I'm an idiot and just realized I can just use the comments for sources. Whenever I delve into important social topics, I'd like to make it standard procedure for sources to be present in case people want to dig a little deeper. I feel like it should be more of a standard for important real world topics, so expect them if a video of this nature ever comes back!! Sources: Nuance: medium.com/new-writers-welcome/measuring-nuance-ea772988f4f0 Housing Crisis: wolfstreet.com/2019/07/12/changes-in-house-prices-rents-and-household-incomes-since-1960-in-the-us-by-region-and-major-metro/ Average American Debt: www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-score/average-american-debt Male Loneliness: melindawmoyer.substack.com/p/the-epidemic-of-male-loneliness Pop Culture Detective: th-cam.com/video/uc6QxD2_yQw/w-d-xo.html JOIN OUR DISCORD!: discord.gg/dHMwsMWs
It irritates me to absolutely no end that my parents just don't seem to get that their kids generation is so fucked. to keep a house, no a simple apartment you need 3 to more roommates. Back then you could afford so much more. Now? It's gonna get so much worse, I try to stay positive. But fuck me it's hard.
the dream denji actually has isnt survival tho. thats his surface level. he accepts the bare minimum, but in reality his dream is connection with other people. his happiness comes from his "found family" in power and aki, and later in part 2 from caring for nayuta. the fact that denji is content with the bare minimum is relatable for everyone younger than gen X but his actual dream and desire is even more so for the target audience which is anime fans, which has a large amount of people feeling like they lack emotional connections. both romantic and in deeply intimate friendships.
@@Michealmewersthat's what ambitions are for, to strive for the better, self loathing, and it might sound cliché from my part, but self loathing takes you nowhere, you need to plan ahead and adapt to the life you are living, you think back then had it easy? They too had their own struggles we dont know of, for instance there were a lot more uneducated back then because no one had easy access to info like us, so when they faced problems that require a bit of intellect they would fuck up, i.e: facing practical problems that require professional help that was hard to get, people also back then had to live up and fullfil their social duties and in some ways gender roles, women were forced to stay locked up in houses and men working their way to grave at some bug souless corporation, and that's just talking about gen x and boomers let alone the kind of hardship older generations faced like wars, plagues and so on and so forth, so instead of loathing appreciate what's good in your life and strive to work yoyr way out of what's bad in it, stay strong brother
One time i heard someone say "instead of being a shallow character disguised as a deep one, denji is a deep character disguised as a shallow one" and i couldn't agree more
I don't think he seems shallow tho, it's just that people don't know how to interpret a story and read between the lines when the author doesn't shove the meaning in their faces. They don't have media literacy. Also, people who have no interest in understanding feelings and traumas (which they themselves may possess) outside their bubbles will always project onto characters.
@@mobaobae I disagree. Interpretation of characters and reading between the lines are subjective and often speculative of what a character wants and who they are, which results in conjectures that are baseless; people have media literacy but they often have to work with what they have seen instead of ironically as you say projecting their interpretations and readings from the character’s words and actions; it’s up to the author to reveal or confirm that, otherwise the author would just validate their own shortcomings by saying “yeah that’s exactly what I intended when I wrote that.”, just as the author can deny and say the opposite, that the fan interpretation was wrong and dismiss them as merely fan theories. So let’s not dismiss the general public’s perspective and view of Denji, as everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interpretations.
Denji is one of the few protagonists whom I truly felt sorry and pity for. No matter how strong he became as a devil, his actual life was always on a slow slide down. It's like watching someone win Olympic gold only to then go back home to a dump and sell his medal just to afford food.
only a great story can characterise the misunderstanding reader in-universe as an obstacle to be faced. they have taken the issue of the general public memeing on a character because they don't understand the nuance, and let the main character take them on without breaking lore
Hes a unorthodox character that isnt easily understood at first glance. The fact hes not a generic character trope and thus not easy to relate to it makes sense that he doesnt have the biggest following in the fandom
I think fan writters understand that he is a tragic character, if you take him outside his misery he becomes another character. So he doesn't get any deeper than that, in my opinion: he's just too young and disadvantaged to be anything else.
I love Denji Dennis Chainsaw. Not because he's the haha boob guy, but because we share the same dirty, worn-out shoes. I hope he will eventually experience true love again.
If I were to describe Denji to someone "he's the pinnacle of a person going from -1 to 0 but in the best way possible" may elaborate depending on their response
@@Aniware he was below human living conditions, no family or friends to call his own, no school, barely scraping by and being completely inept at everything besides killing (even then he needed training) he wasn't living, it was a -1 existence. By the end of Part 1 he managed to reach basic personhood having a roof over his head, a sister, a school, meals to eat each day and he wasn't at risk of dying everyday, a life at 0. He had the bare BARE necessities of life and this is after being groomed and repeatedly assaulted without having the time to truly process any of it, hell he still hasn't gotten over killing his Dad since he was a child. He has so much inside him that he doesn't understand and can't process leading to the rage of the recent chapters after losing everything again going back to -1
If a man was a victim to a woman who happened to be attractive, you'll have a sworm of ppl saying "he's lucky" or "wish that were me" and the fact that denji is a male victim who gets a lot of hate or is often laughed at for his situation is extremely accurate to how the internet views real male victims
That's how a lot of the internet views people, they either don’t care about them or, worse, think they deserve the pain and experiences they're going through. And they find it entertaining for the shit they go through, and find it even more funny when those people feel hurt or angry after being made fun of for their issues.
As a person who has experienced genuine poverty in my life, Denji was so deeply relatable in his desires, and in what he considered impossible is to many just the normalcy they lived in, and honestly people's reaction to his "lack of ambition", and his desires and struggles fills me with great grief and rage. It's the same sick laughter people who don't know real poverty get when they view the homeless, the people who live in ghettos, and many other groups who can barely afford to live, much less dream. Thank you for covering this, I haven't seen someone point this out and it honestly made my night. You've got a new subscriber in me, can't wait to see what you come up with next. :)
Thanks you so much! Denji is really such an amazing character. So many people hate on him without getting in his shoes, and its really a bummer. I'm glad I was able to help give some justice to our boy. 😤
Thank you, as someone who also experienced that kind of criticism it feels refreshing to read. I'd like to dream "big" but for now all I really want is for the current situation to get better
I concur. I too have lived a life where everything around me has fallen apart as harshly as it possibly could due to circumstances beyond my control. That first quote 'When you are not fed love on a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives' hits like a truck. Apparently I understand Denji on a completely different level than most of the internet because in no world did i see him as a shallow character. The first episode had me in tears because of how relatable it was. It's actually shocking to me to hear how many people thought him a meme. I thought more people would relate with how many people are depressed these days. I don't normally ever talk about how tough life has been with people....and i'm not looking for sympathy when i write this....I'm just astonished so many laugh at him just wanting to be with a girl....or to enjoy bread with peanut butter on it. I take it personally if people talk poorly on this show and on Denjis character. @beyondmediaanalysis1 Thank you for trying to unravel the depth behind his character to those that don't understand it.
@@InvertedInsight yea the problem is that the people who don’t understand denji are people like Aki before ever actually meeting denji. My friends all have the wrong impression of denji, they think he’s meant to be a throwaway without ambition or any real goals and that hurt me because I saw myself in denji when I first read it. Then when the anime got announced I was aesthetic and asked some of my friends to read the manga the couldn’t see how deep of a character/story chainsaw man is…
The emptiness of part 2 is such an incredible reflection of how close Denji was to being happy. He’s left with nothing but the symbol of his abuse and the burden of raising his greatest abusers legacy. Continuously facing the same pain and abuse but this time he’s just trying to give up instead of fighting to achieve anything he’s just so desperate to not have life suck. As a man whose life so deeply reflects his, I’ve been close to homeless living in an RV with my six siblings, and been subject to some other circumstances I won’t elaborate on, reading each chapter kinda just hurts at this point. I need to see this story through to the end because it’s so incredible but I’m also scared of the ending that Denji will face, or if he’ll even still be a person to face it.
I'm glad there's people who understand that this is all intentional, part 2 is intentionally melancholic and empty feeling because that's literally how Denji and the world feel
I actually hate it when people say that if you need to look deeper at a character it's bad. What you need me to chew your steak for you as well? Sometime the best things will need you to put some work in as all I'm saying
To be honest that's how I feel it is with the jjk characters like people are not even trying and are expecting to be spoon fed everything by the author I am so tired seeing people saying Gege can't write or specifically cant write characters just bc they have reading incomprehension
You're analysis of Denji just wanting love and changing the panel was just perfect. The heart of chainsaw man is beneath many layers that I think a lot of people ignore or just don't see. But when you see it you really understand and love the show.
Agreed! Especially because when I see that panel, I feel like the best way to describe him is "he never had enough to know what he wants to have now", so this interpretation feels spot on
Denji's entire life could be the backstory of a villain, but he isn't. Throughout his whole life he never changes who he is. He never lets anger, malice or entitlement change or control him. Sure he loses his temper or self restraint a few times, but the point is that he lives out his life hoping for a better one tomorrow. He has this hope that is inextinguishable. For that reason, I deem Denji one of the strongest characters in manga. Not in the physical, but in the spirit.
you're saying that as if he is heroic though, very early in the series he admitted that he's on the side on whoever takes care of him the most, which means if devils were sentient and wealthier he would join them. at least earlier on he would.
@@thephoenix4093 And yet he didn't. A character that wrestles with temptation and doesn't give in is far more admirable than one who isn't tempted whatsoever. (that trait reeks of Mary Sue)
@@kagekun1198 brother he didnt just "wrestle" with temptation. he gave in to it. like several times. I know he was doing the bidding of the literal control devil but he would've done that shit if hes promised sex or whatever have you like he has in part 2. Those who are initially pure hearted at birth can easily be enveloped into doing horrible things.
It genuinely hurts how people see Denji because his desires are just so very human and yet at every turn he is met with people who want to exploit and use him. Any time he gets people who care for him, they’re ripped away from him, leaving him more empty and broken than before. Denji is a dog trying to become human in a world that only sees him as a dog.
Spoiler warning if you haven't read the manga: . . . . . . . . . . They took everything from Denji man... Power, Aki and even Nayuta. Now everytime we see him he just looks tired, depressed and just so fucking done with everything. I really wish he would have a happy ending finally but knowing Fujimoto, maybe it wouldn't happen.
One scene that was particularly good representation of the abuse denji faces is just the aftermath of the infamous kiss scene. His sentiment afterwards when asking makima if “when ever I kiss another girl again, will it always just taste like puke” is such a heart breaking and real way of putting it. As someone who has suffered from that abuse I had the same sentiment about physical activities like “if I ever kissed a girl again, would they all feel that bad” but it’s hidden underneath yet another joke with the fact he mentioned the puke and that it was the puke which upset him and not him realising he’d been taking advantage of, and in this scene he had just told everyone there he was 16 and none of them cared and in fact they looked happy for him until she puked in his mouth. I just love this series so much so thank you for this video, not enough people really get denjis character
Up until that point I wanted him to "score" to put it crudely. To experience a relatively normal and innocent thing, often pleasurable or fun. Then it said he was 16, and I fully grasped how dark this show was, hidden under the guise of jokes and chaos.
