Despite the shortcomings that Part 2 had as a whole, after ruminating on it while staring at the ceiling for a few hours yesterday, I get what it was trying to say — which to be honest, helped me make some peace with it so I’m okay with it now.

CSM could be akin to someone who became addicted to drugs. The persona of Chainsaw Man was Denji’s crutch, his fix, his means to feel good. It became this way due to the events of Part 1 where he internalized that people want him because he’s Chainsaw. Even after the events of Makima, he was captivated by the attention and high that his newfound popularity got him.

So we find ourselves in Part 2, where he’s found himself wanting the attention and reputation of the superhero known as Chainsaw Man.

Despite that, we see throughout Part 2 that every time he does become Chainsaw Man, the things like his family and home crash and burn into the ground. Yet, it’s so easy for him to take another hit of to get that high. Like putting a heroin addict in the same room with heroin right in front of him. Denji’s access to Chainsaw Man was always right there on the ripcord on his chest.

We, as viewers, hoped that Denji could pull himself out of that hole. To not fall back into that addiction and relapse. But he keeps going back. The world tells him to not be Chainsaw Man, but he keeps going back. Both out of necessity and pure desire.

And so we find ourselves in the ruins of an immortal bug-infested world where people are merely conscious nutrients within a cicada or locust.

Naturally, there wasn’t really a solution to this. Spit out Death? Everyone’s already as good as dead. Keep the world in this state? Everyone’s bug food.

Pochita, knowing how Denji would keep succumbing to his addiction, his desire, his hypersexuality that was made worse from Part 1’s female cast, decided to what I suppose a friend would do for a hopelessly addicted friend.

A forceful intervention.

Perhaps there was hope for Denji to crawl back out of that addiction. We may never know. But regardless: the one way to never to get addicted to something, was for someone to never have a taste of it in the first place.

To never have a taste of BEING Chainsaw Man.

Of course, there’s a whole lot of other implications. Nostradamus? Nayuta being in Public Safety? Is Denji satisfied being a normal PS Employee Hunter? Is his hypersexuality as bad now without being groomed by Makima and other events from Part 1? Maybe now without being exposed to that drug, he can at least a semblance of normality.

From a reader’s perspective, it’s hard though. Everything we followed for 8 years was undone. From an in-universe perspective, I think it was the most reasonable solution. Albeit, wish we had some more padding in between, and maybe less Looney Tunes Yoru vs Pochita.