Tatsuki Fujimoto’s latest manga, “Chainsaw Man,” rips its way into theaters with the series’ most recent adaption, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” that will leave viewers shattered. Fujimoto, alongside director Tatsuya Yoshihara (“Jujutsu Kaisen 0”) and screenwriter Hiroshi Seko (“Attack on Titan”), works with MAPPA animation studios to deliver an absolutely stunning array of chaos and heartbreak.

The film serves as a direct sequel to the first season of the TV series, “Chainsaw Man.” It shows Denji, voiced by Kikunosuke Toya (“The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity”) in Japanese and Ryan Colt Levy (“My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission”) in English. Denji is a young boy navigating his way through love, blood and debris after meeting Reze, voiced by Reina Ueda (“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle”) in Japanese and Alexis Tipton (“To Be Hero X”) in English.

The first half of the movie serves as a slow-burn, slice of life that at first feels sluggish but acts as the perfect appetizer for the film’s second half. Fujimoto does a great job of building up Denji and Reze’s relationship, perfecting their dynamic to make watchers care about what happens between the two.

In terms of character, Reze is one of, if not the most influential person Denji has met in the series thus far. Denji has gone his whole life knowing only loneliness and misery up until this point and Reze is his first ever organic experience of feeling wanted. The same could be said for how influential Denji is for Reze, because he is one of the few people that she is able to see herself in. This becomes important as it affects their actions later on in the film, leading up to their last interaction when the end of movie comes around and fans experience the plummet of emotion that is Denji and Reze’s goodbye.

MAPPA’s animations are, as always, visual masterpieces and animators delivered this movie to “Chainsaw Man” lovers wrapped in a big red bow. The characters’ movements are smooth, the color-grading is phenomenal and MAPPA’s mix of different animation styles blend surprisingly well, offering a unique visual display that is not seen from many other animation studios. During the fight with the Typhoon Devil in the second half of the film, some scenes do start to feel muddy. The mix of rapid character movements and Denji being forcefully thrown into a rapidly chaotic environment cause the scene to be hard to follow visually.

The movie’s second biggest strength is the music. Japanese composer Kensuke Ushio, best known for his musical work in Netflix’s original series “Devilman Crybaby,” offers both an adrenaline pumping and gut-wrenching soundtrack. Audiences feel the intense range of emotions and actions not only through the visuals, but through the instrumentals. Some of the most notable pieces include titles such as “eye of the typhoon,” “in the pool” and “in the sea.”

“Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” acts as the perfect segue to a possible second season of the TV series, though it has not been confirmed when, or even if, there will be a season two. It is a beautifully executed film, and fans of the “Chainsaw Man” series are highly encouraged to watch it if they have not already.