Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 166: Third-Rate Sensei, What the H*ll Are You Doing!?

Actually, Chainsaw Man had given off that bizarre vibe from the very beginning.

Something was clearly… not right.

But maybe it was because Third-Rate Sensei’s previous work, Fate/Zero, had been so serious—serious to the point of being a bit overwhelming. Every character had a distinct personality, and no matter who it was, they all shared one trait:

Their motives were logically sound and fully fleshed out.

Even the villain duo, Ryunosuke and the Marshal, though complete scum by any moral standard, weren’t just written off or glossed over. Their behavior and reasoning were all depicted in detail.

Ryunosuke, for instance, ended up a killer because he was obsessed with death—he wanted to observe it, so he started murdering people.

Stripped of moral judgment, this actually gave his killing a weird sort of “performance art” vibe.

And the Marshal followed the same logic.

Neither of them were treated as generic background villains.

These two lunatics, despite their psychotic tendencies, were portrayed with an unnerving clarity and depth. It was the classic “there’s a fine line between genius and madness.” Though they were irredeemable criminals, they had their own twisted logic. They were three-dimensional characters—very much in the same vein as Kotomine Kirei, who found a kindred spirit in the evil of the Grail. Readers might not like those two, but they had to admit—they were seriously written.

So Fate/Zero had left readers with a firm impression: a serious ensemble drama.

Now, when Chainsaw Man first launched, despite its intense absurdity, the narrative technique was mature. The direction still felt like a shounen battle manga—fantasy world, devil hunting, a down-and-out protagonist who meets a mysterious girl…

Sounded like a textbook shounen setup, right?

Granted, Denji didn’t really seem like your typical shounen hero. But Fate/Zero had already proven Third-Rate Sensei could write strong characters. Who knew what kind of twist was coming later?

Right?

Some people figured they’d get to watch a main character who started out driven only by base instincts slowly grow into a responsible leader—maybe even someone who would save HQ in the climax and become the hero. That’s the classic arc of a hot-blooded shounen, no?

Maybe he’d even have a moment of inner turmoil, questioning himself, confronting his own flaws…

Yeah.

Some readers were genuinely looking forward to that.

Because the opening chapters of Chainsaw Man were indeed well-crafted, and the story progressed steadily…

But as the plot kept moving—

A lot of readers started to realize something was off.

When did that shift become obvious?

Starting from Chapter 4…

Denji joins the Tokyo Devil Hunters. Makima introduces him to his new partner, Aki Hayakawa, and the two begin going on missions together.

During one mission, after defeating a devil, Denji becomes distracted by a fallen “uncle” on the ground (well… that's a euphemism), and starts thinking about his dream.

He’s really satisfied with his life now—he can shower daily, the food tastes good, and there’s a beautiful woman nearby…

Nothing to complain about.

But he feels like something’s missing—a goal.

Up to this point, everything followed standard story logic: the protagonist, having achieved basic material comfort, begins evolving on a spiritual level. Next should’ve come the usual themes—protecting others, forging bonds, stuff like that. Cliché, sure, but tropes are tropes for a reason.

So just when readers were bracing themselves for that noble shounen turning point—

The next panel…

Was Makima’s boobs.

There was no grand dream about protecting the innocent or forging unbreakable bonds.

Instead, the protagonist squatted on the floor and earnestly stated a goal that was absurd but… kind of understandable:

"I wanna touch boobs."

What followed was Denji seriously contemplating the validity of this dream.

As you might expect—

Readers' reactions to this chapter were all over the place. Those who had been hoping for classic shounen development—valor, friendship, self-discovery—were left with contorted expressions.

Because Denji, as a character, didn’t have that usual bright spark you find in shounen protagonists. His personality was extremely passive.

He didn’t really have big dreams or ambitions. Most of the time, he was just being dragged along by the story.

But Fujimoto was smart—he used a mature storytelling approach in Part One to conceal how passive Denji actually was.

And since all the characters were new, and the plot was unpredictable, most readers didn’t notice any issues with Denji’s personality.

But when it came to Part Two… that was no longer the case.

Denji’s passive personality started affecting the plot too much, and no amount of clever narration could hide it. That’s part of why many fans felt Part Two didn’t live up to Part One.

Still, Tang Yao was currently adapting Part One.

And Denji’s passivity—this beast-like, primal protagonist—did hit readers with something fresh.

Of course, it also made them laugh out loud.

As readers stared at their screens in utter confusion, the manga updated with Chapters 7 and 8.

…The Bat Devil arc.

Su Deqiang had bookmarked Chainsaw Man the moment it launched, so he read it as soon as the update dropped.

These two chapters were key to establishing Power’s character.

Because her cat had been taken by the Bat Devil, Power promised Denji a feel in exchange for help, then lured him to the Bat Devil’s lair—and betrayed him once they got there, dragging him straight to the monster.

In the previous chapter—

After stabbing Denji in the back, Power had said: “And to think you actually trusted me. Humans really are dumb.”

That line had left Su Deqiang hyped.

He was looking forward to Denji going berserk on her. Or maybe powering up and taking out the Bat Devil.

Some kind of explosive comeback, right?

Sure, yeah, the vibe was weird. The protagonist kept talking about boobs for some reason. The story direction was way off the rails.

But still! Expectations were expectations!

So the moment the new chapters dropped—

Su Deqiang clicked in without hesitation.

Yup.

Tang Yao had increased her update frequency recently, since Li Xue had hired her an assistant. That freed up a lot of her time. And with the FGO crossover coming soon, she wanted to use Chainsaw Man to help cement ANF’s presence among anime and manga fans.

So she’d picked up the pace a bit.

Which was great news for readers—they were loving it.

Su Deqiang was, too.

He sat at his computer, clicked into Chapter 7 full of excitement—and immediately pulled a weird face.

Good news:

There was a power-up moment this week!

Bad news:

The reason behind it… was absolutely insane.

Chapter 7 explained Power’s backstory—why she betrayed Denji over her cat, and why she followed the Bat Devil’s orders.

But when the Bat Devil broke its promise, swallowed the cat in front of her, and then tried to eat her too—

Power froze.

Just before she was grabbed, she turned to Denji and said she finally understood how he must’ve felt when he lost Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil who’d always been by his side.

And the very next second—

She was eaten too.

Denji snapped.

Maybe it was the look in Power’s eyes. Maybe it was her mentioning Pochita that hit him in the feels. Either way, something clicked.

Just before the Bat Devil flew off, Denji—dragging his injured body—leapt at it, bit into its leg to suck its blood and recover, and with a fierce expression shouted:

“Give me my boobs back!”

“……”

Su Deqiang stared at that line.

He remembered Power promising he could cop a feel if he helped her rescue the cat...

And he completely lost it.

“F**ing hll!”

Su Deqiang facepalmed, torn between laughter and frustration. “Seriously, Third-Rate Sensei! What the h*ll are you doing?!”

Get a grip, man!

How obsessed are you with t*ts, anyway?!