, delivering impressive visual appeal prior to the excitement begins. From vehicles to small desk fans, digital assets add depth and texture to every scene, allowing the animated figures pop strikingly. In contrast to Demon Slayer, which frequently highlights its digital elements and shifting backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its action-packed climax, where such elements, though not unappealing, are more apparent to spot. These smooth, dynamic environments make the movie’s battles both spectacular to watch and remarkably easy to follow. Nonetheless, the technique excels most when it’s invisible, improving the dynamic range and movement of the 2D animation.

Final Impressions and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a solid starting place, likely resulting in new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Telling a standalone story limits the tension of what ought to seem like a sprawling anime epic. This is an illustration of why following up a successful anime season with a film is not the best approach if it undermines the franchise’s general narrative possibilities.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by concluding multiple 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 bit foolishly. But that doesn’t stop the film from proving to be a great experience, a terrific introduction, and a memorable love story.