Chainsaw Man (Volume 12) – Bird and War

Asa Mitaka’s parents were killed by a devil, so when her class adopts the Chicken Devil as a pet, she almost loses her mind. She’s even more surprised when the class decide to keep Bucky despite him being a devil!

Chainsaw Man (Volume 12) – Bird and War

What happened?

Originally, they were going to slaughter Bucky after three months. It was supposed to be a lesson in life and how precious it is. After the three months were up, no one wanted to kill Bucky. In fact, they had discussed it among themselves and decided to keep Bucky as the class pet indefinitely. Asa was furious. It was a devil. However, the teacher was delighted that they understood the project and that all life was precious, even a devil. The class president tried to help Asa understand, but there was an accident where Asa tripped and fell, crushing the Chicken Devil beneath her body. The class were horrified.

Later, the class president and the teacher visited Asa at home and tried to offer her a way back in. They were going to visit Bucky’s grave together. However, on the way, Asa made them stop at a crossing light even though there was no traffic. Her teacher agreed which seemed to annoy the class president. She turned on Asa, pointing out that she had made an agreement with the Justice Devil because she hated Asa. She hated that the teacher loved Asa despite sleeping with her! She changed and then killed Asa.

However, as Asa died, she saw a strange-looking bird sitting on the crossing lights. It said, “If you want to live, your body will be mine.” Asa couldn’t say anything, but it seemed to understand, taking control of her body and healing her. Then, it grabbed the teacher’s head, turning his spine into a sword with which to fight the Justice Devil. Asa had now agreed to a contract with the War Devil and it wanted to find Chainsaw Man and make him vomit up nuclear weapons. Then, the world would remember!

What did you think?

It’s been over a year since I read the previous volume which was the end of the first main arc of Chainsaw Man. I don’t know if the time away had left me unprepared for this volume, but that first chapter was a massive WTF moment. When Asa (or the War Devil) turned her teacher’s spine into a sword, I was left a little numb. Then, after defeating the Justice Devil and leaving her Teacher’s sword’s hilt in a position where her teacher and the class president appeared to be kissing, I had to take a moment. Like what the hell just happened?

That was quite the reintroduction to the series and honestly, things just got crazier and crazier from there. Eventually, Chainsaw Man showed up when Asa and her new friend were swallowed by the Bat Devil. He was actually in the middle of a fight with the Cockroach Devil but made quick work of the Bat Devil in passing. It’s funny considering the War Devil told Asa that they were no match for the Bat Devil yet, and there was Chainsaw Man casually killing it in the middle of another fight. Still, the War Devil is an absolute psychopath so things are going to get insane.

Then, there was a TV crew reporting on the latest Chainsaw Man fight and interviewing the public for soundbites. Of course, Denji was there ready to tell them how cool he thought Chainsaw Man was. Then, we learned that someone else in Denji and Asa’s school had been assigned to watch over him. He didn’t tell us much, but he could be from the Devil Hunters or something else. Either way, he wants to ensure Denji doesn’t reveal he’s Chainsaw Man which is going to be a problem as Denji believes he will get lots of girls when they do find out… It’s early days in this arc, but I’m not as invested as I was in the last one. Not yet, anyhow!

Volume highlights

Other posts in the series

• Manga
• Anime
• Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man

You might also like…