In Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man, Asa and Fami's Tokyo Devil Detention Center rescue mission has seen plenty of surprising victories, and -- in true Asa fashion -- literal stumbles. Those ups and downs have made this arc exciting to follow, especially once Asa finally discovered the truth about Denji. Chainsaw Man Chapter 162's title, "Fearsome," perfectly highlights the intense action that takes place at the climax of Asa and Fami's mission to save Chainsaw Man.
Chapter 161, "Chainsaw Man Puzzle," concluded with Quanxi having been called on by Devil Hunter Takagi to bring down Asa and Fami's group and stop them from taking Denji's dismembered body from Public Safety. While other chapters have surprised fans by seeing the War Devil’s vessel solve their issues using peace instead of violence, Quanxi isn't the type to pull punches. Chapter 162 illustrates that.
Quanxi Shows Why She's CSM's Most Formidable Fighter
Not Many Could Take Down Three Devils at Once
Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 begins with what seems like a subtle nod at Katana Man and Asa's unlikely team up in Chapter 160, "That For Which the Heart Beats." In that chapter, just as Katana Man was about to attack, Asa urged him to stop, insisting that she was also there to fight Chainsaw Man and that they should join forces. Similarly, just as Quanxi is about to attack in Chapter 162, Nail Fiend tells Quanxi to stop -- this time explaining that they really admire Quanxi's beautiful skin and hair, before pulling off a vicious sneak attack with their nails. It’s a humorous, self-aware nod to the unpredictability that makes CSM special.
If there's one thing that fans could have predicted, though, it’s that Quanxi was going to be an extremely difficult fight for Asa’s group. While Chapter 161 was all about Asa finding out Denji's true identity, Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 is undeniably all about Quanxi. If anyone was still uncertain who the most skilled fighter in CSM is, Quanxi once again addresses her doubters. In a matter of seconds, she takes down Yoru, Katana and the Nail Fiend, hardly breaking a sweat. This is one of the action highlights of the chapter.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 Explores Quanxi's Personality
Denji is Lucky to Have Quanxi on His Side
Through all her epic swordplay, there are deeper parts of Quanxi's personality that also come into focus during Chapter 162 -- the first being that she's not some heartless Public Safety minion, without a moral compass of her own. Her showing up under the command of Takagi in Chapter 161 seemed to imply that she was following the orders of her higher-up and that Takagi perhaps had interesting powers of his own. However, fans now know that’s not the case.
The true source of Public Safety's influence over Quanxi is revealed when Takagi tells Quanxi that she had better do as he says, because they have her lovers' bodies in Public Safety custody. This shows how much she truly cares about her partners; she's willing to sacrifice her own pride and autonomy in order to ensure that they're treated with respect. The other way Chainsaw Man shows Quanxi's true intentions is through her reaction when Nobana holds up Denji's head to protect herself. As soon as she sees Denji, Quanxi stops attacking -- declaring that an "old friend" warned her to never make an enemy out of Denji. That old friend was almost certainly Denji's mentor Kishibe. This indirect mention of Kishibe is interesting since fans have not seen him all throughout CSM Part 2, raising the question of how he might be involved in the entire situation.
But Quanxi serves as more than just an exciting character for Asa and company to fight. Quanxi has always been a strong and unstoppable female character who breaks conventions. Fujimoto doubles down on this theme in Chapter 162 in an interesting way. When Quanxi finally refuses to continue helping Takagi, he begins to go on a rant about how the Devils can't seem to do anything right. Then just as he's about to start ranting about women in general, his wife -- who was previously shown imprisoned by Public Safety due to her contract with the Fire Devil -- shows up out of nowhere and kills him before he can finish his sentence. This entire sequence plays out like Fujimoto's direct response to anyone who would try to generalize or talk down towards women, and it's a truly glorious moment. In a time when feminist issues have once again come to the forefront in the real world, this particular scene also has an air of relevance.
