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Mostly gonna do a halfway analysis (as spoiler-free as I can) about my thoughts for later, as I'm at chapter 52 of the 6th volume:

TL;DR: Chainsaw Man is good but not great enough to a point that it hurts.
7/10 with the potential of improving to a better grade as well as getting a worse one.

As I'm reaching half, I'm starting to wonder if Denji is really the least interesting character I've ever read. I just don't care anymore, his childish horny attitude is exhausting. He doesn't learn and doesn't progress in reality. Starting to get worried about the future of the CSM story ... but for now, Denji is not up to the hype of the manga and is not that well written in my opinion. His progress is entirely related to his fighting capabilities and his understanding of his chainsaw powers, other than that he doesn't progress outside of the action. While the down-to-earth mentality at the start was interesting and relatable, it's come to a point where it's his only personality trait that isn't "grabbing boobs". He isn't progressing in his worldview, in how he conceptualizes human interactions.
After just finishing the Reze arc (which was really good), I'm struggling to understand how he didn't progress a single inch from his behaviour and understanding of human relations. He's still obsessed with sexual stuff to the point it doesn't feel good to read. Makima is clearly controlling him since the start of the manga, and the author is clearly trying to push a narrative around manipulation and trauma until the reveal of how she's the hidden bad guy... Not subtle to say the least. It's not subtle because of how dumb Denji is when it comes to human interactions.
The Reze arc was really good because it felt like Denji progressed, he started to feel stuff by himself and think about more than being a horny teen. And for what? nothing, back to square one. I legit don't realize when was the last time I have become so deeply uninterested and bored in the character development of a MC of a manga I'm genuinely interested in.

Really hope it gets better because as of right now CSM relies too much on some very key characters and fight scenes to work. I really like some characters even though not a lot really matters in making the story progress, Makima/Ari/Power/Reze are really well written which is kinda sad seeing how the other characters only serve as "deaths to move the story forward". The world-building so far is alright but clearly underutilized/not developed to its full potential. The goriness of the action and art is really well done and I can't wait to see the anime adaptation of it. The action doesn't stop and it gives it a very fast pasting which is something I'm unsure atm if I like but at least it keeps things interesting in the grand scheme of things, which CSM definitely needs to keep the reader interested because it hasn't a lot to offer outside of that. The fast paste of the action and the movie-like goriness feels like Fujimoto is trying a bit too hard to push the "edgy" side of CSM, but it at least has the faculty of feeling "original"...in truth, it's not really new trying to make a popular shonen with a bit of goriness and edgy stuff in it, it's definitely a trend nowadays.
Also, the amount of disturbing shit in it (paedophilia/grooming, SA, mental abuse, trauma, etc) makes it a harder read than I first anticipated, because of how hard the subjects inherently are but also because they are sometimes not that well implemented and treated in the story. Definitely, something to keep on your mind before reading/watching CSM.

A manga that is driven by 4 main characters "only" + good action, has a hard time compensating for the lack of depth of the main character and his non-existent progression, a story progression that is wacky at best and most certainly not subtle, and a world-building that feels underexploited. I'm someone that likes Fujimoto's work on top of that, but CSM feels up and downs too much. Basically, the whole manga as an indistinctive whole is good, but when you start looking at everything in its own scope and separating the different characteristics of the manga, it screams inconsistency of quality. I know a lot of comparisons have been made between CSM and Jujutsu Kaisen, but as of right now I was way more invested in JK at a similar point in the story. And a lot of it boils down to a better world-building from JK and an MC that is tenfolds what Denji is so far in terms of writing quality and character development. Action-packed can be a good thing when done right but it suffers in its longevity when most of the things around it feel like a second thought.

Despite all of that it's still a good manga (definitely not mid), which I guess now that I'm re-reading my review feels like I'm about to say this is a 1/10 when it clearly is still a top-tier series. But being halfway in and seeing so many elements I feel are undervalued/unexploited/underwhelming is concerning, to say the least, especially coming from an author I usually really like his stuff. I hate being in the position of the guy that is saying something is overhyped when something is popular, but as of right now I'm guessing I have to be in this position.

General rating as the halfway point: Chainsaw Man is good but not great enough to a point that it hurts.

MC character development is a ---
Other main characters are a ++
Wold building is a --
Action is a +++
Art is a ++
Story is a -
Originality is a +
Pasting is a --
Element of surprise is a -

7/10, for now, could end up higher as well as lower than 7.