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Oh boy, where do I begin. Let's start off by saying that Chainsaw Man is by far, my favorite Shonen Jump manga of all time, and a contender for my personal favorite manga of all time. It hits all the spots when it comes to an interesting concept, fun characters, exciting plot, great pacing, gruesome art, you name it. Now, let's stop fanboying and let me explain in more detail.

-- MINOR SPOILERS INCLUDED --
Chainsaw Man sets place in a world inhabited by devils that come from and are empowered by people that fear their concept. Our young main character, Denji, along with his partner in ... crime Pochita who is the Chainsaw Devil, are tasked with hunting devils in order to clear his late father's large debt. After a series of unfortunate events, Pochita fuses with Denji in order to become the half-devil half-human, Chainsaw Man, and is hired by the mysterious Makima in order to hunt devils in exchange for the opportunity to live a decent life in the Devil Hunter association.

PLOT
Chainsaw Man is unique in the sense that it's a more character-driven story rather than a grand main goal that our main character announces and sets off to accomplish. However, there are continuous plot points set up in every arc, and the recurring plot theme can be considered as Denji having to fight enemies who are out to steal his Chainsaw heart. One of the most famous critiques of Chainsaw Man is that the story can be seen as too complex or nonsense, but I believe that's not really the case. The way I see it, the author distracts the audience's attention with bizarre and nonsensical comedy that comes of as hilarious but can also leave the audience confused at the strange humor, because the gags can often times happen during serious scenarios where the humor is unexpected. Now add that to the fact that most chapters are topped off with lots of mind-bending plot revelations and twists, people will likely get confused because they're trying to predict too far ahead instead of giving the author the benefit of the doubt. You can't have all the answers instantly in your grasp, just digest what has happened in the story so far, and keep the questions you have in the back of your head, they'll most likely be answered in the near future. My advice if you're confused by the story is to focus on what's happening visually as well, this manga is the definition of "Show, Don't Tell". All in all, the initial premise of Chainsaw Man sparks lots of interest, and the mysterious underlying plot with it's fantastic pacing and execution makes it an enjoyable experience to immerse yourself in the story.

CHARACTERS
The cast of Chainsaw Man is incredibly fun to watch, the trio main characters have a great dynamic together, whilst still being strong characters individually. In the span of 86 chapters, this manga is able to develop quite a handful of characters, even fodder ones. It's difficult to explain without spoiling, but Denji and Aki have some of the greatest character growth I've seen in any manga. Minor character are also given strong personalities that shine even when they'll never show up again, due to how they're usually accompanied with dialogue that's able to make them very likable.

ART
Tatsuki Fujimoto is a great artist, some may say that the art in Chainsaw Man is lacking compared to other Jump titles, and I don't disagree, but the panel composition enhances the storytelling to such a masterful degree. It's also accompanied by intense double-page spreads that are filled with momentum and always packs a punch. The artwork also encompasses the manga in such a gloomy post-apocalyptic-like atmosphere, which is a perfect tone for the manga. Chainsaw Man is also brilliant at outlining character emotions and facial expression. Along with barely having to read any text, the manga uses the advantage of it's visuals to the fullest, it's not afraid to use multiple pages of just silence to establish a mood for the readers. The panels and structure of the manga feels similar to storyboards, this could be what Fujimoto intended because he himself is a huge fan of films. The linework and shading may not be as clean, but the factors mentioned prior more than makes up for it.

ADDRESSING COMMON CRITIQUES
1) Denji is a bad main character
Denji is sometimes regarded as a dumb horny teen with no goals, which makes him a bad main character. While there's truth to that statement, it's highly oversimplified. Denji is stupid because he actually has a reason to be, unlike a lot of MCs that are stupid as a trope, Denji is stupid because he genuinely did not have an educational background. He was in deep poverty and so out of touch with the world, that what he sees as his "Best Life", is having a hot meal and sleeping on a nice bed. His brain is so stunted that not only can't he make smart decisions, but he can't even dream big. His horniness was also more of a phase, he quickly learnt that there was no meaning in sexual activity without genuine connection to the other person first.

2) Characters are killed off too quickly/without no reason
It's important to understand that being a Devil Hunter is the MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN THE WORLD, and our main characters are not immune to that danger. Killing off characters gives a more realistic approach to the story, and it's not also just for shock value. You see, even after death, some characters are still used in the story (well, atleast their corpses are), these characters still play a role in the narrative. Some character deaths also directly cause character development for the rest of the cast. Also, is it really "shock value", or surprising when characters that were predestined to die in the story and the fact that we were even warned about their death several chapters ago... well... die?

3) Plot is too confusing or nonsensical
Fortunately, I've already addressed this "issue" underneath the Plot category of this review.

TL;DR - Read Chainsaw Man

NOTE: As of the making of this review, 86 chapters of Chainsaw Man has been released.

"Solo Leveling", what seemed like an underdog story has really left me disappointed. At first glance, the whole reason I started was to expect him to grow as a character slowly and PROVE himself. However, this is not what I got at all.

Forget the underdog story, forget the meaningful process of character growth and development, the story tries it's hardest to make the character look like he's "struggling", but it's pretty difficult when the MC has the same emotionless, edgy facial expression on every panel.