Overall, Fujimoto has used Chainsaw Man's Rescue Mission arc to build on a number of characters who needed more development. Nail, Katana, the Devil Hunter Club and Fami have gotten to shine more than ever, and Quanxi is the latest to receive this recognition. When Tagaki's wife looks down at his body with a sense of sadness, it comes off as a bittersweet moment of closure for the large cast of side characters who've gotten their time in the limelight during this arc. Fujimoto's ability to instantly transition from up-beat action sequences to these kinds of melodramatic moments is something else other artists can take from Chainsaw Man.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 Proves Fujimoto's Art is Still Great
Fujimoto's New Art Style Is Divisive, but It Hasn't Lost its Charm
While many of Fujimoto's most prescient scenes consist of ominous Devils and tragically emotional moments, that doesn't mean he can't do action. Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 is full of dynamic shots that give the action a sense of movement that make the manga just as heart-pounding as any animation. Fujimoto often conveys Quanxi's blinding speed by only showing the aftermath of her attacks with no build-up, which makes characters like Yoru and Nail seem slow in comparison.
Yet for all the awesome Chainsaw Man panels and scenes in Chapter 162, there's one moment that shows how the critique of Fujimoto's newer art style gained traction. When Quanxi about to attack Nobana, Quanxi isn't the most detailed despite being quite close to the viewer's perspective. This is understandable in more distanced shots, but it stands out in such a large panel.
On the other hand, CSM's highly detailed backgrounds have always contrasted with the more simplistic character designs of Fujimoto's latest art style. Most artists choose to place more emphasis on character details, as in series like Bleach, where backgrounds were infamously often completely white space. Placing more simplistic character designs against highly detailed backdrops gives the characters more personality, as though they're fluid and ever-changing beings. This expresses something about the human experience itself, as many people -- just like Denji -- find themselves awkwardly reacting to a solid and uncompromising world.
Fujimoto's art is at its best in the most simple scenes that seem to hold little consequence, such as Takagi's wife looking down upon her husband's corpse, and Yoru's resolve to behead Quanxi in the second-to-last panel of the chapter.
Is Yoru Starting to Care About Chainsaw Man?
Yoru Appears Noticeably Conflicted in Chapter 162
One of Chapter 162's biggest surprises happens when Yoru asks Quanxi if Chainsaw Man is stronger than her. She answers that "he's weaker… but far more fearsome than me." Upon hearing this, Yoru shows a surprising moment of emotion that looks eerily like the kind of expression Asa would make. It's becoming more obvious than ever that Yoru's feelings toward Chainsaw Man have changed.
When Quanxi first attacks, Iseumi drops the box containing Denji’s head on the floor. Many fans have been theorizing that Yoru may turn Denji's head into a weapon, and this is the perfect opportunity for her to do so. Instead, she turns one of the surgeon's scalpels into a sword. This is a minor gesture, but it has grand implications. Yoru seemingly no longer wants to kill Chainsaw Man as much as she used to, because this is the second time in a row that she's had the opportunity to kill him but decided against it. By including these subtle visual cues, Fujimoto respects his audience's intelligence enough to show the shifts in his character's personalities and develop them in realistic ways -- instead of explaining everything in explicit terms. People normally don't realize they're changing in real life until it's happened; it's typically the outside observer who can spot that metamorphosis over an extended period.
While not much was shown about Asa's reaction to Denji being Chainsaw Man like many fans hoped, the focus on Yoru's feelings may be even more important. Yoru aiming to protect Chainsaw Man instead of killing him at least brings closure to part of Asa and Denji's arc, though where their relationship will go from here is just as uncertain as it ever was. And that's just one Chainsaw Man plot thread left open after Chapter 162.
With fans -- and Denji, for that matter -- having not seen Nayuta for some time, it’s more than likely that future chapters will cover her fate. That seems even more obvious since Chapter 162 ends with a distance shot of the Tokyo Devil Detention Center that parallels the image of Denji and Nayuta's apartment building when Nayuta first went missing in Chapter 155, "The Old Me." This arc certainly left a lot to unpack for Chainsaw Man fans -- making it for the best that the series will be taking an extended break until the Chapter 163 arrives on April 23, 2024.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 162 is now available from Viz Media.
