Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: Difference between revisions

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Beam retreats with the injured Denji to a Public Safety office, where they find Aki and Angel; the four escape by car as Reze slaughters the other hunters. As she chases them through the streets, a revived Denji retaliates but is easily defeated. Aki and the [[List of Chainsaw Man characters#Galgali|Violence Fiend]] fend off Reze, but the Typhoon Devil arrives to assist her. Denji is revived by Angel using the blood of a nearby casualty and suggests using his chainsaw abilities tactically in the fight, giving him the idea to ride Beam’s shark form in the battle. Amidst the fight, the Typhoon Devil’s winds pull in Angel before Aki catches his shirt. Intent on dying, Angel begs him to let go but Aki secures him by grabbing his bare hand.

Beam retreats with the injured Denji to a Public Safety office, where they find Aki and Angel; the four escape by car as Reze slaughters the other hunters. As she chases them through the streets, a revived Denji retaliates but is easily defeated. Aki and the [[List of Chainsaw Man characters#Galgali|Violence Fiend]] fend off Reze, but the Typhoon Devil arrives to assist her. Denji is revived by Angel using the blood of a nearby casualty and suggests using his chainsaw abilities tactically in the fight, giving him the idea to ride Beam’s shark form in the battle. Amidst the fight, the Typhoon Devil’s winds pull in Angel before Aki catches his shirt. Intent on dying, Angel begs him to let go but Aki secures him by grabbing his bare hand.

Denji and Beam kill the Typhoon Devil, though Reze severely injures Beam. The confrontation leads them to the coastline, where Denji uses his chains to bind Reze to him preventing her from using her abilities as they sink to the seabed. All three wash ashore the following morning, where Reze concedes that her mission has failed and she never had feelings for Denji. He replies that if that were truly the case, she wouldn’t have taught him to swim. Denji offers her back to run away together and asks to meet him at the café the next day.

Denji and Beam kill the Typhoon Devil, though Reze severely injures Beam. The confrontation leads them to the coastline, where Denji uses his chains to bind Reze to him preventing her from using her abilities as they sink to the seabed. All three wash ashore the following morning, where Reze concedes that her mission has failed and she never had feelings for Denji. He replies that if that were truly the case, she wouldn’t have taught him to swim. Denji offers her to run away together and asks to meet him at the café the next day.

In the aftermath of the battle, devil hunter [[List of Chainsaw Man characters#Kishibe|Kishibe]] informs Aki that Reze was a Soviet agent experimented on as a child. Reze prepares to board a train before having a change of heart and deciding to meet with Denji. She is however intercepted and killed by Makima and Angel in the alley leading to the café. In her dying moments, she regrets not having killed Denji when they first met and admits never having gone to school either. In a [[post-credits scene]], Denji holds a flower bouquet and appears depressed as Reze did not arrive. Power arrives instead and asks if the flowers are a gift for her. He considers giving her the bouquet before eating it instead.

In the aftermath of the battle, devil hunter [[List of Chainsaw Man characters#Kishibe|Kishibe]] informs Aki that Reze was a Soviet agent experimented on as a child. Reze prepares to board a train before having a change of heart and deciding to meet with Denji. She is however intercepted and killed by Makima and Angel in the alley leading to the café. In her dying moments, she regrets not having killed Denji when they first met and admits never having gone to school either. In a [[post-credits scene]], Denji holds a flower bouquet and appears depressed as Reze did not . Power arrives instead and asks if the flowers are a gift for her. He considers giving her the bouquet before eating it instead.

== Voice cast ==

== Voice cast ==

2025 Japanese animated film by Tatsuya Yoshihara

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Japanese: 劇場版 チェンソーマン レゼ篇, Hepburn: Gekijō-ban Chensō Man Reze-hen), also known simply as Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc, is a 2025 Japanese animated dark fantasy action film based on Tatsuki Fujimoto‘s manga series Chainsaw Man. Produced by MAPPA, directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, and written by Hiroshi Seko, the film is a direct sequel to the first season of the anime television series and adapts events covering the original manga’s fifth and sixth volumes. It is storyboarded by Daisuke Tokudo, Masato Nakazono, Sōta Shigetsugu, Takuya Niinuma, Tatsuya Yoshihara and Yuzuru Tachikawa.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc was released in Japan on September 19, 2025, by Toho. As of November 2, 2025, the film has grossed $139 million worldwide and received generally favorable reviews.

Plot

Following Samurai Sword‘s defeat,^[a] Public Safety division leader Makima assigns the fanatical shark devil Beam as temporary partner to the devil hunter Denji (Chainsaw Man) while his regular partner Power has her excess blood drained. Makima takes Denji on a movie marathon date; both dislike all but the final film in the program, which moves them to tears. During the date, Makima reassures Denji that he has a heart capable of feeling.

Denji is caught in a storm while patrolling and takes shelter in a phone booth, where he meets a girl named Reze and later visits her at the café where she works. Her behavior leads Denji to believe she has feelings for him, though he is conflicted over his simultaneous attraction to Makima. Meanwhile, devil hunter Aki is assigned the Angel Devil as his new partner, whose touch shortens the lifespan of mortals. Angel’s laziness and apathy towards humans become sources of mutual tension.

Denji and Reze sneak into her school at night, where they skinny dip in the outdoor pool and she teaches him to swim. While separated from Denji, Reze is suddenly ambushed by an assassin who aims to torture her to control Denji; she feigns weakness before quickly killing the man and allying with his partnered devil, the Typhoon Devil. The day after, while watching fireworks at a festival, Reze asks Denji to run away with her. He hesitates, leading to her realization that there’s another woman in Denji’s life. Reze then kisses him, bites out his tongue, and incapacitates him revealing her true identity as the Bomb Devil.

