Today at New York Comic Con, Crunchyroll unveiled one more new look at animation studio Mappa’s Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc before it revs into theaters later this month.
To celebrate the film’s impending arrival, Mappa took to NYCC to drop a new PV, as well as tons of behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated new movie. You can check out the whole panel here, but the new footage starts around 40 minutes in, if you want to go straight to that:
Reze arc follows Chainsaw Man’s 2022 first season, swapping its muted tones for vivid color. In it, Denji meets Reze, a charming new girl who quickly throws him into romantic confusion, made all the worse by her being yet another foe after his heart. Though in the case of his down bad crush on Makima, Reze’s obsession with Denji’s heart is more figurative and romantic (to the extreme) than literal. All the same, Japan descends into chaos as Denji and Reze engage in an explosive, romantic battle for the ages.
Hype for the Reze arc movie is at a fever pitch, and for good reason. The anime originally premiered in 2022, but Mappa was radio silent, sharing little information with fans about confirming a sequel season. All they had to sit on was a stinger moment, teasing the arrival of Reze. Plus, understandably, Mappa had been busy with its hands in other anime pies, with the likes of Jigokuraku: Hell’s Paradise, Attack on Titan‘s final season, Jujutsu Kaisen‘s second season, and the Ranma 1/2 remake.
For a time, Chainsaw Man lingered in limbo, and fans questioned whether it might follow the same trajectory as Mappa’s other titles—Dorohedorowhich teased season two plans in production, or, worse, Yuri!!! On Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescencethe sequel film to Crunchyroll’s inaugural Anime of the Year-winning ice skating series, which Mappa cancelled last year.
Thankfully, fans were given a sign of life with the awesome announcement that more Chainsaw Man was on the way, as the Reze Arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga was being adapted into a feature-length film. And since its first trailer hit the internet, Mappa has been hitting the ground running, putting its entire creative effort into all but christening Reze arc as a film more than worthy to grace IMAX screens on the global stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with another anime juggernaut, Demon Slayerwhich just released Infinity Castlethe first of its film trilogy finale.
While anime movies aren’t uncommon, with the likes of Toho and GKids making it a tradition to host preview episode events as theatrical releases ahead of their streaming debuts—or the modest global release of films that otherwise wouldn’t have had one before their partnership, with the likes of 100 Meters or The Colors Within— Crunchyroll and Mappa are very evidently putting forth a concerted effort to ensure Reze arc will live up to the hype. In a strategy that aligns with the streaming release of compilation films to catch viewers up to speed, Mappa has been drip-feeding fans with more incentives to check out the film.
One standout move by the anime studio is enlisting J-Pop icon Hikaru Utada, celebrated in both anime and video game circles. Alongside them, Reze arc features a musical collaboration between them and series musical artist Kenshi Yonezu, who performed the anime’s platinum-certified theme “Kick Back” and who joins Utada to sing the film’s opening and ending tracks, “Iris Out” and “Jane Doe.”
In typical anime fashion, Mappa released a catchy AMV of “Iris Out” that serves as a highlight reel (possibly giving away too much from the film’s climax) on YouTube for free, as well as a sentimental live-action music video featuring Utada and Yonezu. Both of which embody both the chaos and the sentimentality that characterize Reze arc as one of Chainsaw Man‘s most adored arcs as an ongoing manga series.
Fans have already taken on the role of internet detectives, uncovering Easter eggs related to Fujimoto’s other works, references to the artwork of manga chapters, and hints at events that occur beyond the scope of the Reze arc in the opening movie. Given that Fujimoto is a big movie enthusiast, Mappa’s Marvel-ification of his manga must’ve had him geeked out. Good for him.
While Mappa hasn’t said if Reze arc‘s box office success will result in either a season two confirmation or future feature film adaptations of Fujimoto’s popular manga, it will certainly reevaluate its options depending on how well the film performs.
Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc hits theaters October 24.
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