The Chainsaw Man anime is getting a continuation, albeit in a different form. Instead of a highly-anticipated second season, it will get a movie adapting the Reze Arc of the manga, titled Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc.
Studio MAPPA, who worked on the original anime, is returning for the project. Reina Ueda (Ganyu in Genshin Impact, Mallow in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon) has been tapped to voice Reze, the star of the fan-favourite Bomb Girl arc. A key visual and stylish teaser also accompanied the announcement during Jump Festa 2024, with the latter showing an iconic moment from the manga.
In it, Denji and his new-friend-slash-love-interest are seen swimming in the middle of the night, amidst snippets of them spending time with each other. Although nothing is known about the cast and staff, it’s safe to assume the voice actors of Season 1 will be reprising their roles.
Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc follows the latest trend of adapting canon arcs into anime films, keeping in the vein of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie — Infinity Train and Haikyuu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump. Viz Media describes the plot of volume 6, which features Reze, as:
“A new girl named Reze has shown up and swept innocent Denji right off his feet. But is Reze exactly what she seems? (Spoiler: Nope!) Is Denji about to find happiness once and for all? (Spoiler: Nope!) Prepare for the storm of all storms when Chainsaw Man looks for true love!”
It’s certainly good news for fans, but there are some caveats to anime films as compared to a normal season. For one, not all countries will get an official screening, so fans in these regions may turn to pirating content. Additionally, MAPPA is known to disregard the well-being of their animators and subject them to unrelenting crunch — while a huge box office success, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, another project by the studio, only had a production window of four months.
Hopefully, things will be better this time round, especially with more recent reports shedding light on the studio’s harsh working conditions, including mistreatment of employees, poor compensation, tight timelines, and more.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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