Does Yoru Love Denji? Chainsaw Man Chapter 181 Review!

In the previous Chainsaw Man chapter, the Aging Devil sends Yoru and Pochita, who turns back to Denji, into its own dimension where no one ages.

We now learn more of its damning effects.

Chapter 181 is titled, “Trees on the Mind”

We cut to Yoru walking around the forest, still anxious about returning to the real world.

Thinking this is the same situation as the Eternity Devil, Yoru attempts to convert the entire space into a weapon.

Yoru notices that she is unable to use her powers to turn anything, from the space itself to twigs, into a weapon.

Frustrated that Devil powers do not work here, Yoru taps her head on a tree.

Yoru tapping her head on the tree resembles Yoshida’s action in the Volume 17 illustration, signifying Yoshida’s origin point and confirming the plausibility of Yoshida as an Aging dimension resident.

However, this action awakens one of the residents.

The man from last chapter reveals that every single tree in this forest was a person who ended up in the dimension.

In the previous chapter, the man mistakes Asa for a woman named Ritsuko but when Yoru assumes control of Asa, the man calls her Sanae.

Could it be that the man’s mind is still mush like everyone in this dimension or can he tell the difference between the two beings?

The explanation does fit the theme of the Aging Devil.

Trees are creations that age slowly and the people who reside in this dimension for 1,000 years

This means that the dimension still follows the flow of time but cancels out aging and to ensure the longevity of its residents, they become one of the many trees in the area.

However, trees are not immortal. Since the dimension follows the flow of time, trees also age and decompose, with the human-tree returning to the soil and back to one’s body in the real world.

So, in a sense, the Aging Dimension does not follow the real world’s flow of time but its own.

Could it mean that they can actually wait out a thousand years, then live another thousand or so years and return to the present without their own bodies decomposing?

That could be a solution but the whole idea of the Aging Dimension is that the price of losing the experience of aging is an eternity of suffering, which ties to the nature of the Aging Devil as a Primal Devil.

The fear of aging makes people make deals with the Devil, restoring their youth and vitality.

However, the Aging Devil actually steals lives since it does not care for what people do with their time in the same way we people take time for granted.

It is almost karmic justice in a way since those who pursue the Aging Devil’s power pay the price by spending an eternity in an empty dimension that slows down the aging process.

This is what the Aging Devil by “have them grow up”

They would spend 2,000 years or more aging and experiencing time at a super-slow pace and then come out as wiser beings, which fits with the stereotype of aging or, in a sadistic way, to compel Chainsaw Man to want to eat the Aging Devil and for Yoru to leave them be.

When the man mentions this way out, you might be thinking if this is how the escapee left.

Except that the man did say that the escapee left this world 82 years ago?

The man seems to be offering a solution, a loophole of the system, but this might not be how the escapee left.

Devil powers do not work in this dimension and not everyone has the patience to become a tree for many centuries since it costs one their sanity.

If Yoshida was the escapee, there might be a way for him to help out if he does pop up in the coming chapters.

Yoru is angered at Denji, since this would not have happened if the Aging Devil was not targeting Denji, albeit for the opposite reason most Devils want Denji for.

Suddenly, Denji awakens and cries, apologizing for being trouble and viewing this situation as punishment for being a “horny empty-headed idiot”, desiring to become a tree.

It seems the Aging Devil’s plan actually worked.

It seems even Yoru feels bad about Denji as he is still apologizing to her even after being hit and in her intense emotion, she kisses Denji for the first time without apparent ill intent.

This is quite a character arc because the War Devil’s powers work by gaining more power from objects and people that the user holds feelings of affection or guilt for.

This is why Yoru’s Tank and Gun gauntlets are immensely powerful, being able to manipulate the Statue of Liberty as the Gun Goddess.

The Tank and Gun Devils are her children by bond and it seems that Yoru, not just Asa, shows affection for Denji.

On the one hand, this could be what Yoru desired to finally gain control over Chainsaw Man but then again Devil powers do not work here.

The War Devil and Chainsaw Man are now humans.

On the other hand, this creates a conflict, where the War Devil might change her ways.

Throughout the current arc, Yoru’s views of the world have been somewhat challenged as even she reflected on her role as a parent to the Tank and Gun devils and later in Chapter 179, Yoru is saddened by Asa’s fear of her.

The two were in one body, sharing sentiments, and while one could argue that Asa’s love for Denji has some way here, it is possible that Yoru’s humanity is showing through this shared moment of vulnerability because of how Denji has opened up.

Denji, a traumatized victim of circumstance, sees himself as a sinner for wasting his life, the time given, as the Aging Devil punishes him for.

Yoru, a timeless devil who has seen millennia of war, is slowly feeling the weight of the human emotions she once manipulated or saw as fleeting.

Both of them are actually “growing up” in the Aging World.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 182 will be released on November 5, 2024.

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