Chainsaw Man anime actor Ryan Colt Levy has weighed in on the controversy surrounding the manga's ending. Earlier this year mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto released the final chapter of the show's source material, taking Denji's story in an unexpected direction.
Veering into the surreal, the manga concluded with Pochita erasing Chainsaw Man from existence, sending the narrative into an alternate reality. The series ends with Porchita and Chainsaw Man back at the beginning of the story, having never met Denji. It was a bold choice and one that really split long-time readers with some criticism over several untied storylines.
However, it seems like Denji's English voice actor was a fan of the twist. Speaking to ComicBook.com, he said he's been having a lot of conversations about the manga.
"Online, it can sometimes seem vitriolic and all over the place," Levy explained. "It’s been out for three months, and I travel a lot, talking with a lot of people in-person. In-person, the response to the finale is overwhelmingly positive. Everyone's allowed to have their opinions, but Fujimoto, as a writer, isn’t there to make you happy; he's there to tell his story. Take it or leave it. I love the ending because to me, it feels like the appropriate finishing point to the story that I had always been reading, if that makes sense."
He went on to add that he feels the signs were there for this conclusion right from the start. "From the very first page, I felt like Fujimoto was going somewhere specifically with what he was trying to say," he added. "It's almost a deconstruction of shonen manga and anime, exploring what being a hero is and the value of yourself."
It's certainly an interesting take and it will be intriguing to see how the anime show adapts it when the time comes. In the meantime, next up is Chainsaw Man season 2. The series is in production with a teaser trailer out but no release date has been announced yet.
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