Chainsaw Man might be a manga, but it’s clear that one of series creator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s favourite things in life is movies. Films and anything related to films is found throughout his work, with both Chainsaw Man and his previous manga Fire Punch having some important scenes set in a cinema. There’s also Goodbye Eri, a manga about making movies (which you should really read by the way) and the fact that every single volume of Chainsaw Man has Fujimoto sharing a film he likes.
It comes as no surprise then that one of the best Chainsaw Man arcs, the Reze Arc – which is receiving a film adaptation instead of a season 2 – was massively inspired by a film. A lot of the films that Fujimoto recommends in volumes of Chainsaw Man tend to be live action works like Texas Chainsaw Massacre (that one’s not very surprising, is it), but the Reze Arc was actually inspired by one anime film in particular: Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, a 1999 film written by none other than Mamoru Oshii, director of Ghost in the Shell.
”Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” Official Teaser ／ 劇場版『チェンソーマン レゼ篇』公式ティザーPV
I should note quite quickly that Jin-Roh is not an easy watch, but then I guess Chainsaw Man isn’t an easy read. Easy it might not be, but it is interesting, if imperfect. The film takes place in postwar Japan, in an alternate 1950s where Nazi Germany won the second world war, and even occupied the former for a short time. During its occupation, Nazi Germany tried to shape Japan more to its liking with a fresh government, though as a result poverty massively increased and it led to a left-wing “terrorist” group called the Sect taking up arms against its fascist rules.
In turn, a special armed forces unit called Kerberos is set up, made of elite soldiers that wearing honestly frightening looking suits of armour with glowing red eyes that practically protects them from all gunshots, armed with gatling guns. This group hosts our protagonist, Kazuki Fuse, who near the start of the film kills a young woman. He later meets her sister, and as he deals with the trauma of having killed someone in an incredibly brutal fashion, the two become close, even romantically interested in one another.
Kazuki is somewhat presented as a sympathetic protagonist, though I don’t really think the film ultimately lands on him being deserving of sympathy, considering he is basically a super-cop. I won’t spoil how the film ends, as I think you should watch it for yourself, but I would like to assign you this film as homework.
“Homework!” I hear you cry out. “Just to watch a movie?” Yes! “But why?” Well, because one of my favourite aspects about film is that it’s a conversation. Film is constantly referential and often reverential of its predecessors, and so much of what you love that’s new wouldn’t exist without the old. There’s no Matrix without Serial Experiments Lain, It Follows without Halloween, and so on. And I’ve found that seeing the thing that inspired something I love makes me love it so much more – which very much happened with Jin-Roh and Chainsaw Man, even though I don’t think Jin-Roh is a perfect film.
I also think it’s a cool lesson in understanding why an artist might have made a particular decision. As I mentioned, the Reze Arc is one of the best in Chainsaw Man, even if it isn’t particularly long, but having seen Jin-Roh I feel like I’ve managed to fit one small puzzle piece into the bigger picture. It’s worth visiting the other works that have broadly inspired Chainsaw Man too, even if it’s just to understand all of the references hiding within the first season’s energetic opening.
Of course, if you’re someone that’s anime only, it might be worth waiting until the upcoming film is out, as I do think Jin-Roh could technically spoil what happens in the Reze Arc. But if you’re a Chainsaw Man manga-lover, you should really do yourself and check it out.