Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man season one, episode five, “Gun Devil.”
Himeno in Chainsaw Man has a tragic backstory and a ghostly devil she can summon at will, but she’s not all serious and somber. She’s got a lively personality all her own that obscures a heartbreaking truth that hides beneath the surface.
Himeno appeared in episode four, “RESCUE,” as part of Aki Hayakawa‘s Division 4 team to secure the area after Denji’s fight with the Leech Devil. Aki orders the rookies to handle search and rescue and to assist with evac, while Himeno as a senior member is told to keep watch for more devils. She has short hair, wears an eyepatch, and although her age is unknown, she’s likely in her 20s and just a few years older than Aki.
In episode five, she gets more of the spotlight. This team of Public Safety Devil Hunters is chosen to search out the Gun Devil by collecting the its bullet flesh that will lead them to the original body like a magnet. After Makima tells Denji that she believes he can defeat the Gun Devil, Aki and Himeno are seen atop a dead whale devil that had consumed a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh. Himeno wonders how it got it, but Aki responds that it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t change what their job is, and eventually they’ll find him.
Division 4 is sent to Hotel Morin to exterminate another devil who has consumed a piece of the Gun Metal. Tensions grow between Denji, Power, and Division 4, and Himeno offers a kiss on the cheek to whomever kills the devil. Normally, Denji would’ve jumped at the opportunity, but after his talk with Makima about making real connections, he’s able to restrain himself. Arai isn’t happy with this offer at all and doesn’t believe that a woman should act in this manner, but it shows just how free-spirited Himeno is. She’s got a playful attitude on top of being a skilled devil hunter.
When they enter the hotel, Himeno and Aki have a conversation about the rookies, then it flashes back to when the two first met. Himeno has her eye bandaged and her right arm is in a sling. She’s standing at a gravesite and looking sorrowfully at a gravestone when a man in a hat introduces Himeno to her new partner. Himeno says that the new partner is rude, but he’s trained him to be of some use. That person is Aki, and after he introduces himself, she tells him that he’ll be her sixth partner. All the others died because, as she put it, they were useless. She then says, “Don’t die on me, Aki.”
In the present, Division 4 walks down a hallway until suddenly a devil that’s just a head with two feet attached to it comes out of a room. It seemingly floats in the air, and that’s when Power attacks it with her blood weapon, slicing it in half. She praises herself and said that it floated because it feared her, but Himeno informs her that it was her power that did it. Himeno has a contract with the Ghost Devil, and she sacrificed her eye in exchange for being able to use a ghost’s right hand. She says that her ghost’s hand is invisible, strong, and “pretty slick.”
When the team travels up the stairs, Himeno talks about how they talk about teamwork and trusting each other. Power decides to test this by threatening another member with a sharp and bloody blade, and Himeno uses the Ghost Devil hand to stop her. Himeno reaches out towards Power, and a ghostly and veiny hand chokes the fiend. Power is at Himeno’s mercy, and she’s told by Himeno that if Power misbehaves, she can always choke her to death. Helpless, Himeno tried to grab the hand, but her hands go right through it. It’s a ghost, after all.
Himeno’s a skilled devil hunter with a string of fallen partners, but she’s still shown to have humor and a positive personality. Just don’t disobey her because she won’t hesitate to use the Ghost Devil power to keep everything in order.
