Chainsaw Man's Denji Rescue Mission arc came at a time when many fans were becoming disillusioned with Part 2 of Tatsuki Fujimoto's popular manga series. Many felt that its pacing was too slow, and that wasn't helped by frequent multi-week breaks that broke up the normal weekly release schedule fans had grown accustomed to. CSM Chapter 162, "Fearsome", marks the climax of an epic seven-week run that brought a sense of excitement back to the franchise.
The prior chapter, Chapter 161, "Chainsaw Man Puzzle", left off with Asa and Fami finally reaching Chainsaw Man, only to find his body cut into several pieces. As the group attempted to put Chainsaw Man back together, Asa inadvertently learned the truth about his identity when Iseumi stumbled upon Denji's decapitated head. Asa didn't have a moment to take in what she had just witnessed, though, because Takagi of Public Safety suddenly burst into the room with Quanxi. In Chapter 162, Quanxi reminds Yoru and her companions of what war is supposed to look like.
Quanxi Easily Disposes of Asa's Whole Group
Quanxi's Skill as the "First Devil Hunter" is on Full Display in the Fight Against Yoru, Nail and Katana Man
Picking up right where the previous chapter left off, the battle against Quanxi is about to get underway. Taking a page out of Asa's book, Nail first tries to reason with Quanxi before they fight. Nail tells Quanxi that they love her hair and skin, and would love to know what kind of shampoo she uses. This is a great moment of character building for Nail, as it reinforces aspects of their personality which were never revealed before. However, unlike Asa, who genuinely intended on joining forces with Katana, Nail purely uses this moment as a ruse to try to catch Quanxi off guard.
That kind of disconnect between what Nail says and what they do is not something new for them. In Nail's very first introduction in the series, Nail scolds the members of the Chainsaw Man Church for wielding guns as young students. Nail tells them that they are much better off staying in school, but then proceeds to bash one of the student's heads with a hammer because he seems to answer sarcastically. Nail has always been that kind of loose canon whose words don't match their actions.
As good as Nail's ruse in Chapter 162 is, though, it's nowhere near enough to trick the "First Devil Hunter", Quanxi. Not only does Quanxi easily block Nail's attack, she then immediately goes on the offensive, beheading Samurai Sword with minimal effort. Amid the commotion, Iseumi drops Denji's head on the floor, giving Yoru the perfect opportunity to turn Denji into a weapon. Instead, Yoru picks up a nearby scalpel and turns it into a "Scalpel Sword". This is a gesture that takes on greater meaning when seen in context of recent events.
Yoru always wanted to kill Chainsaw Man anyway, so using Denji's head as a weapon would be a pretty convenient way to do that. However, whether due to the fact that she is unable to turn him into a weapon, or because she refuses to, Yoru doesn't even try. Even with both Nail and Yoru on the offensive, the duo can't even touch Quanxi, who kicks Yoru against a wall and stabs Nail multiple times. Aside from Quanxi's battle prowess, a notable part of this fight is Fami's utter absence in it.
This is likely due to the limits on her power that she explained to Asa in Chapter 158, "Gyohnee Guillotine". Still, it says a lot about where her loyalties lie. Even though Fami has never been the type to fight hand to hand, always relying on her pawns to do the work, the fact that she never even raises a hand to help Yoru shows that her self-preservation and personal goals far outweigh her alliance with the War Devil.
Are Quanxi's Girlfriends Dead?
Quanxi Only Fights For Public Safety Because They Hold Her Girlfriends' Bodies in Custody
After Quanxi defeats all the Devils, she then moves to take out the Devil Hunter Club members. However, just as she's about to attack Nobana, he instinctively picks up Denji's head off the ground in an attempt to shield himself from her attack. This causes Quanxi to abruptly stop fighting. Takagi (the Devil Hunter with an eye patch) commands Quanxi to continue attacking, to which Quanxi responds that "an old friend warned me to never make an enemy out of this one."
This was undoubtedly a reference to Kishibe, who fans have not seen in quite some time. Whether Kishibe told her this recently or during Part 1 is unclear, but in any case, it's far from a valid excuse in Takagi's eyes. Takagi then reveals the true reason that Quanxi is working for Public Safety, when he tells her "Your lovers' bodies are in Public Safety custody! We can always dump them in some ditch rather than return them to you!" The last Quanxi's girlfriends were seen was in CSM Chapter 70, "Pinch", after the fight with Santa Claus.
In the aftermath of the battle, Makina shows up, and Quanxi immediately surrenders to her. Quanxi tells Makima "you can cut off all my limbs if you think I'll run. Just don't kill my women." The reason Quanxi makes this offer is that, as a hybrid, her durability is much greater than her girlfriends', who are all Fiends. Whereas Hybrids can regenerate and heal themselves by drinking blood, the same isn't generally possible for Fiends. If Quanxi's girlfriends are killed, unlike Quanxi, they will stay dead.
