Denji is an unconventional protagonist, but is that enough to make him a good one?

Chainsaw Man is set to premiere this year and a second part of the manga has been announced to start on the 13th of July. Internet fanfare continues to rise for the gritty supernatural slasher franchise, and it is easy to see why. A unique blend of comedy, dark fantasy, and gore all wrapped under a metaphorical shonen umbrella is not an everyday occurrence.

The Chainsaw Man franchise is about Denji, a homeless vulgar teenager making a living by killing devils. After a near-death experience, Denji is saved by his own pet devil, who fuses with him and grants Denji his chainsaw-inspired powers. These powers cause the Public Safety Division to notice him and hire him on the premise that if he doesn't follow orders or lets his new devil side take over, he will be exterminated. The first part of the manga follows this story, known as the Public Safety Arc Denji is the series' protagonist, an unconventional one at that. Many protagonists have come and gone, copying the ones before them, but Denji is unique in his morals and situation compared to other shonen protagonists. But is that enough to make him a good protagonist?

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One of the most common shonen tropes lately has been the underdog. Many anime such as My Hero Academia and Black Clover feature protagonists without powers in a world where having powers is the norm. Some like Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer portray the underdog by having an inexperienced and naive character take the reins of the protagonist. All of these protagonists, although good in their own right, are only underdogs within the setting of their respective franchises. In our world, they would be normal people, or even extraordinary beings.

Denji, however, is none of these underdog tropes. He is homeless, poor, and in debt. Within the first chapter, he is eating a slice of bread he cannot afford fixings for, although he dreams of them. He has no money, he is in debt to his employers with an unrealistic amount of money due he is nowhere near being able to pay. He is an underdog in the most realistic way possible, despite this being a supernatural slasher franchise, and is an underdog in a way that is more relatable to audiences; the same kind of real-life underdog much of the audience is.

The power of friendship isn't what gets Denji through the devils he's tasked to kill. Nor does he have any reservations about doing so. He has no problem completely destroying other devils in increasingly gruesome and gory ways. Time and time again he launches his chainsaw extremities at devils to slice them in half, through the gut, or completely decapitate his victims like household-name slasher villains of the 70s and 80s.

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Although the author admitted that he was inspired by the classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Denji is not meant to be portrayed as the villain like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre protagonist, Leatherface. The cruel and visceral nature of Denji's fights is nothing like any recent shonen protagonist can hold a candle to, and his determination to hack and slash until his goal is complete is unsettling, even when the audience is cheering him on. The fantastic art emphasizes all of these points, and if the trailer is of the same quality as the rest of the anime, then the show will follow suit.

Denji is unconventional. You could go so far as to say he is incredibly flawed. He is selfish, vulgar, and perverted. His main motivation to become a part of the Public Safety Division is because he's attracted to a woman there. What motivates him during his first mission? The promise to (consensually) grope a woman if he saves her cat from a devil. He gets into petty arguments with another half-devil he works with, one of them because she won't eat her vegetables.

That being said, a flawed, over-the-top, and intentionally annoying character is good for two reasons. For one, it means there is a character arc we can expect, an easy path to character growth that should develop as the story does. And two, it makes it more interesting to the audience. In a world of Disney-perfect protagonists, having a gritty, rough-around-the-edges protagonist is a breath of fresh air.

Overall, Denji stands out. He stands out because he is interesting, he is relatable, and he is over-the-top in his negative qualities. With all the goody-two-shoes protagonists, who are good protagonists for their own stories, Denji is incredibly unique and also perfect for the world created for Chainsaw Man.

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Stormie is pursuing a BA in Japanese and Translation. In the mean time she's binging slice of life, psychological, and shounen anime