While Chainsaw Man Part 2 has largely focused on new characters, the manga just featured an exciting callback to a mysterious character from Part 1.
Warning! Contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man Chapter 111!
So far, the second part of Chainsaw Man has not been what readers expected, largely ignoring the dangling plot threads from the end of part 1 and focusing instead on its new protagonist Asa Mitaka. But in its latest chapter the series gave a subtle callback to a major plot development from part 1 that many fans have wanted to see. It is a sign that series author Tatsuki Fujimoto has not forgotten the storylines he established in the previous part and that he likely intends to explore them in more depth.
Chainsaw Man’s first part ended with Denji killing and consuming the Control Devil Makima after she attempted to use the power of Chainsaw Man to destroy the evils of the world. This does seem to have prevented Makima from reviving herself as she normally did upon dying. But it also seems to have had the unintended effect of reviving the Control Devil in a new body, that of a young girl named Nayuta. Since Makima’s true dream had always been to form a relationship with another person as an equal, an opportunity that was denied to her by her very nature, Denji agreed to take Nayuta into his care, which would hopefully give her the chance to make a connection to him like the one Makima always wanted. Given how immature Denji is, fans eagerly looked forward to seeing exactly how he would raise Nayuta in Part 2. But unfortunately Nayuta has largely been absent from Part 2.
The first appearance of Nayuta in the second part is in Chapter 111, which showed a small panel of Denji sleeping next to what appears to be a small head of black hair. Given that Chapter 97 showed Denji and Nayuta hugging each other while they slept, this is almost certainly Nayuta’s head, even though her face is not visible. This means that Denji is still raising Nayuta, even though he hasn’t mentioned her during any of his appearances in Part 2. Hopefully this means that Fujimoto is planning on showing how Denji is caring for Nayuta in future chapters.
Nayuta’s Cameo Shows She Hasn’t Been Forgotten
Nayuta’s appearance here also serves to quell rampant fan theories about her absence. In chapter 108 when a new character with eyes similar to Nayuta’s showed up, some fans speculated that Nayuta had somehow rapidly aged and was now a high schooler like Denji. While this theory is now likely disproven, its existence shows how desperately fans wanted to see Nayuta reincorporated into the story. Hopefully her subtle appearance in Chapter 111 can give these fans a bit of hope.
Fujimoto is a master at subverting expectations, so Nayuta’s brief appearance doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be reintroducing her into the story in a major capacity any time soon. But it does show that he hasn’t forgotten about her and that he knows fans haven’t forgotten about her either. This hopefully means that Chainsaw Man will be focusing more on Nayuta at some point in the future, as her and Denji’s relationship was one of the most compelling plot threads introduced in the First Part.
Chainsaw Man Chapter 111 is available to read from Viz Media.
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