Part 2: Academy Saga



Part 2 of Chainsaw Man, subtitled Academy Saga, is preceded by Public Safety Saga. Asa Mitaka and Yoru are the protagonists and Kiga is the main antagonist. The Chainsaw Man Church is this part's villainous faction.

This part introduces the second Horseman of the Apocalypse, Yoru, the War Devil, and follows Asa Mitaka and her relationship with the War Devil whose ultimate goal is to create an army of human weapons and wage war with Chainsaw Man. In order to find him, they must get closer to him at school.

It is the ongoing most recent part of the Chainsaw Man series that began serialization on July 13, 2022, on the Shonen Jump+ app. It was announced following the end of Part 1 in December 2020.

Part 2 is set to receive an official English release in October 2023.

VIZ Media
''Return to the world of Chainsaw Man and meet awkward high school student Asa Mitaka. She may have trouble getting along with her fellow students and the class pet devil chicken, but Asa has something special going for her. And it may lead her right to Chainsaw Man!''

Justice Devil Arc
After becoming the host of Yoru, the War Devil, the highschool student Asa Mitaka will have to help her take revenge on Chainsaw Man. In doing so, she will have to face two students who have made a contract with the Justice Devil.

Infinite Aquarium Arc
After the chaos that occurred at Fourth East School, Asa Mikata is formally introduced to members of the Devil Hunter Club top brass, including Seigi Akoku, who lost his eye whilst trying to fight against Yuko, the club president Haruka Iseumi, as well as the mysterious hunter who resurrected Yuko. Yoru takes over and asks Haruka if the rumors of the Chainsaw Devil being a member of the Hunter Club are true, to which he confirms by showing her a ripcord sticking out of his chest, in a similar way to Denji's. Now knowing their supposed target, Yoru tells Asa that in order to defeat him, she needs another strong weapon similar to her uniform sword, meaning she needs to sacrifice something she has an attachment to. After some thought, she decides to sacrifice a human who doesn't contribute to society, and upon noticing Denji and his self-centered antics, she settles on him.

Approaching Denji, she asks him out on a date, to which he accepts, however when the time for the date comes, it's an utter disaster for Asa; Denji is bored to death by her endless facts and just wants to see the penguins, eventually walking off without her. To make matters worse, the mysterious hunter reappears and reveals herself as the Famine Devil to Asa, saying that she and Denji will be trapped until she can turn him into a weapon. Denji returns and reveals that he believes the Eternity Devil has returned to trap them inside. As the two walks, they run into a group consisting of Haruka, Seigi, and an unnamed student, with Yoshida joining up with them immediately afterward. The group finds a staff lounge with plenty of water and food for supplies, though Asa's efforts to assist are unfruitful, as she ends up breaking her cell phone by accident, keeping the disappointed group isolated from the rest of the world.

Back in the hallway, Haruka reveals to Asa that he is not Chainsaw Man but a super-fan of his. Denji and Yoshida talk, and seeing no options left for them, Yoshida asks if Denji could eat the Death Devil. Denji finds Asa, who has retreated to a starfish tank and says she is hungry. Asa apologizes to Denji, who ignores her rambling and helps her to eat some starfish. Denji finds Asa's reactions amusing, which cheers her up. Asa then gets the idea to collect money throughout the aquarium with Denji, and they amass over a million yen. Using the money, Asa "buys" the aquarium, and using her guilt over ruining it, creates a powerful spear that defeats the Eternity Devil in one blow.

Afterward, Denji walks Asa home, where he says he enjoyed their date, and invites her to a second one, to which Asa agrees. Yoru notices that Asa has developed feelings for Denji and takes the opportunity to turn him into a weapon. However, the attempt fails, leading the two to believe he does not reciprocate. The next day after school, Denji proposes to go to a theatre for a movie marathon, but after some discussion with Asa, they agree to go to his house to watch the movies on his VHS. Denji warns Asa about the house rules he shares with his little sister Nayuta, one of which includes not kissing him. Yoru ignores this rule as she takes over Asa's body and kisses him, once again attempting to turn him into a weapon. They get interrupted by Nayuta, who appears and uses her Control Devil abilities to make Yoru act like a dog. Nayuta agrees to turn "Asa" back only if Denji stops hanging out with her, wary of Yoru. Denji complies, and Nayuta erases Asa and Yoru's memories before sending them back to the school, making them believe he stood them up. Asa is then approached by Yoshida, who asks if she can keep him company for a bit.

