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A pair of teenagers share a private, tender instant at the neighborhood secondary school’s open-air pool after hours. While they drift as one, suspended under the stars in the stillness of the evening, the scene captures the ephemeral, exhilarating excitement of teenage romance, utterly caught up in the present, consequences overlooked.

About half an hour into Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, I realized such moments are the heart of the film. Denji and Reze’s love story took center stage, and all the contextual information and backstories I had gleaned from the series’ first season proved to be largely unnecessary. Despite being a official entry within the series, Reze Arc offers a more accessible entry point for first-time viewers — regardless of they missed its single episode. This method brings advantages, but it also hinders a portion of the urgency of the movie’s narrative.

Created by the original creator, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a debt-ridden Devil Hunter in a universe where demons represent particular dangers (including concepts like getting older and Darkness to specific horrors like insects or historical conflicts). After being deceived and killed by the criminal syndicate, Denji forms a contract with his faithful devil-dog, his pet, and comes back from the deceased as a chainsaw-human hybrid with the ability to completely destroy Devils and the horrors they signify from reality.

Thrust into a brutal struggle between demons and hunters, Denji meets a new character — a charming coffee server concealing a lethal mystery — sparking a tragic confrontation between the two where love and existence intersect. This film picks up immediately following season 1, delving into the main character’s relationship with his love interest as he wrestles with his feelings for her and his loyalty to his controlling boss, his employer, compelling him to choose between passion, loyalty, and survival.

A Self-Contained Love Story Within a Larger World

Reze Arc is fundamentally a romance-to-rivalry plot, with our imperfect main character the hero falling for Reze almost immediately upon meeting. He’s a isolated young man looking for affection, which makes his heart vulnerable and up for grabs on a first-come, first-served. Consequently, in spite of all of Chainsaw Man’s intricate lore and its extensive ensemble, Reze Arc is very independent. Filmmaker Tatsuya Yoshihara recognizes this and ensures the romantic arc is at the center, rather than weighing it down with unnecessary summaries for the new viewers, especially when none of that really matters to the complete plot.

Despite Denji’s flaws, it’s difficult not to feel for him. He’s after all a adolescent, stumbling his way through a reality that’s warped his sense of right and wrong. His intense longing for love portrays him like a lovesick puppy, even if he’s likely to barking, snapping, and causing chaos along the way. Reze is a ideal pairing for him, an effective femme fatale who targets her prey in our protagonist. You want to see the main character win the ire of his affection, despite Reze is clearly hiding something from him. So when her real identity is revealed, audiences cannot avoid hope they’ll somehow make it work, although deep down, it is known a happy ending is never really in the plan. As such, the stakes don’t feel as intense as they ought to be since their relationship is doomed. It doesn’t help that the film serves as a direct sequel to the first season, allowing minimal space for a love story like this among the more grim events that fans know are coming soon.

Stunning Visuals and Technical Craftsmanship

This movie’s visuals effortlessly combine traditional animation with computer-generated settings, providing impressive eye candy prior to the action kicks in. Including vehicles to tiny office appliances, digital assets add depth and texture to every scene, making the 2D characters stand out strikingly. Unlike Demon Slayer, which frequently showcases its digital elements and shifting settings, Reze Arc uses them less frequently, particularly evident during its action-packed climax, where such elements, while not unattractive, are more apparent to identify. These smooth, dynamic environments make the film’s battles both visually bombastic and surprisingly easy to follow. Still, the method excels most when it’s unnoticeable, enhancing the dynamic range and movement of the 2D animation.

Final Impressions and Wider Considerations

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc serves as a solid point of entry, probably leaving new fans pleased, but it also has a downside. Telling a standalone narrative restricts the tension of what ought to seem like a expansive animated saga. It’s an illustration of why continuing a successful television series with a movie is not the optimal strategy if it undermines the series’ overall storytelling potential.

While Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle found success by tying up several installments of animated series with an epic movie, and JuJutsu Kaisen 0 avoided the issue entirely by serving as a backstory to its well-known series, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc advances boldly, perhaps a slightly recklessly. But this does not prevent the movie from being a great time, a terrific introduction, and a memorable romantic tale.