How could she even die?
Chainsaw Man manga spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- Makima’s death raised some questions in the fandom.
- Her contract didn’t work because Denji killed her out of love.
- It wasn’t Pochita who ate Makima, so the Control Devil was able to reincarnate.
Makima’s death was one of the most anticipated events in Part 1 of the Chainsaw Man manga. She did so much damage and caused Denji a lot of loss and trauma, so we just knew she had to go.
And the finale of Part 1 doesn’t disappoint: Denji manages to defeat Makima and get rid of her for good. However, he wasn’t able to get rid of the Control Devil, as it was reincarnated as Nayuta. But how was it possible and how did Makima actually die?
Makima’s Contract
One of the manga chapters surprised fans with an unexpected plot twist: Makima made a contract with the Prime Minister of Japan, which turned her into a practically invincible and immortal being.
Every time fatal damage is dealt to Makima, she remains unharmed. Instead, a random Japanese citizen is sacrificed. So she basically has some sort of shield that sends all of the damage to someone else and keeps her alive.
But we do know that Denji killed her, so how did he manage to do that?
The thing is, contracts value intent over the result. In Denji’s mind, he wasn’t trying to hurt Makima, his actions were a bizarre act of love. He ate her because he wanted to become one with her.
There was no evil intent in what he was doing, that’s why the contract couldn’t be activated. Denji’s actions were not an attack on Makima. On top of that, Denji used a chainsaw imbued with Power's blood, and it prevented Makima’s body from regeneration. That’s why she just died.
Control Devil Reincarnation
Another thing that fans found puzzling was the fact that the Control Devil reincarnated as Nayuta.
Chainsaw Man devils have the ability to reincarnate as long as the concept they represent exists and is feared by people, that’s why it was natural to think that Makima wouldn’t be the last Control Devil.
However, the Chainsaw Devil has the ability to erase devils from existence by consuming them. This is what happened to the WW2 Devil. The war happened, but no one could remember it after its devil had been consumed by Pochita.
Since Denji and Pochita shared the same body, it was natural to assume that by eating Makima Denji was erasing the Control Devil, but it wasn’t like that.
Even after Pochita had given his heart to Denji, they didn’t become exactly the same. It was Denji who ate Makima, not Pochita, so the Chainsaw Man erasure ability didn’t work, and the Control Devil was reincarnated as Nayuta.