The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Chainsaw Man, "MEOWWY'S WHEREABOUTS," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Some thought that Chainsaw Man's second episode was too densely packed for what it was and while it was undoubtedly a lot, it had great character moments without shoehorning in too much action. This week's episode was highly anticipated for its battle, but even while delivering on that promise, it earnestly laid its foundation with simple and earnest character moments that carried the episode to completion.
At the end of last week's episode, Power and Denji were on patrol when suddenly Power smelled blood and rushed into action against a devil down on the street below. With a single strike, she killed it, shocking Denji and the devil hunter looking on from the sidelines, signaling that she'd be quite the cantankerous loose cannon.
The "Promising" and the "Interesting"
Episode 3 begins right as the previous one left off, but with the blood settled and Denji and Power receiving something of a scolding. It's explained that there are rules of engagement and that poaching other hunters' kills can be seen as obstruction. It's one of two scenes with Makima that start to expand on the world this week.
The second is a meeting between Makima and her superiors which further confirms that devils and devil hunters are widely known. References to an "American matter" and rumblings about Soviets give the slightest morsels of world-building, and it'll be exciting to learn more about this freaky alternate world.
For now, the most important thing is that the powers that be are interested in devils and the possibility of them being harnessed. Denji and Power's recruitment is more of an experiment, and they have high expectations of Makima to get results. She calls Power promising and Denji interesting, a seemingly genuine assessment that doesn't instill her superiors with a ton of confidence.
Makima is becoming more interesting as time goes on, specifically this time for how Power responds to her. Power describes her employment with Public Safety as being in "Makima's clutches" and despite her bravado, she seems genuinely afraid of her when they're being "scolded" at the beginning of the episode.
Power doesn't have the same affectionate acquiescence towards her circumstances as Denji does, having become ensnared by Makima before she could accomplish her own goals. Such goals are the focus of her deal with Denji, to help her retrieve her cat Meowwy from a devil in exchange for letting Denji touch her breasts.
The Bat, The Cat, And The Chainsaw Combat
Denji starts the episode fairly annoyed with Power for getting him in trouble with Makima, so when she tells him about her hatred of humans and devils but her love of cats, he's fairly dismissive. And yet, even before she's suckered him into helping with the promise of breasts, he's already half-caught himself in hypocrisy realizing he was the same with Pochita.
It isn't as though Denji has strong feelings towards humans or devils, it's just more indifference, a willingness to be friends, and a disdain for anything that comes between him and living the good life. It's not one-to-one, but he's pretty similar to Power, who fought to survive on her own and found herself caring for a starving cat.
In just two small flashbacks, dripping with earnest emotion and carried by Kensuke Ushio's musical atmosphere, both of these characters realize just how alike they are. Plenty of stories weave very intricate words to express the pathos of a story, but sometimes the simplest things are best. The two central characters are messed up but each of them had a pet that made it a little easier to live, and what's more relatable than that?
The Animation
It's pretty clear by this episode that when Denji is in full Chainsaw Man mode, the animation is using what appears to be a blend of 2D and 3D animation. At the time of the premiere, it wasn't clear if this would be a consistent style choice or a decision dictated by the direction of the first episode. Now it's clear that it's a creative choice.
Not everyone is going to love it, but it begs introspection to figure out why. As MAPPA has been quick to point out through social media, the key animation was hand-drawn like everything else. It's just that the compositing looks to be done with an emphasis on 3D which is indistinguishable in some key shots.
It isn't as if the shots in this episode from the trailer were re-animated, but merely they moved so quickly that the compositing couldn't be noticed. And between the stellar direction, effects animation, and iconic imagery, it's hard to argue with the final product. Hopefully, the success of Chainsaw Man thus far will encourage a more thorough debate about 3D animation in anime.
Ending Theme Week 3
"Two Hundred Million Centimeter Long Blades" by Maximum the Hormone capped off this week's episode, painting visually the kind of thing most people who hear about this series imagine. It looks insane, there are tons of cool character designs, and it's all mildly disturbing while still bringing a grin to one's face.
The band is apparently a fan of the manga, which makes their contribution to the long list of ending themes especially cool. The greatest benefit of having new artists for each ED isn't getting multiple short music videos, but being able to match the tone of each episode. All three episodes have felt very different, and one can only imagine the places it will go next, be it a minor change in direction, or something wild.