The Fall of Aki Hayakawa

The deuteragonist of the main story of Chainsaw Man, Aki Hayakawa is a man who makes a slow decent through the hellish journey of Denji. Acting as lancer of the group will his skills really be up to bat when facing seemingly insurmountable odds or will he strike out at worst possible moment?
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[MonkeyDLuis-jhsg]

Aki was someone who's desire for revenge didn't even let enjoy Himeno's love and when he finally gained a family in the form of Denji and Power and was starting to soften and forget about revenge, Makima turned him into the Gun Devil and had to be stopped/killed by Denji, his best friend/brother in arms. Aki is a brillant, tragic character

[eprot]

Its been one and a half years and the snowball fight still hits way to deep

[MissusAnon]

Power's physical death by Makima also nearly brought me to tears-- it's not just that she's holding Denji's birthday cake, or it being a reminder from earlier that he had never tried cake but tried imitating it as a kid with flour, water and sugar mixed together and shared the sludge with Pochita. What got me is it's clearly a cake from a cake shop and it has personalized text. She finally had become human to the point where she could interact with others and buy a personalized cake on her own and she didn't mess it up either ): Aki and Power both really grew

[thepackingpacjack]

Future devil: “The Future Rules!”

Aki: “The Future Fucking Suck!”

[Okkotsu]

One of the most tragic heartbreaking characters I ever encountered. He was doomed from the get go, yet it makes him oddly endearing. I was rooting for him and Himeno, perhaps they still found each other in a different life

[B_bang]

I remember how badly makima's reveal fucked me up. It was one of the most flawlessly executed twist villains in history. We suspect that she's not what she seems but we aren't given too much evidence about if she's truly human or not. And the way she just casually drops it in conversation with Aki, it was a amazing choice to not go the route of a direct reveal with her saying "I am a devil" but her answering Aki's question with her own question, if he would make a deal with her. We see that panel of Aki freeze up in realization and he knows that he was being manipulated from the very start before ultimately succumbing to her influence. And becomes the very thing he hated the most and swore to destroy

[randodox]

His story was pretty tragic. He gave up everything and drag countless of people lives down in the name of revenge only to find out that he's not gonna get that revenge. And when he decided to live his short remaining life span with his denji and power, Makima manipulate and transform him into becomes what he hates.

Poor Aki never gets a break.

[lazarlemajic]

From wanting to stop the devil that caused his suffering, he became a vessel for him to cause a new slaughter. It is a tragic end for such a character.

[christianyesho]

One of the reason I “hate” makima is bc not did she manipulate danji and his life but also used others people and the worst was Aki literally founding a new family in danji and power only for makima, the one he respected the most out of all, to just force him into causing more pain to them

Side that’s really damn great writing right there for all the characters in the series but man I fucking hate Makima

[streetst]

at first i expected aki to be a sasuke type, one of my least favorite tropes, but he really really grew on me. his whole story is so tragic, especially considering how he is way more openly emotional than most devil hunters. i love the sibling dynamic he has with denji and power. all the relationships he has with other characters are honestly beautiful and soul crushing. anyways aki-47 go brrrr

[fabfucious]

Revenge arcs are so glorified in media that I really didn’t expect aki to die before finishing his. Was honestly such a shock, even though the signs were there.

[cathedral]

Aki’s oh shit realization moment was so blunt and fast, it hit perfectly.

[kamiteague]

not to mention in his delusional snow ball fight in the end, he throws left handed, the same hand thats now a gun in the real world
aki is highkey one of the saddest characters in chainsaw man, along with angel imo. hes the perfect warning for what happens when you let grief consume you and never move past it

[superblanco]

Man I’m gonna cry when THAT scene gets animated 😭

[fatheralexanderanderson]

Aki is easily the best-written character in CSM and no one can prove me wrong

[auzinsss]

Aki has one of the most tragic character arc's I have ever seen... "Do you want to have a snowball fight?''

[moff.lol.]

Aki acts as a really great representation of manipulation victim. Pretty much everyone in Division 4 is a victim of Makima, but just seeing Aki try to take control and protect his family only for Makima to use him and turn him into a Gun Fiend is heartbreaking. The part where he can’t even remember why he loves Makima gave me the hugest sense of dread. I’ve seen people be destroyed or ruined by manipulative people in life and I think Chainsaw Man shows how horrifying it is.

[Simplegreentea]

What hurts the most is that Makima tells Denji that it was possible to save Aki from the Gun Devil. Denji just thought he didn't have a choice. That's why Denji's wish is to be Makima's dog so that he didn't have to make a decision like that again. And Ironically, that got power killed.

[kinghaki]

Even though the Future Devil tells us that Aki is going to die in the worst way possible. I was still not ready for what happened. When I turned that page to Denji opening that door. My heart stopped. I literally had to put the book down. It was like reading and seeing something I shouldn't have. No other Manga has made me feel that way.

[JDWalker]

Due to the type of manga I’d read to that point, I figured Aki would get a somewhat happy ending (dying in retirement or sacrifice)even after Himeno died especially since he was a fan favorite but Damn was I not reading for what was in store.

Beautifully Tragic and Painfully Ironic, loved this character