Chainsaw Man: Who Is Reze?

The following contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc, Season 1 is available to stream on Prime Video.

Introduced as a major figure in the upcoming Chainsaw Man movie, Reze is the central focus of the Reze Arc from the manga, which sees Denji encounter a mysterious young woman who makes him question where his loyalty truly lies. The recently released teaser trailer for Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc, which premiered at Jump Festa '24, primarily honed in on Reze and her interactions with Denji, offering a significant hint towards the mood of the film as a whole.

For those acquainted with the manga, this arc is a trigger for the events of the rest of Part I of Chainsaw Man, which includes the entirety of the Public Safety Saga. Denji's relationship with Reze is a crucial part of his character development during this section of the story, especially due to the fact that his transformation into a Devil-Human Hybrid left him questioning whether he still truly had a human heart. Later on, this becomes all the more important as Denji grows more wary of those seeking to use him for their own personal gain, which is a recurring theme throughout the remainder of the series.

Who Is Reze?

Denji first encounters Reze while stuck in a phone booth, where he had sought refuge from a bout of rain. At the time, he was strolling through the city, ruminating on his intense infatuation with Makima, which had only deepened following the day they had spent theater hopping together. While he was initially devoted to wooing Makima at any cost, Denji's resolve soon began to falter upon meeting Reze, who engaged with him in ways that Makima never really did.

After remarking that Denji resembled her recently deceased dog, Reze accepted a flower that Denji had picked up earlier in the day. She went on to invite him to check out the nearby cafe that she worked at — called Crossroads — promising him a treat if he actually came by. Once the weather cleared up, the pair parted ways, or so it seemed. Interestingly, Denji showed up at the cafe even before Reze, much to her surprise.

Having rationalized his behavior as a case of his body acting against the wishes of his mind, Denji began to entertain Reze's flirtatious advances, which left him confused about his feelings for Makima. Even after their first meeting, Denji continued to frequent the cafe for an entire week, and he began to grow closer to Reze, with the pair bonding over their shared lack of a formal education. This prompted Reze to invite Denji to explore a local school later at night, which he accepts while feigning some degree of reluctance to soothe his conscience.

A Sinister Plot Unravels

When Reze and Denji break into the school, the former attempts to teach Denji to swim, by tempting him to go skinny-dipping with her in the school's swimming pool. This excursion to the school is one of the turning points of the Reze Arc, as the pair are trapped inside the confines of the campus by a storm, which provides cover for an assassin sent by the Typhoon Devil, to intervene.

Most anime-only fans of the series would not yet know the more commonly used name for the Reze Arc from the manga — the Bomb Girl Arc — which would betray the plot twist that kicks the action into high gear. While the arc does start off on a very lighthearted note, especially in Denji's interactions with Reze, it soon gives way to a much darker narrative direction, with the introduction of Reze's true form — that of a Human-Devil Hybrid who possesses the power of the Bomb Devil, an ally of the Gun Devil.

Reze's character design is made to be quite appealing from the outset, as a vivacious young woman with purple hair and bright emerald green eyes, that shine through the otherwise muted color palate of the series as a whole. She also wears a choker bearing a pin, which is one of the best aspects of her design, as it is the means by which she accesses her Hybrid form.

On pulling the pin, Reze's head detonates in a fiery explosion, turning it into a weapon resembling the Fat Man atomic bomb. Her arms are covered in bomb fuses while she dons an apron made of dynamite, in her Hybrid Form. With this, Reze can trigger explosions of varying scale at short and mid-range, without causing any damage to herself.

Harnessing A Devil's True Power

Beyond her role as a romantic interest for Denji, who makes him realize that he is still a human capable of experiencing real emotions, Reze is also an intriguing parallel to his character. Reze was a much more experienced fighter who had a good grasp of how to use her abilities in battle, which was something that Denji was struggling with at the time. Her battle with Denji is a high point in the series, as it was one of the first instances where the latter was forced to realize his limits and learn how to harness his abilities as Chainsaw Man.

Much like Denji, Reze did not enjoy a normal childhood, as she was trained by the Soviet Union to become a soldier from a young age, where she was subjected to harsh treatment and experimentation, which culminated in her becoming a Hybrid. She also never got to experience the privilege of attending school, just like Denji. A recurring thread throughout the arc is Aesop's Fable about "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse," with Reze having asked Denji which lifestyle he preferred between them. While he saw the existence of the town mouse as superior, Reze dreamed of a quiet life which mirrored the one enjoyed by the country mouse.

This fuels her hesitation to kill him throughout the arc, despite how she manipulates Denji into situations where she could have easily taken his life. It is easy to recognize that she sees a kindred spirit in him, and even changed her mind to choose to run away with him at the conclusion of the arc. At the end, Reze's choice to change her own mind and follow the town mouse in Denji is perhaps the best example of her character development, as someone trying to escape the harsh hand they were dealt early on in life. In turn, Denji's longing for Reze gave him the proof he needed of the fact that he was still human at heart.