His whole thing with Himeno was honestly interesting to me when I had my eyes opened a bit more, because I was kind of rooting for Denji when that was starting out, because I knew something about Makima just felt...wrong and assumed that by contrast, she'd probably be fine, right? But then I thought about it and realized their interactions weren't really much healthier, she was just less actively malicious, and moreso just seemed to not really care
I’m a person who’s survived a manipulative and emotionally abusive partner. I’ve always related to denji because I went through the same things, his innocent approach to intamacy, being taught by someone far more experienced with ulterior motives, being left with the remnants of that pain and having it effect future relationships. I’m glad that someone finally made a video exploring denji through how I see him. He just like me fr Edit: I hope everyone that went through anything similar gets better, and I promise that if you just try to move past it it does get better
I never hated or saw Denji as creepy, I thought Makima was the creep in this show. She used the weaknesses of a less fortunate underaged boy so that he'd work for her. She groomed him and used him, as did most of the women in the show. I loved Denji. He's arguably the most relatable character in the show. He's just a teenager, who wants to be loved, and to feel wanted. That's what most teenagers want, but we mask it with humor, and ignorance.
When I was reading and watching Chainsaw Man, I was jobless. I was basically living off the charity and goodwill of others. Just getting my dinner for the night was a big enough dream for me. I'm still working to recover from that situation. I love Denji. He's just like me.
Im so glad people are finally appreciating Denji for being relatable. He is a character that underservingly experiences many hardships and struggles to have even a normal life. But that never stops him from trying. It’s inspiring and gives us hope that we too can lead good lives if we keep trying and never give up, no matter how low we sink
Denji holds such a special place in my heart. I feel like Fuji somehow took my inner child and made it his main character. As someone who’s grown up under a dictatorship, I have the same aspirations as him. Having a safe home, not being hungry, and having someone to love and be loved by, are things that some of us are far removed from, sadly. To the point of Denji’s victimhood, being a victim of SA as a woman is hard enough with the questions and accusations in defence of the aggressor, but male victims usually get downright gaslit into thinking they should be grateful for the abuse. Not letting him experience and understand his true feelings about the situation is just another way to rob him of his autonomy, a pile of reasons that at this point is large enough to cast a shadow on mt Everest.
I absolutely love that this whole video just has your voice, just talking. No background music, no interruptions. Just you talking over complete silence. I do not even remember when I last watched a video so deep, meaningful and pure. I felt so pulled in into your world while watching the video. I was left speechless.
@@mart4640 thank you so much!! I actually pushed for background music in the initial draft but my brother (who edits the videos) hit me with pushback saying no music made the video’s topic more engaging. I think he hit the nail on the head with that one! Thanks again for watching!!
As someone with autism and other conditions, I can relate on wanting something…and not getting it. It’s like I lack the understanding of humanity, that everyone has. I’ve related to Denji for a few months now. Not because he’s flashy like other characters which are nice and fun, but because it’s finally something I can relate to. At times, a parallel. His lack of social skills or simple joys people overlook are relatable to me. To find something that won’t make me feel sick, to eat it, is nice and hard to come by. To find some sense of love from a person, because most cues for love I miss, is relatable. Or the trauma I had gone through and how Denji has been through similar or the same. Wondering how to connect with people constantly, and feeling isolated when I don’t feel that connection, is something I haven’t seen in other stories. My hope is that things will get better, like Denji’s, aren’t in total vain. Same for everyone else too. Luckily my life is getting a bit better, and like him, I’ve gained a few friends, and I’m finding more joys in life, despite the ongoing hardship. You described him perfectly and I thank you for that.
when your understanding of love is so innocent and new, people with dark motives seem to delight in toying with you. i had many, MANY awful experiences before I'd even consider my virginity lost, and the two relationships I did have (count em: TWO!) were far from healthy, with one of them being so unbelievably toxic that I haven't mentioned them outside this comment (i can't even believe I was in that situation, it sounds like something that would happen to someone else). I still crave even a single look from the other one, from the one person who actually tried to have a relationship with me, and people in my life are constantly telling me how awful they were, and I despise them for it, for talking such trash on the one good thing I ever had. and yet, I probably was naiive, I probably didn't have it as picturesque as I thought, why, I've never even been in a monogamous relationship! I'm fucking 20! how are you supposed to find yourself, if nobody wants to take the steps to create the safe spaces you're supposed to seek out?😔
@@autumn948this is so true i’m also naive and don’t really pick up on some things and bcs of that have also found myself in dodgy situations i didn’t realise were that bad at the time.
@@autumn948 @NigGaara I’m sorry bad things have happened to you too. I have IDD as well and a lot of other medical issues, so I’m disabled child. Hopefully you guys find comfort in this, in that I hope you guys are well too. As a friend, I hope you feel better knowing that someone sees you, shares your pain, and wishes the best for you too. Glad our liking of Denji is helping us through the hardship. thanks for helping keep feel less lonely, I hoped I helped you feel the same. Just know this comment section is a safe space. :)
the reason why i like denji the most is how everyone is treating his ambitions both in and out of universe. men are often expected to have grand ambitions, bring the world to their knees, mold and shape reality to their image, and be the best in the field they chose. so when aki, leech devil as well as readers of csm see what denji wants, they instnatly look down on them, think "ha i have a better dream, i am better than him", they just dont understnad that the reason some men dont have grand ambition is not becuase theyre not "real men" but becuase theyre either humble, too uncertain of the future to dream big, or in the case of denji, too broken down to expect more than what some people consider normal (a lot like the final furuta monologue from tokyo ghoul:re, where he admits his biggest dream was to have a normal life). and just because someons goals arent grand, doesnt mean they have the determination to fight for them (look at yoshikage kira). thats why i can say: omg denji is just like me fr fr!!!
What's funny is that most people with grand ambitions never achieve what they set out to do in the first place. Better to be realistic than delusional.
i love denji so much and every time someone slanders him or misunderstands him or simplifies him i get pissed because i love him so much i will always defend him because hes an amazingly written character and i also wanna give him a hug and a hamburger and fries and a warm bed and a family that doesnt die
@@BeyondMediaAnalysis1 yeah. its what makes her a genuinely frightening and intriguing antagonist for me. i havent read the manga, only saw the anime- but from what i hear she doesnt become an all out villain either until very late into the story, but always remains an antagonist, which isnt quite the same thing, but still can have similar effects.
Damn the TH-cam algorithm has finally figured out that I want passionate analysis from small creators over churned out bullshit from larger ones. Amazing video, I was genuinely surprised by how small this channel is because the way you cover this topic was perfect.
One panel I love in CSM is a chapter where denji is unconscious and talking to either pochita or just dreaming of him, he’s telling pochita about how he finally achieved their dream and how great it is and pochita express his happiness for him before hitting him with the most gut punching response, “What will you dream of next?” And denji is honestly taken back and unsure how to respond
I always knew Denji was emotionally stunted w him having no one to comfort him besides Pochita but I never thought of him being so stunted he didn’t even know exactly what he wanted it makes perfect sense w how even though power and him share a bath/shower together he isn’t sexually aroused. Great video opened my eyes.
Denji wants to be normal but he's had such a fucked up time of it that he has literally no clue where normal even starts, so he's just gotta try and guess.
@@entropy11 100% he probably didn’t have any human connection besides the yakuza old guy since his dad died, the only people he’s ever trusted have died.
Denji is my all time favorite anime character. One of my favorite things about him. Is that even though he has a tragic life. He is free of the burden of material things and attatchment to materialism. I admire that he has that freedom. Also, Denji has compassion for others. When he's fighting the Katana devil, Denji makes sure people get out of the way. He goes out of his way to protect a woman and her child during the fight.
fujimoto himself said that he made denji after observing the current generation(gen z), they don't want a high paying job, most of us only want a mediocre life with average money in a quiet place away from the city, this is also mentioned various times in the manga about whether you wanna be a countery mouse or a town mouse
Also what I'd like to mention is how Denji most likely grew up surrounded by abusive men only (the Yakuza), which led him to the point where he started to idealise women.. All that for a bunch of them to take advantage of him later in the series aswell. It's really sad honestly.. Great video btw, enjoyed every sec of it!
This is amazing... I study film and scriptwriting and one of my teachers used the first chapter of Chainsaw Man and Denji to teach us about objetives and motivations in a character, this video was like that ;)
Ngl this dudes voice is so calming, and he broke chainsaw man down so well, I thought I was like the only one who seen denji as a depressed broken teen
I think he has a drive like every other MC his is just realistic to his situation. Other MCs would've wanted revenge on the Dad, be the richest guy, kill all the demons or outpower his employer but Denji who started of as a kid deprived of basic needs and a chance at a childhood/education, he just wanted a girlfriend and good food, I thought that was a good dream to have for someone at the beginning couldn't dream to have anything.
This was great! I need that Maki video I do remember people were upset about Denji being SA by Himeno. I remember a TH-camr made me feel bad for her but in the back of my mind I still felt ill about her doing that too him.
I related to Denji right away. I remember watching Jujutsu Kaisen and feeling bored by shounen tropes. But chainsaw man. From the beginning I related to Denji's helplessness, hopeless life and very simple desires. It mirrored my working class self, middle class always just out of reach due to inflation etc, and hopelessness I felt. I understood that immediately.
I've always felt like I saw myself in Denji more than any other shounen protagonist, Denji is someone who doesn't have deep aspirations or big goals to strive for, he's happy to just settle for the mundane things in life. Denji represents a generation that are lost in today's crazy world, like they were born into a world on fire and falling apart and instead of striving to be the best at what they love, they just want something simple. In a chaotic world that feels like it's been on a downward spiral since you were growing up, Denji represents a lost generation who's had to deal with the world left behind by the older generation and they can't handle it. As someone who’s 21, who graduated high school right at the peak of covid and dealing with adulthood despite the fact that I still feel like I’m 18, Denji is kinda a comfort character strangely enough.
On the topic of male SA I'm glad more people are realizing how actually bad it is and talking about it more. As a mom with sons and a daughter I dont want either of them to go through that.
Thank you for make this video, I love Denji, he´s my favorite character not only in the csm manga but in manga in general, he´s just so beautifully and amazingly written and it just sucks how people can't see that and how much mischaracterization, hate and laughts of his situation he gets by people in the internet, so it's good to see someone give him some respect, still i'll defend him (and love him) till my dying days :)
11:11 i think its so smart that they cover it up like this because denji doesnt understand what this pain is so they make sure he audience at surface level wont understand it and will ignore it rather than deeply looking at it
Seeing video's like this always make me happy, the amount of people shitting on denji because they don't understand him or just don't care to understand him is sad, but some people really do how to read characters, and understand writing, Denji is my favorite character...litteraly ever, this was great, I'll happily give you sub, you deserve waay more
Wow. I was one of the people who brushed aside Denji and Chainsaw man as a whole as I didn't understand the character depth and wrote it off as fan service and Denji just being horny. This made me actually understand the story and what the author was attempting to convey. This is the best character analysis of Denji I've ever watched and genuinely changed my entire perspective on him and the show as a whole. Keep at it.
This is the best breakdown of Denji's character I've seen. There was a lot of work that went into this video. I appreciate it. I also feel like Denji is a very relatable character, not quite for the reason people meme it, but more to do with the simplicity and simultaneous complexity of his motivations. He's just a confused kid trying to find some meaning and happiness in life, and I feel that.
On the topic of male sexual assault victims; I am one and can say that society, especially women, view us as weak and never as the actual victims. When I came out about my trauma online, as I was too afraid to IRL, I was met with nothing but hatred and vitriol from mostly women. I was called weak, I was told I was the abuser, that I "couldn't be a victim" because I was male, that my problems weren't real, etc. even though my abuser was a much older female, and I was only a 5-8 year old boy. It truly enraged and upset me, and seeing the same attitude regarding the blatant SA of Denji just disgusts me. Humanity should be better than this.
