The Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, known colloquially as Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc, is the direct sequel to the anime Chainsaw Man. A tragic love story with fights larger than life, it’s the perfect blend of heart and spectacle.

The Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc movie is an anime like Demon Slayer, that continues where the anime show left off. So in order to watch this, in this reviewer’s opinion, you must watch Chainsaw Man season 1.

Viewer discretion is advised; it tackles some topics that might not be suitable for some viewers, such as grooming, abuse, and gun violence.

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc is beautiful. It’s animation, voice acting, and soundtrack are all stunning and blend together to make a movie where the viewer feels the emotion of every moment. A standout is the new art direction, which was designed to look more like the original source material, while also adding to it. It takes a more photographic angle to most of its shots, with lingering moments and still shots, so there are a lot of rules of thirds and framing, which also serves to focus on the symbolism. There is a significant amount of symbolism in this movie, particularly in relation to water and mice.

The moments are also amplified by the soundtrack, with songs by Kensuke Ushio, who made music for A Silent Voice and the previous Chainsaw Man season, with standouts like “in the pool,” a beautiful song that captures the intimacy of the moment, and the song “She is coming,” echoing the horror of the moment. Kenshi Yonezu also returns, making two songs, “Iris out” and “Jane Doe,” both of which convey the theme of the story, while specifically “Jane Doe” gives more insight into Reze as a character.

The characters in this story are played amazingly by the voice actors in both dubbed and subbed versions. They play these characters, giving them a great voice, making them sound completely like the characters. They are perfect fits for the voice, like Ryan Colt Levy, the voice of Denji, who has so much emotion in his performance.

Overall, the movie continues the story beautifully with a change in art style for a more manga-like style. It’s a solid follow-up and a must-watch – a high 9/10;  an almost perfect adaptation.