It's just extremely confusing and frustrating how this supposed "underdog" MC gets so strong so damn fast. He is literally flawless, ... he feels completely void of humor and emotion and is just a living, breathing, OP, issekai MC. These 3 paragraphs alone are all about my number 1 reason as to why I dislike this Manhwa so much. The main character just really sucks.

The only thing that doesn't give this a "1" for me is the art. Absolutely amazing art that made me stomach through the horrible MC writing and directionless plot that could've been finished if the MC just didn't hide his power. The art was literally eye-candy, filled with clean line-work, shading and colours.

Anyways, if you don't like edgy, power-fantasy MCs, don't read this. If you were expecting the slow-climb and rise of an underdog, go read "Hardcore Leveling Warrior" (technically a "re-rising" here), or read Tales of Demons and Gods instead. The MC might be OP in HCLW and ToDaG, but they have limitations and a bunch of situations where they can't just "clean up" the enemy as easy as Sung Jin-woo.

2/10

(Pros/Cons at the end if you don't wanna see me ramble)

Occultic;Nine is an anime that felt like wasted potential to me. Making a highly science fiction show (more over-the-top than the sci-fi Steins;Gate) with a somewhat hard to grasp plot AND the bombardment of characters introduced in the first episode that is on par with Durarara!! only 12 episodes long seems very unfair. Had this been 24 episodes long, this anime would've easily been a 10 for me.

Story:
The story of Occultic;Nine seems very good on pen and paper, however, the execution was extremely poor due to incredibly fast pacing as well as trying to fit ... a vast amount of characters. The theories of "ghosts" are quite unique and interesting, and is able to make the audience (certainly me at least), be able to nod in agreement at whatever madness is ensuing. But the problem of 12 episodes reveals itself again, with some highly over-the-top supernatural phenomenons that are barely explained happening on screen (VERY PREVALENT IN THE FINALE).

Art:
What caught my eye in this anime was the animation. It looked very pleasing to me, especially the art style and the background colours. Albeit, the quick camera angle changes can get annoying, but the anime was try to not make the explanations and theories boring by giving the viewers an "easy on the eye" artwork. Personally, this anime has one of the best eye-candy animation I've ever seen.

Sound:
The soundtrack as well VA and SFX in general are great. Absolutely no complaints except for the fast-pace of speaking. Music and SFX always fits the tension and atmosphere of the environment, and really enhances your sense and focus of what's happening.

Character:
One of it's biggest weaknesses so far is the characters. 12 episodes is nowhere near enough to fit in all of the characters involvement, story and development in this anime. Some characters were outright done dirty and had barely enough screen time for their purpose in the anime. This made some characters' roles feel very minuscule in the overall plot of the anime.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed it. I really did. No matter how many negative reviews I've seen for it, I've always felt that this anime is good. I'm not sure if I'm too generous and my standards are too low, but I really. Enjoyed. This. Anime.

Pros:
- Animation and Art are eye-candy.
- Plot is very fun to explore.
- Music is good.
- Fun twist.

Cons:
- Extremely fast pacing.
- Too condensed (12 episodes).
- Not enough character build/exploration.
- Minor unexplained concept/scientific issues.

El Psy Congroo.

Art and Design - 5/5
Character designs and art style were perfect, gets the gritty and serious tone extremely well. Even some of the comedic scenes looked good, for it being a fairly serious anime. It was perfect, no complaints.

Plot - 4/5
Plot is not easy for beginner anime watchers, it was pretty sophisticated and had lots of confusing layers overall. Lots of shifts between realistic crime and supernatural action fights. An interesting premise that was explained well nonetheless.

Animation - 4/5
Has some lazy tricks, but the sound effects complemented it, so it was no big deal, nonetheless , I could tell a lot of effort was put ... into it. Fight scenes were eye candy and even the dialogue looked interesting to watch. There was never a dull moment and it was terrific and very pleasing to watch.

Sound - 4/5
Some pretty great background music here there, I don't have much to say other than the fact it does it's job of encapsulating the scenario well.

Characters - 3/5
I won't lie, not all of the characters are great. The main characters are good and all, but there were ALOT of antagonist that were random and unexplained. It wasn't a major problem, but more details or foreshadowing in the least could explain some of the major antagonists backstory.

I give B: The Beginning an Overall Score of - 7/10

Art and Design - 3/5
Definitley its biggest weakness. The character designs were awful, but it was redeemed by its beautiful background aesthetics and creature designs were awesome.

Plot - 4/5
The plot was straightforward, but full adventure and flashback stories is what captivates viewers the most. Especially episode 13.

Sound- 4/5
Simply some of the greatest soundtracks ever. Perfectly immerses the viewer in the world of Made In Abyss, with it's shifts between the beauty and the horror of "Made in Abyss"

Animation - 5/5
Even though character designs were hard to look at, the animation and fluidity of movement was always great. There was never a dull moment or staleness ... in the animation.

Characters - 5/5
Character's weakness and strengths are shown throughout the anime perfectly. Every character is unique in their own way and were never bland.

I give "Made in Abyss" an Overall Score of - 8.8/10