I'm copying over an analysis I made about Denji, and CSM in general, because I think it ties into a lot of the observations made here, and I wholeheartedly agree with the video in regards to Denji's character, I think Denji is actually a really well written victim... and even before public service gets its hands on him, his trauma is quietly creeping in, and building up subtly, based on the things he has to simply accept or endure. and that's part of why he reacts the way he does to his later circumstances. Denji's trauma begins with his father's self inflicted death, leaving young Denji with a massive amount of debt to the yakuza, which he must find some way to pay off. at this point, Denji learns a couple of things from his circumstances: one is that without any money, he is incredibly vulnerable. and the other is that on his own, as a child with no resources, people see him as totally worthless. this affects Denji's psychology in myriad ways. but the biggest way it affects him, is that it eventually desensitizes him. Denji lives in a constant low grade state of fear. he doesn't know if he'll be able to afford his next meal, he doesn't have a reliable place to sleep, or bathe, and he doesn't know if he'll be able to pay the expenses if he needs medical attention. anything could harm him at any time, and in order to make money, he takes up the task of hunting devils, which constantly places him in harm's way. and nobody cares, or thinks it's wrong, or stops him. instead, he is told that even this isn't enough. his exploitation runs so deep that he's even sold pieces of his own body. and he's still very young. Denji is not only taught to see this treatment as mundane, and the norm for him, but he's also taught that his greatest value is achieved when he's in danger, or being torn apart. and eventually, fear ceases to matter to him anymore. he's felt too much of it, too often, to the point where he's used to it. on a personality level, this actually makes Denji very naive... he's been so mistreated that any little thing could be counted as the best thing that's ever happened to him. that shonen protag optimism reads very differently, and a lot more genuine, when it's coming from him. as does the fact that he's constantly food motivated, or kind of stupid. these could be seen as normal shonen protag traits, but Denji is like that because he's been starved before, and his education has been neglected. and in a twisted way, this essentially becomes his super power. in the world of Chainsaw Man, devils are empowered by the fear that humans feel toward them. on a broad scale, a devil is powerful in proportion to how much their base concept is feared by the masses... but even on an individual level, if a devil hunter is fighting a devil that they're afraid of, their fear in the moment can empower their opponent. Denji doesn't have to worry about that though. fear barely means anything to him anymore... he hardly even feels it. but Denji's desensitization to fear also desensitizes him to love. how can you say you love something if you aren't afraid of losing it? Denji was taught that he could never keep anything he had... it was all forfeit as soon as he possessed it, because his debt was constantly siphoning off all of his earnings. Denji grew up with the expectation that anything good enough to want was something he'd never get to keep. and once everything was stripped away from him... Denji, on his own, was worthless. so not only can he not access his own feelings of love toward others... he can't identify what it would truly look like if someone was expressing real love toward him. it makes sense that Denji wouldn't know something he was never taught. instead, in Denji's mind, nobody would ever sincerely love him without some sort of transactional element, to actually make it worth their while. and in terms of power scaling, or magic systems, this becomes much more grounded in actual reality. the things that buff or nerf Denji are just emotional responses to his environment, and other people. he may be a strong fighter, but he's disempowered in other ways. for example, Denji's desensitization to fear actually leaves him vulnerable in situations where fear would be warranted, but he can't feel it. Denji is used to being exploited... he grew up with that as his normal. and you can see it in the way he relates to Makima. when Makima offers him intimacy, Denji is interested because he doesn't know enough to realize that her interest in him is abnormal or alarming. and when she asks him to kill the gun devil as the condition for receiving this "reward" from her, he doesn't see the flaw. if Makima really cared for him, she'd want to keep him out of danger, not put him into it. but Denji is used to thinking that he's only as valuable as the amount of danger he can survive putting himself into. and besides... Makima will give him food and housing. she'll give him compensation for doing dangerous work, rather than bleeding him dry of every cent he earns. to Denji, that's a step up. but you can tell that this is a strategy of Makima's, and not just some author excuse to put Denji into an imbalanced power dynamic with her, because Denji isn't the only character we see being exploited in this way. let's talk about Kobeni. Kobeni comes from a poor family and, much like Denji, she was at one point offered the choice between sex work or devil hunting, as a way to make ends meet. Kobeni is terrified of living in poverty, and/or allowing her siblings to languish in poverty, and she actively chose not to do sex work... so we can assume she feels the least fear at the idea of hunting devils, out of those three options. but she is still terrified of devil hunting. and Makima knows. public service knows. devils are empowered by fear, and Kobeni is constantly put into situations that traumatize her, over and over again, especially because her surprisingly high level of combat efficiency keeps her alive, while everyone around her always dies... and they know. but, see... Makima, and public service in general, aren't concerned with the eradication of fear. they are concerned with the creation of desperation. it benefits them to create and maintain a population of people, with few resources, who are desperate to escape the terrors of poverty. with the right monetary incentive, these desperate people can be made to do just about anything. eat a cigarette, sell your body parts, throw yourself headlong into dangerous combat situations... kill the gun devil. what won't they do, for this mediocre pay incentive? their standards have been so eroded that this not only seems normal to them, but it actually seems like such a good deal that they find it difficult to leave. they'll get paid if they can endure... and for someone like Denji, he's endured worse. or what about Himeno? she is trapped, not by her desperation for pay, but by her desperation to protect Aki. and here, we see a whole different set of unhealthy coping mechanisms. Himeno soothes her anxieties about Aki's safety, via denial and consumption. people smoke to alleviate stress, and drink to forget. Himeno smokes constantly, she eats and drinks til she's sick when she goes out with her coworkers, and she frequently hooks up with people for casual sex. but, very importantly: sex can be flippant with someone she doesn't care about. she has to be much more careful with someone who could break her heart. so she holds Aki at a distance. she knows that if anything goes wrong with him, it'll hurt her the worst. meanwhile, she cares so little about Denji, that she sees him as an opportunity. if Denji really can kill the gun devil, then Aki might not have to die in the pursuit of revenge. she'd prefer to see Denji take up this task, so that Aki won't have to do it, and she won't have to worry. it all seems very selfish... and it is. but it's all because Himeno is so scared for Aki that it's just about all she can take. she keeps trying to shield herself from the pain, and uses consumption as a method of comfort, and it's all because she isn't desensitized the way Denji is. she knows she loves Aki, because she's terrified of losing him. and that fear is what keeps her with public service. she wants to quit, but Aki won't leave. so she stays too. and eventually, it kills her. Makima knows what she's doing to these people. she understands what keeps them trapped... what makes them desperate. and she can come off as kind by pretending to offer them the means to get what they want the most... all while never actually intending to deliver in a way that matters. and the icing on the cake is that, when Makima goes to talk to the yakuza... their boss says that the yakuza are a necessary evil. via fear, they suppress other criminal activity. and then Makima pulls out her bag of eyes, and one ups them in terms of fear tactics. and this conveys a strikingly clear message: when it comes to fear, Makima is the top dog.
small addition: I also love that scene in the hospital, directly after Himeno's death. Denji goes back to the room after he and Power leave, and catches Aki crying. it's the thing Himeno wanted... someone to cry for her after her death. she valued this so highly that she gave her life willingly, just to protect Aki. and Denji realizes that he can't do that. he's lost his ability to access that level of emotional response. or rather, it was taken from him, just like every other valuable thing he ever had. it creates this wonderful tension, because on the one hand, Denji lost something really important. but via someone like Aki, who still has this, Denji might be able to get it back. and yet, Aki is only a couple years away from death, based on his curse. if Denji starts caring soon enough, this will hurt him... but he also might achieve the ability to do this very important thing for Aki when the time comes. then again, the fact that he can't currently feel a thing is his one and only advantage. he literally cannot afford to feel again yet... he's still disempowered, and threatened in too many ways. Makima still has him in too much of a chokehold... Makima is only becoming more and more sinister, to the point where even Kishibe calls her out, despite his earlier insistence that Himeno felt too much, and Power and Denji are right to not give a shit about anything. as dangerous as it is, someone has to start caring if this sick status quo is going to change. and then to top it all off, Denji comes into this knowledge after eating an apple from Aki's bedside... Chainsaw Man is no stranger to biblical references, and apples are potent symbolism. the fruit of knowledge, the original sin, a sign of disobedience, something that gives agency, and a sense of completeness, but at the same time it takes away comfort and ease. ignorance is bliss. weren't we happier before we knew? this is the very conundrum that Denji is set up to grapple with.
@@IDKLOL-qj7slhave you read up to the part where denji first cried? my eyes well up just thinking about it... i have no words for how much i love this whole story.
@@larsswig912 I actually haven't read very far in the manga at all... I'm planning on getting to it soon, I've just had a lot of other stuff on my plate. ^^; I will say, I am really happy to hear that the story is going to land in a fulfilling way like that, it makes me excited to read it!
10:22 - 10:52 (Everything about the "I wanna touch some boobs" analysis) 19:19 - 19:46 It's lines like these that make me connect with characters like Denji. Someone who doesn't understand why their having these feelings and somehow getting the wrong end of those feelings. For reference, I'm someone who can't feel romantic love but craves intimacy. The world doesn't know what to do with people like us, and that makes us doubt ourselves and our feelings. We can't communicate what we want because we can't process the reason why we want.
You sounds like an aro. Excuse me but do you happen to lacking of libido or lust? I'm not saying like completely but rather rarely to never sexually attracted to someone in terms of like frequency
This whole topic is super complicated, but i hope aromantic people can get accepted just as much as asexual or any other kind of people. There are not a lot of resources for aro people yet, but with time and research there might be new ways to understand each other and oneself. Just like there used to be almost no guides for adhd in adults, but thanks to a collective effort social media has spread tips and tricks for living with a lot of different kinds of neurodivergence. Maybe with time aromantic people will have the same acceptance from others and tipps from each other. Sometimes the internet is usefull ^^
Denji is literally what happens when somebody has had none of their basic needs satisfied into near adulthood. He will do anything to survive and if anybody offers him anything more than that, he will dance for them. An easily manipulated perpetual victim who lacks the resources to even consider the concept of pride and self worth. The negative reaction to his personality(or lack thereof) is exactly why Denji is a highly realistic character. Nobody can relate to a survivalist, except another survivalist. They will inevitably be abandoned by people who view them as lesser than, it happens all the time. The only people who associate with him long term are either: reluctant(Aki), also enslaved to their basic needs (Power), or want to use him for something (Makima and Himeno). He is a real person, stuck trying not to die in a fictional world.
I didn’t know if i should see the show, heard a lot of weird stuff about the manga, but in the end i said fuck it and entered into this world, its so lacking of empathy, lacking in love, every one loses everything, and Denji someone who had nothing, gains something just to lose it, again, and again, and again, and again again again and again…I relate to Denji because when I reached my small life dreams I was left empty, feeling “Is this it?…was I happier chasing stuff than getting it? What now….where do I even go?” Feelings of being rejected as a person, of being always ignored and trying to just be happy despite everything
“If you have to look deeper into a character, then they’re poorly written” naw you just have shitty media literacy! Thank you for this video of GOOD media literacy, you really put Denji’s struggle into perspective!
I wanna say thank you to everyone who's made videos like this about Denji, I really hope it helps people realise there's more to him. I can't believe there are people on Part 2 of the manga still seeing it like that. So yeah, thank you!
However, it seems that Yoru is also affected by Asa's feelings for Denji, and combined with her personality, that situation is pretty likely to happen. It's not good in any way, but Fujimoto cooked up something that's pretty realistic. Devils don't understand the concept of shame and love after all, but Asa made her feel love anyway.
