“Am I missing something?”: Denji and the Pursuit of the Good Life in Chainsaw Man (2022)

Berlant’s 2011 book Cruel Optimism defines the concept of cruel optimism as “when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing. It might involve food, or a kind of love; it might be a fantasy of the good life,” (2011, p.1). It is the relationship between the desired object and yourself that is cruel, rather than the object itself. In the 2022 anime series Chainsaw Man , the protagonist, Denji, is motivated by this “fantasy of the good life”. The world of Chainsaw Man is one of magical realism, set in an alternate version of 1990s Japan. Denji’s fantasy of the good life therefore differs from what might be considered the norm for Berlant’s American-Eurocentric work. He desires the young, Japanese male idea of the good life, a desire that is manipulated throughout the show. In the very first episode, he is brought back to life by his Chainsaw Devil pet/friend Pochita in return for living a normal life. However, through the very act of reanimating his corpse and replacing his heart with himself, Pochita has created an obstacle to the possibility of Denji ever having a completely normal life. In this way, the entire premise of Chainsaw Man is built on a promise of cruel optimism. This is furthered when Denji meets Makima, his eventual boss, who begins to manipulate Denji’s desire to fit her own agenda. Denji’s motivation for a so-called normal life is so strong that he often does not think his actions through, actively hurting himself to complete them and help others instead of himself. Denji, who has been led through his life by promises that end up hurting him, would rather take solace in the cruel optimism of the relationship between himself and Makima, than attempt to face the depressing reality of his life.

Part of Berlant’s Cruel Optimism is concerned with the idea of “the good life”, they describe the concept of cruel optimism as an analytic lever, saying that “It is an incitement to inhabit and to track the affective attachment to what we call “the good life”, which is for so many a bad life that wears out the subjects” (2011, p.27). Denji’s ultimate goal throughout his life has been to obtain this “good life”. To attempt this he puts himself in harm's way, hunting Devils and selling his own body parts so that he can continue living. This constant “incitement” causes Denji to be dying of heart disease by the age of 16. The strive for the “good life” has worn him down completely. Denji survives in the show as a hybrid devil-human, due to Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil, making a deal with him. At the point he is at in his life before Pochita and he merge, he can no longer envision this “normal life” for himself, imagining himself as dead is easier and more realistic for him. He even says, “Normal’s just a dream for us, though.” (Nakayama, 2022, 6:14). He knows that even in his ideal dream world, it will remain just that, a dream. In Japan, this dream life for young Japanese men depends on “whether they were able to feel like valuable and accepted members of society” (Homerich, 2017, p.86). This corresponds with Denji’s wish for normality, one he heavily associates with companionship, he wishes to be an accepted member of society. Berlant focuses on US and European perspectives in their book, but Japanese attitudes to this good life remain largely the same, with a strong attachment to achieving it and a lack of actually doing so. In Japan, the general feeling has been described as an “affective malaise” and “a sense that time has stopped, growth is stagnated, hope no longer exists, and … traces of the reproductive futurism of the past are preserved, kindling a desire for an “ordinary life” that frustrates, and excludes, an increasing many” (Allison, 2012, p.367). Denji is a prime example of this, a young Japanese boy, already in the workforce, but unable to see any hope for an “ordinary life” for himself. It is only after his effective death and rebirth, merged with his only friend and pet devil, Pochita, that he starts to believe in this idea of the “good life” again. He is trapped in a cycle of apathy before this point and when he breaks free from that, he ignores all the warning signs and starts working towards what he deems a “normal life” again. Before long, despite his quality of life vastly improving, Denji begins to feel this apathy again. In the second episode he talks to himself (and the imagined presence of Pochita) after completing a job:

I’m already living the dream, just like our bargain said. … I get to bathe every day, eat good food… Get to hang around a hot chic. My life’s a 10 outta 10, but it feels like something’s missing. Am I missing something? Something that’d give me a real perfect score? (Nakazono, 2022, 17:28)

Denji can never find satisfaction because he finds himself always striving for something more. His idea of “missing something” is caused by his impasse. Berlant defines “An impasse [as] a holding station … it marks a delay that demands activity.” (2011, p.199). Denji has made it to the top of what he thought was possible and now finds himself at another cycle of apathy. Berlant speaks of a “delay that demands activity” but Denji could well go back to how he was living before, in a cycle. He does not and instead creates a new goal for himself, delaying the impasse until that goal is completed.

