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Should I read the Chainsaw Man manga after the anime?

The anime is over and you’ll have to read the manga if you want to continue the story

An illustration of Denji from the manga Chainsaw Man. He’s clutching a chainsaw and his red dog with a chainsaw protruding from its head, Pochita, sits on his shoulder. We can see a pink haired woman named Makima in the reflection of the metal in his chainsaw. Image: Tatsuki Fujimoto/Shueisha Inc.
Ana Diaz (she/her) is a culture writer at Polygon, covering internet culture, fandom, and video games. Her work has previously appeared at NPR, Wired, and The Verge.

The anime adaptation of the popular manga Chainsaw Man concluded its first season this week. And as the show is taking its time to adapt the manga of the same name, fans of the anime might be wondering how to find out what happens next.

The season concluded on a relatively upbeat note — Denji fought the Katana Man and the rest of the Public Safety team seem closer to achieving their goal of tracking down the infamous Gun Devil. But still, there are many unanswered questions. At the end of the season, we get a brief glimpse of a dark-haired young woman as a voice talked about a field mouse. Who is she and what does it have to do with mice? Anime viewers will have to wait and see.

Unfortunately, there’s no telling when a second season of Chainsaw Man will come around. Fortunately, in the world of anime, fans can almost always turn to manga.

Should I read the Chainsaw Man manga after finishing the series?

There are quite a few reasons to read the manga even if you enjoyed the show. The most obvious one is that it will allow you to read ahead of where the show has currently ended. So if you want to see what happens next, you can start reading exactly where season one stopped — in the manga, that moment is Chapter 38. Although Chainsaw Man is not a finished manga series, you won’t have to worry about running out of story again for a while: Viz just published chapter 115 of Chainsaw Man this week.

If you are concerned with having the anime “spoiled” by the manga (even though, well, the manga is the source material) or worried about experiencing the story twice, try it out anyway. You may find some unexpected insight and enjoyment!

Denji, a man with a chainsaw for a head with other chainsaws attached to his arms, rips through dozens of zombies, spraying blood everywhere in Chainsaw Man volume 1. Image: Tatsuki Fujimoto/Shueisha Inc.

Tatsuki Fujimoto has established himself as one of the preeminent mangaka working today. Seeing his vision through his own art will be a new experience for fans who started with the anime. While I appreciated the quietness of Studio Mappa’s take on the story, the manga maintains a grittiness and menace that isn’t captured in the television series.

When will Chainsaw Man season 2 be released?

Another reason you might want to read the manga is that it could be a while until we get season 2. Studio Mappa has not formally announced the timing of season 2, but based on the company’s other projects, like Attack on Titan, we could expect to wait around a year.

Is the Chainsaw Man manga done?

The Chainsaw Man manga is not done! Fujimoto is still crafting the series and just published chapter 115. Generally speaking, Shonen Jump publishes new chapters every week or so, with the occasional larger gap. New English translations of Chainsaw Man installments typically hit the Shonen Jump app on Tuesday mornings in the United States.

How do I read the Chainsaw Man manga?

You can purchase individual volumes of the books in paperback, but the whole series can also be read with a Shonen Jump subscription, currently available for $1.99 per month (although the price will go up one dollar on Feb. 5). That subscription will allow you read the series on your computer, phone, or if you’re like me, that random shitty tablet sitting around your home.

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