From Kyoto
Episode 9 of Chainsaw Man begins where we left off the strange woman and sworded gentleman (Katana Man) finishing off Himeno and wounding Hayakawa. Suddenly, Denji awakens as Chainsaw Man and fights Katana Man. It appears the woman and Katana Man are after Denji’s heart. Power has also fled the scene. Suddenly, more yakuza arrive to assist Katana Man. Denji grabs one of them and threatens to hurt them if Katana Man dares move 1mm. The sworded gentlemen slices Denji in half alongside his comrade. He grabs the handle on his head Katana Man asks his other comrade to prepare a car for him as he removes the sword from his chair and returns to normal. He remarks how Devil Hunters are like humans and can’t win against guns. We get a montage of all the dead Devil Hunters, including Makima. However, when the men who shot her plan to escape, Makima awakens from nowhere and ends their lives. Two public safety officials named Kurose and Tendo await at the subway and are astounded that Makima’s still alive. Makima informs them of what happened and lets them know the blood she’s covered in isn’t hers. She asks them to take care of their bodies as we see the crooks dead on the ground. After that dilemma, Makima tells Kurose and Tendo that she feels the enemy’s after Denji. She asks Kurose to borrow 30 convicts with life sentences or worse from the Ministry of Justice. As for Tendo, Makima asks he to locate the closest temple with the highest altitude and reserve it. She asks the two for some clean attire too. They arrive at a temple, and Makima dawns new clothes. Tendo informs Makima that the convicts are on their way. The convicts arrive at the temple which parallels a scene of Katana Man and his allies taking Denji to their car. One of the men startles the others as Katana Man informs them that he’ll be out of action. Suddenly, the man bursts like a bubble in front of his comrades, startling Katana Man and the woman. The woman contacts the other teams and asks them to report Makima’s body. One of the men says the Team required to murder Makima hasn’t responded back. This man also bursts and dies. Meanwhile, Makima is shown doing some yoga-like poses while the convicts, Tendo, and Kurose are blindfolded. Kurose asks why they’re wearing blindfolds, as Tendo explains they’re not allowed to see or know about Makima’s devil contracts. Makima asks a convict to say Shuzo Mishima, and he complies. As Makima performs hand gestures, one of Katana Man’s henchmen starts folding up and explodes. The man who said Shuzo’s name falls. Makima walks over to another convict and asks them to say Takashi Inoue. The same fate happens to another one of Katana Man’s comrades. Makima repeats the process as more convicts and henchmen perish. When she’s completed her routine, Makima tells Tendo and Kurose to take their blindfolds off. Makima says she needs to return to Tokyo since she can’t do anything else. Katana Man tells the woman that they must depart, but he freezes at the sight of Kobeni. We receive a flashback to Kobeni’s encounter with the yakuza elderly woman. It appears Kobeni survived the exchange as she asks the woman and Katana Man if they’re allies with the shooters. The woman summons her Snake Devil to attack Kobeni, but she dodges her assault. Kobeni cuts Katana Man’s hand off and grabs Denji. The woman and Katana Man flee the scene while Kobeni continues firing shots at their vehicle. Kobeni apologizes to Denji for attempting to kill him the other day. Kobeni recalls the events with the old yakuza woman and undergoes a mental breakdown. Kobeni plans to tell Himeno that she’ll be quitting because she can’t handle the job. Makima, Tendo, and Kurose meet another comrade named Madoka, who also survived his exchange with the yakuza. Madoka tells Makima that special divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4 were attacked. Everyone except for the non-humans are dead. Makima assumes the Gun Devil played a role in their assault since the criminals utilized guns. Madoka reports that Divisions 1, 2 and 3 will asorb into 4 and that the division will be under Makima’s command. Madoka hands Makima his resignation letter as he feels the Special Division feels like bad news. Before Makima departs, Madoka asks her how much of this incident did she anticipate. Makima says she can’t share that information with him and thanks him for his services. The episode concludes with Tendo and Kurose telling Makima that they won’t be joining her special division unit.
The Episode Review
This was a mind-blowing and action-centric episode of Chainsaw Man. It had some stellar fights and a fun plot twist. It also leaves room for speculating regarding Makima and Kobeni’s hidden abilities. While I expected Makima to remain alive from her skirmish with the yakuza, I wasn’t anticipating Kobeni to serve a substantial role in this chapter. Although seeing Kobeni perform flawlessly against a weakened Katana Man and his female comrade is shocking, she still retains some cowardly and mentally unstable characteristics. Katana Man’s comments about Kobeni’s monkey-like fighting style make me question if Kobeni settled a contract with a monkey devil. It’s something worth thinking about moving forward. On the flip side, Makima’s hidden ability left me in awe. Seeing Katana Man’s men and the prisoners fall one by one sent chills down my spine. Unlike Kobeni, we don’t receive any comments from other characters regarding her powers. Her ability is highly complex as we don’t know its fundamentals besides Makima needing someone to say the name of her target while performing hand gestures. If anything, this shows fans how terrifying and mysterious Makima is as a Devil Hunter. Overall, this was an exhilarating chapter of Chainsaw Man. It features phenomenal action and shocking revelations. It adds more mysteries concerning Chainsaw Man’s world and characters. Let’s hope it can continue this momentum moving forward.
