Chainsaw Man Episode 10’s titled, “Bruised and Battered,” is the perfect description of where Division 4 has been left after last week’s battles. The majority of the team has been killed, Divisions 1-4 have been combined into Division 4, and one of the only survivors resigned. While Denji is dealing with his lack of grief, Aki is buckling under unimaginable levels of pain. Both are forced to make major changes in their lives in order to move forward.
The MVP for this week’s episode was definitely Aki. His scenes were understated and he hides his emotions close, not revealing much to those around him. But still waters run deep, and this character is about to have a major transformation. However, Denji came a close second, and I had a tough time choosing between the two. His voice actor perfectly captured a range of emotions this week, and his team-up with Power to try to defeat their new trainer was highly entertaining.
This Chainsaw Man Episode 10 review is for anime-only viewers. There will be spoilers below. For the latest Chainsaw Man news, subscribe to our email list, choosing the “anime” category.
The Episode Picked Up With Denji Healed & Aki in the Hospital
When Episode 9 ended, Denji was unconscious and cut in half, with Kobeni having just defended him from the people who were trying to drag his body away. But as Episode 10 begins, he’s healed up just fine (he is “immortal” after all) and Power is hanging out with him again in Aki’s hospital room.
Aki’s struggling with everything that’s happened, while Denji and Power are taking it all in stride. It paints an interesting contrast. After they leave, we learn that Aki has used the Curse Devil so much that he only has two years left in his life. This is a sobering and surprising moment. He really doesn’t have a reason to leave anymore, and now he has another life to avenge.
Aki’s one of my favorite characters, so seeing him sad is tough to watch.
Meanwhile, Denji hears him crying on the other side of the closed hospital door, and doesn’t really have anything he can do to help him. Instead, it causes him to look inside his own heart and realize that there’s really not anyone he would cry over. (Except Pochita, of course.)
He realizes that even if Makima died, he’d only be sad for a few days and then life would go on. It causes him to wonder if part of his “human heart” is gone, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think he’s just gone through a lot of trauma in his short life, and he’s understandably desensitized to it all. Of course, I might be wrong and they might be hinting that he’s lost a bit of his humanity since merging with Pochita. But I’m doubting that’s the case.
This was a good scene, because it gave us more insight into Denji’s character and the questions he’s having about his own life. There’s still a lot that he doesn’t understand about himself. Like Aki, he puts on a lot of bravado and doesn’t share his inner thoughts and questions with other people.
I like how he eventually concludes that thinking about these things just makes him a buzzkill, so he needs to move on. 😆
Power & Denji Are Training with Himeno’s Mentor
With so much at stake, and the Gun Devil after Denji’s heart, Power and Denji are going to need to be much better fighters than they are now. So Makima sets them up to train with Himeno’s trainer, who claims he’s the strongest Devil Hunter of them all. (His name wasn’t mentioned in the episode, although it was in the ending credits.)
The trainer decides that the best way to make them badass hunters is by hunting them himself. Once they can defeat him, they’ll truly be formidable. Since Denji’s immortal (an interesting revelation) and Power is mostly immortal, he’s just going to hunt them until he kills them, over and over, and bring them back to life with blood.
It’s a pretty smart idea, although it’s like torture for Denji and Power. But if they don’t “power up” soon, they won’t survive long anyway. In their first training session, they die 20 times. The next day, he claims that they earned the day off and then spears Denji anyway, teaching them never to trust their opponent.
I love how OP this older, drunk man is. It’s a great twist on the sensei-training-montage scenes from so many movies. The training sessions were a lot of fun, and a good way to mix some action into an introspective episode. It also helps build the dynamic between Denji and Power, which I always love to watch. They have a great rapport, even though neither will ever fully trust the other.
Aki Is Starting a New, Haunting Chapter in His Life
Aki’s not about to leave Division 4, so Makima sends Tendo and Kurose to “train” him. Essentially, they’re going to give him a stronger Devil to contract with since things are about to get a lot tougher. The Gun Devil is after Denji’s heart, and that means major trouble is coming.
Aki’s Fox Devil, Kon, is gone, it appears. After he made Kon eat Katana Man, it seems that Kon isn’t responding to her contract anymore. Will we see Kon ever again? And because Aki only has two years left, he can’t utilize the Curse Devil anymore.
Just before he leaves the hospital, Himeno’s younger sister visits him and shows him letters that Himeno wrote to her. It’s apparent to Aki now that Himeno really was in love with him. She was serious when she wanted them to leave and go private together, so they could live longer. It’s sad to see this future of possible happiness that Aki missed. It’s sad to know Himeno might still be alive if he’d taken her up on her offer. I’m not sure what good it does Aki to know what he missed out on, since he’s just more dedicated to his vengeance now than ever before.
As the episode ends, we learn that Public Safety keeps the Devils they’re able to capture alive in cells under lock and key. These are the Devils they use for contracts with the Devil Hunters. Tendo and Kurose think Aki should contract with one of the strongest ones, the Future Devil. But the Future Devil usually demands a high price. One Hunter had to give up both of his eyes and his sense of taste and smell. Another had to give up half of their lifespan.
But Aki only has two years left to live, so whatever the Future Devil would get from Aki won’t last for very long. We’re left with a cliffhanger, as Aki faces the Devil, not knowing what will be demanded of him. I can’t help but wonder if we’ll even find out, or if next week will skip ahead and leave us wondering.
Overall, this was a really good episode. The plot moved forward a bit slowly, but it was necessary so we could learn more about the characters and get more character development. It was nice to have a breather after everything that happened the last two weeks. It’ll be interesting how they fare the next time the Gun Devil sends someone after them.
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