2020 and 2021 have been–and are being–defined in the anime department by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Haikyuu!! season four, Jujutsu Kaisen, and the red-hot fourth and final season of Attack on Titan. Dr. Stone and The Promised Neverland season two are also ongoing, but the next major anime series to hit screens could be a recently-finished manga in the form of Chainsaw Man.
It wrapped back in December, though writer Tatsuki Fujimoto confirmed a sequel series will get published and serialized on the Jump+ digital magazine. MAPPA recently announced that they're producing a series, and given the praise that the manga got throughout and the hype and buzz online celebrating how it ended, this could very well be the next big anime.
The Weekly Shonen Jump Appeal
Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is certainly the biggest name in manga serialization, and several of their successful series get picked up for anime adaptations. The days of extremely long-form manga series like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece--though the latter is still ongoing and maintaining its acclaim--have largely died down and authors are opting for more concision.
The likes of Demon Slayer, The Promised Neverland, and Chainsaw Man were needed to push sales and cycle in several successful franchises. Chainsaw Man pulled its weight on its WSJ run from start to finish, and the name it's established for itself through that platform will drive fans to watch on the premier date and beyond.
MAPPA
Another big indicator that the upcoming Chainsaw Man anime will be the medium's next big thing is the fact that MAPPA are the ones at the helm. They've been well known in the industry as a powerhouse studio, but 2020 was definitely the year of MAPPA. Jujutsu Kaisen got its anime premier through them, and after Wit Studio passed on animating the final season of Attack on Titan, they picked that up at the same time.
Not to mention Dorohedoro being a quality, though underrated, anime of theirs from early last year. MAPPA has been handling all these big names, particularly Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu is another big-seller on WSJ. By now, they've surely gained the majority of confidence from fans that MAPPA has more than what it takes to make a stellar Chainsaw Man adaptation.
Action
It goes hand in hand in part with the previous point, but Chainsaw Man--unsurprisingly--is known in part for wild action sequences. Fujimoto's art in the manga alone is enough to drive home the brutality and intensity, coupled with his distinct stylistic approach to character design.
If all goes smoothly in the animation department, and MAPPA isn't giving fans reason to doubt them, then audiences will be enthralled in the high-octane fight scenes throughout the anime's run. With how MAPPA has handled the fights in AoT and Jujutsu, this should be one of the strongest points of the soon-to-be anime.
More Concise
Touching back on the topic of concision, the series' length could be a strength in the upcoming anime adaptation. With the decade-plus-long format largely behind, brevity can allow the series to be potentially animated without major, long-term commitments by MAPPA in the midst of other projects.
The anime could be the initial hook for audiences, and then set up a second season that will finish the story. Not everyone is guaranteed to hop on board another odyssey-level series, as those could burn out part-way through, and a good anime that starts and finishes strong, but also doesn't overstay its welcome is welcome.
Unabashedly Over-The-Top
It's clear that there are some clear absurdities in the world of Chainsaw Man, even for a shonen manga. However, it's in how it unabashedly embraces those absurdities that make the manga work so well. This obviously works for action purposes, but Chainsaw Man relishing in its inherently over-the-top nature shows in worldbuilding as well.
Doing an alternate take that works as an homage to Sui Ishida's more serious Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Goul:re do well in setting the stage in how devils plaguing Japan has infected practically every facet of society and, subsequently, the key characters in them--namely Denji. Crucially, it does so without taking itself too seriously, which could be an easy pitfall in a manga about a teenager who can morph into a literal chainsaw devil man.
Heartfelt Coming-Of-Age In The Midst Of Brutality
What may surprise some is that Chainsaw Man also is part coming-of-age story despite the craziness of the premise and action. It's certainly no slice-of-life, but in the midst of all the brutality and gore is a pleasantly-surprising and heartfelt coming-of-age story for Denji that resonates emotionally--devils and chainsaw men aside.
In the end, Denji is a kid who had next to nothing growing up, aside from Pochita, after his father's death, living as a Yakuza slave to the point that some of his greatest life ambitions are some of the basic things humans crave and/or need: eat sliced bread with jam (essentially just food) with Pochita--his best and only friend--meet a girl, play video games with her and "fall asleep in her arms." Seeing him grow and try to find the next goal to strive for, putting his all into it regardless of scope will give fans something to root for.
Dark Humor
It goes partly into the point on Denji's coming-of-age and character development, and also into how Chainsaw Man doesn't try and take itself too seriously, but the series makes great use of dark humor throughout. A lot of it is used well through Denji and Power, as they're both used comedically, also aren't relegated to cheap comic relief roles.
Particularly for Denji, a lot of the humor coming from his is used through his endearing childlike innocence and ignorance, since he's grown up knowing little outside of human cruelty. With Power, it's her trying so hard to be a cartoonishly over-the-top tyrant, despite her deep-down empathetic traits. Cases like these are great ways to tastefully inject natural humor in a dark premise, so that said premise isn't overbearingly grim on the story/reader.
Poised To Adapt Part 2
With the manga's recent conclusion, news accompanied it that Fujimoto would create a sequel on Jump+, so if this initial anime takes off, it sets up an obvious chance at adapting the eventual sequel. The timing is great for this, as the original has all the source material laid out for MAPPA, allowing for space between the franchise's soon-to-be two series.
Spacing the coming anime into a couple of seasons will give the studio plenty of time to put out quality work with this, plus hopefully, allow "Part 2" to get enough chapters published to get a potential anime adaptation to go into early production/conceptual phases. This would keep Chainsaw Man as a whole talked about for longer.
Art Style
An interesting aspect of the upcoming anime is how Fujimoto's art style will be illustrated and animated. A unique pull of Chainsaw Man's manga is the distinctive art style used, particularly in terms of character design. It doesn't use an approach that a shonen manga typically would, and, instead, uses the setting the tone of a darker world--though still using said comedic elements for balance.
The character designs with this style are clearest when depicting devils and action sequences, portraying them in a grotesque manner to amplify the brutality of the threats this world faces.
Supporting Characters
While Denji carries the bulk of the "coming-of-age" part of the story, there are definitely other empathetic characters. Power is a fun character who lightens up the mood, but isn't just the aforementioned prop, as her backstory begins to carve out some layers. Early on, perhaps the two best supporting-characters with a dynamic are Aki and Himeno.
Aki definitely has the superficial tropes of the blander Sasuke, but his more genuine, warmer traits surface in the middle of the battle-hardened exterior when exploring his relationship with Himeno. Himeno leaves an emotional impression when the reader discovers her numbness to death until meeting Aki and feeling what having a deeper bond with someone is like again.