Chainsaw Man Episode 11, “Mission Start,” marks the second-to-last episode of the season. Next week, we’re already facing the finale. For a penultimate episode, this was quite enjoyable, but admittedly I’m having a tough time figuring out how things will be wrapped up for a fitting conclusion. This episode had some interesting character development, but not quite as much Denji as I preferred.
The MVP for this week would be the Future Devil. I really hadn’t expected a daunting devil to have quite so much personality. Even though he had a small role, his scenes really stuck with me.
This Chainsaw Man Episode 11 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.
Aki Makes a Deal with the Future Devil, But Was It Worth It?
The Future Devil was revealed this week, and he was nothing like I had anticipated — but I love how he was portrayed. This Devil isn’t shy about enjoying human suffering, and every deal he makes is centered around that. In this case, once he saw how Aki was going to die, he offered to just live in his right eye so he could view it for himself. Apparently, Aki’s death is going to be so disturbing that the Future Devil doesn’t need any additional payment.
The cost isn’t high, but I still can’t help but wonder if the deal is even worthwhile. No one explains to Aki what the power is going to be, and it turns out that it is just being able to see a brief amount into the future. That scarcely helps Aki in his battle, and seems like a waste of time. I think he probably would have been better off getting a contract with a different devil. Kon was definitely better.
Kishibe’s Meeting with Makima Is Intriguing
Kishibe has trained Denji and Power as much as he can, and now is going to test their skills in a battle against the Katana Man and Sawatari. He admits to Makima that he’s grown attached to them already, which makes him wary of dealing with their possible deaths.
Kishibe calls out Makima on the fact that she most likely knew about the Yakuza’s attack on the Divisions. He says that as long as she’s working for the betterment of humanity, he’ll give her a pass. She feeds him some line about only wanting to save as many people from devils as she can, and how getting more publicity to Division 4 will give them more freedom for future battles.
But Kishibe doesn’t believe a word she said, which is intriguing. We’re left wondering what her real motivations are. We know she has multiple contracts with some high-level devils and she can even kill people from far away. But we don’t know who those devils are, the extent of her powers, or why her eyes resemble Fiends’ eyes more than human eyes.
Makima Meets with the Yakuza & Displays More of Her Powers
We get another hint at just how powerful Makima is when she meets with the head Yakuza leader all by herself. He claims that Sawatari and Katana Man are working on their own, without his permission, and he’s fine if they and their cohorts are taught a lesson. Apparently, they all paid the Gun Devil a lot of money to get access to guns, which is interesting. The Gun Devil hasn’t been seen since the attack that killed millions, but it’s apparently still working in secret behind the scenes.
Makima wants the Yakuza leader to also report on any families outside of his organization who have contracts with the Gun Devil. But he balks, saying if they do that there will be a major war that might wipe them out, opening the doors for the Soviet or Chinese mobs to infiltrate Japan.
But Makima is having none of that. She’s somehow acquired an eye from a family member of every person in that room, and will only return the eyes if they cooperate. (This was obviously the work of a Devil that’s part of Public Safety.)
The Bleeding Nose Is a Clue
When someone in the Yakuza group threatens Makima, their nose starts bleeding and they pass out (or die.) She doesn’t even have to make a move, it just automatically happens.
Interestingly, the same thing happens when Aki confronts a group of people on his way to challenge Sawatari. And the anime makes it very clear that Makima was behind this too. But how? I briefly wondered if they were both connected through the Future Devil, or if she somehow was the Future Devil. But later we learn about the Future Devil’s power, and it’s not that.
We Meet New Members of Division 4
The anime also introduces us to a few more members of Division 4 (there’s a lot more going on in this group than I had guessed!) But these members are so dangerous that Kishibe tells the police to take them out if they escape, because they can cause more casualties than the terrorists they’re hunting. (We also learn that these Fiends and Devils didn’t know each other before their zombie battle.)
First we meet the Shark Fiend, who can swim through any surface and sometimes take on the form of the Shark Devil.
Next is the Violence Fiend, who is featured in the series opening song. I’m guessing this means he’ll have a bigger role in the future. He didn’t become weaker when his Devil form took over a human’s body, which is unusual. Because of this, he has to “wear a mask that dispenses poison gas.” (I’m guessing the mask keeps him a little weaker maybe? Or is some kind of failsafe?)
Division 4 somehow also has a few devils in the group that it allows loose to fight, rather than keeping them locked up. One is the Spider Devil who typically assumes a human form. Kishibe explains that “humanoid devils tend to be friendly,” but they’re still devils at the end of the day.
And finally, we meet one other Devil who figured prominently in the opening sequence: the Angel Devil. This devil is actually friendly toward humans, but touching it can cause a person to lose a lot of their life.
At the end of the episode, Aki finds himself face-to-face with Sawatari. She somehow now has the Ghost Devil at her disposal (perhaps because the Snake Devil ate the Ghost Devil?) The episode ends with the Ghost Devil squeezing the life out of Aki, and we’re left wondering if he’s going to live or die. Personally, I think he will live and perhaps Himeno’s spirit within the Ghost Devil will cause it to let Aki go. Or someone else, like Denji, will rescue him just in time.
It’s tough to believe there’s only one episode left after this. But Episode 11 was highly enjoyable, with quite a bit of world-building and a deepening mystery surrounding Makima.
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