@@mariokujo384 also think power MAYBE couldve been that girl. the show follows denji in part 1 so thing like the panels of him, aki and power hugging like siblings are probably showing his perceptions but i think power MIGHT have been searching for more than just sibling love. that may be going a bit far tho.
As someone who has lived in intense poverty, one thing I will always relate to is how Denji treats “mundane” things. Many people either laugh at his character or think it’s ridiculous how excited he was to get attention from a woman. But from my experience of living with hardship growing up, my expectations for good things have dropped drastically. So when I actually experience or receive something like affection, love, a present, always having food on the table, having my own room with a roof over my head, a compliment, or having more than $50 in my bank account, I feel very satisfied and grateful. I can relate to how denji appreciates the “small things” that some people can take for granted cause it’s their norm. It’s frustrating that instead of learning how different peoples experiences can change how people react and feel, is instead misunderstood or not cared to analyze past the surface level.
Denji is just like me. Hes a young man, who gotntsken advantage of since he was 16. For me, I was ten years old. All he wants is love, all he wants is something genuine, to be and feel human. And so do I. Seeing his trauma being nade fun of or laughed at makes me sick to my stomach, people always forget, Denji is a CHILD, hes a KID who never knew any better because he was never able to learn. He wants love, to feel safe, to have people close, to not be taken advantage of, and all people see is a hormonal teenage boy. Despite his exteme hypersexuality, now being powered by his trauma. And even when his sister Nayuta is missing, he thinks sex is what will fix him.
Thanks for talking about denji's character. A lot of people these days dont even try to delve deeper into the characters and criticize them with how they comprehend these characters on the surface levels. You did a great job.
I cannit believe there are people who watched episode 1 & think Denji doesn't have ambition. Homie just wants a chill life frim his ROUCH, CHAOTIC one! That's enough for me to stand behind him to watch it happen; especially after all the crap he's going through now 😮💨
Denji is definitely one of the best MCs. He does have an ambition. He wants to have experiences that normal people are allowed to have every day. The series stops at nothing to get in his way of this. It's hands down the best ambition I've ever seen in anime
I really like this video essay and it honestly revealed parts of Denji's character that I missed while watching the anime. I picked up on parts of Denji's tragic situation, but I didn't fully pick up on how difficult his life is, probably because of how the deeper parts of his character are somewhat hidden behind his personality and his misunderstandings of intimacy. Great video!
3:57 this is actually want REALLY drew me to this series. The Lack of ambition was just something so new and refreshing that I wanted to keep reading, and ended up rewarded with a completely lifechanging series.
This video is probably the best, most concise, and easy way to explain to someone what the anime/manga is really about. Like Ive watched it and read the whole thing multiple times, but i don't think I would of ever been able to word it like that. Subscribed.
I feel like some of this was apparent but at the same time, I’ve been through a lot of the stuff he’s been through in terms of the sexual stuff. You’ll let people take control because you think they actually are there for you, but they’re not a good person and your judgment is clouded. You feed into their desires because you think they’ll really care for you. This happened to Denji with Makima it’s really sad how this happened to him, with people making jokes abt that it happens irl too and it really hurts especially when you try to talk about it seriously. Denji is such a tragic character and I’m glad you made this character people should know his character. His desires are real they’re achievable for all of us. He wants to be loved and doesn’t know what love is he wasn’t taught right and his first experiences were the worse ever, thank you for helping me understand him more as well.
You cooked King 👑 Your media analyses of Peak fiction are very much appreciated 🤩 Denji is such an intricate and complex character and I’m glad to see people peering into the nuances and subtleties of his personality, motivations, and choices 😁
I feel like everyone has all these aspirations, dreams and goals and whenever people ask me what I want to do what I want to become I can’t think of a single thing. All I really want is a simple house and someone to love, that’s enough for me
YESSSSS YES YES YOU SAID IT SO PERFECTLY I LOVE THIS! The Internet's characterization REEKS of mischaracterization! He's so much more compelling and interesting that most shonen protagonists and he deserves this kind of deep dive!
That quote at the beginning is too real. I know way too many people that live like that and all I can do is keep telling them they don't need to feel that way around me. I know first hand what it's like to hurt yourself over a sliver of "Love", if a stranger relates to this all I can say is you're not alone. One day you'll find people that truly care for you, even if it takes longer then most. (I'm already getting emotional in the first 5 seconds, damn.)
Even if he was as shallow as he makes himself look, can you blame him? His life is miserable, regressing to very basic instincts and desires is completely understandable in his case. Such a dry and miserable life would create a shallow person. The fact that he still has something like empathy and the power to chase his dreams is a small miracle. Ive seen people give up because of less.
Hey, thank you for making this character analysis. My sister loves this series and has most of the manga, so I might borrow it as well as delicious in dungeon! Again, thank you for putting so much into this video essay, I love hearing other people thoughts on a piece of fiction and how much they put into it. I would love to do my own character analysis, but I don’t have the kind of confidence to do so…but I admire this and the effort you put into this. Chainsaw man is more than meets the eye.
i can also relate to Denji, seeing the scenes of the adults in his life abusing him like that make me remember the way i was treated in my past. and how i have grown i will never forget the innocents i lost
People hate Denji for the same reason they hate Shinji. Or rather, they claim to hate them... But in truth, I believe they are _scared_ of these portrayals. For one simple reason: Shinji and Denji represent those parts of us we fear about ourselves. The parts of us that are vulnerable and exploitable. Especially for men, who are societally demanded to always be powerful and dominant. We see Shinji and Denji get mistreated, exploited and abused over the course of Evangelion and Chainsaw Man, and how vulnerable and broken they become... And many can't accept that, because for many it hits too close to home to be comfortable with.
i never related to denji as a joke i always serious about it, i read and reread the manga in 3 days. all of my friends agreed they thought he reminded them of me. i love the author because he has somehow portrayed my experience as a human being through some dork with chainsaws in his arms. one piece is my favorite shonen because it motivates me to be better, chainsaw man is my favorite manga period because its me.
One thing I absolutely love about how denji is written is how he makes himself smaller to fit into places. He's highly adaptable, he's incredibly flexible, and is constantly learning how to be in the world. But the one thing he can count on is that him being himself and just existing is too much. He only really starts to come out of his shell when getting comfortable at Aki's apartment, and even still I think he's keeping himself under wraps. This is because it's a trauma response, but also because I don't think he knows who he is. He never had space to develop anything that's actually Denji, he was too busy surviving. The thing that people who haven't experienced hardships that basically puts you in survival mode don't understand about it is that on the outside you just look like you're walking along, when it's a calculated act of how to successfully get through the day without breaking down or, in Denjis case, dying of anything. I feel like a lot of the people who think csm is shallow or stupid are people who aren't used to thinking about art. Who think of manga as a product you can buy in exchange for entertainment. And I mean it partially is, but art like chainsaw man is meant to be thought about. To have its aspects turned and looked at and having your own opinions about and so on. Instead of just thinking 'wow that was weird' about the vomit scene you should instead think about what fujimoto was trying to convey with it, for both Himeno and Denjis character. Anyways, I've been waiting for a video essay specifically about denji, and this one did not disappoint. Great job with this video :]
I resonate with this video so much. The way you identified and articulated the subtle nuances of this story is awesome. I hope to see this channel grow like crazy over time, keep up the great work 🔥
I feel so bad for my boy Denji. Seeing him suffer in the way that he does makes me want to be his surrogate mom but then I would probably get killed in some messed up way just so others can get what they want out of the poor kid. So there is just no win for the poor guy regardless. Every single living being he cares for dies. Every woman he meets wants to kill him. This story is just all kinds of messed up in a tragic but captivating kind of way. Gives me all the feels. 😭
I'm an idiot and just realized I can just use the comments for sources. Whenever I delve into important social topics, I'd like to make it standard procedure for sources to be present in case people want to dig a little deeper. I feel like it should be more of a standard for important real world topics, so expect them if a video of this nature ever comes back!!
Sources:
Nuance: medium.com/new-writers-welcome/measuring-nuance-ea772988f4f0
Housing Crisis: wolfstreet.com/2019/07/12/changes-in-house-prices-rents-and-household-incomes-since-1960-in-the-us-by-region-and-major-metro/
Average American Debt: www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-score/average-american-debt
Male Loneliness: melindawmoyer.substack.com/p/the-epidemic-of-male-loneliness
Pop Culture Detective: th-cam.com/video/uc6QxD2_yQw/w-d-xo.html
JOIN OUR DISCORD!: discord.gg/dHMwsMWs
You also mentioned your book. Do you have a link to that?
@@seonline4230 s
What you should do is not "enchance" anime to 60 fps, it looks like shit!
@@Kvailys88 bro why would you feel the need to say this? It's just mean :/
@@Kvailys88yeah yeah, ain't nobody give a shit what u think my guy
Fujimoto said he wrote denji to be relatable to the current generation who dont have massive pipe dreams, but who dream of surviving
It irritates me to absolutely no end that my parents just don't seem to get that their kids generation is so fucked. to keep a house, no a simple apartment you need 3 to more roommates. Back then you could afford so much more. Now? It's gonna get so much worse, I try to stay positive. But fuck me it's hard.
the dream denji actually has isnt survival tho. thats his surface level. he accepts the bare minimum, but in reality his dream is connection with other people. his happiness comes from his "found family" in power and aki, and later in part 2 from caring for nayuta. the fact that denji is content with the bare minimum is relatable for everyone younger than gen X but his actual dream and desire is even more so for the target audience which is anime fans, which has a large amount of people feeling like they lack emotional connections. both romantic and in deeply intimate friendships.
@@Michealmewersthat's what ambitions are for, to strive for the better, self loathing, and it might sound cliché from my part, but self loathing takes you nowhere, you need to plan ahead and adapt to the life you are living, you think back then had it easy? They too had their own struggles we dont know of, for instance there were a lot more uneducated back then because no one had easy access to info like us, so when they faced problems that require a bit of intellect they would fuck up, i.e: facing practical problems that require professional help that was hard to get, people also back then had to live up and fullfil their social duties and in some ways gender roles, women were forced to stay locked up in houses and men working their way to grave at some bug souless corporation, and that's just talking about gen x and boomers let alone the kind of hardship older generations faced like wars, plagues and so on and so forth, so instead of loathing appreciate what's good in your life and strive to work yoyr way out of what's bad in it, stay strong brother
@@Mr.Capitalism okay, very reassuring coming from Mr. Capitalism himself 😂
@@go_golden LMAO, but yeah username aside am meaning it
One time i heard someone say "instead of being a shallow character disguised as a deep one, denji is a deep character disguised as a shallow one" and i couldn't agree more
That's coggsie
I don't think he seems shallow tho, it's just that people don't know how to interpret a story and read between the lines when the author doesn't shove the meaning in their faces. They don't have media literacy. Also, people who have no interest in understanding feelings and traumas (which they themselves may possess) outside their bubbles will always project onto characters.
@@mobaobaethat’s true
@@mobaobae
I disagree.
Interpretation of characters and reading between the lines are subjective and often speculative of what a character wants and who they are, which results in conjectures that are baseless;
people have media literacy but they often have to work with what they have seen instead of ironically as you say projecting their interpretations and readings from the character’s words and actions;
it’s up to the author to reveal or confirm that, otherwise the author would just validate their own shortcomings by saying “yeah that’s exactly what I intended when I wrote that.”, just as the author can deny and say the opposite, that the fan interpretation was wrong and dismiss them as merely fan theories.
