Warning! Spoilers for Chainsaw Man Chapter 79!
The most ironically poignant battle in Chainsaw Man is tragic for so many reasons, but mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto masterfully embellishes this sense of bitterness by reimagining the ensuing violence as an innocent snowball fight between kids. This ostensibly random phenomenon actually mirrors a crucial moment from the past and serves as a perfect alternative to either employing flashbacks or dialogue explaining why the conflict is so heartbreaking.
The poignancy of the overall situation derives from Aki Hayakawa’s tragic past and what initially drove him to become a devil hunter. In chapter 13, Aki first recalls how the illustrious Gun Devil’s monumental attack on the world directly affected him and his family. It was a snowy day and a young Aki wanted to play catch with his dad. But Aki had a sickly young brother named Taiyo who constantly needed attention, and this particular day was no different than any other. His father declined the offer and told Aki to play by himself. Although an unfortunate development, Taiyo went outside with him, much to Aki’s annoyance, and initiated a snowball fight. When Taiyo returned inside to get his baseball glove because his hands were cold, the Gun Devil struck the world, destroying Aki’s home and murdering his entire family in an instant.
From that moment on, Aki dedicated his life to hunting the Gun Devil. But when Aki later sees the future, he seeks the ultimate power, which leads to the Gun Devil taking over his body and becoming the Gun Fiend. As the Gun Fiend, Aki confronts Chainsaw Man and the Blood Fiend Power. The irony of his transformation is obvious, but mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto introduces a level of poignancy to an already unfortunate predicament by weaving in moments where Aki imagines the entire battle as a snowball fight in chapter 78 where every attack is first portrayed as thrown snowballs before seeing how they actually manifest in reality.
Fujimoto further exemplifies his juxtapositions through the use of absurdity whereby Aki reverts back to being a kid while Power and Chainsaw Man remain as adults. The situation gets odder when the fighting later intensifies. Power and Chainsaw Man are obviously more serious during this time, but it’s at this moment when they, too, suddenly become kids, laughing innocently as they throw snowballs at each other. In reality, it’s a bloody battle with destroyed buildings left in their destructive wake and corpses strewn across the torn-up ground.
Aki’s dialogue is also distorted by this fantasy. When Aki first sees Power, he speaks as though this were all just a game. This dynamic is amplified in a disturbing way when Aki asks two citizens if they want to play before murdering them. Later on, Aki directly references his time as a child, saying how his parents never pay attention to him and only fuss over Taiyo. He then confesses that this fight is the most fun he’s ever had, a comment that’s immediately proceeded by a scene of Chainsaw Man lying in a pool of his own blood. When Aki is finally killed, he imagines himself stopping the fight because Chainsaw Man is crying, making up a childish excuse that his hands were getting cold like his brother’s had and that he doesn’t even like snowball fights. But soon Chainsaw Man is gone. In his stead is Taiyo and he’s ready to play catch. And so they play.
Incorporating a snowball fight that transpired right before the Gun Devil murdered Aki’s family during a decisive battle when Aki is controlled by that very devil is genius. This form of storytelling in Chainsaw Man is an artful way of reminding readers about Aki’s tragic history to further pinpoint the irony behind his transformation while the stunning juxtapositions serve as effective tools that make the violence somehow seem even more violent. But more importantly, the snowball fantasy yields a touching portrayal of death that both mirrors key moments from Taiyo’s own demise and concludes his and Aki’s tale in a bittersweet manner.