A Homage to My Hero Academia and Dragon Ball? Chainsaw Man Chapter 221 Review!

In the previous Chainsaw Man chapter, Yoru turns the entire state of Michigan into the Michigan Sword

Chainsaw Man Chapter 221 is titled, “Safe Battle!”

This chapter has 14 pages.

Wait, no Michigan Sword?

The chapter begins on a timeskip.

Yoru has already used up the Michigan Sword and it failed, implying the possibility that other US cities have been sacrified.

But it is easier to assume that Michigan went first and we are now on the second city.

The chapter starts with the buildings merging together to form a weapon, causing the people inside, including a different Fumiko Mifune, to drop into the water.

The entire landmass that was once the city of Oregon has been reduced into a weapon for the War Devil Yoru to wield.

By the way, if you notice, the very first volume of Part 2 shows Yoru looking down, with a camera perspective showing the building tops seemingly swirling, akin to the action of creating a City Sword, so in a way Yoru’s ability to convert cities into weapons has been foreshadowed since the very beginning.

We now see the true form of these “City Swords”, which is the blade formed from the name of the city, with a guard made from the country’s name (USA).

Yoru has asked what did Chainsaw Man eat exactly, which is strange coming from a Horseman who should remember the names of Devils that Pochita has eaten.

Yoru remarks that their battle has no end at this point.

Each time Yoru cuts down Pochita, even in half, Pochita just returns to life and it also applies to Yoru.

Still refusing to stop the battle, Yoru calls for the souls of the people of Oregon to power her attacks, in the form of Oregon Slash.

“City Swords” follow the same principle as the “Gun Goddess”, the Statue of Liberty being converted into a gigantic gun that can fire bullets from as faraway as the distance between New York and Japan.

Essentially, Yoru converts a physical structure or even an entire landmass like a city into a weapon.

In the case of monuments, they are warped and given a flesh form that then wields an actual weapon, showing Yoru’s control over the concept of weaponry, which explains her kinship to the Gun, Tank and Nuclear Weapons Devils, potentially all Weapon Devils except for Chainsaw.

Both do not use the lives of humans in the creation of weapons since Yoru can form basic weapons out of inanimate body parts or objects, such as a motorcycle or soap bars.

Both can only perform attacks by sacrificing a portion of human flesh, such as the trigger fingers of 40,000 members from the Gun Devil contract made by the National Pistol Association of America in Chapter 177: “Trigger Finger”, or in the state of “City Swords”, from the lives of the inhabitants of those states.

This explains why Fumiko sighs because this is not the first time a Fumiko Mifune has been sacrificed for Yoru’s attacks.

When Yoru asks the people of Oregon to lend her their strength, it feels like a homage to Dragon Ball as Goku asks the people of Earth to give them their energy to power up his Spirit Ball against Kid Buu.

Furthermore, the name “Oregon Slash” is clearly a My Hero Academia reference, meaning Fujimoto is channeling some classic shonen energy.

Japan Saw a Grim Reminder

With Pochita bisected again, Yoru sees a chance to obliterate the weakened and regenerating Chainsaw Man, Yoru calls on the power of the people of Virginia, converting citizens enjoying war and a nuclear explosion into the nuclear energy in her fist.

With Yoru’s punches being able to emit nuclear radiation, can Chainsaw Man survive this?

This entire battle feels like a variation of Makima and Special Division 5 (the brainwashed Weapon Hybrids) as we saw in Chapter 88: “Star Chainsaw” how Pochita was flung into space but was still able to survive through a cunning solution: throwing his heart from a vast distance and regenerate from there.

This might be the solution to how Pochita could survive a blast powerful enough to remind some Japanese citizens of the horrors of the atomic bomb.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE ANIME EXPLAINED WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!