That situation makes it a bit more understandable when Quanxi takes her begging a step further by telling Makima "I'll do anything to save their lives. Even lick your shoes." Unfortunately, being the merciless Devil she was, Makima chose to behead them all in one blow anyway, killing Quanxi's girlfriends and leaving Quanxi in critical condition. In hindsight, Quanxi's willingness to lick Makima's boots to protect her girlfriends was a foreshadowing of the events that would eventually transpire in Part 2. Quanxi has undoubtedly become a "bootlicker" in a different sense, willing to do anything Takagi says in order to protect the dignity of her women.
Takagi Dies a Poetic Death
Takagi Stabbed His Wife in the Back For Long Enough
Keeping with the theme of a woman's dignity, Takagi's death is an especially fitting one in Chapter 162. After Quanxi still refuses to follow his orders, even after threatening to throw her lovers' bodies into a ditch, Takagi begins "Look. Let me just say one thing. Women are - " but at that moment, he is cut off by his wife stabbing him in the stomach with her chainsaw arm. While it was never outwardly stated, it's apparent that Takagi's wife was a member of the Chainsaw Man Church who made a contract with the Fire Devil.
Takagi's wife was being kept in a holding cell along with a few other Fire Devil contract holders, but she was inadvertently freed in Chapter 160, when Katana broke through her cell in a failed attempt to attack Takagi himself. It's unclear exactly what Takagi was about to say about "women", but taken in the context of his own life, and the fact that he was threatening to toss Quanxi's lovers into a ditch, it was likely something to do with women being "disposable" to him.
This would be fitting for him to say because he already mentioned in Chapter 160 that he had cheated on his wife with a woman at work, so he clearly did not value the relationship he had with his wife. The one word of praise he had for his wife was that she made him lunch every single morning, showing his misogynistic attitude firsthand. Takagi being killed by his own wife just before he was about to bad-mouth women in general was a fitting end to his character arc.
It was also a bit tragic, as Takagi's wife then looked down upon him after seeing what she had done and laid down to hug him as though she regretted her action. It shows how conflicted their relationship was, because Takagi's wife clearly loved him, in spite of the lack of respect she received from him daily. That may very well have been why she sought community in the Chainsaw Man Church: the very organization that Takagi's Public Safety Devil Hunters were fighting to take down.
The Public Safety Surgeons Show Why They're CSM's Best New Side Characters
Some of Fujimoto's Best Characters are the Least Consequential to the Greater Narrative
While they've only been around for a short time, the Public Safety Surgeons have already emerged as a fan-favorite group of characters in the Denji Rescue Mission arc. Their snarky and sassy attitudes have earned them the universal love of every fan in the CSM fandom, and that's a hard thing to accomplish (unless you're Reze, of course). The last time such an obscure side character has gotten so much appreciation and attention from the fanbase may very well have been Kobeni's Car back in Part 1.
In Chapter 162, the Public Safety Surgeons only have one shared line between them, but it says a lot about them. When Quanxi remarks that Takagi's death gives her the perfect chance to let Yoru's group defeat her and escape, the group then looks over at the Public Safety surgeons, who are the only ones in the room who could rat them out. After taking a moment to look at each other, the Surgeons say "We didn't hear a thing." Despite the obvious comedic aspect of this comment, it also highlights the Surgeon's perspective on Public Safety's entire operation.
The Public Safety Surgeons truly don't care about the brand of "justice" that Public Safety delivers: it's only a job for them. The Surgeons seem to place far more value on their own hard work than they do on the organization itself, which is a strong statement from Fujimoto that has been a recurring theme of the entire arc. While Asa and Fami expected a difficult series of battles throughout their mission in the Tokyo Devil Detention Center, they instead ended up with an ever-increasing party of like-minded people who shared their distaste for Public Safety's way of doing things.
Yoru is Catching Feelings For Chainsaw Man
With Asa Learning Denji's True Identity, Yoru May Have to Reconsider Her Own Opinion of Chainsaw Man
With both the Surgeons' and Quanxi's blessing, Yoru agrees to behead Quanxi to stage the group's escape. Notably, Asa isn't seen throughout the entire chapter, which is important considering how the last chapter was the first time she finally discovered that Denji was Chainsaw Man. While fans don't get the satisfaction of seeing Asa's reaction just yet, they do get to see how Asa's strong feelings are once again welling up within Yoru, perhaps more than ever.
Just as Yoru is about to behead Quanxi, she pauses to ask her, "Is Chainsaw Man stronger than you?" Yoru's asking Quanxi if Chainsaw Man is stronger than her is very on-brand for the War Devil, as she respects strength and power above all else. When Quanxi responds "he's weaker, but far more fearsome than me", Yoru looks noticeably upset, but it's not for the obvious reason it would have been only a few chapters ago. Yoru isn't sad that Chaisnaw Man is too weak to give her a fight. She's sad because she realizes that she'll never get the chance to find out for herself how "fearsome" he is in battle.
Yoru has already come to realize that, now that Denji and Chainsaw Man are the same person, she can't kill Chainsaw Man at the risk of hurting Asa. She and Asa's feelings have become far too intertwined at this point, and it genuinely saddens her that she won't get to find out firsthand just how fearsome a fighter he is in battle. Not only that, but learning that he is a fearsome fighter only doubles down on Yoru's own feelings, because a good fight would be the closest thing to romance for a Devil who is the literal embodiment of war itself.
