#Fujimoto can you fucking NOT?!?

[pao-of-the-stars]

[CSM Chapter 142 Spoilers]

Out of all the women Denji have met in his life... the one who vocaly told him that they genuinely noticed Denji as a human being is the fucking pedophile

[misplacedgamer]

Utterly fascinated by just how useless Yoshida is when he’s not using his octopus powers-he literally cannot get Asa or Denji to do anything he wants them to do. It’s such a hilarious contrast- Makima’s iron grip she had on the rest of the cast in Part 1 vs Yoshida not even being able to stop Denji from eating cake

[wasabi-gumdrop]

it’s actually so over for me when the look back movie comes out

[jellophoid]

I FUCKINGHATE CHAINSAW MAN.

[boohoohideyhole]

It's a pengiun!

[shokuto]

Denji and Power are so inappropriately close for the friends they're supposed to be, it's awesome

[thevashstampede]

THEVAS??? YOU JUST READ PART 1 OF CSM??

Oh oh oh, tell your thoughts please <3

Oh god. Oh god man. The way I was NOT expecting to be hit with the found family trope so hard and I got absolutely SMACKED anyways... WHEW. MAD that the hype is pretty well deserved. MAD that I was pussy and didn't pick it up when it first came out because I thought it was going to be cruel and nothing else. MAD that Makima was 100% the Worst from the get go but she still managed to BETRAY me bro....

They all said they weren't going to fall in love with each other and I believed them. Like a FOOL bro. It's like. Such a simple story, like all of the twists and underdog trump cards were SO simple but they hit EVERY TIME.

[transparentstrawberrysoul]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

TATSUKI FUJIMOTO YOU CAN'T END THE CHAPTER LIKE THIS!!!!

[eightspringdays]

if fucking ohba didn't explain clearly the whole mello kidnaping takada thing, then I will assume he did it for me to explain it as gay as absolutely possible

you know. since he loves gay people.

[punkitt-is-here]

I think Fujimoto is unironically a fucking manga genius for being able to so clearly depict Denji as a dude who breathes through his mouth without ever calling attention to it. You just know you can hear him breathing heavy when he has to think

[marchingbandtshirt]

Bitches will read something like chainsaw man and the entire concept of characters getting a perfectly happy ending completely healing from trauma scrubbed of every unclean aspect about themselves for the audience’s benefit will be ruined for them. it’s me I’m bitches

[kafukaselect-blog]

The Guillotine Devil's Incredibly Well-Executed Design

The Guillotine Devil has quickly become one of my all-time favorite devil designs in Chainsaw Man.

The exceedingly tall stature of the devil perfectly captures the tall and unwieldy shape of an actual guillotine, and while I would like to say a little more of substance with this post than just "it looks cool"… it cannot be overstated how fucking cool this design looks. The long wings of the bird creating a circular cloak that doubles as the frame of the guillotine is genius.

The skeletal "body" of the devil, if you can even call it that, hangs limply so that attention is drawn to the guillotine device itself, which adds a wonderfully cold and unsettling element to the design, fitting for a cold metal murder machine.

The bird motifs that have been present throughout Part 2 are on full display here, with a design that harkens back to the crows that have been seen throughout the series (Most notably the one Denji stepped on), but with a pigeon head to emphasize its birdbrained nature.

With a tilted head the devil echoes Fami's own signature scale-tilting lean to draw a connection between itself and its owner, similarly to how the Falling devils love of cooking connects it to the food-loving Famine devil.

But while the tilted head's similarity to Fami is great, my favourite aspect would have to be the way that the entire upper body of the Guillotine Devil resembles a severed head after an execution, with the feathers around its shoulders creating a birds-nest-looking basket much like those placed under a guillotine.

Fujimoto absolutely cooked with this design.

[skewiie]

aoex spoilers but you know how fucking devastating it is reading ch 143 and osceola is explaining all the nuances and specifics about talismanic foods and ingredients to rin and it’s actually something he’s genuinely interested in and can grasp easily without making him feel stupid and it especially captures him because of his prior interest in food and cooking. and osceola and rin get along well and it gives osceola a chance to maybe even take on rin as an apprentice. and it would maybe give osceola a chance to find his footing in the world and in his identity again. and rin’s never really had someone dedicate time to teaching him personally since father fujimoto died so it would most definitely benefit him too. and then osceola dies.

[marcysdreamydays11]

Holy fucking shit AidaIro STOP TRYING TO BE HIDEAKI ANNO STOP TRYING TO BE GEGE AKUTAMI STOP TRYING TO BE FUJIMOTO YOU WANT US TO SUFFER-

MAJOR SPOILERS

You can see on the look of Teru's face he's so fucking hurt doing this to one of the only people he has left

the look of realization from both of them broke me

Kou realizing his brother is the one to end his life (in this world...I hope.)