Yoshida takes Asa to the Devil Hunter's Club council room for some coffee. There he reveals that he and Asa share a lot in common. Asa excitedly believes he's about to confess his feelings for her but he quickly shuts that down and instead orders her to cease all contact with Denji and leaves after refusing to elaborate. Meanwhile Nayuta has picked up the most putrid scent of a devil she's ever smelt. Denji's lethargic after Nayuta forebode him from dating Asa and doesn't want to fight. However Nayuta is determined to see him fight and manages to convince him.

Falling Devil Arc
Asa walks home feeling sad and depressed over being rejected twice in a single day, but also unbeknownst to her she's already affected by the Falling Devil's ability. She goes on a self-deprecating rant while Yoru tries to half-heartedly comfort her without avail. Approaching her apartment complex, a middle-aged man falls to his death besides her. Yoru quickly takes over, demanding Asa stays back, as she looks up to see every occupant of the complex outside their doors, staring directly down at them.

Meanwhile Yoshida has met up with Fami in a restaurant. After being briefly taken aback by Fami's extraordinarily large order, Yoshida comments on Fami's low-effort choice for an alias before questioning her on her ties to the prophecy of Nostradamus. Albeit unenthusiastically Femi does reveal to Yoshida the name of the primal fear which just arrived on earth. We cut back to Yoru who witnesses dozens of people falling to their deaths before her, with their corpses merging together into one entity. She initially takes a stance but decides to flee instead after realizing the overwhelming power of the devil before her.

The Falling Devil reveals her name, while Yoru tries run away and wake up an unresponsive Asa. In Asa's mind she's currently going through one of her traumatic memories where the orphanage lady kills her pet cat Crambon out of jealousy. The fear of this memory causes Asa to forcibly retake control from Yoru. She begins falling into the sky but manages to grab onto a nearby railing though she loses her grip shortly after. Yoru instructs Asa to create a knife out of her fingernail which she does. The pain makes Asa lose focus of her fear and let's Yoru take back control. She falls back to the ground as the gravity manipulation does not affect her.

Yoru notices Asa's having a flashback again, so she promptly cuts her hand, believing it'll keep Asa from getting scared. Much to Yoru's surprise, this has the opposite effect, and Asa becomes afraid of Yoru instead. Before she loses control, she dashes under a building so as to not fall into Hell when the gravity reverses on Asa. The two then argue, with Yoru being frustrated at Asa for not trusting her, while Asa retorts that she has no reason to. Asa proceeds to have a mental breakdown in front of the speechless Yoru.

Meanwhile, the Falling Devil has killed multiple devil hunters. She keeps one alive, however, and serves him as a dish to the Hell devils. Next, she announces it's almost time for the "main dish," which will consist of Asa & Yoru. She proceeds to tear through the town collecting eyeballs, ears and apples from a nearby supermarket. A group of devil hunter snipers attack her but to no avail and she's revealed to be completely invulnerable to all of humanity's current means of attack. She's attacked once more which prompts her to destroy the area and take the head of one of the devil hunters for use in her dish. She is suddenly attacked by Denji in his hybrid form, the two do battle but the Falling Devil ultimately emerges victorious. A mysterious figure appears next to Denji. They cut open the palm of their hand and heal Denji with their blood. Meanwhile, to Asa's shock and horror, the Falling Devil has found her.

The Falling Devil grabs her and convinces Asa to give up and accept her death. Asa agrees while the helpless Yoru can do nothing but scream in horror. While she falls she admits that she's relieved by not having to worry about her problems anymore but laments that she wished she had some form of a companion. She is interrupted by Denji who jumps in to save her. She is initially against his help and begs him to let her fall. The have a back-and-forth with Denji's arguments reaching Asa and slowly calming her down. Asa asks what is the thing keeping him going, to which Denji enthusiastically responds that it's sex. Still in tears, Asa replies in disgust, she calls him a creep and to go to hell. Denji is taken aback by Asa's negative attitude and tries to argue with her. Asa tell him no woman would ever have sex with a guy with a chainsaw for a head. This revelation caused Denji enough distress to make him start falling into Hell as well.

