Chainsaw Man: What makes for a Considerate Adaptation

Adapting the manga for 'Chainsaw Man' comes with its own set of challenges. For me, the make-or-break has always been maintaining the insane pacing of the manga. This frenzied pace comes from its plot progression, mainly in how quick shit can hit the fan sometimes. But perhaps another one of Fujimoto's trade marks is in his page turners.

The page of Denji being cleaved from eight different directions is impactful specifically because of how Fujimoto loves to structure his panels. You turn a single page and face a sudden rush of brutality, one that tears down any hope you have of Denji being saved. All that violence is also compacted into a single frame of action, emphasizing both the speed and mercilessness to which Denji is rended. Turn the page again, and the succinct imagery of gruesomeness would once again shock and leave you utterly speechless. This is one of the paneling techniques Fujimoto loves; A page-turning snapshot that loves to punch you in the face with condensed violence.

However, the sense of timing is different when it comes to adaptations. In a manga, the snap shots of violence is captured, leaving the in-between actions to be conceptualized or "filled in" in our heads. However, anime has a duty to leave no stone unturned. As the passage of time corresponds to the seconds in real life, an anime scene would need to draw out those in-between moments as well, providing a proper sense of continuity. The result however, is that dragging out the violence often undermines the snappiness that the manga panels provide. As we can see from the anime, the scene of Denji being stabbed multiple times on the ground was no doubt graphic, but yet leaves much to be desired when it comes to impact. For a manga that relies so heavily on these snap shots then, would an anime adaptation only serve to kill off its intended pacing?

Well, maybe. However, it isn't to say that the anime is worse than the manga. Every medium has always possess its different strengths. While action manga would always thrive in their page-turning blows, action anime can utilize the elements of sound and movement to convey a different sense of impact and fluidity. In the previously discussed scene for example, what served as a suitable substitute to impact, was the dread that resounded in Denji's voice and the poignant acting as Denji reached out his hand, a desperate grasp for help in the face of helplessness. 

To expect an anime adaptation to completely capture the pacing of the manga is hence a troubling task. What I am often more excited for is the prospect of how the adaptation transforms its source material, whether that is done to cover up its blind spots or to emphasize its strengths. For me, perhaps one of the best parts of CSM's anime then, is in the quieter and softer moments.

Disclaimer: I am a manga reader, but this essay will only cover the contents of episode 1-3 of the anime. This is also mainly an analysis of its technical aspects, and hence story and character developments would not be discussed.

Muted Sounds

One thing I've noticed is that apart from the action sequences, the music scores in most scenes are often extremely muted. And perhaps unsurprisingly so, these muted sounds does a great deal in characterizing our characters' desires and feelings at any particular moment. It's been a while since I last did score analysis, so let's bust out the good ol' videos for us to watch.

Second part, because blogger is dum dum with its video size limit.

When I first noticed these subtleties, my mind instantly jump towards the score of 'A Silent Voice', which similarly uses these muted, reverberated notes to symbolize a "repressed voice". And to my delight, low and behold, Kensuke Ushio creates the score for both shows. It's quite mind-boggling to think that the craziest show and the most intimate one shares the same blood.

Perhaps another great inclusion the anime has gifted its source material, is how alive the environment feels. The ambience the anime brings to its environment compared to the black-and-white nature of the manga is one of the simpler examples of the medium's different strengths. However, a more interesting thing to note as well, is in how the sound director, Koizumi Kisuke, uses these ambience to guide our emotions.

The two conversations between Power & Denji are characterized not by their scores, but by their use of ambient sounds. After Power's reckless behaviour and lies, Denji's relationship with her got off on a pretty sour start. In the very next scene in which they converse then, we are treated to a constant whirl of the vending machines, subtle and yet acts as a creative representation to disconnect between Power and Denji. The train provides an intensified version of that whirl, this time, adding the ambience of the train tracks which cuts through their words at odd seconds. This ultimately culminates to a disagreeable silence whereby both parties have no words for each other, leaving only the sound of dissonance to rattle on.

Anime that lets their characters breathe

Now, it isn't to say that these techniques are particularly novel. Just last season, a show like 'Yofukashi no Uta' provided us with one of the better scores and ambience we have heard in anime, bringing alive its city skyscape. However, I do think it is spectacular how a manga that was supposedly as wild and crazy as CSM, decided to really dial down its pacing, essentially allowing their characters to breathe. In a sense, manga readers may even agree with me when I say that the mood when you read CSM compared to watching it, is completely different. In the manga, the poignant epiphany of Power's sadness takes about ten seconds for us to blast through. 

This comments directly on how we, the audience consume a medium as well. In reading a manga, the sense of pacing is largely in the power of the readers, in the speeds at which we read and in the choices of whether we stop to admire a panel or skim it. In an anime however, we entrust this sense of pacing to the show creators. We loan them our precious time for every episode, but in exchange, we trust that they will make that time impactful and worth it for us. For the team at CSM then, they have decided that this was the scene they were going repay us back with (Video below).

Power's epiphany of her feelings isn't just conveyed through her words alone; It is conveyed through the widening of her eyes; It is told through the slight tremor of her lips before she spoke; It resonates with us through the piercing horns that only cut through at the precise moment Nyako was stolen from her. Lastly, while it is the sudden grapple in the manga which shocked us, it is with the anime where the bat devil sluggishly reached for her, contrasted with Power's avoidance to dodge despite that, which truly sells us on just how resigned she was to die at that very moment. 

Personally, the difference between an anime and manga would always be irreconcilable. The snap shots of a manga often creates some of the punchiest emotions that anime find difficult to mimic, while anime as well has the entire sound and visual arsenal up its tool belt to fight against it. I once find myself often comparing the two from this standpoint, but recently, I've come to realized that that concern was unneeded from my part. The reason why adaptations exist is to bring about a new experience, not just to simply mimic the old one. For me then, Chainsaw Man is no different -- Having a medium that delivers on the impact, and yet having another that promises us quietness.

Afterword

Sup, its been a while since I last wrote something. As you can probably tell, I am rusty as hell and this essay turned out pretty sub-par. But oh well, hope you still enjoyed reading (or watching) it. For anyone who is interested in other Fujimoto stuff that I covered, I wrote an essay about 'Goodbye Eri' a while back as well, talking about why Fujimoto adds explosions. Go check it out if you're interested, and as always -- Peace!

https://zxcaderu.blogspot.com/2022/07/goodbye-eri-why-add-explosion.html