Chainsaw Man: chapter 123 review

Masterpiece Chainsaw Man! This week, we’re taking a look at Chainsaw Man Part 2 Chapter 26 or Chapter 123. In terms of our Chainsaw Man newsletter, there was pretty much nothing this week, other than it turns out somebody found that one movie from the chapter in Part One where Denji and Makima go to the theater. It’s the one that made both Makima and Denji cry that nobody else but them went to see.

It’s called Ballad of a Soldier, an old Russian film made back in the late ’50s. If you want to watch it, the entire movie is on YouTube, so you don’t have to look super hard. I’ll leave a link to it in the description.

Another thing is that the next chapter will again be coming out in two weeks instead of one, so unless the Shueisha intern decides to have some fun again like last time, it’ll be quite a wait. Anyways, that’s all for the news. Now let’s get into the chapter. But before that, if you liked the blog, make sure to leave a like down below and subscribe if you want more Chainsaw Man content directly into your inbox. Let’s move ahead.

This chapter starts off with a new enemy being formed out of the corpses of the people who are jumping down from their apartments. We get this large, grotesque lady in a chef outfit named the Falling Devil.

This now marks the second Primal Fear we have met. If you don’t remember, Primal Fears are devils that have been around for thousands of years since the conception of humankind because they represent the original fears that people, like cavemen, would have to face off against – fears like darkness, which was the only other Primal Fear we’ve met, was probably a big deal back in the day because who knows what was out there to attack you in your small cave.

Falling kinda makes sense, I guess, if you live near a canyon or a mountain – one false step would have been an early demise. Though I think it makes more sense for Mitaka specifically since all of her traumatic experiences have been related to her tripping over and falling.

Anyways, the Falling Devil seems to have a certain attitude to her. She’s very polite and elegant, obviously concerned with her appearance, and speaks in a very formal tone. It seems that most Devils do, but she takes it to another level.

She has a strange Chef Persona, talking about making a dish and cooking, which seems to be inspired by Rafe Vanessa’s character in the movie “The Menu,” which Fujimoto stated was his favorite movie last year. She seems to be a replica of the character, down to even the clapping.

Chainsaw Man: chapter 123 review

She says that she’s here at the request of the residents of hell, so possibly she could be turning almost everyone into Tokyo into a meal for the devils in hell. This is likely the small apocalypse thing the family was talking about that would take place soon, not the big one later.

Anyways, Mitaka and Yuru aren’t having an amazing time as they are trying to run from the devil, but Yuru doesn’t seem to have the ability to create strong weapons. She’s trying to get a hold of Mitaka, since she’s still in the daze she’s trying to get a hold of Mitaka’s and she’s still in the daze of negative feelings caused by the Falling Devil.

Since it seems her powers can not only make people fall literally but also figuratively, so much that when she claps her hands, it triggers a flashback from Mitaka – one where she is in a group home, shortly after her mother got killed by the Typhoon Devil. She doesn’t seem to be happy just sitting there in the corner reading her book, but at least she has her cat friend that she saved during the Typhoon Devil attack to keep her company.

Reminder, this is the cat that she tried to save, but she tripped and her mother had to come and pick her up, and her mother died saving her. Doing that, the head caretaker approaches her, saying that she thinks it’d be best if Mitaka’s cat was sent to a friend far off; one of the kids is allergic to cats, and the caretaker doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Mitaka’s only friend to be the cat. At first, he’s reluctant because this is the reason that her mom had died, but she agrees as long as the cat is happy and gets to live.

Late that night, one of the kids tells Mitaka they found her cat floating in the nearby river. When she confronts the caretaker about this, her expression goes from a kind-hearted one to a more disturbing one – ‘everyone here lost their family; you can’t be the only one with a family member, isn’t that unfair?’

Jeez, this is messed up. We’re still not 100% sure how far apart Chainsaw Man Part One and Two are in terms of the timeline, but it seems that it’s a fair amount, possibly one to two years, now that Mitaka looked a fair amount younger than she does in the flashback. But that’s not what’s important; what’s important is the character writing. This might be one of the reasons Mitaka is always immediately untrusting of people and standoffish.

She blames herself for her mom’s death, and the one thing that she had clung onto since that moment was drowned by a person jealous of her. It also makes sense why whenever she likes somebody, she immediately feels a strong attraction to them, but at the same time can also immediately push them away.

It seems that the Falling Devil’s abilities have the ability to trigger memories in people, to make them feel down. This, in turn, gives her control over the people who feel down, as when Mitaka wakes up, she realizes that she’s hanging onto a street railing, falling upwards towards the sky.

Lots of other people are as well, floating right into hell’s doors. It seems that this is what the Falling Devil means when she said she was making a meal for the residents in hell. Could be possible that she’s implying that somebody hired her to carry out this act, possibly Fami, though not 100% sure that that’s how the power works, but there is some evidence to it.

Chainsaw Man: chapter 123 review

Like she says, ‘those who did not finish their food will taste death.’ I mean, I don’t think that she means this literally; more likely she’s referring to people who haven’t gotten over their past trauma and experiences. And another line, she implies that these types of people taste better to the Devils for some reason also.

Anyways, it doesn’t affect Yuru, as she’s still standing perfectly on the ground, and she can’t take over Mitaka’s body since she’s still stricken with fear. That’s the end of the chapter, and what a chapter it was. There wasn’t nearly as much to talk about as previous chapters, but that’s because we’re entering a big battle arc now, now called the Falling Devil Arc. It’ll probably be like that for the next few chapters, much like the Yuko School of Tech Arc. Anyways, that’s all from me. I’ll see you guys next time. Have a good one!