When anime finally made guns scary

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2 years ago Chainsaw Man's release was one of the hyped new shows I've ever experience in anime. I wasn't sure how I felt about it initially given all the hype. But my opinion on the show became very clear in the 8th episode

say thanks Joseph for the great edit!!!

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#chainsawman #anime #pey

[ukaszanioowski]

the more complex a magic system, the funnier it is when somebody pulls out a gun

[Electriceye]

By the time this happens, you already know Makima can be terrifying. But after this scene, to the audience, she is "other". No longer a character playing by the same rules as the rest of the cast, no longer considered normal by the laws of this universe. No scene with her going forward would have been the same without this one.

[NazarZh]

I think the biggest problem with firearms is that realistic combat distances are against the laws of drama. With swords, you can have dramatic face-to-face dialogue, but with firearms, that's exactly what soldiers try to avoid at all costs. In real life, soldiers would rather just demolish a building than clean it room by room, the only time soldiers do this is if there is a strict order from above to leave the building intact, and even then many disobey orders.

[Hur]

If you’ve ever been shot—and I sincerely hope that you don’t—you will learn about how “normal life” ending a gunshot wound is. A gunshot wound is a nightmare that most people *NEVER* fully recover from. Unless it’s a small slow moving projectile that doesn’t tumble or deform, it’s not even remotely like a puncture wound; it’s more like being attacked by a hammer and a spear at the same time: bones shattered, organs punctured, sometimes flesh is practically liquefied and has to be cut out. Worse, bullets often fragment, and have to be pulled out piece by piece, doing more damage in the process. Sometimes, it’s too dangerous to remove a fragment and then it’s left in, which can be a problem if the bullet is lead. Guns are way scarier than people think.

[BirdMoose]

One of my favorite use of guns in anime was Fate Zero. The story follows a magical competition that repeats over generations, and one of the protaginists just breaks the mage's laws and conventions and uses modern weapons to shift the rules of the conflict in a way that terrifies and offends the other mages.

[NoseHasEyes]

Fujimoto is such a good writer. Even beyond what is shown in the anime, the manga does an EXCELLENT job of portraying the threat of guns to the point that it's nearly anxiety-inducing and heartbreaking.

[seven_]

I love that Chainsaw man was overhyped, because it completely subverted everyone's expections, yet somehow it was as good if not better than the hype made it out to be. I'm fairly sure no one who hadn't read the manga could have expected what Chainsaw man was going to be, but I'm happy so many people seemed pleasantly surprised.

[remnem]

i love how guns in chainsaw are important

[jacksandersonshrike]

You know what, I have a day off tomorrow. I'mma watch Chainsaw man for the first time. Thank you for convincing me.

[ruthlesshunter]

As a world building hobbyist, guns are f***ing annoying. It really is hard to make a magical setting that is decently advanced but doesn’t have a weapon that’s so good it’s meta.

Sidenote, Stormtrooper syndrome: when someone can’t hit water even if they fell out of a boat.

Edit:

tldr: it’s hard to completely justify a decently advanced civilization having guns good enough to use but not good enough to be meta.

I am specifically doing a somewhat realistic magic system, as in it’s not absolute rules but more rpg/dnd style, with realistic physics mixed in. As in I’m making a litrpg.

Obviously in actual games a bullet can’t one tap a guy ‘cause that’s no fun, but it doesn’t really feel like a gun if it doesn’t do so.

Basically, I want people to fight with swords in a world with magic and guns, but it’s kinda hard to balance guns being good enough to use but not good enough to be realistic and meta.

Can’t just make them useless, can’t just make them one shot, can’t just make them another bow, can’t have my cake and eat it too without sacrificing some kind of logic.

[Paratet]

Another brilliant part of Chainsaw Man's worldbuilding/magic system is how various the devils abilities and drawbacks are. The Gun devil was so powerful and pervasive that it couldn't be fully destroyed. So, the absence of guns in this world is fully explained, and we don't think about it. However, we know that powerful devils that haven't reincarnated as fiends can still make contracts. That includes the Gun devil. The reveal was so perfectly timed and executed.

[NemSumeragi]

Saw the title before the thumbnail loaded and immediately thought, "when tf were there guns in Frieren. Is this a metaphor for Zoltraak?"

[upg]

You can actually broaden this to any projectile. Arrows, kunai, grenades, none of these are ever an issue and the reason is simple, they are something that can be used to show the character's competency. It's the same reason we need fodder in series even when in reality, no one can take down a hoard of people regardless of how weak or strong they are, let alone "special agents" or "elite soldiers". If neither of these things are done, the characters don't have a lot of screen time to really show you their skill level and more importantly, the massive gap between them and the norm.

[OneColdRepublican]

Fujimoto feels like a movie director, but in manga format.

[Ace-ites]

This reminds me of one of my favorite shonen manga: Gachiakuta. One of the main characters, Riyo, is fighting this other girl, and Riyo is getting trashed the entire fight until, right when we think she's about to be killed, she pulls out a gun and in 2 shots the fight is over, she won. And that simultaneously felt real, hilarious, and scary.

[anonymous]

Here's the thing: Guns being scary are a big part of the recent chapters, but also how they can be disregarded in the face of something more overbearing. It's the existential question of is immediate known but only possible terror, scarier than the inevitable terror that will strike from anywhere with no warning or in some cases years of warning. How the hell is Fujimoto making PT2 even better than PT1, it just honestly surprises me the lengths he can show emotions in this story

[godassasin]

hardest gut punch this ep was that chainsaw man aired 2 year ago

[painmiedelicieux]

ohhh boy you're going to LOVE when the gun devil intro is made, it's quite frankly chilling in the manga.

[Panboyk]

Terry Pratchet introduced guns in one of the Discworld Watch novels, the gun featured was demonstrated to be almost supernatural, It rarely missed and when it hit it was very fatal, i think the story was supposed to be a warning about how such easy to acquire and use power could warp the mind.

[Arukorstza]

Unironically I want a story to treat guns like a magic system and go full autism with the complexity and limits of an entire magic system that is actually just people with guns.