Chainsaw Man #3: Arrival in Tokyo
Makima brings Denji to Tokyo, where Japan's state devil-hunter HQ is located. There are over a thousand devil-hunters based in Tokyo, she explains. Most are official, but the figure she gave includes civilian as well as state hunters. Being official gets you a great salary and benefits package though, so most devil-hunters try for that unless they've got a very good black market deal going on.
Denji, meanwhile, wonders how long he'll have to let her dom him unsexy-like before she starts doming him sexy-like. Denji, you poor trainwreck.
She introduces him to a junior devil-hunter, and tells them that they'll be working together now. She herself will be taking other missions with her more elite team.
I'm sure that this Aki guy is going to be a helpful mentor, respectful partner, and sorely needed friend for our put-upon protagonist.
Ooh, yep, I was right! First thing out the door of HQ, Denji asks Aki if Makima has a boyfriend, and in response Aki escorts him into an alley and answers thusly:
Either he IS her boyfriend, or he just really, really, really has no patience for that kind of inappropriate question from a new recruit.
He explains to the gasping, bleeding Denji that there are two kinds of devil-hunters. The ones who do it out of duty and commitment, and the ones who do it for profit or self-advancement. If Denji is trying to hit on the boss first thing out the door, then that means he's in the latter group. And, he says, devil-hunters of his kind never last more than a few years before dying, because they don't give it their all. He tells Denji to leave, rethink his life choices, and not come back tomorrow unless he wants another beating.
Aki tells Denji to run away; he'll tell the bosses that he ran away from a devil that they met. Then, he contemptuously tosses a cigarette butt onto Denji's prone body and turns his back on him.
He evidently wasn't filled in on Denji's regenerative abilities. And, as a result of this, the reader also gets to learn a new thing about Denji.
Given his background, this makes a lot of sense. Brutal as hell, but I think he's earned the right to be.
Denji's motives might be selfish, he admits, but with how awful his life was before, and how short it seemed like it was going to be anyway, selfishness is all he can act on right now. A life eating actual, if soggy, food rather than a starvation diet of bread and rice. Being abused by a hot girl, rather than being abused by some old yakuza guy. He will fight for this new life with everything he has. And he will die for it. As "mercenary" as that might be, he assures his gasping and crying counterpart that that should give him as much determination and fighting spirit as any idealist. Also, he does have at least one thing that's like an ideal; he's fighting for Pochita to experience a happy life through himself, and he owes him at least that much.
Aki tenderly picks himself up, and spits out that a "thug" like Denji has no business coming anywhere near Makima.
Oh. Well then. So much for Aki's noble dedication to the devil-hunter way, and his desire to beat Denji out of it for his own good. Just dumbass anime rival shit.
It gives me great satisfaction when, in response to this admission of Aki's, as well as the latter's attempt to attack him again, Denji kicks him in the crotch a bunch more times and makes him lose consciousness. Denji ends up having to physically drag him back to base.
Makima says that she's glad they're getting along so well, and that she's going to be adding Denji semi-permanently to Aki's brute squad.
...
So, is Makima is a management person, why was she out with just two guys to hunt the zombifying devil?
...
Aki complains that his group has enough weirdos as it is, but she reminds him that the whole point of an irregular unit is to experiment with new tactics and force compositions. Also, she lets Aki in on Denji being one of those ultra-rare devilhosts that the Japanese government has only heard rumors about until now, which means that he's both extremely valuable AND can be summarily executed for being a devil if he causes Aki too much trouble.
Cut ahead to them on patrol again. Aki tells Denji that apparently Denji's going to be quartered with him, so that Aki can keep an eye on him. Also, that Makima has authorized him to kill Denji himself at the first sign of disobediance.
Not sure how much that means, given how the last fight between them went, but I'm sure hearing it at least made Aki feel better about himself.
In response to being told this, Denji does a truly impressive process of deductive reasoning. One that leads him to a question that earnestly blew my mind and recontextualized the entire story for me.
400 IQ galaxy brain stuff right here. I'm reeling.
Aki first tries to wriggle around the question and try to use it to convince Denji that he really shouldn't be interested in her if he's even asking that question. When pressed, however, he answers the question.
I'm starting to get the feeling that she collects these guys, and manipulates them into competing for her attention.
Well, I'll take that over the usual anime rivalry shit. At least this way I'm allowed to actually hate the person most responsible for all the dickery.
Denji thinks back to when she embraced him during their first meeting, and thinks things over. The conclusion he comes to is unsurprising, if disappointing.
End of that section. Just one chapter to go.
This comic really is something.
I'm sort of half-afraid that Makami is going to turn out to be Sensei, and be magically vindicated of everything and have all her obviously monstrous behavior forgotten. But...nah, this goes way more explicit in portraying her as a deliberate manipulator and antagonist that shit like Symphogear accidentally does.
Well, more coming soon-ish.
