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The highly-anticipated Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 was released early Tuesday morning for readers around the world, bringing with it an exciting and quick-paced issue. Fans witness Asa and Yuko's first encounter with the Devil, but with an unexpected twist, as well as fantastic tongue-in-cheek humor from author and illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 also sees context given to the current state of Japan as it relates to Devil attacks, which is always nice for worldbuilding purposes. However, the star of this issue is undoubtedly Asa Mitaka, who finally begins coming into her own and standing up for herself in the issue.
Follow along as this article fully breaks down Chainsaw Man Chapter 101.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 sees Fujimoto poke fun at fans regarding Denji’s absence amidst exciting, developmental issue
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101: Returning shoes and starting a friendship
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 begins with Asa Mitaka approaching Yuko to return her shoes, thanking her for yesterday. While the latter initially tells the former to keep them, Mitaka responds by saying they were a little small, which appears to convince her to take them back.
Yuko then asks if she wants to go into town to look for Devils after school, saying there’ll be more Devils out there and they can avoid the "jerks at school." This segues into the Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 title page, which sees the issue formally entitled Afterschool Devil Hunters.
The issue then sees the two sitting on a bench together, eating taiyaki as they discuss Yoshida's skipping school and question his desire to join the Devil Hunter Club. Asa asks Yuko why she wants to join the club, and she responds by pointing out the opportunity for big pay without a college degree. She also reveals her parents were killed by Devils, prompting Asa to reveal the same to her.
In an absolutely hilarious panel, the two begin gushing about being “kinda like manga main characters,” with the last three words bolded for emphasis by Fujimoto. This is clearly the mangaka’s way of poking fun at fans regarding Denji’s absence in Part 2 thus far, which many fans couldn’t help but laugh at cheekily.
Nevertheless, the two continue their conversation, with Yuko suggesting that they should partner up when they both become Devil Hunters. She says that they can be two “avenging angels of death” before asking Asa to promise their partnership. She then says she has to pee when she gets excited, departing to use the restroom.
This leaves Asa on the bench alone when the War Devil suddenly appears and says that she should kill Yuko. Reminding her human host that anything she kills turns into a weapon, she once again suggests killing Yuko, citing the need for a powerful weapon to eventually confront Chainsaw Man himself.
The War Devil continues, saying that the guiltier she feels about creating a weapon, the more powerful that weapon will be. This is then used to confirm Asa’s feelings for her, with the Devil emphasizing that even at the current moment, Yuko would make a good weapon.
She then references the city’s abandoned buildings, saying that with a good plan and proper timing, she can kill her new friend with minimal risk. However, Asa quickly voices her disagreements, ridiculing the War Devil for always jumping straight to violence and murder as the answer to any issue.
The War Devil reminds her she’s not here to make friends while calling her "girl," giving Asa an organic opportunity to change the subject, which she recognizes and takes. She then demands that the War Devil stop constantly calling her "girl," interrupting the War Devil once more when she does so.
She then once more emphasizes her name being Asa, even spelling it out for her, before the War Devil retorts that she isn’t called by her name either. The human host responds that War Devil is “weird and awkward,” which seems to prompt the War Devil to let the subject go for now since the two growing closer will lead to Yuko being a more powerful weapon.
She then comments on how “War Devil” is difficult for Asa to use, telling her to instead call her Yoru. This is likely similar to how Makima called herself just Makima, despite being the Control Devil in reality. She then says she’ll swallow everything Asa says if it helps her achieve her goal, with Asa then thanking her and calling her by her name as Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 shifts perspective.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101: Devil death stats as a new one appears
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 then shows a few panels of buildings in the area and Asa and Yuko walking through town. As this plays out, the former thinks about how she doesn’t care about killing Chainsaw Man, turning Yuko or others into weapons, or any of that. She instead says that this is the most fun she’s had in forever, saying that she couldn’t care less about anything else right now.
This is followed by someone on the street with a megaphone, who begins shouting out to those passing by and drawing a crowd of roughly 20 people. He then begins explaining that, of those 20, only 5 will die of old age. Another five will die of illness, with one more each dying from a traffic accident, homicide, and suicide.
The man then reveals that all of the remaining 7 will be killed by Devils, before referencing the passersby who all believe they’ll "pass peacefully in their own beds." He then says that the Japanese people need to "wake up and smell the danger," saying that any one of them could be killed by a Devil today, tomorrow, or the day after.
He then critiques the Japanese media for instead discussing celebrities, what to eat, and what to buy, before professing himself as someone here to tell the truth about their society. Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 then shifts perspective as he repeats that 7 out of every 20 lives die to Devil attacks, before showing Asa and Yuko encountering a Devil.
The man's voice still rings out, saying that humanity is at war with the Devils, as what appears to be a Bat Devil is seen massacring and eating several others in the area. Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 then shows the various dead and half-eaten bodies in the area, showing just how destructive this apparent Bat Devil is.
Yoru, also known as the War Devil, then tells Asa two pieces of bad news. The first is that they can’t beat this Devil in their current state, and the second is that Yoru is unable to take over their body when Asa is paralyzed with fear.
She then tells her to back away slowly, which quickly turns into a turn-around-and-sprint maneuver as Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 comes to an end with the group being chased. Unfortunately, with the Weekly Shonen Jump publication on break next week, Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 will be all fans get to see of the series until August 16, 2022.
Final thoughts
Overall, Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 is an exceptionally enjoyable chapter which, despite the lack of Denji, makes the series feel as complete and whole as it ever did. One positive of Denji’s absence has certainly been Fujimoto’s ability to infuse similar themes and values from the Denji starred Part 1 into the thus-far Denji-less Part 2.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 also does a fantastic job establishing both the friendship Asa and Yuko have and the working relationship Asa and the newly-named Yoru have. While the two clearly aren’t friends, it’s enjoyable to see their human half finding her backbone in the partnership and standing up for herself in certain areas.
However, the elephant in the room is undoubtedly that Chainsaw Man Chapter 101 yet again had no Denji, with Fujimoto even teasing fans over this at one point in the issue. Nevertheless, his absence is no doubt being felt incredibly hard by many fans everywhere. At least they can take solace in the Bat Devil’s appearance potentially giving way to Denji’s Part 2 debut.
Be sure to keep up with all Chainsaw Man anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.
