The Domino Effect. Chainsaw Man Chapter 123 BREAKDOWN

After sitting on it for a minute, I finally caught what Fujimoto was going for. I didn’t talk about chapter 122, so I’ll be playing a little bit of “catch up” on this one. But to make it quick: Fami and Yoshida meet up in a Pastry Shop. And they lay it ALL bare. A prophecy was foretold long ago by Nostradamus: “In The 7th Month Of 1999; A Great King Of Terror Will Descend.” Fami does not confirm nor deny the prophecy, but Public Safety did an experiment to see what would happen. And it was overwhelmingly positive that July of 1999(coincidentally, I was born July 17th, 1999) would be the end of a variety of people. The rested that they tested are scheduled to die this week. Due to the arrival of the First Sign of The Ultimate Evil: The Arrival of A Primal Devil. And Asa and Yoru are just unlucky enough to have encountered this Devil. What a TERRIBLE day this is for Asa. 

In the context of the story; this is still the same day that she went on her second date with Denji, got turned into a Dog by Nayuta, got her mind wiped so she thinks she was rejected, and ended up getting her hopes up that Yoshida liked her only for the situation to not be what she thought. AND NOW THIS SH!T’S HAPPENING!!! CHRIST Fujimoto, give the poor girl a BREAK. In any case; it all starts with the Fall. Chainsaw Man Chapter 123: “Hors D’oeuvre.” Took 3 years of French in High School, and some Community College- couldn’t not tell you what that means without having to google it. But I graduated so it’s whatever. 

REVIEW

Reading 122, I and my brother had thought that this would end up being the Death Devil- based on the imagery at the end and the dialogue presented in one panel. But after ripping off some girls head to complete their body, we learn that this is the Primal Devil of Falling- a Devil born from man’s fear of falling. And she has a “Chef” motif going for her; she puts on a chef outfit and announces that she’s here at the request of the Residents from H#ll. And she warns that anyone who doesn’t finish their food- will be put to death. Yoru tries to wake up Asa, realizing that it’s Falling’s powers causing Asa’s mental state. But of the 2 of them, even Yoru admits that Asa makes the better weapons. But she’s unresponsive. Falling begins the “First Course” with “La Root Vonla.” A clap of her hands, and we’re back in the past- Asa’s Past. 

Following the death of her parents in a Devil attack, she ends up in an orphanage for others of a similar background. But she doesn’t interact with them as much; she really spends most of her time with a cat that she named “Crambon.” One of the Orphanage workers comes up to her one day, offering to remove the cat from the premises- one of the kids is allergic, and it’s rather unhealthy for her only friend to be an unresponsive animal. Asa is apprehensive about the whole thing, but the worker tells her that everyone here had lost their families to Devils. Even she lost her mother in a recent Typhoon Devil attack. But even so, they’ve manage to make a family out out those around them- leaving the Cat as an outlier. So Asa complies…..

Later that night, before they could fall asleep; one of the kids asks Asa about the Crambon. But when asked why, the child reveals that a similar looking cat is dead at the bottom of  river. The same Orphanage worker comes in to remind them to go to sleep, but hearing that made Asa restless; she asks what happened to Crambon. Without an Iota of Guilt or remorse, the Worker tells her to her face that The Cat Is Dead. “It Wasn’t Fair For Asa to be the Only One With Family of Her Own.” And that wakes her right up. But she finds herself in a weird position: Falling Upwards, holding on by a street railing. 

From there, one after another- People Start To Fall Up, falling through Doors in the Sky, “The Lower The Heart Sinks- The Higher The Body Falls,” says Falling Devil. Things are not good. And things are only going to get worse for Asa Mitaka, as she is rendered unable to switch with Yoru again. So terrified she can’t hear the Devil over her shoulder. Chainsaw Man Chapter 123 END!!! We know that 7 people are about to Fall to H#ll, but……… which Devil is awaiting them on the other side? 

Analysis 

I titled this review the way that I did because I realized what Fujimoto was going for with this development. The Falling Devil was chosen to mark the “Beginning of The End Times” because he’s referencing the Domino Effect- a chain reaction produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. The proverbial “Row Of Dominoes” has long since been set up, and the Falling Devil is the one that knocked over the first chip- the Dominoes are “falling” if you will. That sounded a lot more “poetic” in my head. As for why Falling was chosen in specific out of all the Primal Devils, I’m certain it has something to do with her ability to send people to H#ll like this. 

If she’s only the first Devil that’ll “Shepherd the world to the Ultimate Terror,” then there’s likely going to be another one not far behind her as we draw closer to July. As we saw in chapter 119, based on the “Fart Tally” board in Denji’s apartment; it’s already March. We’re gonna be gettin’ 4 BACK-TO-BACK months of this sh!t. And I think that the reason Falling is sending people to H#ll is to prop up the Next Devil that’ll be coming. And that Devil is either another Primal Fear that needs a lot of “food” to pull off whatever it does- or the H#ll Devil itself. What better way to make people afraid of H#ll itself than sending them there. They’re either gonna get attacked by a Horde of Devils or the H#ll Devil itself, making it stronger and stronger the more the people fear it. And then……… it might be able to do something.

We only really saw it’s arm in Part 1(though, knowing this series; that might be whole thing), but maybe it’s role in this whole plan is merging Earth and H#ll- breaking down the barrier so that the “Ultimate Terror” can come down and do whatever it’s meant to do. Possibly because that Devil can’t leave H#ll for one reason or another. It might be “too strong” to leave, or it might draw power from H#ll itself somehow and will become weaker upon leaving. And since everyone knows that Chainsaw Man is on Earth right now, I imagine they’re all going to try to steer clear of the Hero of H#ll as much as possible. Maybe part of the plan is just to try and get rid of Chainsaw Man altogether. He’s the ONLY Devil out there that could stand against them- even if he’s somewhat weaker than ever due to 1)Being merged with Denji and 2)Humans not fearing him as much. 

And then there’s Falling Devil itself. We only saw the one Primal Devil in part 1, and Darkness didn’t speak a word when he slaughtered the lot of em. On the other hand, you have Falling, who seems to be the……….. “Eccentric” type. I imagine in all her eons of life, she got bored and took on the “Chef” persona just to keep it’s role in existence “interesting.” And because the Primal Devil’s are Top Sh!t, they usually get their way. So whenever she wants to “play chef” to someone- they eat. Or they fall. Or Both- these Powerful Eccentrics tend to be erratic in their behavior; one minute they’re treating you like a “Little Buddy” and the next they’re twisting your head off and drinking the blood from it. Falling is probably that type. 

Conclusion

I could talk about Asa a little more, but I think there’s gonna be a big character moment for her next time. So I think that I’d better save some of that discussion for next time. He says like he Fully Absolutely Intending to talk about the next chapter. I might; depends on the content. I don’t have a lot of closing thoughts, though. I kind of wanted to talk about the Fear of “Falling,” but I don’t know enough about that to speak on it as comfortably as……… the other stuff I don’t know about. Let me know what you guys think in the comments, and until the next post, all- Have A Magically Wonderful Day!!