Chainsaw Man: Denji’s Dream Is Officially Making Him A Villain

Chainsaw Man chapter 112 makes Denji look villainous based on how he’s pursuing his dream, which says a lot after looking at his past behavior.

Warning: Spoilers for Chainsaw Man chapter 112Denji’s pursuit of money in Chainsaw Man was once portrayed as a mostly innocent, but recent chapters of the hit manga seemingly turn this need into something far more sinister.

Ironically, Denji’s desire to have a girlfriend has led to Chainsaw Man’s hero exhibiting some morally questionable behavior already. Denji has straight-up only rescued hot girls before and completely ignored everyone else even when their lives were in jeopardy. In fact, he recently chose to save a cat instead of the two options that were given to him: a male student with a bright future or a car full of grannies.

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But chapter 112 of Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto shows Denji resorting to some pretty deplorable pastimes even in comparison to some of the aforementioned examples. Because part-time jobs are apparently against some rules he’s subjected to follow, Denji is ripping off homeless people by having them buy cigarettes from him that he’s advertising as new when he’s actually been collecting old butts off the ground and rolling them to look as though he just bought them from a store.

How this compares to what Denji has done before in Chainsaw Man

This distasteful pastime is obviously in pursuit of another aspect of Denji’s overall goals in Chainsaw Man which involves eating well and sleeping in an actual bed. It’s clear that ever since tangling with Makima, Denji’s no longer making the big bucks like he once was as evidenced by Yoshida revealing that Denji is no longer getting paid to hunt devils. Denji has also stated that he’s completely broke and went to town on some food that Yoshida ordered for him back in chapter 103, implying that he hasn’t eaten well in some time. It’s also fair to point out that his housing arrangements haven’t been fully divulged yet since all that has been seen of his home life is a small panel that only showed him, Makima’s dogs, as well as what is assumed to be Nayuta sleeping. It’s very likely that he’s living in some rundown shack like he was before at the start of the series. The only reason why his decision to cheat homeless people would be somewhat acceptable would be if Nayuta is starving or if they’re homeless. The latter at least is unlikely, and he’s clearly doing much better than the homeless man he hustles in chapter 112.

Yes, Denji only saving girls (and ignoring everyone else) in pursuit of his dream isn’t the noblest of decisions, but there has always been something innocent in these questionable actions and even adorable, especially when he saved that cat. But there’s nothing warm and fuzzy about ripping off homeless people. That’s just straight up evil. In fact, Chainsaw Man shows Denji’s despicable behavior from the point of view of part two’s new hero Asa Mitaka and the War Devil, shaming him for his actions. Even though Mitaka concludes that what Denji is doing doesn’t justify killing him, she decides to take the first step towards ending his life. And, really, is that such a bad thing? Denji was once essentially homeless himself in Chainsaw Man, and yet he’s still able to treat those who are now like trash.

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Chainsaw Man is now available on Viz.com and is now streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu!