In an interview with Crunchyroll, the staff behind “Chainsaw Man” talked about what made the project stand out from equally popular anime at the time. To MAPPA Ceo Manabu Otsuka, it all had to do with the tone of the series:
“Within Japanese entertainment, I believe ‘Chainsaw Man’ really hits the subculture, specifically the topics and themes in the story. There are other very popular titles like ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba’ and ‘Attack on Titan,’ but within the popularity scene, you see that Chainsaw Man is a little different. It’s much crazier, simply put.”
“Much crazier” is an understatement because “Chainsaw Man” has non-stop moments of insanity. Denji is a Shonen protagonist whose drive differs from all the other protagonists in the same genre, creating a stark contrast that is a breath of fresh air. Moreover, the themes of control, willful ignorance, and desires of the heart are what Otsuka believes resonate with fans of “Chainsaw Man.”
“That sort of theme is something a lot of readers right now are wanting. It’s maybe the times that people are more interested in that sort of topic. I think that’s why it matched the time the story came out and why it’s really popular right now.”