Beam retreats with the injured Denji to a Public Safety office, where they find Aki and Angel; the four escape by car as Reze slaughters the other hunters. As she chases them through the streets, a revived Denji retaliates but is easily defeated. Aki and the Violence Fiend fend off Reze, but the Typhoon Devil arrives to assist her. Denji is revived by Angel using the blood of a nearby casualty and suggests using his chainsaw abilities tactically in the fight, giving him the idea to ride Beam’s shark form in the battle. Amidst the fight, the Typhoon Devil’s winds pull in Angel before Aki catches his shirt. Intent on dying, Angel begs him to let go but Aki secures him by grabbing his bare hand.

Denji and Beam kill the Typhoon Devil, though Reze severely injures Beam. The confrontation leads them to the coastline, where Denji uses his chains to bind Reze to him preventing her from using her abilities as they sink to the seabed. All three wash ashore the following morning, where Reze concedes that her mission has failed and she never had feelings for Denji. He replies that if that were truly the case, she wouldn’t have taught him to swim. Denji offers her now to run away together and asks to meet him at the café the next day.

In the aftermath of the battle, devil hunter Kishibe informs Aki that Reze was a Soviet agent experimented on as a child. Reze prepares to board a train before having a change of heart and deciding to meet with Denji. She is however intercepted and killed by Makima and Angel in the alley leading to the café. In her dying moments, she regrets not having killed Denji when they first met and admits never having gone to school either. In a post-credits scene, Denji holds a flower bouquet and appears depressed as Reze did not show up. Power arrives instead and asks if the flowers are a gift for her. He considers giving her the bouquet before eating it instead.

Voice cast

Production

On December 17, 2023, at the Jump Festa ’24 event, an anime film entitled Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (劇場版 チェンソーマン レゼ篇, Gekijō-ban Chensō Man Reze-hen), was announced.^[4] The film was announced again on December 22, 2024, at the Jump Festa ’25 event for a 2025 premiere in Japan and Toho as the distributor.^[5]

It was announced that the cast from the anime series would return to their respective roles for the film, but there were some staff changes. Sota Shigetsugu joined the production as Action Director, replacing Tatsuya Yoshihara, who previously served in the same role for the first season of the anime. Yoshihara was confirmed to direct the film, replacing Ryu Nakayama, who directed the first season of the anime.^[6]

The majority of the core staff, however, remained unchanged, with Kazutaka Sugiyama returning as character designer. Sugiyama stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he, Yoshihara, and other core staff members collaborated to modify the character designs for the film to better reflect the style of Tatsuki Fujimoto‘s manga series Chainsaw Man. In turn, the film’s visual approach differed from the anime’s first season, with the majority of the audience responding positively to the film’s new style.^[7]

Music

Kensuke Ushio returned from the anime series to compose the film’s music.^[6] Kenshi Yonezu performed the film’s theme song “Iris Out” while the ending theme song is “Jane Doe” by Yonezu and Hikaru Utada.^[8] Yonezu also returned to the franchise after previously providing “Kick Back“, the opening theme song for the first season of the anime.^[9]

Release

Distributed in Japan by Toho, the film was theatrically released in the country on September 19, 2025, and screened in 75 countries in standard, RealD 3D and IMAX formats, with screenings in the MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema formats exclusively releasing in selected cinemas on October 4, 2025.^[10][11][12] Originally set to be distributed internationally under Sony’s Columbia Pictures label, the film’s international distribution rights were transferred to Crunchyroll, which released the film through Sony Pictures Releasing in theaters in more than 80 countries from September 24, 2025, and released the film in the United States and other non-Asian markets from October 24, 2025 moving up 5 days from its original release date of October 29, 2025. The film was confirmed to release in IMAX, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and RealD 3D premium formats worldwide, with the latter being released outside of Japan and Asia.^[13][14]

Reception

Box office

The film sold over 272,000 tickets for over ¥420 million (US$2.8 million) in its opening day in Japan.^[15] It sold 807,000 tickets for ¥1.251 billion (US$8.46 million) in its opening weekend, debuting at first place in the Japanese box office, which was previously topped for nine weeks straight by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle.^[16]
In South Korea, the film topped the box office for a second consecutive weekend, earning approximately US$1.8 million.^[17] The film topped the U.S. opening weekend in 3,003 North American theaters, earning US$18 million at the box office.^[18] According to Polygon, the film’s U.S. opening weekend brought in approximately US$17.2 million and helped push its global box-office over the US$100 million mark.^[19] As of November 2, 2025, the film has grossed $139 million worldwide.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 37 critics gave it a positive review. The website’s critics consensus reads, “Revving up the carnage while maintaining a perversely sweet emotional core, Chainsaw Man‘s big screen debut is a bloody feast rendered in eye-popping animation.”^[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.^[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale.^[22]

Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network graded the film an A, praising its animation, visuals, action sequences, music, and story, while noting about Denji and Reze’s deep bittersweet love story which makes the film “worth-watched”.^[23] IndieWire writer Wilson Chapman gave the film a B+, commending the animation, action sequences, characters, story, and voice acting. He concluded that “[the film] probably won’t have the same effect on most viewers, but it’s one of the best films in the recent crop of anime TV expansions, and its bittersweet teen love story is certainly potent enough to make you cry.”^[24]

Notes

References

External links