Teru realizing what he did don't even wanna fucking know what the fuck him and Akane saw in that well

Kou and Tiara are literally the only thing he has left. He always puts on this persona yet this is probably his most vulnerable moment bro AidaIro GIVE KOU A BREAK PLEASE HE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS HE'S 14 LET HIM WATCH SKIBIDI TOILET AND SHIT LIKE LET HIM HANG OUT WITH HIS TWINK BOYFRIEND.

I can't even imagine what mitsuba's reaction would've been if he was there

HIS WEAK SMILE..GIVE HIM A BREAK DAMMIT HES ONLY 14 CHILL OUT

Lord knows how much trauma she has behind those big ass eyes

The fact Akane had got "Mr take ya bitch'd" by Teru yet he broke when Teru's little brother died that shows how much Akane cares about Kou shit maybe even fucking Teru not even just cause Teru is the student council,

Not even fucking fazed I read jujutsu kaisen💀 i watched Neon genesis freakgelion i watch end of freakgelion on repeat😭 God dammit AidaIro you mfs are so bipolar how tf is the manga happy at some times then someone just fucking dies like what the fuck like is Gege giving you writing tips..like IS IT FUJIMOTO IS IT ANNO

[aszles]

since my first pinned post had a tierlist of csm characters, i decided to redo it as a tierlist of Fujimoto works instead! (i had only read csm when i made this sideblog) it's a lot less ever-changing so i feel a bit safer keeping something like this at the top of my blog lol...

within the tiers there is no specific order, they're just the things i happened to put in first. if you wanna make one here's the template! (made by yours truly)

because i'm a nerd you can read my opinions about each work below the cut~

S TIER

Chainsaw Man - i mean, csm is just awesome. in all honesty, this manga has changed my life. i KNOW that sounds silly and corny but it's genuinely true. i have been able to get past a lot of my struggles and develop so much as a person since starting this manga. as a fun bonus i feel like i've finally started improving my art again (or at least changing it enough to feel fresh) after like 3 years. i can't really describe how much csm has done for me, but if i had told myself from 2021 that this would happen i would never believe it (especially because i had written off this series for some personal reasons...lol) but yeah. i think i'll forever be grateful for what Chainsaw Man has done for me.

Look Back - i think Look Back is seriously the best piece of media i have ever experienced. i don't think i have ever seen a story so beautifully crafted as this manga, it made me sob when i read it. i remember having to move the manga away from myself so i wouldn't get tears on it. at the time of writing this i am SO SO excited to watch the movie, whenever that will be. i will cry and throw up watching that thing LOL.

Nayuta of the Prophecy - ok maybe i don't TECHNICALLY believe this is an S tier work, but Nayuta is just such a lovable character that i can't possibly rank her any lower. Fujimoto was right to adapt her into csm because she deserves it!! however despite that, this oneshot is the only one that i genuinely wish he would make a sequel to. i think oneshot Nayuta and csm Nayuta are pretty different, so they still don't feel like the same character - i would love to see oneshot Nayuta's personality and relationship with her brother continue to develop!

A TIER

Sisters - one of the few other works i had heard anything about before i started exploring Fujimoto's other stuff, and i definitely felt apprehensive about it. but wow, the fact that Fujimoto is able to take the concept of "girl non-consensually paints her sister naked and it gets displayed on the school wall for everyone to see" and NOT make it weird is crazy! a sweet oneshot that i enjoyed, and love the nuance that was able to be created in such a short amount of time.

Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome - a really cute take on a silly trope that can often be handled... oddly. i love how much the characters in this really feel like teenagers, doing stupid things but being completely earnest all the while. (Spoilers) i really like how it ends with Toshihide being adamant that he is still male, and also Rie still loving him as he is. very sweet!

Love is Blind - it's no wonder Fujimoto won an honourable mention for this, it's such an adorable and funny oneshot. i was giggling the whole time reading it! i don't really have much to say about it, but i definitely enjoyed it.

Fire Punch - i don't really know where to start with Fire Punch, but wow. it is seriously so impressive to me how good Fujimoto is at tackling such sensitive topics, not shying away from them while also clearly not glorifying them. i also think a big place where Fire Punch shines is character relationships, especially Agni and Togata. they fucked me UPPPPP. it goes off the rails a bit near the end, but i also never got the feeling that it WASN'T what Fujimoto intended with this series. i may not quite get the ending, but it didn't ruin anything for me and i think the rest of Fire Punch is really good at what it does. plus the art is AWESOME ?????

