Chainsaw Man is one of the goriest anime and manga series out there, and that’s exactly how we like it. Granted, its powerful and creative characters contribute a lot to the enjoyment, but it’s the dark, action-packed plot that keeps us hooked.
Following Denji, the series takes readers into a world where Devils roam free, feeding on humanity’s fears to grow in power. As far as dark fantasy premises go, no one can say this is a bad one, can they?
Tatsuki Fujimoto really struck gold when he created Chainsaw Man in 2018, but after two years of serialization, the manga entered a hiatus. In July 2022, new chapters started being released once more, and later in the year, the series received an anime adaptation.
Shortly after season 1’s premiere, Chainsaw Man‘s manga registered a huge spike in sales, earning its place in the list of bestselling manga. The source material wasn’t the only thing receiving its deserved success, though, as the anime swiftly established itself as one of the best releases of 2022. Naturally, with all the hype surrounding the series, every day new people attempt to jump into this train, and one of the best ways to get that started is by getting familiar with it.
After gaining an understanding of a series’ premise, the next thing that new fans tend to look at is its structure. Like a big portion of anime and manga, Chainsaw Man is divided into arcs, which makes it easier to organize the narrative. Do we have to know them all to properly enjoy the series? Not necessarily, but it’s useful information to have whenever we want to rewatch, reread, or discuss a particular section of the story.
Chainsaw Man‘s story arcs
If you’re new to the series, worry not, you’re still well in time to catch up. Currently, the Chainsaw Man manga is divided into 12 story arcs, which make up two parts, known as sagas. Out of those, four arcs were adapted in season 1 of the anime, and another will be put to screen in the series’ first animated film, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.
All that said, it’s worth bearing in mind that the series is still ongoing, meaning that this information will suffer alterations as new content is released. For the time being, though, these are all the arcs in Chainsaw Man:
Part 1 – Public Safety Saga
- Introduction arc – Chapters 1-4, episodes 1-2
- Bat Devil arc – Chapters 5-12, episodes 2-5
- Eternity Devil arc – Chapters 13-21, episodes 5-7
- Katana Man arc – Chapters 22-39, episodes 8-12
- Bomb Girl arc – Chapters 40-52, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
- International Assassins arc – Chapters 53-70
- Gun Devil arc – Chapters 71-79
- Control Devil arc – Chapters 80-97
Part 2 – Academy Saga
- Justice Devil arc – Chapters 98-111
- Dating Denji arc – Chapters 112-120
- Falling Devil arc – Chapters 121-131
- Current arc – Chapters 132-present
The Chainsaw Man manga is available to read on Manga Plus by Shueisha, and you can watch all the anime episodes on Crunchyroll or Hulu.
