Warning! Contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man Chapter 98!
The second part of the ground-breaking manga Chainsaw Man has started by introducing an incredibly threatening new villain. This is a great parallel to the first chapter of the series, which focused on introducing its main hero. However, it also does not bode well for Denji and his allies.
The world of Chainsaw Man is plagued with various devils that are based on humanity’s fears. The more a particular concept is feared, the more powerful its associated devil becomes. For instance, the main antagonist of part 1 of the series is Makima, the Control Devil, who is incredibly strong due to her embodying such a universal concept. Other incredibly powerful devils featured in part 1 include the Darkness and Gun Devils, who are both also incredibly powerful given how many people fear their related concepts. These devils can act independently or with a host body, either as a fiend or a hybrid depending on whether their host is dead or alive. For instance, the main character Denji is a hybrid of the Chainsaw Devil. The new villain introduced in Part 2 seems to be a hybrid as well.
The 98th chapter of Chainsaw Man serves as the start of the series’ second part, and as such is over twice the length of a typical chapter. It focuses on a previously unknown character Asa Mitaka, a high school girl who is a social outcast. Since both of her parents were killed by a devil, Mitaka hates all devils, including Chainsaw Man (differing her from the general public who love Chainsaw Man). After being attacked by the Justice Devil, Mitaka makes a contract with the War Devil to save her life and becomes a hybrid. As the War Devil hybrid she apparently has the grotesque ability to turn other people’s body parts into weapons, turning a spinal column into a sword and a hand into a literal hand grenade. After she kills the Justice Devil, she sits atop the carnage she has wrought and states her intention to make Denji puke up nuclear weapons.
This introduction establishes Mitaka as a horrifying threat to Denji. With her grotesque but extremely powerful abilities she can have a near endless source of weapons at her disposal, as long as there are enough people or devils nearby. But in addition to all this, she may have a far more insidious goal than just mere vengeance for her parents. Chainsaw Man has erased nuclear weapons from existence by eating their associated devil, so the War Devil’s declaration may represent her intention to reintroduce them to the world. This would increase her power, as nuclear weapons make the prospect of war scarier, but it would also make the world much more dangerous.
It is still unclear what the main focus of the second part of Chainsaw Man will be. But if any devil could provide a more serious threat than Makima, it is the War Devil. This introductory chapter certainly showed Mikata’s horrifying potential, establishing her as the intimidating threat that part 2 of Chainsaw Man needs.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 98 is now available from Viz Media.