After a long wait for an update, there’s finally word on when we can expect to see the Chainsaw Man anime to return; as it turns out, it’s coming back as a film.
It’s almost been an entire year since the last episode of Chainsaw Man’s first season dropped, and there hasn’t been a peep out of anyone where a season two might be. Well, it turns out there is no season two, because over the weekend at Jump Festa 2024, it was revealed that the manga’s next arc will be receiving a film adaptation. Titled Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, the film will see protagonist Denji meeting a mysterious girl called Reze as they get to know one another. It’s quite a short arc, so any more than that would spoil what happens, but it’s also where the series really starts to ramp up.
You can check out the teaser trailer above, but aside from confirmation that it exists, there’s been no word on who will be directing, but Mappa is producing the film once again. Manga creator Tatsuki Fujimoto has previously said that the 1999 anime film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade was a big influence on the Reze arc, and again recommended everyone watch it at this year’s Jump Festa.
Those that watched the first season of the anime might actually recognise Reze, as she was teased right at the end of the last episode. There she was played by Reina Ueda, who you might recognise from her role as Kanao Tsuyuri in Demon Slayer, and she’s set to reprise the role for the upcoming film.
Outside of that, we’ll just have to wait and see to find out more. There’s not even a release date yet, though for comparison, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the film prequel of the anime series, was announced in March 2021, and released the same year. So a 2024 release for the Chainsaw Man movie wouldn’t be entirely unsurprising – just don’t hold me to it.
