Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc was incredible in every way, shape, and form.
Having read the manga before watching Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc probably changed my expectations. But the film tells the story better, which is obviously very hard to do when adapting manga. The film is one of the best animated films I’ve seen in a long time, probably since the Attack on Titan finale.
What Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc does so well is writing. You care about all the characters. Introducing a new character, only to have them turn out to be a villain, is hard. Especially doing it all in one movie. The movie did a great job of dividing the story. You get some slice-of-life stuff, and then you have nonstop action for the last hour or so of the film.
The pacing is excellent in Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, and it pays off, as this is some of the best anime action I’ve ever seen. Even during the slice-of-life moments, I don’t think the film drags at all. Many people will have a problem with slice-of-life stories because they feel they’re too slow. But with the help of some incredible music, I think the first act of the film is very entertaining. It fits the manga well.
You see some incredible, romantic, emotional scenes done brilliantly. Seeing someone fall in love for the first time in their life is a common theme in movies, but the way this movie did it was super special. I was genuinely moved by the story. It’s now one of my favorite anime films.
Once Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc gets into its action arc, it pulls no punches, and I have a feeling that everyone was glued to their seat during this part. The movie does not let up, and it just goes insane with action. I don’t know if I’ve seen an anime film go this hard with the action. It also does a good job of pacing the action by cutting between multiple characters.
That is usually a gripe of mine when action films jump around too much. Stranger Things tends to do that a lot, where you get invested in one storyline and then it cuts right before it gets to what you want to see.
I do believe Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is incredible and could be watched without having seen any of the anime. That’s a hard feat to accomplish.