So let’s not dismiss the general public’s perspective and view of Denji, as everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interpretations.
@@genoveusThis is also very true
Denji is one of the few protagonists whom I truly felt sorry and pity for. No matter how strong he became as a devil, his actual life was always on a slow slide down. It's like watching someone win Olympic gold only to then go back home to a dump and sell his medal just to afford food.
Give my man his girlfriend and his dog....like daam, let him have a normal life
@@thephoenix4093 bruh
@@thephoenix4093ever heard of a hunting dog. Pochita acts like a pet and you know that. Don’t go down this semantics path and try to correct ppl
@@thephoenix4093 You shouldn't have pets, you don't see them in any sort of good light but their usefulness. Disgusting.
@@Auroche ily
It is criminal how Denji isnt given more fan stories and love. But in a meta way it kinda fits.
only a great story can characterise the misunderstanding reader in-universe as an obstacle to be faced. they have taken the issue of the general public memeing on a character because they don't understand the nuance, and let the main character take them on without breaking lore
Hes a unorthodox character that isnt easily understood at first glance. The fact hes not a generic character trope and thus not easy to relate to it makes sense that he doesnt have the biggest following in the fandom
I love Denji
He’s such a tragic character, I wished people understand him more
I think fan writters understand that he is a tragic character, if you take him outside his misery he becomes another character. So he doesn't get any deeper than that, in my opinion: he's just too young and disadvantaged to be anything else.
I love Denji Dennis Chainsaw. Not because he's the haha boob guy, but because we share the same dirty, worn-out shoes.
I hope he will eventually experience true love again.
"haha boob guy" I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING
Beautiful
@@Japonesbello where did u find that emoji?
@@AllenBalsmeier js copy and paste
@@AllenBalsmeier, TH-cam has some emojis of its own, but I think you can only use them in desktop.
If I were to describe Denji to someone "he's the pinnacle of a person going from -1 to 0 but in the best way possible" may elaborate depending on their response
-1 to 0 then to -0.5 then -100
please elaborate
@@Aniware he was below human living conditions, no family or friends to call his own, no school, barely scraping by and being completely inept at everything besides killing (even then he needed training) he wasn't living, it was a -1 existence. By the end of Part 1 he managed to reach basic personhood having a roof over his head, a sister, a school, meals to eat each day and he wasn't at risk of dying everyday, a life at 0. He had the bare BARE necessities of life and this is after being groomed and repeatedly assaulted without having the time to truly process any of it, hell he still hasn't gotten over killing his Dad since he was a child. He has so much inside him that he doesn't understand and can't process leading to the rage of the recent chapters after losing everything again going back to -1
@@mutedups damn😔
pour one out for mah boy denji dennison
Somewhere between a cat and a criminal
If a man was a victim to a woman who happened to be attractive, you'll have a sworm of ppl saying "he's lucky" or "wish that were me" and the fact that denji is a male victim who gets a lot of hate or is often laughed at for his situation is extremely accurate to how the internet views real male victims
not just any people, but fellow men
That's how a lot of the internet views people, they either don’t care about them or, worse, think they deserve the pain and experiences they're going through. And they find it entertaining for the shit they go through, and find it even more funny when those people feel hurt or angry after being made fun of for their issues.
You perfectly explained it.
that hits hard...
@@Bigpussy.sloppp He was originally right, it's a swarm of all kinds of people that include men and women.
As a person who has experienced genuine poverty in my life, Denji was so deeply relatable in his desires, and in what he considered impossible is to many just the normalcy they lived in, and honestly people's reaction to his "lack of ambition", and his desires and struggles fills me with great grief and rage. It's the same sick laughter people who don't know real poverty get when they view the homeless, the people who live in ghettos, and many other groups who can barely afford to live, much less dream. Thank you for covering this, I haven't seen someone point this out and it honestly made my night. You've got a new subscriber in me, can't wait to see what you come up with next. :)
Thanks you so much! Denji is really such an amazing character. So many people hate on him without getting in his shoes, and its really a bummer. I'm glad I was able to help give some justice to our boy. 😤
Thank you, as someone who also experienced that kind of criticism it feels refreshing to read. I'd like to dream "big" but for now all I really want is for the current situation to get better
I concur.
I too have lived a life where everything around me has fallen apart as harshly as it possibly could due to circumstances beyond my control.
That first quote 'When you are not fed love on a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives' hits like a truck.
Apparently I understand Denji on a completely different level than most of the internet because in no world did i see him as a shallow character. The first episode had me in tears because of how relatable it was.
It's actually shocking to me to hear how many people thought him a meme. I thought more people would relate with how many people are depressed these days.
I don't normally ever talk about how tough life has been with people....and i'm not looking for sympathy when i write this....I'm just astonished so many laugh at him just wanting to be with a girl....or to enjoy bread with peanut butter on it.
I take it personally if people talk poorly on this show and on Denjis character.
@beyondmediaanalysis1 Thank you for trying to unravel the depth behind his character to those that don't understand it.
@@InvertedInsight yea the problem is that the people who don’t understand denji are people like Aki before ever actually meeting denji. My friends all have the wrong impression of denji, they think he’s meant to be a throwaway without ambition or any real goals and that hurt me because I saw myself in denji when I first read it. Then when the anime got announced I was aesthetic and asked some of my friends to read the manga the couldn’t see how deep of a character/story chainsaw man is…
Yes!! This!!
The emptiness of part 2 is such an incredible reflection of how close Denji was to being happy. He’s left with nothing but the symbol of his abuse and the burden of raising his greatest abusers legacy. Continuously facing the same pain and abuse but this time he’s just trying to give up instead of fighting to achieve anything he’s just so desperate to not have life suck. As a man whose life so deeply reflects his, I’ve been close to homeless living in an RV with my six siblings, and been subject to some other circumstances I won’t elaborate on, reading each chapter kinda just hurts at this point. I need to see this story through to the end because it’s so incredible but I’m also scared of the ending that Denji will face, or if he’ll even still be a person to face it.
really hope youre okay 🙏
@@tartali63 thanks, I’m doing pretty well all things considered. CSM just hits so hard and I really want to see a good ending for Denji
It's like similar to a Rape Victim taking care of a rapist's child, and Denji still learning to love Nayuta warms my heart.
I'm glad there's people who understand that this is all intentional, part 2 is intentionally melancholic and empty feeling because that's literally how Denji and the world feel
I actually hate it when people say that if you need to look deeper at a character it's bad. What you need me to chew your steak for you as well?
Sometime the best things will need you to put some work in as all I'm saying
It's like expecting people to be paper thin or just surface level. If you can't look deeply, that's an issue.
That's just people being shallow.
To be honest that's how I feel it is with the jjk characters like people are not even trying and are expecting to be spoon fed everything by the author I am so tired seeing people saying Gege can't write or specifically cant write characters just bc they have reading incomprehension
@@luckypuffs7463for a reader to be spoon fed, there must be some food to the story and not just the smell of it
That's like saying if you need to make an effort to express yourself, your emotions don't matter.
You're analysis of Denji just wanting love and changing the panel was just perfect. The heart of chainsaw man is beneath many layers that I think a lot of people ignore or just don't see. But when you see it you really understand and love the show.
@@fen9007 Thanks so much!! I’m glad you enjoyed it. And yes! CSM is really has a beautiful message
Thanks a lot bro!
@@BeyondMediaAnalysis1 lolllll
again, of course!! I should be thanking you for the goated analysis video
Agreed! Especially because when I see that panel, I feel like the best way to describe him is "he never had enough to know what he wants to have now", so this interpretation feels spot on
Denji's entire life could be the backstory of a villain, but he isn't. Throughout his whole life he never changes who he is. He never lets anger, malice or entitlement change or control him. Sure he loses his temper or self restraint a few times, but the point is that he lives out his life hoping for a better one tomorrow. He has this hope that is inextinguishable. For that reason, I deem Denji one of the strongest characters in manga. Not in the physical, but in the spirit.
It might seem crazy what im boutta say
lol.
you're saying that as if he is heroic though, very early in the series he admitted that he's on the side on whoever takes care of him the most, which means if devils were sentient and wealthier he would join them. at least earlier on he would.
@@thephoenix4093 And yet he didn't. A character that wrestles with temptation and doesn't give in is far more admirable than one who isn't tempted whatsoever. (that trait reeks of Mary Sue)
@@kagekun1198 brother he didnt just "wrestle" with temptation. he gave in to it. like several times. I know he was doing the bidding of the literal control devil but he would've done that shit if hes promised sex or whatever have you like he has in part 2. Those who are initially pure hearted at birth can easily be enveloped into doing horrible things.
It genuinely hurts how people see Denji because his desires are just so very human and yet at every turn he is met with people who want to exploit and use him. Any time he gets people who care for him, they’re ripped away from him, leaving him more empty and broken than before. Denji is a dog trying to become human in a world that only sees him as a dog.
Spoiler warning if you haven't read the manga:
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They took everything from Denji man... Power, Aki and even Nayuta. Now everytime we see him he just looks tired, depressed and just so fucking done with everything.
I really wish he would have a happy ending finally but knowing Fujimoto, maybe it wouldn't happen.
"hes literally me'
us*
me*
Fr fr
Yeah😢
me fr
One scene that was particularly good representation of the abuse denji faces is just the aftermath of the infamous kiss scene. His sentiment afterwards when asking makima if “when ever I kiss another girl again, will it always just taste like puke” is such a heart breaking and real way of putting it. As someone who has suffered from that abuse I had the same sentiment about physical activities like “if I ever kissed a girl again, would they all feel that bad” but it’s hidden underneath yet another joke with the fact he mentioned the puke and that it was the puke which upset him and not him realising he’d been taking advantage of, and in this scene he had just told everyone there he was 16 and none of them cared and in fact they looked happy for him until she puked in his mouth. I just love this series so much so thank you for this video, not enough people really get denjis character
Up until that point I wanted him to "score" to put it crudely. To experience a relatively normal and innocent thing, often pleasurable or fun. Then it said he was 16, and I fully grasped how dark this show was, hidden under the guise of jokes and chaos.
His whole thing with Himeno was honestly interesting to me when I had my eyes opened a bit more, because I was kind of rooting for Denji when that was starting out, because I knew something about Makima just felt...wrong and assumed that by contrast, she'd probably be fine, right?
But then I thought about it and realized their interactions weren't really much healthier, she was just less actively malicious, and moreso just seemed to not really care
I’m a person who’s survived a manipulative and emotionally abusive partner. I’ve always related to denji because I went through the same things, his innocent approach to intamacy, being taught by someone far more experienced with ulterior motives, being left with the remnants of that pain and having it effect future relationships. I’m glad that someone finally made a video exploring denji through how I see him. He just like me fr
Edit: I hope everyone that went through anything similar gets better, and I promise that if you just try to move past it it does get better
Bro, same. Csm is one of the stories that helped me recover after I finally got out of my situation
same, plus i hope youre better rn
Absolutely same, this anime/manga helped me cope after getting out of a toxic relationship and made me feel less alone
I never hated or saw Denji as creepy, I thought Makima was the creep in this show. She used the weaknesses of a less fortunate underaged boy so that he'd work for her. She groomed him and used him, as did most of the women in the show. I loved Denji. He's arguably the most relatable character in the show. He's just a teenager, who wants to be loved, and to feel wanted. That's what most teenagers want, but we mask it with humor, and ignorance.
When I was reading and watching Chainsaw Man, I was jobless. I was basically living off the charity and goodwill of others. Just getting my dinner for the night was a big enough dream for me. I'm still working to recover from that situation.