B TIER

Goodbye, Eri - ohhh people might not like me for this one... i'm sorry guys, i just honestly didn't get this manga. i'll definitely reread in the future (me and my sister still haven't finished our sticky notes to read it blurry/clear) but for now i can't rank it any higher. i didn't feel much reading it, and the ending definitely confused me a lot lol. love the art though!

Shikaku - this one's interesting! i thought the story was quite cute, and Shikaku herself is completely adorable. though Yugeru is ummm... not my type let's say. i also do wonder if Makima took any inspiration from Shikaku - she looks similar to her, which to be fair for Fujimoto works probably doesn't mean much (as a lot of his character's look similar to each other /pos), but a clearer comparison is both characters presenting eyeballs they stole from people. (also... if Makima is inspired by Shikaku, is Barem then inspired by Yugeru? yuck) anyways just my speculation, back to the point. the reason this doesn't make its way into A tier is because to me it doesn't really feel like a Fujimoto work? i'm not sure why, but yeah.

C TIER

Mermaid Rhapsody - this one's definitely cute, but as a result of Fujimoto trying to create a "normal story" it unfortunately loses all of the charm of Fujimoto works!! i want it to be weird and fucked up damnit!!!!! though he did succeed in his goal of creating a normal story, so i can't complain too much lol.

Sasaki Stopped a Bullet - i don't have anything against this oneshot, but i think it just doesn't particularly appeal to me. unfortunately nothing in this story grabbed me

D TIER

A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard - it's no real surprise this is here, considering it's Fujimoto's first work. overall it was pretty cute, but i'm not all that into aliens..? not much to say lol

if you read all this then thank you >_o

[kingofanemptyworld]

Rin, identity issues, and the complications of being an isolated, alienated teenager

It feels sort of weird to say but I generally don’t head canon characters as having particular sexualities. Whatever people go for in fics is usually fine with me - gay, lesbian, bi, pan, something more general like queer. As long as it makes sense for the story they’ve built and the character they’ve shaped to fit it, I’m good. Unless you’re ignoring a canon LGBTQ+ sexuality, in which case, yeah, I’ll take issue with that.

But anyway. Rin.

I’ve got my personal ship for him (BonRin my beloved), but regardless of the pairing I see him as bisexual. He’s so open with his infatuation with Shiemi, and okay, sure, fandom likes to ignore the love interest in shounen for the most part because we’ve got gay ships to peddle. But I don’t see the point in that unless it really reads like it’s a front, or a result of a character suppressing themselves for one reason or another. And with Rin, I think it’s pretty clear his affection for Shiemi is sincere. You technically have the in-universe evidence of the demon that brought out his true desires to back that up, but even without it, Rin likes her. It’s complicated because of Yukio and Shiemi’s own inexperience with romance, and yet I never once doubt he really likes her.

That being said… he’s very appreciative of the guys in his life, too. (Peddling my gay ship here) Bon in particular, considering he’s often admiring how cool he thinks Bon is, that his haircut suits him whether it’s the blonde rooster look or the undercut. If you don’t want to see it as romantic interest, that’s your prerogative, but to me Rin comes across as seeing cool and cute as different traits he finds attractive (in Bon and Shiemi respectively).

I also think his bisexuality would fit neatly into his narrative struggles to “pass” throughout the early parts of the series. Rin has grown up as the neighborhood problem child, ostracized for being violent, and eventually he decides he’s fine with just his brother and his father — and the rest of the monastery, presumably — for company. (Except that’s absolutely not true and clearly he’s starved for friendship and support.) People looked at him and saw a monster, even before his demonic heritage made an appearance; why would he bother giving them even more ammunition when it comes to reasons to hate him? So no matter when he figured out his attraction to guys, he’s not going to lean into it, because he also likes girls, right? (Ignoring for a moment that bisexuality is a lot more nuanced than that.)

Rin likes girls, Rin is human — that’s what’s going to get people to like him, or at the very least tolerate him. That he likes guys, that he’s half demon, he can shove that shit down and pretend it doesn’t exist. Lock up any stray thoughts and keep the sword sheathed around anyone who doesn’t already know.

(Excuse me for being amused by Rin wielding his humanity and supposed heterosexuality as a sword and shield.)

The problem, of course, is that he can’t keep up the facade forever. The narrative won’t let him. Rin has to embrace his demonic side, because it’s the only way to move forward and to continue to help his loved ones. And once he’s moved past the issue of his friends being upset over the deception, when they understand he’s still Rin despite what he’d hidden from them, Rin is finally allowed to be himself. He uses his flames, he lets his tail move freely in the open around the Cram School kids. Rin still doesn’t like this side of himself — it’s inextricably tied to every moment of pain and isolation he’s dealt with his entire life, including the death of Father Fujimoto (and, y’know, his mom). But he is moving forward, he’s trying to adapt.

And isn’t that some great fucking subtext for his bisexuality, too?