The Chainsaw Man reset isn't just a poor conclusion. It’s a betrayal.
I want to talk about the greatest narrative crime this reset committed, and it has everything to do with who Denji had become. When he reaches out to Asa and says, 'Pochita and I must create our own world!', that wasn’t just a pretty line. It was Denji finally stopping his search for someone to save him. He was no longer looking for 'mothers' or 'masters'; he rejected all of that. He took responsibility for his own existence in a world that offers no ready-made answers.
When he says, 'We are two people who killed our own parents', he is validating his trauma instead of fleeing from it. He’s not looking for divine redemption or waiting for suffering to 'make sense.' He simply chooses to continue despite it.
This was 'Denjiman' taken to the extreme: he respected himself, he loved someone for real, and he fought knowing the world wouldn’t pay him back. Not out of moral duty, not because of destiny, but by his own will. Intentionally or not, Fujimoto had Denji walking the exact path Nietzsche described as the Übermensch (the Overman).
After the 'death of God' (the end of an objective moral order), the Übermensch takes responsibility for creating their own values. He doesn't follow the 'herd morality'; he forges meaning in an absurd world. He affirms life with all its pain and joy (Amor Fati, the love of fate). He doesn’t deny suffering; he says: 'This happened, and I CHOOSE to continue.' He acts through the Will to Power: an internal force of growth and self-surpassing, not dominance over others.
Denji was exactly that by the end of Part 2. Remember his answer to Kishibe way back? 'I'm Denji AND Chainsaw Man ✌️😐'? That was a rejection of the imposed duality (being either a tool or a victim) to create his own identity.
The entirety of Part 2 was him learning to live this. Suffering, falling, and getting back up. Until he finally reached the point of creating his own values in a chaotic world: 'I will protect Asa. I will be who I choose to be.'
And Fujimoto simply threw all of that into the trash with the reset...
Denji goes back to Chapter 1. Meeting Power all over again. Remembering nothing. Do you realize how absurd this is? Amor Fati (affirming life despite pain) turned into amnesia. The Will to Power (self-surpassing) turned into regression.
The man who was creating his own values went back to being a broken kid waiting for crumbs. The answer to Kishibe? Betrayed. The promise to Power ('Find me in Hell')? Irrelevant. Years of building a character who takes responsibility for his own existence, wasted.
Fujimoto had all the pieces for a brutal, yet profound conclusion: showing Denji carrying the weight of his choices, failing, rebuilding, and honoring Power through action (not forgetting), forging a path with Asa in a messed-up world.
Instead, Fujimoto chose the quickest and easiest way out. He chose to deny the journey rather than affirm it. It's not about the ending being 'sad' or 'happy.' It’s about it being cowardly. It’s about transforming a journey of self-surpassing into the erasure of identity.
'Pochita and I must create our own world.'
That phrase was perfect. And he killed it.
I loathe this ending for erasing the 'Overman' that Denji had become through so much pain and suffering.