NEW YORK (OSV News) -- Manga movies, films based on Japanese comics, tend to be perfect examples of entertainment that doesn't burden an audience by asking it to think. And "Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc" (Sony) is no exception.



Stylized emotions in this animated tale, directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara from a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko, are on the surface, the storyline is basic and plot points are underlined several times. Viewers, meanwhile, are lulled into a quasi-religious (angels, talk of an afterlife) yet nihilistic saga highlighted by flashing knives, exploding bombs and brushes with death.



Were the Teletubbies prone to chopping off one another's heads with power tools... Well, you get the idea.

From the printed page, the adventures of the title character and his alter ego, a 16-year-old lad named Denji, made it to the small screen in 2022. This adaptation is a direct sequel to that 12-episode TV series.

In any format, there is presumably an immense, ready-made fanbase eagerly awaiting such fare. For the uninitiated, however, this latest iteration is not, perhaps, the ideal introduction to the mythos that originated with writer and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto.

Denji (voice of Kikunosuke Toya) is confused about life in general and women in particular. For some reason, moreover, the government has not allowed him to get a formal education.

In earlier installments of this series, Denji's companion Pochita, a Chainsaw devil-dog, fused with him, giving him the ability to transform into a hybrid with blades on his head and both arms. Once in this alternate guise, he uses his built-in weaponry to fight demons on behalf of the Office of Public Safety.

When his co-worker Makima (voice of Tomori Kusunoki) asks Denji if he'd like to go on a movie date, he eagerly accepts. Seeing him weep in the theater, Makima tells Denji that he does, in fact, have a human heart. Alas, it turns out that this is exactly what his infernal adversaries want to cut out of him.

Later on, Denji meets lissome Reze (voice of Reina Ueda), a coffee shop waitress who immediately makes herself emotionally available to him, teaches him to swim and hints that she could be physically available as well.Is Love's Old Sweet Song about to play? Not here. Reze has an alternate persona of her own: the evil Bomb Devil. A sort of living hand grenade, she can pull a pin from her neck and make others explode.

At the point of greatest peril, though, Denji transitions. A dark kinetic ballet of seemingly random mayhem and property destruction ensues.

In Japanese. Subtitles.

The film contains pervasive cartoon violence with gore, partial nudity, references to nonscriptural concepts about life and death and fleeting sexual banter. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - -CAPSULE REVIEW"Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc" (Sony)In director Tatsuya Yoshihara's screen version of a series of comics by writer and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto, a 16-year-old lad (voice of Kikunosuke Toya) has acquired the ability to transform himself into the three-bladed demon fighter of the title. In his original guise, he's confused about life in general and women in particular so when a co-worker (voice of Tomori Kusunoki) asks him out he eagerly accepts. But his subsequent encounter with a lissome stranger (voice of Reina Ueda) complicates his personal life and may threaten his very existence since the newcomer has an alternate persona of her own. Stylized emotions are on the surface, the storyline is basic, with plot points underlined several times, and random mayhem reigns supreme. In Japanese. Subtitles. Pervasive cartoon violence with gore, partial nudity, references to nonscriptural concepts about life and death, fleeting sexual banter. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - -CLASSIFICATION"Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc" (Sony) -- OSV News classification, A-III – adults. Motion Picture Association rating, R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

- - - Kurt Jensen is a guest reviewer for OSV News.