Tatsuki Fujimoto, a well-known author of Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man, is a huge movie fan. You can see it in his works: how he uses panels, writes his characters and what references he puts in his manga. Let’s take a look at how cinema seeps into his latest popular title.
One of the most obvious inspirations is The Evil Dead Series, the 80’s cult classic films by Sam Raimi. Our main hero, equipped with a chainsaw, fights hordes of zombies and demons. This description could be applied to both Denji and Ash, the protagonists of the American movies. The way Fujimoto decided to draw his character is a clear nod to Raimi’s works, borrowing also the love for gore and exaggerated characters from those movies.
Another reference can be seen in Public Safety’s uniforms worn by all the main characters. A simple jacket, white shirt and an obligatory black tie could be just a matter of choice, but knowing Fujimoto’s passions, it is clear that this is a loving letter to Quentin Tarantino’s movies, more specifically to Reservoir Dogs. It adds a strong cool factor and depicts our character as a gang of misfits who don’t fit in with the normal crowd. They’re easy to draw too.
A lot of character designs in the manga are inspired by Japanese horror movies. The best girl Reze’s collar that goes boom is taken from the Battle Royale (2000), where the characters wore pretty similar ones and played a deadly game of not getting their heads blown off. The idea for The Violence Devil’s mask came straight from an old black-and-white movie Onibaba (1964). In that movie the mask was sort of a curse that was very difficult to get rid of. And Eternity Devil is a clear reference to a classic horror trope, established by movies such as Hausu (1977). The main heroes of that movie get trapped in a house and then killed one by one.
Some of the narrative ideas are also taken from the movies. The infamous door scene with Makima has some similarities to that of The Shining (1980), where the anticipation of what’s behind the door is what causes the feeling of fear and stress. Future Devil is a reference to a popular horror trope, broadly used in many movies, particularly in the Final Destination series. In these movies characters try their best to escape a deadly future, but usually fail.
These are some of the movie references that we’ve discovered in Chainsaw Man. The manga is still ongoing, so who knows how many more we will get. Especially from such a movie head as Fujimoto.
Where manga and cinema collide.
Tatsuki Fujimoto, a well-known author of Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man, is a huge movie fan. You can see it in his works: how he uses panels, writes his characters and what references he puts in his manga. Let’s take a look at how cinema seeps into his latest popular title.
One of the most obvious inspirations is The Evil Dead Series, the 80’s cult classic films by Sam Raimi. Our main hero, equipped with a chainsaw, fights hordes of zombies and demons. This description could be applied to both Denji and Ash, the protagonists of the American movies. The way Fujimoto decided to draw his character is a clear nod to Raimi’s works, borrowing also the love for gore and exaggerated characters from those movies.
Another reference can be seen in Public Safety’s uniforms worn by all the main characters. A simple jacket, white shirt and an obligatory black tie could be just a matter of choice, but knowing Fujimoto’s passions, it is clear that this is a loving letter to Quentin Tarantino’s movies, more specifically to Reservoir Dogs. It adds a strong cool factor and depicts our character as a gang of misfits who don’t fit in with the normal crowd. They’re easy to draw too.
A lot of character designs in the manga are inspired by Japanese horror movies. The best girl Reze’s collar that goes boom is taken from the Battle Royale (2000), where the characters wore pretty similar ones and played a deadly game of not getting their heads blown off. The idea for The Violence Devil’s mask came straight from an old black-and-white movie Onibaba (1964). In that movie the mask was sort of a curse that was very difficult to get rid of. And Eternity Devil is a clear reference to a classic horror trope, established by movies such as Hausu (1977). The main heroes of that movie get trapped in a house and then killed one by one.
Some of the narrative ideas are also taken from the movies. The infamous door scene with Makima has some similarities to that of The Shining (1980), where the anticipation of what’s behind the door is what causes the feeling of fear and stress. Future Devil is a reference to a popular horror trope, broadly used in many movies, particularly in the Final Destination series. In these movies characters try their best to escape a deadly future, but usually fail.
These are some of the movie references that we’ve discovered in Chainsaw Man. The manga is still ongoing, so who knows how many more we will get. Especially from such a movie head as Fujimoto.