I love Denji. He's just like me.
the one he's just like me fr I'll accept
I hope you’re doing okay.
@@AShortDork things are hard, but getting better. Thanks friend
Im so glad people are finally appreciating Denji for being relatable. He is a character that underservingly experiences many hardships and struggles to have even a normal life. But that never stops him from trying. It’s inspiring and gives us hope that we too can lead good lives if we keep trying and never give up, no matter how low we sink
Readers have understood for a while, twitter isn't exactly the best place for thoughtful discussion
Anime community when a character is actually different and intreasting instead of being generic average shonen mc: 🤢🤢🤢
Interesting*
@@Notessu Not my first language 😅
@@Gloverfield ok
Denji isn't different though. He is the same as at least 5 people i know in real life. Why would I want to read a story about an ordinary loser?
Because a lot of people like reading stories about people they can relate to.
Denji holds such a special place in my heart. I feel like Fuji somehow took my inner child and made it his main character. As someone who’s grown up under a dictatorship, I have the same aspirations as him. Having a safe home, not being hungry, and having someone to love and be loved by, are things that some of us are far removed from, sadly.
To the point of Denji’s victimhood, being a victim of SA as a woman is hard enough with the questions and accusations in defence of the aggressor, but male victims usually get downright gaslit into thinking they should be grateful for the abuse. Not letting him experience and understand his true feelings about the situation is just another way to rob him of his autonomy, a pile of reasons that at this point is large enough to cast a shadow on mt Everest.
I absolutely love that this whole video just has your voice, just talking. No background music, no interruptions. Just you talking over complete silence. I do not even remember when I last watched a video so deep, meaningful and pure. I felt so pulled in into your world while watching the video. I was left speechless.
@@mart4640 thank you so much!! I actually pushed for background music in the initial draft but my brother (who edits the videos) hit me with pushback saying no music made the video’s topic more engaging. I think he hit the nail on the head with that one!
Thanks again for watching!!
As someone with autism and other conditions, I can relate on wanting something…and not getting it. It’s like I lack the understanding of humanity, that everyone has. I’ve related to Denji for a few months now. Not because he’s flashy like other characters which are nice and fun, but because it’s finally something I can relate to. At times, a parallel. His lack of social skills or simple joys people overlook are relatable to me. To find something that won’t make me feel sick, to eat it, is nice and hard to come by. To find some sense of love from a person, because most cues for love I miss, is relatable. Or the trauma I had gone through and how Denji has been through similar or the same. Wondering how to connect with people constantly, and feeling isolated when I don’t feel that connection, is something I haven’t seen in other stories.
My hope is that things will get better, like Denji’s, aren’t in total vain. Same for everyone else too. Luckily my life is getting a bit better, and like him, I’ve gained a few friends, and I’m finding more joys in life, despite the ongoing hardship. You described him perfectly and I thank you for that.
when your understanding of love is so innocent and new, people with dark motives seem to delight in toying with you. i had many, MANY awful experiences before I'd even consider my virginity lost, and the two relationships I did have (count em: TWO!) were far from healthy, with one of them being so unbelievably toxic that I haven't mentioned them outside this comment (i can't even believe I was in that situation, it sounds like something that would happen to someone else).
I still crave even a single look from the other one, from the one person who actually tried to have a relationship with me, and people in my life are constantly telling me how awful they were, and I despise them for it, for talking such trash on the one good thing I ever had. and yet, I probably was naiive, I probably didn't have it as picturesque as I thought, why, I've never even been in a monogamous relationship! I'm fucking 20!
how are you supposed to find yourself, if nobody wants to take the steps to create the safe spaces you're supposed to seek out?😔
Autistic and traumatised by abuse as well here and definitely have never related so much to a character like with denji
@@autumn948this is so true i’m also naive and don’t really pick up on some things and bcs of that have also found myself in dodgy situations i didn’t realise were that bad at the time.
@@autumn948 @NigGaara I’m sorry bad things have happened to you too. I have IDD as well and a lot of other medical issues, so I’m disabled child. Hopefully you guys find comfort in this, in that I hope you guys are well too. As a friend, I hope you feel better knowing that someone sees you, shares your pain, and wishes the best for you too. Glad our liking of Denji is helping us through the hardship. thanks for helping keep feel less lonely, I hoped I helped you feel the same. Just know this comment section is a safe space. :)
@@NigGaara thanks for talking about your struggles too.
the reason why i like denji the most is how everyone is treating his ambitions both in and out of universe. men are often expected to have grand ambitions, bring the world to their knees, mold and shape reality to their image, and be the best in the field they chose. so when aki, leech devil as well as readers of csm see what denji wants, they instnatly look down on them, think "ha i have a better dream, i am better than him", they just dont understnad that the reason some men dont have grand ambition is not becuase theyre not "real men" but becuase theyre either humble, too uncertain of the future to dream big, or in the case of denji, too broken down to expect more than what some people consider normal (a lot like the final furuta monologue from tokyo ghoul:re, where he admits his biggest dream was to have a normal life). and just because someons goals arent grand, doesnt mean they have the determination to fight for them (look at yoshikage kira). thats why i can say: omg denji is just like me fr fr!!!
What's funny is that most people with grand ambitions never achieve what they set out to do in the first place. Better to be realistic than delusional.
i love denji so much and every time someone slanders him or misunderstands him or simplifies him i get pissed because i love him so much i will always defend him because hes an amazingly written character and i also wanna give him a hug and a hamburger and fries and a warm bed and a family that doesnt die
I feel this same way about Subaru he is extremely misunderstood and under appreciated by the broader audience.
@@Sleepystumparknights subaru from what? i know there's a subaru in chainsaw man but hes an extremely minor character
Subaru from Re:zero i think
@@BeyondMediaAnalysis1 ohhh damn i havent heard about rezero in years. i just know it for the pink and blue maids
he is god character because he is not perfect and faulty
i think the creepiest thing abt makima is that she gives legitimately good life advice but weaponizes it to shape denji into a direction she desires
Exactlyyy. "If the devil never sounded reasonable, nobody would fall for his tricks."
@@BeyondMediaAnalysis1 yeah. its what makes her a genuinely frightening and intriguing antagonist for me. i havent read the manga, only saw the anime- but from what i hear she doesnt become an all out villain either until very late into the story, but always remains an antagonist, which isnt quite the same thing, but still can have similar effects.
Denji is probably my favorite male protagonist. A heart of gold covered in mud.
Damn the TH-cam algorithm has finally figured out that I want passionate analysis from small creators over churned out bullshit from larger ones. Amazing video, I was genuinely surprised by how small this channel is because the way you cover this topic was perfect.
Thanks a lot bro 👑
There's always a piece of diamond in a pile of shit.
One panel I love in CSM is a chapter where denji is unconscious and talking to either pochita or just dreaming of him, he’s telling pochita about how he finally achieved their dream and how great it is and pochita express his happiness for him before hitting him with the most gut punching response, “What will you dream of next?” And denji is honestly taken back and unsure how to respond
I always knew Denji was emotionally stunted w him having no one to comfort him besides Pochita but I never thought of him being so stunted he didn’t even know exactly what he wanted it makes perfect sense w how even though power and him share a bath/shower together he isn’t sexually aroused. Great video opened my eyes.
Denji wants to be normal but he's had such a fucked up time of it that he has literally no clue where normal even starts, so he's just gotta try and guess.
@@entropy11 100% he probably didn’t have any human connection besides the yakuza old guy since his dad died, the only people he’s ever trusted have died.
Denji is my all time favorite anime character. One of my favorite things about him. Is that even though he has a tragic life. He is free of the burden of material things and attatchment to materialism. I admire that he has that freedom. Also, Denji has compassion for others. When he's fighting the Katana devil, Denji makes sure people get out of the way. He goes out of his way to protect a woman and her child during the fight.
fujimoto himself said that he made denji after observing the current generation(gen z), they don't want a high paying job, most of us only want a mediocre life with average money in a quiet place away from the city, this is also mentioned various times in the manga about whether you wanna be a countery mouse or a town mouse
Dennis my beloved
I always saw him as a broken boy just trying to experience the simple joys of a "normal" life.
Also what I'd like to mention is how Denji most likely grew up surrounded by abusive men only (the Yakuza), which led him to the point where he started to idealise women.. All that for a bunch of them to take advantage of him later in the series aswell. It's really sad honestly..
Great video btw, enjoyed every sec of it!
This is amazing... I study film and scriptwriting and one of my teachers used the first chapter of Chainsaw Man and Denji to teach us about objetives and motivations in a character, this video was like that ;)
That's awesome!
Ngl this dudes voice is so calming, and he broke chainsaw man down so well, I thought I was like the only one who seen denji as a depressed broken teen
I think he has a drive like every other MC his is just realistic to his situation. Other MCs would've wanted revenge on the Dad, be the richest guy, kill all the demons or outpower his employer but Denji who started of as a kid deprived of basic needs and a chance at a childhood/education, he just wanted a girlfriend and good food, I thought that was a good dream to have for someone at the beginning couldn't dream to have anything.
It frankly terrifies me to see people with grand shonen like motivations irl.
It’s like we live in entirely different worlds.
@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 why?
This was great! I need that Maki video
I do remember people were upset about Denji being SA by Himeno. I remember a TH-camr made me feel bad for her but in the back of my mind I still felt ill about her doing that too him.
14:07 dang i almost cried when you showed that, totally re-contextualized Dengi for me
Dengi is just like me fr lol
I related to Denji right away. I remember watching Jujutsu Kaisen and feeling bored by shounen tropes. But chainsaw man. From the beginning I related to Denji's helplessness, hopeless life and very simple desires. It mirrored my working class self, middle class always just out of reach due to inflation etc, and hopelessness I felt. I understood that immediately.
This was a really incredible analysis on one of my favorite series to date, thank you for giving so much care into it man
Thanks so much!! I'm glad you felt we could do it justice!!
I've always felt like I saw myself in Denji more than any other shounen protagonist, Denji is someone who doesn't have deep aspirations or big goals to strive for, he's happy to just settle for the mundane things in life. Denji represents a generation that are lost in today's crazy world, like they were born into a world on fire and falling apart and instead of striving to be the best at what they love, they just want something simple. In a chaotic world that feels like it's been on a downward spiral since you were growing up, Denji represents a lost generation who's had to deal with the world left behind by the older generation and they can't handle it.
As someone who’s 21, who graduated high school right at the peak of covid and dealing with adulthood despite the fact that I still feel like I’m 18, Denji is kinda a comfort character strangely enough.
Good choice on the lack of music/sound in general (except the narration). Makes the viewer stay captivated to this horrifying story.
On the topic of male SA I'm glad more people are realizing how actually bad it is and talking about it more. As a mom with sons and a daughter I dont want either of them to go through that.
Thank you for make this video, I love Denji, he´s my favorite character not only in the csm manga but in manga in general, he´s just so beautifully and amazingly written and it just sucks how people can't see that and how much mischaracterization, hate and laughts of his situation he gets by people in the internet, so it's good to see someone give him some respect, still i'll defend him (and love him) till my dying days :)
I think Denji is my favourite character of all time for me. Never have I related more to a character, and he really makes the series for me
11:11 i think its so smart that they cover it up like this because denji doesnt understand what this pain is so they make sure he audience at surface level wont understand it and will ignore it rather than deeply looking at it
The part where you removed the words from the panel to convey that the text is a comedic veil to a deeper meaning was really cool.