The fall knocks Asa unconscious. Denji cradles her and runs towards a door out of hell. Along the way, he is decapitated by another Devil, but he reassembles himself and continues his escape. Arriving at the door, he is blocked by Falling Devil, who demands that Denji let go of Asa. Suddenly, Falling Devil is impaled from behind by what appears to be, a different Chainsaw Man which allows them to escape.

Chapters not yet in Tankōbon format:

 * Chapter 134: Ordinary Happiness
 * Chapter 135: Sentimental Drive
 * Chapter 136: Normal Life
 * Chapter 137: Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura
 * Chapter 138: Sword Man
 * Chapter 139: A Chair's Feelings
 * Chapter 140: Scales
 * Chapter 142: Normal Life Plus
 * Chapter 143: Denji Fan Club
 * Chapter 144: Rawr

Cast

 * Asa Mitaka
 * Yoru
 * Denji
 * Nayuta
 * Hirofumi Yoshida
 * Kiga

Chain Run (2023)
Chain Run, released with the tagline "Slash it Open with a Stolen Bike!!" is an 8-bit style web browser mobile game released on August 3rd, 2023, to commemorate the release of Volume 15 in Japan. It features unique 8-bit sprite art of both Asa and Denji, with Pochita as the mascot on the website. It was initially released alongside a campaign to win a Chainsaw Man bike figure, depicting the bike that Denji and Asa ride during the Falling Devil Arc. The aim of the game is to measure the number of Devils (including the likes of the Tomato Devil, Chicken Devil, and a small Eternity Devil) defeated and the number of distances escaping the Falling Devil's wrath, while also encountering some larger Devils from Part 1 like the Gun Devil.

Trivia

 * To differentiate between Part 1, the logo on all Part 2 volumes is placed vertically to the right-hand side as opposed to on a 90-degree angle, as all previous Part 1 volumes had it.
 * Yuko calling Asa "Chainsaw Woman" is subtle foreshadowing that she is aware of Yoru's possession of her, as "Chainsaw" and "War" are pronounced similarly in Japanese, being "Chēnsō" and "Sensō" respectively
 * The title of the first chapter and first volume of Part 2, Bird and War, is reminiscent of the first chapter title of Part 1, Dog and Chainsaw.
 * The title of Chapter 2 may be a reference to the idiom, "killing two birds with one stone." The two birds in this chapter are Mitaka and the War Devil, two minds inside one body, both called "birds" because of the form the War Devil takes in the previous chapter.

Continuity

 * Chapter 101 marks the second time a reincarnated Devil appears in the series, being the Bat Devil, following Nayuta.
 * After the end of the Public Safety Saga, Denji started going to school and began trying to get his secret identity out so he can get girls attention.
 * Since Part 1, Hirofumi Yoshida has been going to the same school as Denji and Asa, trying to make sure that Denji does not get into any trouble.
 * Yoshida mentions if Denji can eat the Death Devil, which not only means that he is aware of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but he knows of Denji's secret power.
 * The Bat Devil and Eternity Devil, who were both killed by Denji in Part 1, are reincarnated prior to Part 2 starting.
 * Denji tells Asa that he is raising Nayuta, who is smart enough to go to college, and is trying to make money for her so she can have a normal life.
 * The character Miri Sugo, the Sword Devil Hybrid, appears for the first time since Part 1. His name and Devil are revealed and meets Denji again to recruit him into the Chainsaw Man Church where the other Weapon Devils have formed a community. They hold Denji as their hero because he freed them by killing Makima.
 * Other Devil Hybrids reappear in the Chainsaw Man Church, including the Flame Thrower Hybrid, named Barem, and the Whip and Spear Hybrids, who go unnamed.
 * Fumiko Mifune reveals that her parents were killed during Denji and Aki's fight during the Gun Devil Arc, and that she became a fan of Denji when she realized Chainsaw Man wasn't a superhero, but some kid.
 * Quanxi, the Crossbow Hybrid Devil who appeared as a major antagonist in the International Assassins Arc in Part 1 reappears in Chapter 144 helping Public Safety deal with the remaining Hybrids working for the Chainsaw Man Church.