When Denji begins to enter another impasse, he immediately recognises this and begins instead to form a new goal for himself to reach. As he triumphantly exclaims to himself near the end of episode two, “My goal! It’s boobs!” (Nakazono, 2022, 18:46). This could be seen as a childish, or a sexually perverse goal, but in Denji’s mind it is a step closer to the “normal life” he craves. In her book, Virginity Lost , Carpenter describes virginity as a stigma, and that “Attributes become stigmas through a social process whereby some individuals are labeled—or set apart from “normal” people—in a way that leads to loss of status and discrimination.” (2005, p.102). Though this book is written from an American perspective on virginity, the audience can still see these ideas reflected in Denji’s desire to lose his virginity. He possesses a lack of shame in stating this goal, but due to other characters' reactions, the audience can take this to be a reflection of Denji’s bluntness and lack of social awareness, rather than the society he is in having a more relaxed stigma around virgins. Denji more than anything else, wants to be “normal”. What Denji defines as “normal life” could differ from others perspectives however. Now that he and Pochita have merged into one being, he still sees his life as the ideal “normal life” he dreamt of. This is despite multiple characters describing him as an abnormal creation. To Denji, a “normal life” is “the good life”. What Denji understands more than anyone else in the show is “That “normal” can be understood as a vantage point” (Titchkosky, 2015, p.131). To fit the norm is to no longer be stigmatized and this is what Denji craves. It is the same reason for his craving of sex. What he really wants is both companionship and intimacy, something he believes he can achieve if he reaches the vantage point of a “normal” person. It is just that Denji’s definition of what is considered “normal” differs from those he wants to reach.

Berlant writes “Achieving conventionality … is not the same as achieving security.” (2011, p.126) in Cruel Optimism . For Denji, he sees his health and wellbeing as second to his acceptance in society. Denji believes that by achieving social goals like losing his virginity, he can be one step closer to “normal” and achieving true intimacy and acceptance, the relationship he has towards these goals is manipulated into the cruel optimism seen throughout the show. This manipulation is chiefly carried out by Makima, his boss, but in a moment of manipulation, Power tells Denji that if he saves her cat, he can touch her breasts. He does so, and Power follows through on her promise, although she initially never meant to keep it. After this experience, strangely clinical and perfunctory, Denji remarks internally, “That’s it?” (Takada, 2022, 1:40). It is a different impasse he finds himself at after this experience than his rebirth. While that time the satisfaction quickly left, this time a goal reached had not been satisfying at all. Berlant’s “delay that demands activity” arises again when Denji spends the following day in a haze, not reacting to anyone. Instead of immediately jumping into another goal to see if that will satisfy him though, Denji self reflects:

There's something I was chasing after, and I finally managed to get it. But once I did, it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. Now I'm wondering, if I go after something else, and get my hands on it, am I just gonna think I was happier during the chase? (Takada, 2022, 4:18)

This could be a moment of change for Denji, who has never realised this “chase” into words before. Instead of attempting to reach unobtainable goals in ways that hurt him in pursuit of happiness and “the good life”, he could learn how to live in the impasse. He could learn to not give in to the “demand for activity” and enjoy his present life and relationships. Unfortunately, he takes this self reflection to Makima. Makima directly manipulates his relationship to his desired objects into cruelty. She manipulates his desire for her own gain and therefore must suppress this moment of clarity and self awareness that Denji feels, with a promise of more at the cost of an impossible task: “And if you're able to kill the Gun Devil, I'll make any wish of yours come true.” (Takada, 2022, 7:38). In many ways, this agreement with Makima is more of a ‘devils’ bargain than the one Denji has with Pochita. The promise itself is cruel, Makima knows that this task is one that will inevitably hurt Denji and so distracts him with a reward set by his imagination.