Seeing video's like this always make me happy, the amount of people shitting on denji because they don't understand him or just don't care to understand him is sad, but some people really do how to read characters, and understand writing, Denji is my favorite character...litteraly ever, this was great, I'll happily give you sub, you deserve waay more
Wow, even though I watched the anime, I didn't think that many people don't like Denji.
Wow. I was one of the people who brushed aside Denji and Chainsaw man as a whole as I didn't understand the character depth and wrote it off as fan service and Denji just being horny. This made me actually understand the story and what the author was attempting to convey. This is the best character analysis of Denji I've ever watched and genuinely changed my entire perspective on him and the show as a whole. Keep at it.
This is amazing to hear!! I'm so glad!! Thanks for watching!
Denji doesn't consider himself horny... but his abusers do
Now it's time to read it!
This is the best breakdown of Denji's character I've seen. There was a lot of work that went into this video. I appreciate it. I also feel like Denji is a very relatable character, not quite for the reason people meme it, but more to do with the simplicity and simultaneous complexity of his motivations. He's just a confused kid trying to find some meaning and happiness in life, and I feel that.
You put so much effort into this. I'm glad I was able to catch you here in the early day I guess at this point
Thanks a ton bro!!
@@BeyondMediaAnalysis1 not a problem
On the topic of male sexual assault victims; I am one and can say that society, especially women, view us as weak and never as the actual victims. When I came out about my trauma online, as I was too afraid to IRL, I was met with nothing but hatred and vitriol from mostly women. I was called weak, I was told I was the abuser, that I "couldn't be a victim" because I was male, that my problems weren't real, etc. even though my abuser was a much older female, and I was only a 5-8 year old boy. It truly enraged and upset me, and seeing the same attitude regarding the blatant SA of Denji just disgusts me. Humanity should be better than this.
So sorry about that bro🫂
I'm copying over an analysis I made about Denji, and CSM in general, because I think it ties into a lot of the observations made here, and I wholeheartedly agree with the video
in regards to Denji's character, I think Denji is actually a really well written victim... and even before public service gets its hands on him, his trauma is quietly creeping in, and building up subtly, based on the things he has to simply accept or endure. and that's part of why he reacts the way he does to his later circumstances.
Denji's trauma begins with his father's self inflicted death, leaving young Denji with a massive amount of debt to the yakuza, which he must find some way to pay off. at this point, Denji learns a couple of things from his circumstances: one is that without any money, he is incredibly vulnerable. and the other is that on his own, as a child with no resources, people see him as totally worthless.
this affects Denji's psychology in myriad ways. but the biggest way it affects him, is that it eventually desensitizes him. Denji lives in a constant low grade state of fear. he doesn't know if he'll be able to afford his next meal, he doesn't have a reliable place to sleep, or bathe, and he doesn't know if he'll be able to pay the expenses if he needs medical attention. anything could harm him at any time, and in order to make money, he takes up the task of hunting devils, which constantly places him in harm's way. and nobody cares, or thinks it's wrong, or stops him. instead, he is told that even this isn't enough. his exploitation runs so deep that he's even sold pieces of his own body. and he's still very young.
Denji is not only taught to see this treatment as mundane, and the norm for him, but he's also taught that his greatest value is achieved when he's in danger, or being torn apart. and eventually, fear ceases to matter to him anymore. he's felt too much of it, too often, to the point where he's used to it. on a personality level, this actually makes Denji very naive... he's been so mistreated that any little thing could be counted as the best thing that's ever happened to him. that shonen protag optimism reads very differently, and a lot more genuine, when it's coming from him. as does the fact that he's constantly food motivated, or kind of stupid. these could be seen as normal shonen protag traits, but Denji is like that because he's been starved before, and his education has been neglected. and in a twisted way, this essentially becomes his super power.
in the world of Chainsaw Man, devils are empowered by the fear that humans feel toward them. on a broad scale, a devil is powerful in proportion to how much their base concept is feared by the masses... but even on an individual level, if a devil hunter is fighting a devil that they're afraid of, their fear in the moment can empower their opponent. Denji doesn't have to worry about that though. fear barely means anything to him anymore... he hardly even feels it.
but Denji's desensitization to fear also desensitizes him to love. how can you say you love something if you aren't afraid of losing it? Denji was taught that he could never keep anything he had... it was all forfeit as soon as he possessed it, because his debt was constantly siphoning off all of his earnings. Denji grew up with the expectation that anything good enough to want was something he'd never get to keep. and once everything was stripped away from him... Denji, on his own, was worthless. so not only can he not access his own feelings of love toward others... he can't identify what it would truly look like if someone was expressing real love toward him. it makes sense that Denji wouldn't know something he was never taught. instead, in Denji's mind, nobody would ever sincerely love him without some sort of transactional element, to actually make it worth their while.
and in terms of power scaling, or magic systems, this becomes much more grounded in actual reality. the things that buff or nerf Denji are just emotional responses to his environment, and other people. he may be a strong fighter, but he's disempowered in other ways. for example, Denji's desensitization to fear actually leaves him vulnerable in situations where fear would be warranted, but he can't feel it. Denji is used to being exploited... he grew up with that as his normal. and you can see it in the way he relates to Makima. when Makima offers him intimacy, Denji is interested because he doesn't know enough to realize that her interest in him is abnormal or alarming. and when she asks him to kill the gun devil as the condition for receiving this "reward" from her, he doesn't see the flaw. if Makima really cared for him, she'd want to keep him out of danger, not put him into it. but Denji is used to thinking that he's only as valuable as the amount of danger he can survive putting himself into. and besides... Makima will give him food and housing. she'll give him compensation for doing dangerous work, rather than bleeding him dry of every cent he earns. to Denji, that's a step up.
but you can tell that this is a strategy of Makima's, and not just some author excuse to put Denji into an imbalanced power dynamic with her, because Denji isn't the only character we see being exploited in this way. let's talk about Kobeni.
Kobeni comes from a poor family and, much like Denji, she was at one point offered the choice between sex work or devil hunting, as a way to make ends meet. Kobeni is terrified of living in poverty, and/or allowing her siblings to languish in poverty, and she actively chose not to do sex work... so we can assume she feels the least fear at the idea of hunting devils, out of those three options. but she is still terrified of devil hunting. and Makima knows. public service knows. devils are empowered by fear, and Kobeni is constantly put into situations that traumatize her, over and over again, especially because her surprisingly high level of combat efficiency keeps her alive, while everyone around her always dies... and they know.
but, see... Makima, and public service in general, aren't concerned with the eradication of fear. they are concerned with the creation of desperation. it benefits them to create and maintain a population of people, with few resources, who are desperate to escape the terrors of poverty. with the right monetary incentive, these desperate people can be made to do just about anything. eat a cigarette, sell your body parts, throw yourself headlong into dangerous combat situations... kill the gun devil. what won't they do, for this mediocre pay incentive? their standards have been so eroded that this not only seems normal to them, but it actually seems like such a good deal that they find it difficult to leave. they'll get paid if they can endure... and for someone like Denji, he's endured worse.
or what about Himeno? she is trapped, not by her desperation for pay, but by her desperation to protect Aki. and here, we see a whole different set of unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Himeno soothes her anxieties about Aki's safety, via denial and consumption. people smoke to alleviate stress, and drink to forget. Himeno smokes constantly, she eats and drinks til she's sick when she goes out with her coworkers, and she frequently hooks up with people for casual sex. but, very importantly: sex can be flippant with someone she doesn't care about. she has to be much more careful with someone who could break her heart. so she holds Aki at a distance. she knows that if anything goes wrong with him, it'll hurt her the worst. meanwhile, she cares so little about Denji, that she sees him as an opportunity. if Denji really can kill the gun devil, then Aki might not have to die in the pursuit of revenge. she'd prefer to see Denji take up this task, so that Aki won't have to do it, and she won't have to worry.
it all seems very selfish... and it is. but it's all because Himeno is so scared for Aki that it's just about all she can take. she keeps trying to shield herself from the pain, and uses consumption as a method of comfort, and it's all because she isn't desensitized the way Denji is. she knows she loves Aki, because she's terrified of losing him. and that fear is what keeps her with public service. she wants to quit, but Aki won't leave. so she stays too. and eventually, it kills her.
Makima knows what she's doing to these people. she understands what keeps them trapped... what makes them desperate. and she can come off as kind by pretending to offer them the means to get what they want the most... all while never actually intending to deliver in a way that matters.
and the icing on the cake is that, when Makima goes to talk to the yakuza... their boss says that the yakuza are a necessary evil. via fear, they suppress other criminal activity. and then Makima pulls out her bag of eyes, and one ups them in terms of fear tactics. and this conveys a strikingly clear message: when it comes to fear, Makima is the top dog.
small addition:
I also love that scene in the hospital, directly after Himeno's death. Denji goes back to the room after he and Power leave, and catches Aki crying. it's the thing Himeno wanted... someone to cry for her after her death. she valued this so highly that she gave her life willingly, just to protect Aki. and Denji realizes that he can't do that. he's lost his ability to access that level of emotional response. or rather, it was taken from him, just like every other valuable thing he ever had.
it creates this wonderful tension, because on the one hand, Denji lost something really important. but via someone like Aki, who still has this, Denji might be able to get it back. and yet, Aki is only a couple years away from death, based on his curse. if Denji starts caring soon enough, this will hurt him... but he also might achieve the ability to do this very important thing for Aki when the time comes. then again, the fact that he can't currently feel a thing is his one and only advantage. he literally cannot afford to feel again yet... he's still disempowered, and threatened in too many ways. Makima still has him in too much of a chokehold... Makima is only becoming more and more sinister, to the point where even Kishibe calls her out, despite his earlier insistence that Himeno felt too much, and Power and Denji are right to not give a shit about anything. as dangerous as it is, someone has to start caring if this sick status quo is going to change.
and then to top it all off, Denji comes into this knowledge after eating an apple from Aki's bedside... Chainsaw Man is no stranger to biblical references, and apples are potent symbolism. the fruit of knowledge, the original sin, a sign of disobedience, something that gives agency, and a sense of completeness, but at the same time it takes away comfort and ease. ignorance is bliss. weren't we happier before we knew? this is the very conundrum that Denji is set up to grapple with.
@@IDKLOL-qj7slhave you read up to the part where denji first cried? my eyes well up just thinking about it... i have no words for how much i love this whole story.
@@larsswig912 I actually haven't read very far in the manga at all... I'm planning on getting to it soon, I've just had a lot of other stuff on my plate. ^^;
I will say, I am really happy to hear that the story is going to land in a fulfilling way like that, it makes me excited to read it!
chapters 167-181 are probably the perfect chapters to show to people who think denji is bland and doesn't have depth.
10:22 - 10:52 (Everything about the "I wanna touch some boobs" analysis) 19:19 - 19:46
It's lines like these that make me connect with characters like Denji. Someone who doesn't understand why their having these feelings and somehow getting the wrong end of those feelings. For reference, I'm someone who can't feel romantic love but craves intimacy. The world doesn't know what to do with people like us, and that makes us doubt ourselves and our feelings.
We can't communicate what we want because we can't process the reason why we want.
You sounds like an aro. Excuse me but do you happen to lacking of libido or lust? I'm not saying like completely but rather rarely to never sexually attracted to someone in terms of like frequency
Pure brainrot
@@NA-bw6pf ? What do you mean?
This whole topic is super complicated, but i hope aromantic people can get accepted just as much as asexual or any other kind of people. There are not a lot of resources for aro people yet, but with time and research there might be new ways to understand each other and oneself.
