Spent the last 3 days or so catching up with the series since everyone recommended it.
It leaned more on the comedic and sexual sides than I thought it would (not a bad thing) but overall there were enough characters to keep me invested with their personal developments being subtle enough to keep me satisfied that they wouldn't just be static. The mysteries and various shadiness were interesting enough to keep me genuinely excited as I went through the chapters. That being said, I've read or watched enough series to know what aspects of a story would totally make me love a series, and while there were glimpses here and there that catered to those preferences (Himeno's death and Aki's reaction, Reze's tragic end, Denji's general stunted "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" development which flips between hilarious comedic effect and subtly depressing effect, for example), it was mostly still just a "pretty great" series to me.
And then the Assassins Arc happened and out of nowhere each chapter was genuinely getting better than the next. The presentation and delivery of the Primal Darkness Devil was bone-chilling on every level, the introduction to a prodigy character who isn't necessarily a part of the main crew (Yoshida) who also didn't immediately die was pretty badass, some interesting moral outlooks to make it in this world (ex. Quanxi's "ignorance is bliss" suggestion to Denji), everything to do surrounding Quanxi's and Kishibe's goals. Shit was just going off the rails in the best way possible and it's stuff like this that convinces me to have faith in the author's vision.
And now in the current Arc. The truth of the Gun Devil, Aki's further character progression, Angel's past and subsequent deeper glimpse into who Makima really is. It's all so amazing. And now we got the use of psychological symbolism between Aki's snowballing past to mirror what the fuck is going on now? Bloody amazing writing.
I don't know if it was intentional but I loved the author's use of the aforementioned comedic and sexual tensions surrounding Denji and Makima in order to subvert my attention from what should have been obvious as hell suspicious details surrounding Makima in reality. Oh she's an unreasonably inhuman level heavy drinker? Ah well every comedic manga usually has that! Oh she has Aki falling for her despite the fact their relationship isn't nearly as intimate as his relationship with Himeno? Well of course there'd be oddly simplified unrequited love in borderline lighthearted manga like this! I love having my expectations subverted by narrative means like this, and am excited (and worried in a good way) to see where this story (and all the characters I have really grown to like, or find compelling) goes. It's a genuinely great series imo.
Isaiah Garcia
fuck I just realized I didn't spoiler the deaths. And I can't delete the thread for whatever reason. Sorry
Its interesting that you feel that way. For me the story has somewhat dropped a level since midway through the Assassins Arc. I wasn't entirely happy with how the Darkness Devil and the rest was handled and generally I feel that Fujimoto has somewhat blown his load early on a lot of things.
Isaiah Moore
Are you me? I started reading 3 days ago too OP and I just started Assassin's arc. Pretty similar opinion. Chainsaw Man is what Jujutsu Kaisen WISHES it was, and Juju is already pretty good/fun.
I read your whole post OP, and I enjoy seeing what people who read it all in a couple of sittings think about it. Who was your favorite character overall? Is there a character you dislike?
Levi Russell
i think it has one of the best visual storytelling in shonen. Darkness and Gun devil introduction have next to no dialogue and theit power is already felt by the visuals alone. Such a chilling entrance. I also loved the halloween power and generally everything about last chapter.
It has now become my fav manga on jump currently and i really hope it can keep on delivering
Luke Diaz
>I love having my expectations subverted by narrative means like this "subverting expectation" is a bit of an overused meme in recent years, but chainswman pulls it off very well
Fucking burgers indeed. FP looked great, what went wrong here? Which Viz editor is in charge of this localization? I know FP was done by the yaoi lady, but I don't think this one is
Luis Bennett
>yaoi lady Huh?
Jason Morgan
Nice blog, I actually read it
Jonathan Watson
Am I the only one who likes the Viz cover? I like the campy vibe
Thomas Cook
Post moments when your expectations were successfully subverted.
i'm gonna say it that was the most reddit moment in the entire manga and probably the worst chapter as well >massive block of exposition >this cringe "twist" >typhoon devil gone instantly despite being cool as fuck what a waste
Jayden Nelson
It's not as bad as the wan piss covers but the green in the english cover looks bland
Daniel Edwards
So did anyone else catch that Darkness devil had to use darkness (where its immune to damage) to block Denji's attack, but didn't bother doing that for Quanxi or anyone else? What's so special about Chainsaw anyway, it really shouldn't be on the level of primal devils, but for some reason they all seem interested in it at best?
Aaron Allen
He's like the grim reaper but for devils. Instead of human fear his strength mainly comes from devils fearing him. There might be a more symbolic meaning to it like with the gun devil that might be revealed later.
Asher Fisher
He did use darkness to block against everyone else, it's just that the sparks from the chainsaw revealed the small niggas that were surrounding them the whole time.
Xavier Brown
As a fan of Chainsaw I genuinely think that Jujutsu is a better written piece than it is
Leo Hernandez
The editor in charge of FP's localization was this lady who used to have a yaoi blog like 10+ years ago, got a job at Viz, started off as editor for an experimental yaoi line, and is now one of their most successful licensing and localization editors in general as well as still running their whole yaoi imprint, SuBLime. I think someone else is doing CSM though.
Ryan Williams
JJK is fun, but it feels like it has no greater purpose. Like its obvious Gege puts effort into his characters and his fighting, but I don't think that it says anything. Its just a gallery for character interactions and fights. Good characters and fights, but ones ultimately without a meaning.
Its obvious that after CSM is done that there will be a specific message to it as a whole (likely one that only makes sense in hindsight), and the same goes for works even as shitty as Naruto. But with JJK it feels like there isn't a meaning behind it all. I wouldn't call it shallow so much as without a bottom at all.
Lincoln Clark
Jujutsu is encapsulated in the theme of one choosing the way in which they live their life and then die. The manga may not have a real "message" to tell but there is definitely a clear purpose in the story and Gege surely intends for the readers to take away something meaningful from it.
Jason Smith
Thats a fair view. I personally read JJK as more of an exercise in how to handle a battle shonen in its purest form. Stripped away of all 'unnecessary parts', for me JJK is what you get when you boil down and condense a battle manga to its most efficient form.
I like it, but I can't say that I love it. CSM isn't as good as Fire Punch or some other of the grindhouse-inspired dark comedy action manga that are out there, but I have something a lot closer to love for it.
For me, JJK is better written in that it always hits its story/character beats and shakes things up at appropriate times. The details throughout the manga are great and it's well thought out. Overall its a little more safe. CSM has much better broad plot/character strokes and generally has more to say than JJK. But it suffers from inconsistent art and storytelling that paces itself very strangely. It's more interesting and unique but often falls short of what it's trying to be.
Juan Edwards
Fuck, those guys still exist, huh. Living fossils they are.
Sebastian Reed
b-based??
Cooper Walker
I very much agree with with OP. Wholesome post Been rereading it in anticipation of the volumes finally releasing
