While 2025’s biggest anime movie, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castledoesn’t seem as though it will be dethroned from its top spot, this doesn’t mean Tanjiro and the Hashira are the only anime characters hitting the big screen. In a few days, Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc will arrive in North America, pitting Denji against the Bomb Devil in one of the wildest battles of the year. Before the anime movie lands in the U.S., the series has hit another milestone in beating one of Studio Ghibli’s biggest films, proving that there is serious gas in the engine when it comes to the Chainsaw Devil.
Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc hasn’t completely overtaken The Boy And The Heron worldwide, but Denji’s first film has defeated Ghibli’s latest Academy Award winner in South Korea. In total, Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece garnered a little under $15 million USD in South Korea, with the MAPPA production roaring past this in recent days since it hit theaters. While the Chainsaw Devil still has a long way to climb to defeat The Boy And The Heron’s overall box office run, with the Ghibli production netting close to $300 million for its entire theatrical run, it might be on its way.
Chainsaw Man Is In The Black
Defeating a Studio Ghibli movie in any country is a feat unto itself, and luckily, it isn’t the only accomplishment that Chainsaw Man The Movie: The Reze Arc has garnered. According to MAPPA animator Shinsaku Kozuma, the film has already made back its production budget before even arriving in the West. Specifically, Kozuma said, “Having nearly recouped production costs in the first week, this is a huge success for an anime studio, unprecedented in recent times. (Merchandise sales are on par, though this is actually the biggest factor.) It might even rival Square’s Final Fantasy VII…” While Cloud’s adventure is a video game and not a movie, the popularity of Final Fantasy remains legendary, so Denji defeating it is no small feat.
As for the story of the film, for those who want a refresher before hitting theaters, Chainsaw Man The Movie takes place almost immediately following the first season’s finale. With Denji now working for Makima, the titular character is living with his friends Aki and Power, fighting against devils and trying to make his meager dreams come true. A bomb is thrown into the mix for his plans, unfortunately, as a new lady, Reze, enters the scene. Creating a twisted love triangle, Denji is forced to choose between Makima and Reze while the Bomb Devil threatens the world. Playing on the mind-bending action of the first season, expect Chainsaw Man The Movie to have battle scenes that might just put the Demon Slayer Corps to shame. The MAPPA animated movie arrives in theaters on October 24th in North America, so anime fans don’t have to wait too much longer in the West.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Via Variety
