The weekend hit faster than a shōnen protagonist unlocking a new form, but thankfully Arielle held it down and covered our Friday anime slot – step one in The Grand Plan to convert her into a full-blown anime fan.
Progress. We take the W’s where we can. [Ed’s Note: Calm down, sir, a once-off lapse in judgement does not an Anime fan make.]
Despite the week being absolute chaos, we managed to squeeze in something epic: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, thanks to Anime After Hours and CineCentre.
And honestly? Being in a cinema full of Chainsaw Man fans was electric – the energy, the hype, the collective love for chaotic devil-fuelled nonsense. Perfection.
There were early bird giveaways and a lucky draw for a Chainsaw Man figure from Spoonkie – and trust us, we wanted that figure like Denji wants toast and a peaceful life.
We didn’t win, and we’re still healing from the loss. But overall? It was a fantastic event and hopefully the first of many.
Alright, enough pre-rambling; let’s get to the pre-review disclaimer.
As per our NAG bio: “One Pen Man has no patience for filler episodes, long intros, or most people. Luckily, anime has just enough chaos to keep him around.”
You’ve read our stuff, you know the vibe. Our opinions are loud, honest, occasionally unhinged, and always fueled by love for the medium… with zero tolerance for fluff.
So let’s get into this spoiler-light review of Reze Arc.
The film kicks off with what we’re calling Part One: the slice-of-life warm-up.
Think soft vibes, goofy Denji energy, emotional beats, and some genuinely adorable Reze moments.
Their chemistry hits hard – so much so that you almost forget the other girls in Denji’s orbit.
Almost.
Denji will remind you himself, don’t worry.
It’s chill, it’s funny, it’s heartfelt. A solid setup.
Then comes Part Two – The Chaos Arc.
Look. This is where MAPPA clearly said, “Budget? What budget? Let’s make their eyeballs beg for more!”
The fights are pure insanity.
The animation? Crisp, fluid, surgical violence.
Our eyelids? Too enthralled to blink.
It was pure, unadulterated spectacle.
Now for a couple of caveats.
If you’re new to Chainsaw Man, you’re going to be a bit lost.
The movie tosses you straight into the deep end with zero recap, lore, or context. Our poor non-anime-fan friend spent half the movie confused [Ed’s note: I was 1000% not confused, the look on my face was just me wondering how I ended up here] and the other half impressed by the pretty violence and emotional punches. [Ed’s note: Okay, I’ll give you this one.]
Pacing-wise, it didn’t really deliver that movie-shaped arc.
It felt more like middle-middle-middle, epic middle, sure, but still middle.
It was more like a beautiful 5-episode run stitched together than a cinematic rise-and-fall.
We loved the outrageous half, but the pacing never truly peaked the way a film usually does.
We’re big CSM fans, so the bar was high. And look – we didn’t walk out disappointed… but we also didn’t walk out screaming into the night about it either.
There was heart. There was chaos. But there was also a little “is this just filler?” in the air. And yes, they even hit us with the full anime intro. In. A. Movie. Siiiigggghhhh.
At the end of the day, Reze Arc is good.
It’s visually stunning, emotionally sharp and action-heavy.
Fans will absolutely eat it up – manga readers especially. Even Arielle, a sworn anime hater, had a good time. [Ed’s note: This is what I get for laughing one time. ONE TIME.]
But in our honest, chaos-loving opinion? It felt more like a beautifully animated arc preview than a full cinematic experience.
Enjoyable? Absolutely.
Mind-melting, scream-into-the-void masterpiece? Not quite.
That said – watch it. Experience it. Have feelings.
Then tell us if you agree or if we’re blaspheming in public.
Have you seen it yet? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Still just planning to? Share your hype levels or hesitations.
That’s it from us until Friday.
Stay chaotic. Stay powered up. And may your week be more Denji-energy than Makima-stress.
