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RATING: 6/10

even after completion, i still don’t know if chainsaw man deserves the hype it’s currently receiving. there were certainly parts i enjoyed, others i was baffled by, more that i was rolling my eyes at. for all the talk about interesting characters, i only found two or three compelling enough to root for.

TLDR: the bad aspects of chainsaw man far outnumber the good, but the good aspects outWEIGH the bad. at least that seems to be the consensus, reading these reviews.

when i first started reading csm, i dropped it by chapter 6 because i was tired of denji’s inner monologue about boobs. eventually i ... picked it back up and pushed through to the end.

bad news: the haruki murakami levels of creepy objectification of women don’t get better until, like, chapter 70. i’d probably be willing to look past this aspect if only one or two girls used their sexuality in a quote-unquote “empowering” way, but its EVERY GIRL WE MEET, each of whom gets a total of ONE personality trait. it almost made me quit for a second time around chapter 42, but i decided to keep reading, even if it was to hate-read. the whole “offering a romantic or sexual act for a favor” schtick dies out eventually, but it still left a horrid taste in my mouth. the first half of chainsaw man is a mess. aside from the art, it’s close to garbage imho.

the real, gritty plot of chainsaw man kicks in around halfway through, and it doesn’t stop until the finish line. the latter half of csm is undoubtedly the main reason people rave about it. it’s filled with twists, lots of new characters, and, of course, gore. the art is great and consistent throughout. though the character design isn’t my personal favorite, the devils are visually engaging. i have a hard time following fight sequences in general, so i don’t know how much my opinion on them weighs: in chainsaw man, they’re at least detailed, never seem unfinished/sloppy, and fun to look at.

personally, the story leaves much to be desired. it feels like it’s meandering for the longest time. characters get into lots of fights, but those fights, and their consequences, rarely reveal anything of substance about them. the power system and power scaling aren’t explained all that well, and it was hard to grasp exactly how strong every character is. i barely understood the bare bones of denji’s motivation and was left extremely confused by the antagonist’s endgame by the end. the character moments in the second half were, imo, the strongest parts of manga, mainly because they involve the only characters you manage to form some sort of attachment to beyond “he’s annoying” or “she’s cool”. despite the presence of those moments, however, i was still left feeling like i didn’t know the characters enough.

in the end, the question is: do chainsaw man’s great art, handful of decent emotional story beats, and interesting final players trump its static characters, lack of moral axiom in the end, and portrayal of female characters comparable to MHA? if you’re willing to trudge through 50-60 chapters of the latter to get to the former, then go ahead and read chainsaw man. if not, don’t worry about being in on the hype train for this manga.

To me, Jujutsu Kaisen is a manga that takes a couple read-throughs to fully understand and enjoy. If you give it a chance—either read slowly or go back and reread each major arc—you'll find that it's not "just another shonen".

When I first read it, I sped through the arcs without taking the time to absorb the power system and character development. I understood the characters as only their most basic traits: Itadori is strong and compassionate, if a little block headed; Fushiguro is observant and reserved; Kugisaki is fierce and unapologetic. And while these things are all still true, it took 2 or 3 re-readings ... of Volume 7 to understand the depth of their characters. I wasn't very well-versed in reading action manga, either, so the fights were hard to follow, although visually they were amazing. Watching the anime definitely helped in imagining the physics of the fights.

I think JJK has subverted lots of shonen tropes, as well. The protagonist doesn't have a hollow philosophy of "I want to be strong/a hero!" Itadori is truly compassionate and takes the time to understand the ideologies of his allies *and* his enemies. Akutami really doesn't pull punches with discussing morality, ethics, and death, and that might go over first-time readers' heads. There's very little fanservice and romance, something I appreciate. The female cast is praised for being three-dimensional with actual personalities (if lacking a little depth—but I think at this point, most of the characters could use some more development and backstory). Oh, and the antagonists are so, so great.

Others have voiced their problems with the pacing of the manga, how it jumps from one conflict to another, with little breathing room to just *spend time* with the characters. I don't think Akutami rushes through the plot. I actually like the fact that every arc of the manga has real, tangible consequences on the future ones. However, I do wish that there was a bit more filler/fluff, simply because the cast is so likeable and unique, with tons of chemistry.

All in all, I believe JJK deserves all the praise and attention it's receiving. I can tell, from both canon material and the author's interviews, that we've only seen the tip of the iceberg with regard to the history and possibilities of the Jujutsu world. I highly recommend taking the time to read this manga!!