Chainsaw Man episode 9 recap & review: From Kyoto

‘Chainsaw Man’ episode 9 follows an awakened Denji going up against the Katana Man while a presumed dead someone wakes up from slumber to exact a little blow of vengeance.

Recap

‘From Tokyo’ opens with Himeno’s ultimate sacrifice as she perishes while trying to save Aki. Akane Sawatari’s Snake Devil usurps Ghost Devil but the latter’s one remnant hand survives and runs off to Denji’s dormant body, pulling his cord and bringing him back from the dead.

Chainsaw Man fights off Katana Man and the two are matched equally until they aren’t. While the protagonist tries to use one of the enemy’s henchmen as a hostage, an indifferent Katana Man makes quick work of Denji, decapitating his body in half swiftly.

Aki is still bleeding and injured, Power is missing, and a decapitated Denji is being dragged by the bad guys to their van. They still need his heart.

Meanwhile, Makima jumped back from her death and kills all the shooters on her train coach. Two hunters from up top are sent as advisors to Makima; they tell her about the brutal coordinated attack that just took out the majority of the fourth division’s hunters.

Following the plummet in their numbers, executives from the higher echelons decide to merge all the divisions’ manpower and relegate them all to Makima’s supervision. Meanwhile, Makima asks the two hunters to make some preparations.

Bringing some of the death row inmates to a shrine located on a high-up spot, Makima uses her powers while the hunters and the inmates are all blindfolded. She then asks each of the inmates to say different names belonging to the different henchmen present with the Katana Man and Akane.

As the inmates begin dropping dead one by one, Makima’s mysterious powers wreak harrowing havoc on the enemies in the decapitated Denji’s vicinity. While they try to carry half of Chainsaw Man into their van, the henchmen start popping like balloons, spilling all their blood and guts all over.

Figuring it to be Makima’s work, Akane and Katana Man decide to flee before time runs out. After all their men are dead, Makima’s attacks also stop. However, their problem doesn’t end there.

Kobeni arrives and in a flashback, it’s shown that she was saved by Hirokazu from one of the shooters working for the Gun Devil. A previously assumed meek and terrified Kobeni goes through a 180 and displays one of the best fighting skills to take down the attacker.

In the present, Akane acts quickly and unleashes Snake Devil on her. However, the ape-like Kobeni does a diabolical set of Parkour atop the Devil’s body, running like a blur to Katana Man and decapitating his hand before he can shoot her.

They try shooting her again but she dodges all their attack while also inflicting some attacks of her upon them.

While the enemies make a run for it, she sits with Denji’s remaining body, back to her terrified and meek persona, while also regretting the loss of her colleagues and her past actions towards Denji.

Review

• ‘Chainsaw Man’ is at its best when it’s bleak and a characteristic and consistent sense of dread looms over its narrative.
• ‘From Tokyo’ is a great successor to the previous episode that saw the anime switch up the pace and tone following a stale course of episodes.
• Makima’s perilous death stare stands in contrast with her eerie calm and composed demeanour, but in congruence with her harrowing powers.
• Kobeni, much like the anime, does a 180 switch and puts up a shocking display of competent fighting skills, overwhelming the dangerous enemies within moments and with evident ease.
• In the wake of all the blood and guts that the Devil Hunters have spilt of late, it only becomes enthralling to anticipate what Makima, Aki, and Denji’s next steps are going to be.

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Also Read: Is Himeno dead in Chainsaw Man?