Chainsaw Man Volume 1 Chapter 1 Summary & Read Along

Welcome to the first edition of the ThriceHorror Read Along, where today we’re tackling the Chainsaw Man series. When you read the first chapter, which we're covering today, that forum comment above will make a lot more sense. Our goal here is to give you both a quick summary and a friend to read and react in real time while recapping the plot, because I’ve not read the series yet and am intrigued based on the excitement for the author and the new (November 2022) anime.

If you want to follow along, feel free to pick up the volumes on Amazon, online or your vendor of choice. With that out of the way, let us shonen jump in. (Does that even qualify as a joke?)

The Recap

The opening panels are excellent nightmare fuel. From what we can tell in the first chapter, Dog and Chainsaw, the world is full of devils that need killing. We open with our protagonist, Denji, in the gutter struggling to make money to support himself and his pet devil, Pochita. The literally poor guy slays a tomato devil but we discover that the Yakuza takes the corpses and reaps most of the profit, barely leaving enough for Denji to survive. They think he’s trash, and treat him as such. A dog who barks on command.

You really start to feel for Denji as a character. Panels like this one made me like him right away.

Once he’s back at home, eating his single slice of bread and dreaming of a better life, we get a glimpse of what most teenage boys dream about. A good toast with jam and a slice of love and affection. This is when we get a flashback of his past and how he came to find Pochita.

Denji’s father had apparently racked up a significant amount of debt with the Yakuza and then hanged himself. Barely even having time to grieve, Denji is then told that it’s either pay 700 grand or get chopped into pieces and sold.

It’s at this moment that Denji spots Pochita, a chainsaw devil that is aggressively trying to protect itself despite being gravely injured. Spotting an opportunity, Denji agrees to give his blood to Pochita in exchange for salvation for the both of them. A contract is followed.

I loved the exchange that followed. Denji with his simple dreams of good food and good company. But this moment is shattered by showing Denji coughing up blood. I wonder if this family heart condition will come back again later in Denji’s story?

With that brief glimpse of trauma, would you like some more? Denji gets woken up by the Yakuza, saying it's time to get to work and get back to hunting devils. As Denji is carted off, he wishes they'd just have let him sleep and dream a bit more, but they quickly arrive to what looks like an abandoned warehouse in a remote area.

The whole place is dimly lit, and doesn't look like there has been any activity there in quite awhile. Denji is skeptical that devil actually showed up here, and that's when the Yakuza explains that while they are grateful for his obedient service and cheap labor, the page flips over and we're greeted with this panel.

As soon as I saw this, I was desperate for revenge. This poor guy and his devil out there just trying to survive for another day keep getting downtrodden. We also learn that anyone can make ‘deals with devils’ as the Yakuza thugs inform us they’ve made their own deal.

Wanting more money, more power and through their hubris, the Zombie Devil they tried to align with has taken control of them and turned them into mindless devils also. The translated dialog here was a bit funny, but lets be real - would a pissed off undead devil really be a wordsmith in a moment like this? And thus, Denji is brutally diced up as the Yakuza promised.

The artwork here is simple, but still evocative. Seeing all the parts of the human body in places they shouldn't be, you've got to feel bad for the kid.

We’re greeted with another flashback, and you get to see a heartfelt moment where Denji is cutting down some trees with Pochita, and he makes this promise if anything were to happen to him: use his body and live on.

How could you not want to make sure this little guy has a good life?

Pochita keeps his promise and pieces Denji back together. This next part threw me for a loop, because then Denji and Pochita have an actual conversation. I also recently started the anime, and this scene was depicted well. Pochita tells Denji that he loved listening to him dream, and so he offers him a contract in return. Pochita’s heart in exchange for more dreams.

Now press the play button for the potential soundtrack of this next scene, start at 2:06.

The Zombie Devil is confused that Denji is still alive, so he tells his swarm to devour the despicable devil hunter for good. And that’s when we get this stunning shot.

Wow. We got a glimpse of this moment on the cover, but it really is an impressive piece of artwork. Denji decides that since he’s a devil hunter, and he gets paid to kill devils, so it’s time to clean house.

There’s just too many good shots in this manga to cover without putting in every single panel. The manically devious laughter at the raw power of being able to just summon chainsaws from your arms had me smiling throughout every moment. It’s too much fun. Once he finally finishes taking every last devil out, we spot another crew coming and quickly learn they were arriving to also take out the Zombie Devil.

Then as Denji begins to melt away, we see someone remark that he’s got a peculiar smell, being both human and devil. Before he can pass out from exhaustion, he pleads to be held, and his wish is granted.

She reveals she’s a public safety devil hunter, and that he can either choose to be killed as a devil or kept as a human. Denji is starving, so he asks about food.

She shares there are quite a few options, and then we conclude the first chapter with Denji's agreement that it sounds like a dream come true. All that plus dessert? Yes, please!

The Review

Overall and as someone new to manga, this series definitely has it’s hooks (or blades?) in me and I’m intrigued enough that I stopped reading it so I could document the experience, and wonder about the plot together with you for those who haven't finished it yet already, or get reactions in real time for those who have.

This chapter was a great pilot and has me super interested. I've been getting a little 'demon'd out recently, but the way it seems like everything can be a devil is a great premise. I also love that Fujimoto made it so that 'contracts with the devil' are a real thing here, and it seems like a real sacrifice to do so. Plus Denji feels like an underdog to the underdog, so with that many disadvantages you find yourself really rooting for him to get a good slice of bread someday, hopefully soon. What'd you think of Chapter 1? Feel free to let us know all your thoughts over at [email protected]

Thanks so much for joining!

The Wrap-Up

In this final section, I’ll share any cool or interesting things I find about the series we’re covering.

An incredible YouTuber by the name of Ah Lecks recently published a video about his obsession with the series, and it is absolutely worth a watch from start to finish. The detail, the humor - everything is spot on.

Apparently the author of the manga we’re enjoying here together has been pretending to be his sister (which I believe he doesn’t have a sister?) on Twitter. Given the insanity of recent weeks at Twitter HQ, that didn’t go over well with the new leadership.

As always, thanks to my incredible fiancé for inspiring me to do this, and for sponsoring. <3 Check out her store, and if you’d like to support what we’re doing please subscribe to her newsletter also! You get a free pin when you do so (just need to pay for shipping).

Until next time! - Matt & Nicole, ThriceHorror