Just like there used to be almost no guides for adhd in adults, but thanks to a collective effort social media has spread tips and tricks for living with a lot of different kinds of neurodivergence.
Maybe with time aromantic people will have the same acceptance from others and tipps from each other.
Sometimes the internet is usefull ^^
Denji is literally what happens when somebody has had none of their basic needs satisfied into near adulthood.
He will do anything to survive and if anybody offers him anything more than that, he will dance for them. An easily manipulated perpetual victim who lacks the resources to even consider the concept of pride and self worth.
The negative reaction to his personality(or lack thereof) is exactly why Denji is a highly realistic character. Nobody can relate to a survivalist, except another survivalist. They will inevitably be abandoned by people who view them as lesser than, it happens all the time.
The only people who associate with him long term are either: reluctant(Aki), also enslaved to their basic needs (Power), or want to use him for something (Makima and Himeno).
He is a real person, stuck trying not to die in a fictional world.
I didn’t know if i should see the show, heard a lot of weird stuff about the manga, but in the end i said fuck it and entered into this world, its so lacking of empathy, lacking in love, every one loses everything, and Denji someone who had nothing, gains something just to lose it, again, and again, and again, and again again again and again…I relate to Denji because when I reached my small life dreams I was left empty, feeling “Is this it?…was I happier chasing stuff than getting it? What now….where do I even go?” Feelings of being rejected as a person, of being always ignored and trying to just be happy despite everything
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE INTERNET HAS TO HEAR ABOUT DENJI. THIS IS THE DENJI I LOVE AND CARE FOR HE DESERVES THE WORLD
“If you have to look deeper into a character, then they’re poorly written” naw you just have shitty media literacy! Thank you for this video of GOOD media literacy, you really put Denji’s struggle into perspective!
I wanna say thank you to everyone who's made videos like this about Denji, I really hope it helps people realise there's more to him. I can't believe there are people on Part 2 of the manga still seeing it like that. So yeah, thank you!
19:27 That was Yoru, not Asa. It's clear Asa has some kind of budding feelings for Denji whereas Yoru doesn't.
However, it seems that Yoru is also affected by Asa's feelings for Denji, and combined with her personality, that situation is pretty likely to happen. It's not good in any way, but Fujimoto cooked up something that's pretty realistic. Devils don't understand the concept of shame and love after all, but Asa made her feel love anyway.
Literally praying that Dennis finds a girl that doesn’t want to manipulate him 🙏
asa's sort of that. denji certainly has had the most genuine relationship with her out of any other girl he's met....
@@mariokujo384 also think power MAYBE couldve been that girl. the show follows denji in part 1 so thing like the panels of him, aki and power hugging like siblings are probably showing his perceptions but i think power MIGHT have been searching for more than just sibling love. that may be going a bit far tho.
As someone who has lived in intense poverty, one thing I will always relate to is how Denji treats “mundane” things. Many people either laugh at his character or think it’s ridiculous how excited he was to get attention from a woman. But from my experience of living with hardship growing up, my expectations for good things have dropped drastically. So when I actually experience or receive something like affection, love, a present, always having food on the table, having my own room with a roof over my head, a compliment, or having more than $50 in my bank account, I feel very satisfied and grateful. I can relate to how denji appreciates the “small things” that some people can take for granted cause it’s their norm. It’s frustrating that instead of learning how different peoples experiences can change how people react and feel, is instead misunderstood or not cared to analyze past the surface level.
Denji is just like me. Hes a young man, who gotntsken advantage of since he was 16. For me, I was ten years old. All he wants is love, all he wants is something genuine, to be and feel human. And so do I. Seeing his trauma being nade fun of or laughed at makes me sick to my stomach, people always forget, Denji is a CHILD, hes a KID who never knew any better because he was never able to learn. He wants love, to feel safe, to have people close, to not be taken advantage of, and all people see is a hormonal teenage boy. Despite his exteme hypersexuality, now being powered by his trauma. And even when his sister Nayuta is missing, he thinks sex is what will fix him.
I absolutely love denji, in a way i feel like everyone can relate to him and he is so inherently human that i cant help but cheer for him.
your videos are incredible, this is probably one of the 10 best youtube videos I have ever seen.
Thanks for talking about denji's character. A lot of people these days dont even try to delve deeper into the characters and criticize them with how they comprehend these characters on the surface levels. You did a great job.
Frl, and thanks bro
I cannit believe there are people who watched episode 1 & think Denji doesn't have ambition. Homie just wants a chill life frim his ROUCH, CHAOTIC one! That's enough for me to stand behind him to watch it happen; especially after all the crap he's going through now 😮💨
Denji is definitely one of the best MCs. He does have an ambition. He wants to have experiences that normal people are allowed to have every day. The series stops at nothing to get in his way of this. It's hands down the best ambition I've ever seen in anime
I really like this video essay and it honestly revealed parts of Denji's character that I missed while watching the anime. I picked up on parts of Denji's tragic situation, but I didn't fully pick up on how difficult his life is, probably because of how the deeper parts of his character are somewhat hidden behind his personality and his misunderstandings of intimacy. Great video!
WAIT WHAT YOU ONLY HAVE LIKE 23 SUBS THIS IS SO UNDERRATED
I appreciate that!
3:57 this is actually want REALLY drew me to this series. The Lack of ambition was just something so new and refreshing that I wanted to keep reading, and ended up rewarded with a completely lifechanging series.
This video is probably the best, most concise, and easy way to explain to someone what the anime/manga is really about. Like Ive watched it and read the whole thing multiple times, but i don't think I would of ever been able to word it like that. Subscribed.
@@dinenpine Man, thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed!
"I love Denji; I'm just like him fr". As someone who has watched the show and read the manga, I can say in both ways. In both.
This character analysis points out why i love denji as a character, and why i say he is just like me for real for real
I feel like some of this was apparent but at the same time, I’ve been through a lot of the stuff he’s been through in terms of the sexual stuff. You’ll let people take control because you think they actually are there for you, but they’re not a good person and your judgment is clouded. You feed into their desires because you think they’ll really care for you. This happened to Denji with Makima it’s really sad how this happened to him, with people making jokes abt that it happens irl too and it really hurts especially when you try to talk about it seriously. Denji is such a tragic character and I’m glad you made this character people should know his character. His desires are real they’re achievable for all of us. He wants to be loved and doesn’t know what love is he wasn’t taught right and his first experiences were the worse ever, thank you for helping me understand him more as well.
Denji is the most relatable character i’ve ever seen, reading csm is sometimes almost like reading about my own life down to every single hardship
You cooked King 👑 Your media analyses of Peak fiction are very much appreciated 🤩 Denji is such an intricate and complex character and I’m glad to see people peering into the nuances and subtleties of his personality, motivations, and choices 😁
This video put som much shivers down my body, espesially at segment where you interprete the real meaning of his phrases. I love it so much.
It means a lot to hear that!!! Thanks for watching!
I feel like everyone has all these aspirations, dreams and goals and whenever people ask me what I want to do what I want to become I can’t think of a single thing. All I really want is a simple house and someone to love, that’s enough for me
YESSSSS YES YES YOU SAID IT SO PERFECTLY I LOVE THIS! The Internet's characterization REEKS of mischaracterization! He's so much more compelling and interesting that most shonen protagonists and he deserves this kind of deep dive!
@@Illumiloni Thanks so much!! Glad you enjoyed!
Glad to find another great channel to add to my work playlist
@@ivangutierrez1076 Thanks so much!! I love listening to videos while working too lol
That quote at the beginning is too real. I know way too many people that live like that and all I can do is keep telling them they don't need to feel that way around me. I know first hand what it's like to hurt yourself over a sliver of "Love", if a stranger relates to this all I can say is you're not alone. One day you'll find people that truly care for you, even if it takes longer then most. (I'm already getting emotional in the first 5 seconds, damn.)
I always related to him because of how deep his character really is comparing to what is only shown
Even if he was as shallow as he makes himself look, can you blame him? His life is miserable, regressing to very basic instincts and desires is completely understandable in his case. Such a dry and miserable life would create a shallow person. The fact that he still has something like empathy and the power to chase his dreams is a small miracle. Ive seen people give up because of less.
Hey, thank you for making this character analysis. My sister loves this series and has most of the manga, so I might borrow it as well as delicious in dungeon! Again, thank you for putting so much into this video essay, I love hearing other people thoughts on a piece of fiction and how much they put into it. I would love to do my own character analysis, but I don’t have the kind of confidence to do so…but I admire this and the effort you put into this. Chainsaw man is more than meets the eye.
i can also relate to Denji, seeing the scenes of the adults in his life abusing him like that make me remember the way i was treated in my past. and how i have grown i will never forget the innocents i lost
People hate Denji for the same reason they hate Shinji.
Or rather, they claim to hate them... But in truth, I believe they are _scared_ of these portrayals.
For one simple reason: Shinji and Denji represent those parts of us we fear about ourselves. The parts of us that are vulnerable and exploitable. Especially for men, who are societally demanded to always be powerful and dominant.
We see Shinji and Denji get mistreated, exploited and abused over the course of Evangelion and Chainsaw Man, and how vulnerable and broken they become... And many can't accept that, because for many it hits too close to home to be comfortable with.
this deserves way more recognition
i never related to denji as a joke i always serious about it, i read and reread the manga in 3 days. all of my friends agreed they thought he reminded them of me. i love the author because he has somehow portrayed my experience as a human being through some dork with chainsaws in his arms. one piece is my favorite shonen because it motivates me to be better, chainsaw man is my favorite manga period because its me.
Having this as background context just makes the manga even more depressing, the end of part 1 was really something
The internet really looked at the depiction of a groomed teenager and hated on him
Happens irl too.
One thing I absolutely love about how denji is written is how he makes himself smaller to fit into places. He's highly adaptable, he's incredibly flexible, and is constantly learning how to be in the world. But the one thing he can count on is that him being himself and just existing is too much. He only really starts to come out of his shell when getting comfortable at Aki's apartment, and even still I think he's keeping himself under wraps. This is because it's a trauma response, but also because I don't think he knows who he is. He never had space to develop anything that's actually Denji, he was too busy surviving. The thing that people who haven't experienced hardships that basically puts you in survival mode don't understand about it is that on the outside you just look like you're walking along, when it's a calculated act of how to successfully get through the day without breaking down or, in Denjis case, dying of anything.
I feel like a lot of the people who think csm is shallow or stupid are people who aren't used to thinking about art. Who think of manga as a product you can buy in exchange for entertainment. And I mean it partially is, but art like chainsaw man is meant to be thought about. To have its aspects turned and looked at and having your own opinions about and so on. Instead of just thinking 'wow that was weird' about the vomit scene you should instead think about what fujimoto was trying to convey with it, for both Himeno and Denjis character. Anyways, I've been waiting for a video essay specifically about denji, and this one did not disappoint. Great job with this video :]
I resonate with this video so much. The way you identified and articulated the subtle nuances of this story is awesome. I hope to see this channel grow like crazy over time, keep up the great work 🔥
This video genuinely made me start reading CSM. Very well done.
I feel so bad for my boy Denji. Seeing him suffer in the way that he does makes me want to be his surrogate mom but then I would probably get killed in some messed up way just so others can get what they want out of the poor kid. So there is just no win for the poor guy regardless. Every single living being he cares for dies. Every woman he meets wants to kill him. This story is just all kinds of messed up in a tragic but captivating kind of way. Gives me all the feels. 😭
This is an amazing video brother what a way to discover you and Denji.
love the one piece and luffy, references. your voice is so calming. new sub, love the analysis of his character and the depth