‘Chainsaw Man’ Highlights Anime’s Love Of Boobs

Anime has a very peculiar relationship with sex-obsessed characters. It might be a cultural thing as anime is viewed very differently from Western animation. Such characters and story lines don’t necessarily fly in animated shows coming out of America, even adult oriented ones. Shows from the US certainly have sexual humor, but the lines between characters obsessing over sex is on a much different and more plot driven level with Japanese anime. This can be seen in many different programs over the course of decades, but none is probably more overt and obvious than the first season of Chainsaw Man.

The story takes place in Japan, where monsters known as devils can influence society in negative ways. Devil hunters are employed to root out these beings. One such devil hunter is a teenage boy named Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), who is infused with a chainsaw devil he befriended and turns into a hybrid killer. But at his core, Denji is still a teenage boy driven by his hormones. He has zero sexual experience, but is obsessed with sexual fantasies. This even leads him to making a deal with another monster hunter to touch her breasts in exchange for saving her life.

Chainsaw Man is a gratuitous example as its violence is on a whole other level, too. Denji also has his first kiss with another monster hunter, but she was drunk and unfortunately threw up in his mouth. But these kinds of sexualized character arcs and story lines can be seen in classic anime, as well. Two examples are Master Roshi in Dragon Ball and Jiraiya in Naruto. In Chainsaw Man, it just becomes more apparent as Denji places sexual favors and impressing his crushes high on his list of priorities. At his core, he’s still a teenage boy with very low expectations for his life and the world around him. He’s happy with a comfortable bed and warm food, so it’s no surprise that fondling breasts is such a key part of his characterization.

Chainsaw Man is now streaming on Hulu.