I started this manga and it was an 8 by the end of the first chapter; a 9 by the end of the 15th. By the 90th chapter, I was in tears. I didn't want this to be my first 10 on MAL, but my experience with Chainsaw Man was just too great not to. Read it.

This story could be told in the simplest way. It does have some level of intrigue, especially as the second act draws to a close, but it's a pretty straightforward arc from A to B (albeit with a nicely-foreshadowed third-act twist). Where Tatsuki Fujimoto really excels is in the detail. The sequential art offers a sensitive, pitch-perfect sense of mood and timing: an abortive hookup after a work party; the eerie brightness of a classroom after hours in a thunderstorm; the sky above a suburb, before the peace is ripped apart by an explosion; a laughing woman; a devastating list of names.

The characters, too, are expertly drawn. I don't usually like Denji or Aki's character archetypes in manga, but you can bet they both broke my heart several times over. I felt Denji's bonds with Power, Aki, and especially Pochita like a punch in the heart, and [[BIG SPOILERS YOU HAVE PROBABLY GUESSED]] Makima is the scariest villain in recent shonen. If you wanted to, Chainsaw Man could very easily be read as a manga about the emotional debts people owe to other people, and how taxing it is to fulfil them. Sometimes, relationships can never be dealt with in a way which satisfies everyone, and understanding that can be unbearable. Hence it can just as easily be read as a story about grief and loss, even though about half its main cast can't really die.

In my case, one of the first things that made me really fall in love with this work is its sincere, serious treatment of the workplace. It compassionately draws characters of all ages and nationalities and confronts them with a subtle, truthful vision of working life; at times it almost becomes a very dark sitcom. Even though Denji is 16 at story start, the manga makes very clear that this is a story about an adult world.

And then a man with a chainsaw for a head rides a shark into the side of a building.

Honestly, this is one of the best action movies I've seen and it's not even a film. If that's what you're here for, the art is dynamic, characterful, visceral and often gruesome - and the fight scenes don't let up. There are many of them, and all the while Fujimoto is endlessly creative with setting, framing and choreography.

The story has just reached an important pause: I exhort you to take this opportunity to get through the first 97 chapters and prepare for whatever's coming next. It's a hell of a ride.