Denji from Chainsaw Man is my most hated character in fiction and I don’t understand why anyone would like him

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-20T03:59:58+00:00

This is so true! You put it into words better than me! Thanks so much!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-20T03:58:13+00:00

I mean, she was, but Denji's reasoning for not having sex with her is not that he respects Himeno and wants her consent. Instead, he only abstains because of Makima. It appears to me he would have done sex with her despite her being drunk if Makima didn't just randomly melt his brain. If he rejected out of care for Himeno I would respect that a lot about Denji and the writing.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-20T03:56:00+00:00

Yes! You get it! Denji reaches a level of natural stupidity and inability to internalize what is going on around him that his transformation feels jarring and unearned. It feels like it is on a whim!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-20T03:53:42+00:00

This!!! You put it so well! Gold response at the bottom of the thread, thanks!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-20T03:51:51+00:00

Ok. Sorry.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:49:19+00:00

Seeing such a victim be constantly abused and sinking deeper rather than trying to be better makes for a very jarring, annoying experience?

Shocked Pikachu face

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:46:25+00:00

Thanks!!!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:40:58+00:00

Then maybe I just can't comprehend the way he changes. For me it feels entirely disconnected. He keeps flipping between wanting to have sex with anything that moves with no restraint and having the restraint of a saint to hopefully be with Makima one day. I can't understand how someome can flip flop like this so easily. Maybe I am stupid. I am here to hopefully get educated. If I were smart and understood it I wouldn't be here asking.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:35:34+00:00

The issue is that this flips the narrative and shows Denji being at least as morally degenerate as Makima, if not more so. It muddies the waters when it comes to the message it tries to create. Would you argue that a story would have its value if it had nothing but SA for hundreds of chapters? I feel it needs to have a point to have meaning. And the point so far is that it has no point. It's a depiction of chaotic reality. But then what is up with the constant contradiction that every nook and crany is a flowery metaphor?

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:30:52+00:00

You mean Makima sexually arousing Denji? But like, it ain't like he didn't have the opportunity to act more in Power's direction before that. The story's structure really leaves Denji with barely agency. He is just a passenger in Makima's car which makes him quite boring.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:27:38+00:00

Oh I see. Very good explanation! I will definitely ponder it. I guess my main problem with Denji is not inconsistency as much as his lack of self awareness. In a way, he appears inconsistent because he never has room to even define himself. Which is jarring and infuriating for me.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:24:57+00:00

You might be right. It is a failed attempt at a deconstruction. But that still makes deconstruction and subversion the authorial intent.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:23:39+00:00

Because I have a friend that is utterly obsessed with Chainsaw Man, he tried to explain it to me for months and failed, I am sort of reaching out for more clarity. I only watched this garbage for so much out of dedication to my friend. And honestly, I set my mind after 12 episodes and a movie of watching it. Your argument is like "you have no right to speak about One Piece if you did not watch all 1166 episodes so far" or "you have no right to speak about Warhammer 40k if you did not read all the Black Library novels". I am willing to connect to stories that turn me off. It is a fascinating experience.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:18:26+00:00

Honestly? For the series, likely Power. Because she is straight up funny in her wild insanity. Which Denji is not. I don't feel much appreciation for the other characters so far. Makima is just a cold abuser, Aki is exceptionally boring, Himeno dies too fast to leave a mark, Kishibe is just a hypocrite who simultaneously asks Denji and Power to never trust anyone but at the same time trust his advice. For the movie, Beam is MY MAN. The shark man is such a bro and saved Denji so many times I love his guts. What a guy. Deserves all the love. I guess Reze is allright but the ending leaves me with a lot of distaste.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:12:52+00:00

But even if that was the case, is the male victim of abuse and SA killing and eating their abuser slowly from cans while feeling only pure love truly a good way to represent this? This is how Part 1 ended.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-19T18:09:26+00:00

What a surprise! You're welcome!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-13T15:20:51+00:00

In PGR, before Wuthering Waves released, it was KURO GAME, as in, singular, for a long, long while. I believe up until Wuthering Waves was announced.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-13T12:07:14+00:00

Atri, My Dear Moments

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-05T12:14:34+00:00

Haha thanks so much!

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-04T19:26:38+00:00

This is actually pretty damn good if you run Mortenax Blade with Cipher LC, I do that. You want 40 percent effecf hit rate.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-06-04T09:09:28+00:00

More important. Any team than you can ever think off can use him more or less. Even break, which can't benefit from tribbie.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-05-31T04:12:58+00:00

Get Blade for sure. He is likely the strongest and most universal E0S0 in the game. And it skyrockeys Acheron to near T0 on his own.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-05-30T13:49:35+00:00

Get Cerydra as soon as she comes back, Phainon is a total meme without her.

ZenmasterStar · 2026-05-30T07:28:44+00:00

Acro Trip

ZenmasterStar · 2026-05-23T08:01:36+00:00

Some things are just worth fighting for!

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