English Dub Review: Chainsaw Man: “Rescue”

Overview: After his intense battle with the Bat Devil, Denji (Ryan Colt Levy) fights with every last breath he has left in order to protect Power (Sarah Wiedenheft) and Meowy from the Leech Devil but also secure his cleavage caressing. 

Our Take: The power that the blood of living creatures holds, how it can be loving as well as gruesome, is the beauty of Power’s transition in caring about others. It is a layered approach executed wholeheartedly in her warm moments with Meowy in yet another nuanced shade to not only herself but their friendship as well. 

If the Bat Devil did not already stalk your dreams, the Leech Devil is that of pure nightmare fuel with its flaccid, phallic appendages stitched together to a flabby core of utter-y breasts. And not the fun and perky kind. If that alone does not unsettle your stomach, it walks and talks like a fully realized goth kid’s imaginary friend come to life in one nasty looking critter. 

Denji’s commitment for the sake of oh-so-sacred fun bags is commendable in continuing his endeavors no matter how much they are misunderstood or chastised by others. But it also makes for some satisfying savagery in tearing the testi-tentacles apart with Denji making for some of the most feral scenes yet with him running on fumes in desperation for his bouncy bosoms. It is also beautifully brought to life with him narrowly skating by whips, lashes while jolting around in mid-air. 

With Hayakawi coming to save Denji’s bacon, it presents the effect that Denji is already starting to have on him. With Denji’s honorable heart in preventing civilian casualties and him sticking his neck out, covering for Power, it is a compassionate sentiment that makes it self-evident why he is warming up to him. Makima, herself, also shows her softer side in seeing that positive effect and subtly, choosing to room them all up together, which is a volatile cocktail of hilarity. Especially in Power’s atrocious house etiquette in the same nasty habits Denji had. It is a gut-busting juxtaposition in how house trained Denji has now become compared to how phenomenally undignified she is and he was. 

What made all the pain and suffering Denji endured worth are the coveted knockers, three squeezes to be exact, that was earned from how he helped Power. His raw extremity and excitement is an encouraging moment, bookending the episode in a triumphant end to our hero’s struggles.