Chainsaw Man! The hot new series that is on the “cutting edge” of anime! #sorrynotsorry
I didn’t get into CSM when the manga first launched. But the manga garnered a sizeable following and so, when the anime launched, I decided to give it another try. I’m glad I did.
“Hold up!” I yelled as Aki Hayakawa dragged Denji out of Makima’s office. “That illustration looks really familiar!”
Long-time readers may recall that in my past life, I studied Dante’s Comedy at university. So I have a passing familiarity with the artwork of Gustave Dore, who did a lengthy series of pictures based on Dante’s epic poem. Including this one:
This scene is straight out of Dante’s Inferno canto 22. In the eighth circle of Hell, Dante crosses paths with a group of devils called the Malebranche. The Malebranche are supposed to keep tabs on the damned humans in this part of Hell, corrupt politicians who have to spend eternity submerged in a river of boiling tar. (Admit it: for a moment you enjoyed imagining corrupt politicians ending up here.) Naturally, the humans don’t like this, and they try to pop out of the river whenever the devils aren’t watching.
At the moment depicted in Dore’s illustration, the Malebranche catch one of the politicians above the waterline (tarline?). They chase him, but he escapes—and in their rage, one of the devils attacks another. the two demons tumble into the pitch and get trapped themselves.
Devils as tools of justice as well as evil? Corrupt politicians? Devils dragging other devils down to mutual destruction? Without getting into too much spoiler territory, that’s a pretty good representation of the plot of CSM.
Dore did quite a few illustrations for the Comedy, and they are amazing. Take some time to browse through them and enjoy his unique style!
Support the Curiously Dead Cat by:
- Reading
- Commenting
- Following
- Checking out my recommendations
- Pitch a collab or guest post!
