Chainsaw Man: Is Kishibe inspired by Mads Mikkelsen?

Chainsaw Man has taken the anime world by storm and is currently trending on a whole different level. There are countless fan theories, speculations, and fanarts floating around on the internet that rightfully depict the hype around the show. Fans have fallen in love with characters such as Makima, Denji, Power, Aki, and Himeno.

The latest Chainsaw Man episode, officially released on Tuesday, December 13, formally introduced another fan-favorite character, Kishibe. Fans have been waiting to see his character in action for a long time and are thrilled with how MAPPA executed his formal debut.

Several were quick to point out that Kishibe's character has an uncanny resemblance to the very famous Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.

Note: This article reflects the author's personal views.

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Mads Mikkelsen and his supposed influence on Chainsaw Man's Kishibe

Kishibe has become a fan favorite in the Chainsaw Man series because of his personality and strength. Despite his stoic nature, he shows care for the safety of his subordinates, Denji and Power.

The character describes himself to the duo as the strongest devil hunter. He has monstrous strength, lightning reflexes, enhanced speed, and durability. He also has three devil contracts, making him a force to be reckoned with.

Kishibe believes the strongest devil hunters are the craziest because only they can be truly fearless. This belief, along with his veteran devil hunter history, has made him somewhat insane. However, he is still very smart, perceptive, and regularly calls out Makima's lies.

Another fact about Kishibe that fans have noticed is his uncanny resemblance to actor Mads Mikkelsen. Chainsaw Man subreddit posts, Twitter threads, and anime forum posts have discussed this resemblance at length and tried to find out if the character was inspired by the actor.

There is no concrete evidence from author Fujimoto's side that shows Kishibe's character was inspired by Mikkelsen. However, fans all over the world can't help but draw parallels between these two. For one, Kishibe's character design and facial structuring looks a lot like that of Mads Mikkelsen, as pointed out by Twitter user @deltasogay.

Secondly, it is a known fact that Fujimoto is a huge film fanatic, so it's not far fetched to think he might use Mads Mikkelsen as a character reference. Additionally, Kishibe's stoic and apathetic nature falls in line with many of the characters Mads Mikkelsen has portrayed.

It is not uncommon for manga authors to use real-life inspiration while designing manga characters. Baki, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, One Piece, and Naruto all have characters that are based off on real-life personalities.

There have been tons of edits and fanarts potraying Mads Mikkelsen as Kishibe and the resemblance is eye catching.

However, the only problem here is that Kishibe is Japanese in the manga. Thus, Mads Mikkelsen portraying him in a live action Chainsaw Man movie would definitely look out of place.

While there is still a possibility that this whole thing is just a coincidence, in the court of public opinion, Mads Mikkelsen is the inspiration for Kishibe. The only person who can say otherwise is author Fujimoto himself.