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A pair of youngsters experience a private, tender instant at the local high school’s open-air pool late at night. As they float together, hanging under the night sky in the quietness of the night, the scene portrays the ephemeral, heady thrill of adolescent love, completely caught up in the moment, consequences forgotten.

Approximately 30 minutes into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized such moments are the core of the movie. Denji and Reze’s love story took center stage, and every bit of contextual information and backstories I had gleaned from the series’ initial episodes turned out to be mostly unnecessary. Despite being a official entry within the series, Reze Arc provides a more accessible starting place for first-time viewers — even if they missed its prior content. The approach brings advantages, but it simultaneously limits a portion of the urgency of the movie’s narrative.

Developed by the original creator, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a debt-ridden fiend fighter in a world where demons represent particular evils (ranging from concepts like getting older and obscurity to terrifying entities like cockroaches or World War II). After being deceived and murdered by the criminal syndicate, Denji makes a pact with his faithful devil-dog, his pet, and comes back from the deceased as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the power to completely destroy fiends and the horrors they represent from reality.

Plunged into a brutal conflict between devils and hunters, Denji meets a new character — a charming coffee server concealing a deadly secret — igniting a tragic clash between the two where love and survival intersect. This film picks up immediately following the first season, exploring Denji’s relationship with his love interest as he grapples with his emotions for her and his loyalty to his controlling boss, his employer, forcing him to decide among desire, faithfulness, and survival.

An Independent Love Story Amidst a Broader Universe

Reze Arc is inherently a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our fallible main character the hero falling for Reze right away upon meeting. He’s a isolated young man seeking love, which makes his heart vulnerable and easily swayed on a first-come, first-served. As a result, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s complex lore and its large ensemble, Reze Arc is highly self-contained. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara understands this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than bogging it down with unnecessary summaries for the uninitiated, particularly since none of that really matters to the overall storyline.

Despite Denji’s flaws, it’s hard not to feel for him. He’s still a adolescent, fumbling his way through a reality that’s warped his sense of morality. His desperate longing for affection portrays him like a lovesick dog, although he’s prone to growling, biting, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a perfect match for Denji, an compelling seductive antagonist who targets her mark in our hero. Viewers hope to see Denji earn the affection of his affection, even if she is obviously hiding something from him. Thus when her real identity is revealed, you still can’t help but wish they’ll somehow make it work, although internally, it is known a positive outcome is never really in the plan. As such, the stakes fail to seem as intense as they ought to be since their romance is fated. It doesn’t help that the movie acts as a direct sequel to the first season, allowing little room for a romance like this among the more grim developments that fans know are coming soon.

Breathtaking Animation and Artistic Execution

This movie’s visuals seamlessly blend 2D animation with computer-generated settings, delivering impressive eye candy prior to the action kicks in. From vehicles to tiny desk fans, 3D models add depth and detail to each scene, making the 2D characters pop strikingly. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently highlights its 3D assets and changing backgrounds, Reze Arc uses them more sparingly, most noticeably during its explosive finale, where such elements, though not unappealing, become easier to spot. These fluid, dynamic backgrounds render the film’s battles both spectacular to watch and surprisingly easy to understand. Nonetheless, the technique shines brightest when it’s invisible, improving the dynamic range and motion of the 2D animation.

Final Thoughts and Broader Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc functions as a good starting place, likely leaving first-time audiences satisfied, but it also has a drawback. Presenting a self-contained narrative limits the tension of what should feel like a expansive anime epic. This is an illustration of why continuing a popular anime season with a movie is not the optimal strategy if it undermines the franchise’s overall narrative possibilities.

Whereas Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by tying up multiple seasons of animated series with an epic film, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the issue completely by serving as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, perhaps a bit recklessly. But that doesn’t stop the film from proving to be a great experience, a terrific introduction, and a unforgettable romantic tale.