Damsels Causing Distress
General Reviews
Imagine you're on a date with the hottest person you've ever seen in your life. They're perfect. It's like they've been plucked right out of your dreams. The way they walk, the way they talk, the way they smell, everything is intoxicating. You've spent the night all over town together, frolicking among the crowds and streetlights. The date is over and your lips slowly come together and your tongues begin to dance. Then you notice your mouth is filling up with something warm and wet and now a stream of crimson is pouring out of your mouth, and why can't you move your tongue anymore? Oh, because it's in their mouth. They bit off your tongue and now they've turned into the Bomb Devil. And ugh, of course, all a pretty girl wants from you is your heart that's been transformed into a devil.
Women in anime get a bad wrap. Many times they are consigned to the role of damsel in distress or cheerleader, but the Chainsaw Man movie does the female characters, Makima and Reze, devilishly well.
Both characters use female stereotypes of quiet, meek, meager women and the sexualization of their bodies as sources of power and another means to achieve their goal, which just so happens to be Pochita, the thing keeping Denji going. Unluckily for Pochita, the true Chainsaw Devil, Denji is a horny teenage boy who is easily blinded by things like boobies.
Makima is the Control Devil. She is able to control any living creature she deems inferior to herself. Because Makima has a little girl boner for the Chainsaw Devil and believes she is inferior to him, she can't control Denji, the human host of the Chainsaw. Due to this limitation, she has to use other methods to manipulate him. She toys with his heart and his head. She lets Denji believe that she is just a defenseless girl that is caring and thoughtful, with a sweet angelic voice, and that Denji might get a chance to bag her. Who would think this innocent girl was capable of killing billions if given the chance? I mean, I would be suspicious, but that's just because I'm paranoid and I think everything is too good to be true.
When Makima takes Denji out for a "date", the audience gets to see her unusual fascination with film. Not that it's unusual to like movies, or else what am I doing here on Peliplat? It's unusual to see the Control Devil, who regards humans as nothing more than stepping stones and dogs that should obey, watching stories about human lives and human struggles. It does kind of goes with her whole, "I'm going to make a perfect world," thing she has though. In her world, no bad movies exist because, to her, movies should capture what life should be, perfection.
Makima merely feigns weakness because it's another form of control. People will act completely differently if faced with a kitten rather than a snarling tiger. She is able to forcibly take control away from people who think they have power when they fuck with her and show them exactly why she is the Control Devil. She is no damsel in distress, she is a damsel causing distress.
Makima is Denji's fixation until he meets Reze. She, like Makima, is soft spoken and tender. She starts to make Denji have a teenage boy crisis because she makes his blood rush to his peepee. Also, like Makima, her meek and unassuming demeanor belies the savage killer underneath. I remember when I first read the manga I totally thought she was a throw away character until she straight up murdered a guy like she was Black Widow. She even came with the creepy Russian song combo pack. Denji still thinks she is just another cute girl he might have a chance with until she bites his tongue off and he has to be saved by Sharkboy.
The proceeding brutal rampage she went on as she tried to retrieve the Chainsaw was gruesomely magnificent. The way she gracefully used her explosions to get around the city was beautiful and it reminded me of Bakugo in My Hero Academia, but with the beauty and grace of a well-trained ballerina. One of the best parts of the movie is when they don't fall for her "I'm just a cute innocent girl" schtick at the Public Safety Office, so she throws her head at them like a grenade. Even as she's committing all these brutal acts of murder and violence, her voice never changes from the light and nurturing tone she had earlier in the film. Which makes her character all the more unsettling and kinda creepy.
Chainsaw Man is able to give Makima and Reze not only compelling stories, but real strength as well. They give you something characters like Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tale or Mereoleona Vermillion from Black Clover are able to give.
Erza might've been a girl but was one of the strongest, if not THE strongest, member of Fairy Tale, who was not only an effective leader that could whip a bunch of stubborn, powerful men into line, she would give anything for her guild.
Mereoleona is an absolute force of nature. Fuegoleon is only the Captain of the Crimson Lions because Mereoleona doesn't want to do it. Her command over mana is so great that she is able to become mana herself, as beautiful, blazing and bold as the flames she incinerates her enemies with.
For every one of these strong female characters in anime, you get a handful of not-so-strong female characters. Sakura Haruno is infamous for her lack of contribution in Naruto. Orihime Inoue in Bleach made a great plot device, because the characters need motivation to do something right? Homegirl needs to be saved. Always.
Sakura was blinded by her school-girl crush on Sasuke and that sums up her character pretty well. Even in Boruto, she is kind of just a mom and married to Sasuke.
Orihime is kinda just there. She is probably one of the best support healers in any series ever. By the end of the series though, she can't really do much. Her shields get broken by single attacks and her heal stops working on particular wounds. All that happened was Ichigo knocked her up. Sometimes I forget she's even in the show until I see her little shield in the corner of a scene.
Both these characters just end up baby machines instead of the fully fleshed-out characters they could have been and it's such a waste. Makima and Reze both demonstrate more power and kick-assery than Sakura and Orihime put together. Makima is stringing all these characters, even Reze, along into her giant grand scheme and is the main antagonist, not just a support or cheerleader like in these other anime. Reze had Denji on the ropes until his little gamble at the end. She would have come back too if Makima didn't surprise merc her. Something Sakura could only dream of.
Strong female characters speak to my soul. All my life I have been surrounded by strong women. My grandmother has led my family as a matriarch for as long as I can remember and whatever she says goes. No arguments or complaints, if she wants, she gets. My mother is one of the hardest-working people I have ever seen. When my dad was a degenerate criminal in jail, she was the one that picked up the slack and made sure we survived. My aunt was one of the scariest people I have ever met. My whole family was terrified of her. No one dared question her decisions. She was also one of the most loving and caring people I was so lucky to have had in my life. When cancer took her, I was crushed. Without her strength, my family has never been the same.
Life needs strong women to work, and so do stories. Without them, stories are just about a bunch of dudes being emotionally unintelligent the whole time trying to figure shit out the hard way.
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