English Dub Review: Chainsaw Man: “Kill Denji”

Overview: Denji (Ryan Colt Levy), Power (Sarah Wiedenheft), Himeno (Katelyn Barr), Hayakawa (Reagan Murdock), Kobeni (Bryn Apprill), Arai (Jarrod Greene) deal with the accumulating stress from combating the Eternity Devil (Ariel Graham, Grant Paulsen), who is beginning to weigh on their psyche as they seek to break free from the entity’s inescapable and infinite madhouse. 

Our Take: The gang finds no way out of the eighth floor. How each of them copes with their rising anxieties in their one unique way is what makes their plight is what makes their reactions astonishingly engrossing, whether it be Denji’s lackadaisical attitude, Kobeni and Arai’s petrification, Aki’s resilience to a solution or Himeno’s calming faith in her partner. Himeno and Aki’s relationship is a sweet one in how he sticks up for her no matter what and seeing how they have rubbed off on each other. 

The Eternity Devil’s reappearance as a gross, horrific blob demanding Denji’s life in exchange for the others’ freedom sets up an engrossing plight that takes its toll on the team mentally. Aki is the real MVP of the group, sticking up for Denji as the understanding that Power’s presence would make the contract null and void. Beyond being pragmatic in his thinking, it just goes to show how kind and dedicated he is to protecting life rather than ending it. 

Kobeni, all on her own, makes for a challenge to juggle in how distressed she becomes. As she becomes consumed by the wide range of capabilities the Eternity Devil utilizes to confine them physically and internally, she becomes an unhinged source of tension, further fostering the fear that has been seeded. However, beyond her more frightened tendencies, it’s nail-biting how the reality bending Devil pushes everyone to their psychological boiling point, with their collective fear fear bubbling up to complete terror and paranoia. We see that manifest in even Himeno losing her cool, attempting to sell out Denji in order to keep Aki from using a sword that would shorten his lifespan, showing how far she is willing to go to keep from losing another partner. 

Hayakawa continues to be dedicated to his dream, taking a stab wound from Kobeni, intended for Denji. While he is clearly decent-hearted, there is an understandable human selfishness and self-preservation of his own aspirations as to how he values avenging his late family above all else. Denji’s response is equally compelling in how doubles down on snatching his promised kiss. There is nothing that gets him focused like a sweet smooch in it bringing out his intellectual side, deducing the Eternity Devil’s fear of him and its bluff about its invulnerability. However, just like everything with Denji, his reasoning goes much deeper than Himeno’s promise, as being indebted is a burden he wishes to be free of for good, this time in the case of Aki, as he jumps headfirst into the fray to tear the Devil into smithereens.