That slouch too...the diligence...under the right conditions and without the hedonistic brain kerosine that is Chainsaw Man he develops mentally/matures

also briefly wish to comment that asa disallowed from being the hero, due to her gender, and forced positioning as "chainsaw man's woman". she must sacrifice it all (her school life, female connections, college funds, her own damn body) to conform to that role, and ultimately, lose all autonomy.

this is a story about cycles: interpersonal abuse, generational trauma, the violent construction, destruction and restructuring of the state. and fujimoto provides no solution to these. it is just a presentation of it with these characters.

it is hard to pin a "point" to the narrative.

i think a really interesting aspect of reading chainsaw man as it was coming out was the weekly increasing realisation that fujimoto was having some very complicated feelings towards the art he was making

“Sorry Denji but constant unsustainable escalation is built into shonen. The only way out from a life of constant world-ending existential crises is to escape the genre itself”

Still thinking and loving the idea of it more and more. It feels almost like an intentional rejecting of shonen ideas. Its saying that Denji could never have a normal life because he was the protagonist of a shonen manga.Only by removing the protagonist status is he able to just live a life. Its rad

denji's reaction to this stressor is to embrace the manic, heart-pounding identity of chainsaw man, and it inevitably leads to his destruction of any semblance of a normal world.

it is the death of the idea that chainsaw man even works. it is like fujimoto murdered his story lol

A story without catharsis about catharsis being a trap. No climax for Denji. No climax for us.

Maybe it's because I can't envision one but in a story about trauma that sends its characters this deep down the death spiral there can be no ending for her character that isn't steeped in horrific tragedy. Asa went through unimaginable torture and it broke her will to live several times over such that much of her final time spent on-page is trying to take her own life. How you feel about that in and of itself is based a lot on what you think the artistic intent was, whether it was venting, deliberate, careless, a morality play, misogyny, etc. It's something you can't just heal from, especially when put into context of the apocalypse, and any solution to it would have felt cheap. There's also the more bleak option of letting it just destroy her, and that's that, but that's... well, even more bleak. I don't think that would've 'solved' it. So, what's the solution to this conundrum? We could do a time skip after the danger is over, show the aftermath, the fallout, the therapy sessions, the montage of growing better and better while still carrying that massive weight forevermore, only lightened by the burden of time. Or, it could be undone. Cheap? Maybe. Kind? Maybe. More satisfying than the alternative of showing the realistic fallout of surviving the worst nightmare conceivable? Maybe. The version that exists in your head as an abstract idea of something better is always something better by virtue of it being abstract. We don't need to show kindness to fictional characters, nor to our audiences, but there's something to be said for an ending that states, "the most whole version of this character is the one that didn't have to endure all of this suffering, that wasn't anything other than a brief diversion in the middle of someone else's story". In that way I think it carries forth the general critique of CSM part 2

It's been an hour, I did a little more thinking and wrote some more, some of it retreads the same ground as this thread but I think it's a little more coherent and a little less 'figure it out on your own'.

does art need to resolve every tension it brings up for its audience? I don't think so. but if I were to engage by, like, sitting with the fucked up dynamics on the page and reflecting on them by myself, I think the ending (+ some other writing decisions) pretty much works against that approach

for my benefit, he didn't _need_ to explicitly convey "the sexual assault was bad" but I don't think the story did much of interest with the disconnect in my experience of 167 and the characters' experience of 167 by the end to justify muddying the waters on such a delicate topic

I can’t explain exactly how but I like that you can tell this Denji is a different person to the one we followed. I can’t pinpoint it, but there’s something in the way he acts and talks that indicates… maturity? more organization? this time around.

anyway, for now,

And this is still my takeaway!

A better world is only possible if we stop believing that we can cut out and forget all that makes it suffer and start seeing other people as humans unto themselves rather than what they mean to us.

in a way part 2 has always been the academy saga. even if not in a school physically, then metaphorically through its examination of how structures of "normalcy" propagate and what effects they have on people. but not even yoshida's forbidden-ness destroying the physical building could save us from

How this came about? what was sacrificed and shakily told and squandered as a means of barreling towards it? more reservations than a michelin star restaurant.

but the concept of the ending itself? I’m liking it with each reflection.

despite all my quibbles with how Asa herself was handled in regards to it… I absolutely think this was the best ending to asaden’s relationship and resolution of what was driving them together.

they now live in a world in which they do not /have/ to matter to each other, and they’re better for it

did Yoru win, really? is this not her biggest fear coming to fruition, exactly as she said it would?

🧵; #csm232

"would you rather be a city mouse, or a country mouse?" has a poor premise. angel describes that his heart is with the country, and he is forced to be a city mouse by makima. to frame it is a choice is laughable.

most things in life are not within your control whatsoever.

the more i think about csm's ending the more 1) i hope fujimoto gets some rest from the hellish schedule 2) it's undoubtedly an era defining work, and the concept of "battle media" not just in animanga but in general has shifted in a way not seen since HxH maybe

I think Fujimoto definitely wanted to say a lot of things with the story but wanted to say very little through the characters- they are not intended to be morality plays. There’s no “moral lesson” in any of them.

but! but! in his silence with them, he also did, unintentionally, say a lot.

i am feeling a tiny bit happy that the 'chainsaw man is about Chainsaw Man and denji is stuck as the protagonist and cannot be free until he escapes the narrative' reading we had from early part 2 was a thematic prediction that ultimately did come true though, even with all the bumps. yay

Alright, Asa Mitaka. What do I make of you? "Yeah, she didn't deserve all that and it's good she got dumped back into normalcy without her groomer teacher" is surface-level good in a similar way to what it is for Denji. But interrogating deeper from there is more complicated. 🧵

Oh yes we've talked about this, my bad

What is self?

You're fine oomf

Going out of his way to show him super ultra dead does feel kinda like a set up...I choose to believe...

Ok my What The Fuck Happened This Chapter synthesis thread

Yoshida was killed and/or eaten by Death and turned into one of her pawns, then given the role of being the on switch/trigger of whatever plan she has against Yoru.

She did this because Yoshida cannot be harmed or killed by Denji nor Yoru.

You cooked. I am on board.