From the moment Makima meets Denji, at the end of episode one, she begins to manipulate not only his desire for social stability but also his needs. She offers him a choice: “I can kill you like a devil, or I can keep you as a human. If I keep you, I’ll make sure you’re fed.” (Nakayama, 2022, 23:07). She treats him less as a human and more as a pet or a tool, saying that she will “keep” him. A fact that is reflected in Denji’s ability to become part chainsaw, a literal manifestation of a tool used by others. The magic realist elements here work to emphasise these ideas of usage as a tool. Although Denji feels an immediate attraction to Makima, she sees him only as far as how she can use him to further her own goals. It is not Denji’s sexual attraction to Makima that is cruel or wrong but her reaction to that attraction. She not only threatens him with death in her offer to “keep” him but later pushes more expectations on him so that he can continue to enjoy the life he is living. It is a precarious position he finds himself in, with his “good life” being conditional on him being of use to Makima. She not only exploits this desire, but his desire towards her too, “If you do a good job, we can work together some day.” (Nakazono, 2022, 7:56). This is a promise with no boundaries stating what a “good job” looks like to Makima and what goal he has to reach to get to the point where he can get his desire to work alongside her. In Japan there is a lot of intersectionality between sexuality and work. Endo in “Singlehood in ‘precarious Japan’”, describes “the newly emergent ‘herbivore’ masculinity as an oppositional form to the previously hegemonic ‘salaryman’ masculinity” (2018, p.175). Herbivore ( sōshoku ) is the Japanese term for a man who does not go after women and is less “hungry for monetary pursuits” (Endo, 2018, p.174). This is in direct opposition to one who is more carnivorous, the salaryman, who dominates not only the dating scene but the business world too. The salaryman is seen as a more desired figure within Japanese culture, and Denji reflects this in rejoicing at having a real job because he now has a way in with girls. Not only with his female boss, but any girl will now find him more desirable because of his job. In his desire for the object of job stability as part of his “normal life”, Denji does not see the harm he is causing himself by continuing to work for Makima. Makima manipulates this biological attraction to her, but also other biological needs. When she offers to “keep him fed”, this is not an object of desire so much as it is a biological impulse that she is manipulating. He cannot help his biology. In his need for sustenance she places an expectation of working for it, and that she is the one who is keeping him fed. Placing the idea in Denji’s head that she is the one responsible for “the good life” he is living. Berlant's ideas here are lacking in discussing manipulation of needs as well as desire, but Chainsaw Man offers the idea that a biological need can be manipulated as much as desire can.

Berlant speaks about the character of Rosetta in the film Rosetta (1999) in their book, an immigrant who gets a job after great difficulty. They speak about this job as something that “makes possible imagining living the proper life that capitalism offers as a route to the good life.” (2011, p.164). While Denji is not moving countries he does move from rural Japan to inner city Tokyo with the new job Makima has given him. Rather than him seeing this as a route to the good life, he sees it as the good life itself. Capitalism and the job he has, has allowed him to live, eat and bathe whenever he wants. In Japan, “For an increasing share of young men … they cannot live up to what is still considered a “normal life course” and their responsibility to provide for a family” (Homerich, 2017, p.86). What Homerich here mentions is that the “normal life course” for young Japanese men involves providing for a family, and how it is increasingly hard to do so. When Denji finds himself in a position to provide for himself, he would not turn away from such an opportunity in the culture he lives in. A job for both Berlant and Homerich is then seen as a vehicle to a “normal life” that Denji cannot let go of, despite the hurt.

In conclusion, capitalism and control in the form of Makima pushes Denji into work and an active worsening of the good life he craves, so that Denji can be used as a tool to further her own agenda. By creating an imaginary promise and object for Denji to strive towards, the intangible “good life” and the promise of “any wish … come true”, Makima creates a cruel reality Denji lives in. Apart from a moment of clarity from an outside party in Power, he cannot see what this is doing to him. While Berlant’s Cruel Optimism helps to understand what is being done to Denji, further exploration into Japanese culture is needed to understand what Denji sees as “the good life” for himself, as that will always differ culturally. It is also culturally important to know why Denji would continue to work despite the injuries he sustains throughout the series in pursuit of his goals. Berlant also offers little insight into the intersectionality of the cruel relationship and physical needs being withheld. Though they talk about food in excess, they do not talk about withholding food from someone starving and the impact of that relationship on top of desire. It is not only living “the good life” that motivates Denji throughout the show, but staying alive.

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