Warning: SPOILERS for Chainsaw Man chapter 105A particularly dark twist that no one saw coming in Chainsaw Man helps cement its status as one of the most groundbreaking series currently in circulation. Aside from its relative darkness that's particularly characteristic of part one, the twist feels quite earth-shattering even though part two is only eight chapters in.
Of course, twists aren't what make a manga truly groundbreaking even though they abound in Chainsaw Man. There are many factors involved, and Chainsaw Man exhibits many of them. For example, mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto has perpetually succeeded in transcending the inherent goriness of a series where the protagonist's head turns into a giant chainsaw that runs on blood while additional chainsaws sprout out from other parts of his body. Fujimoto achieves this by filling Chainsaw Man with an unprecedented amount of romance for a series like this and his characters' highly nuanced and disturbing struggles that create a sense of existential dread while enhancing the intricacies of small, ostensibly unimportant moments by presenting scenes cinematically that capture the slightest of changes on a person's face, sometimes spanning across two or more pages.
But the twist in question that demonstrates how groundbreaking it is occurs in Chainsaw Man chapter 105 when Asa Mitaka converses with her friend Yuko who is stuck at home in recovery after their recent run-in with multiple devils. After coaxing Mitaka into telling a secret, Yuko first shares one of her own, which is particularly gruesome as she confesses to committing a murder. But she doesn't stop there. Yuko then reveals that she knows Mitaka is under the control of Chainsaw Man's War Devil and that she recently made a contract with the Justice Devil to stop Mitaka from being bullied at school.
How Yuko's Turn Changes Chainsaw Man Forever
What makes this chapter so groundbreaking is the effort that Fujimoto has been putting into positioning Yuko as Chainsaw Man's perfect victim whose death would devastate readers. In addition to the War Devil putting pressure on Mitaka to befriend Yuko so she can be turned into a weapon, Fujimoto recently dedicated the entirety of chapter 100 to Mitaka and Yuko just talking and connecting on a more personal level, forcing readers to get invested in Yuko and her friendship with Mitaka. As a result of this and other touching scenes, the prospect of Mitaka having no choice but to murder Yuko was initially heart-wrenching. But now this latest twist in chapter 105 has completely changed their dynamic. Yuko has proven to be quite sadistic and even possessive to the point where she will gladly kill others to help her dearest Mitaka. Although this will make her death less traumatizing for Mitaka and readers, this sudden shift in character is still akin to her dying. The Yuko that readers fell in love with is gone forever, and what's left is this rampaging monster who is apparently going to murder her classmates.
The intricacy and nuance of Mitaka and Yuno's relationship have created a unique experience for readers where they, after only knowing them for eight chapters, are inclined to prioritize them over Chainsaw Man's hero, Denji, who readers initially spent 97 chapters with before part two of Chainsaw Man. Before this chapter, fans were already invested in Yuko and Mitaka's story. Now, there's definitely no coming back.