Television series
Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man is a shonen anime that seems to have forgotten it's supposed to behave — gorgeous ultraviolence, jarring slapstick, and sudden tenderness crash into each other scene by scene. Denji's simple dream of bread with jam and a girlfriend collides with a job that means sawing devils in half for cash. MAPPA's animation is cinema-grade, the soundtrack hits like a gut punch, and the tone lurches between horror and comedy without warning. Best for viewers who want their action funny, filthy, and unexpectedly heartbreaking.
If you liked this
Jujutsu Kaisen2020
MAPPA's other juggernaut pairs the same electric, cinematic action with a hero who's just as scrappy and human, cursed spirits standing in for devils and a body count that rarely lets up.
But The plot gets structurally dense fast, with power-system lore that rewards patience more than Chainsaw Man ever demands.

Attack on Titan2013
Same lineage of disposable heroes and grinding horror in a world that keeps revealing it's crueler than you thought — swap devils for titans and teenage rage for military despair.
But It's a longer, more mythology-heavy commitment, and later seasons trade gore-comedy for grim political tragedy.

Devilman Crybaby2018
From the same demon-horror DNA, this is uglier, sadder, and even more emotionally reckless — a short, blistering series about love curdling into apocalypse.
But It's bleaker with almost no comic relief to cushion the descent, and the ending offers zero mercy.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man1989
Chainsaw Man's premise — an ordinary body invaded by something mechanical and monstrous, powering wildly out of control — is Tetsuo's whole engine, done in grainy 16mm decades before anime caught up to the idea.
A man's body starts fusing with scrap metal in this feral, black-and-white Japanese cult film — pure practical-effects body horror shot like a fever dream, decades before CGI made this stuff easy.
But There's barely a coherent plot, the industrial noise score is deliberately abrasive, and the runtime feels like an assault by design.

More like this (8)
Tokyo Ghoul2014
A quieter, more melancholic cousin — an ordinary boy transformed into a monster, torn between hunger and humanity, with body horror that lingers instead of exploding.
But The anime trims the manga's best material and the pacing stumbles in later seasons, losing some bite.

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu2014no page yet
Another human fused with something inhuman and lethal, asking what's left of a person once a monster starts living in their body — thoughtful, gory, and surprisingly tender.
But It's slower and more philosophical, with fewer jokes and less swagger than Chainsaw Man's chaos.
Demon Slayer2019
If you want the visual spectacle without quite so much nihilism, this delivers gorgeous, kinetic animation and demons with genuinely tragic backstories.
But It's sincerer and softer at heart — less interested in irony, more in earnest heroism and family bonds.

Hell's Paradise2023no page yet
Feudal-era condemned prisoners hunting for an elixir on a monster-infested island — brutal, beautifully animated, and unafraid to kill off characters you like.
But The world-building takes longer to click, and the humour is drier, less absurd than Chainsaw Man's.
Mob Psycho 1002016
Same electric house style from a different studio, turned toward a gentler story about a boy suppressing terrifying power just to be normal — funny, weird, and unexpectedly moving.
But Far less violent and far more wholesome — if you came purely for gore, this will feel like a detour.

Vinland Saga2019
Trade devils for Vikings: a boy raised on revenge and violence slowly realizing the cost of the life he's been sold, with animation just as visceral.
But It's a much slower burn, more historical drama than horror-comedy, and asks a patience Chainsaw Man never does.

Parasite2019
Denji kills devils because poverty leaves him no other way to survive; Parasite runs the same desperate arithmetic without the supernatural cover story, using the same sudden tonal whiplash to make that desperation land.
A Korean thriller about a poor family infiltrating a rich one, swinging from comedy to horror to tragedy so fast it leaves you disoriented — and it completely earns its Best Picture Oscar.
But Zero devils, zero chainsaws — this is grounded, slow-building class drama with its violence saved for a gut-punch final act.

Nobody Knows2004
Strip away the devils and the chainsaws and Chainsaw Man is a story about a kid who just wants bread with jam and someone to love him, used by adults who see him as useful rather than human — Nobody Knows tells that same story straight, with no genre to hide behind.
Kore-eda's quietly devastating drama follows four siblings abandoned by their mother, trying to build something like a normal, happy life entirely on their own.
But It's slow, sad, and almost entirely without spectacle — the opposite of an action series in every way.

People
Cast
Directing
- Masato NakazonoAssistant Director
Production
- Akifumi FujioExecutive Producer
- Ayumi TakaishiProducer
- Heri ChonProducer
- Manabu ÔtsukaProducer
- Masato NakazonoProducer
- Shinya ShinozakiProducer
- Takao ShimazakiProducer
- Yûsuke NakaiProducer
Recommended by
Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Tokyo Ghoul, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, Devilman Crybaby