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Ryu Nakayama is the director of Chainsaw Man episode 1
Ryu Nakayama is the director of Chainsaw Man episode 1 (Image via MAPPA)

Is director Ryu Nakayama’s rumored exit from Chainsaw Man bad news?

Priya MajumdarBy Updated:8 Mins Read Anime

When Studio MAPPA announced the adaption of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man, fans of the manga celebrated the news with much joy and cheer. The anticipation then built-up with the release of the key visuals, teasers, and trailers. Although the excitement was already at peak, the release of the anime’s first episode created a sensation on the online forums, leading to discussion on the breakdown of the events and the appreciation of the use of CGI to the 2D animation. While some aspects of the animation were disapproved by fans, the success of the first episode established the series’ top dog status. 

Though the staff at MAPPA have undoubtedly put their all into the making of the series, the primary credit of it went to Ryu Nakayama, who directed the chaotic fast-paced first episode. Nakayama had also handled the direction for the last episode. Given MAPPA had assigned the arduous task of directing the two most important episodes to him, it went to prove that Nakayama was built to navigate Fujimoto’s anime series. 

However, a recent speculation on Twitter and Reddit has left many fans of the Chainsaw Man anime unsettled as news of Nakayama’s rumored departure floats around. While the source remains unknown, fans have expressed how the director’s exit would mean that the series’ animation could take a blow, resulting in the drop in ratings for the upcoming season. But even if the director makes the departure from the series, would the personal aspirations he built for the series and the expectations that he fulfilled be lost with it?

Director Ryu Nakayama brought a fresh change to the frenzied world of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man

To start with Tatsuki Fujimoto, it has been mentioned in the Tatsuki Fujimoto x Hiroaki Samura Miraculous Dialogue on shonenjump.com (in Japanese) that the mangaka started out young as an oil painter. However, given his present career as a manga artist, most fans would claim that the artstyle in his works have an unrefined approach to reality that grows on the readers with time.

While this is true, Chainsaw Man saw an upgrade in his artform that seemed more stylized than lazy from his first serialized project, Fire Punch. Aside from the female characters’ designs, which many fans think is more admirable than their male counterparts, his landscape panels often have a cinematic feel to it, such as the panels showing a German or Chinese city. 

Given the 1D medium of the paper, it’s often hard to enjoy the cinematic approach that a writer may compel to incorporate. Fujimoto is also a movie buff and has cited several Asian movies that have served as an inspiration to his artsyle or plot structure. Moreover, the author oscillates between detailing and keeping it simple in manga panels, so the reader’s visual reception is sometimes interrupted by the change. But that’s not the case with the Chainsaw Man anime, which deviates much from the manga yet retains the cinematic approach that preserves the authenticity of Fujimoto’s style largely.

When MAPPA was recruiting a talented director for the Chainsaw Man series, the motivation was primarily based on the perfect translation of “Fujimoto-sensei’s expressions of bursting, explosive, raw energy” of pen and paper into 2D animation. Speaking to Crunchyroll, MAPPA’s CEO, Manabu Otsuka, said how the series represents the unique Japanese “subculture,” which is why he wanted to “switch things up with their [production] process” and “inject new blood” (Slash Film).

The search led to the hiring of Ryu Nakayama, who had previously worked on The Rising of the Shield Hero, Jujutsu Kaisen, Yatterman Night, and contributed to the storyboarding and designing key animations of Naruto Shippuden, Kill la Kill, Monster Musume, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Chainsaw Man was thus Nakayama’s directorial debut, and the handling of the first and last episodes were crucial to establish the series’ status.

Otsuka believed that Nakayama’s approach to direction would get “[the] sort of bursting raw energy out of the story.” True to the CEO’s expectations, Nakayama carried forward with the same aim, albeit bringing some major changes to the series, such as the fresh set of voice actors and introducing different ending songs for each episode of Chainsaw Man. While he isn’t the only to be credited with the success of the entire series, his contribution was the most instrumental factor. 

Coming to episode 1 (Dogs & Chainsaw) of Chainsaw Man anime, the pilot received mixed criticism from the anime community because its animation. The fandom’s divisiveness was centered largely around the use of CGI. Now, with the advancement of technology, the use of CGI is almost given, just like how QuillbBoting has become a labor-reducing solution for many writers. In some cases, it may seem weird or out-of-place (as seen during Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train arc), but the use of CGI is now a cost-effective response to heighten the quality of the advanced form of animation that is still developing. 

On broaching the topic of Chainsaw Man’s animation in an interview with Famitsu (in Japanese), Nakayama started with how he thought of Fujimoto “as a ‘uniquely talented chef’ who is able to combine these various interesting aspects into his own original works and present them in an easy-to-read format.” He admired this style because “it is not ‘too core,’ but it also does not omit the ‘core appeal.’” Nakayama said he wanted to balance the same in the anime adaptation. Acknowledging the gap that arises with a director’s adaptation of a mangaka’s 1D medium, he continued:

“When a film is made, someone has to direct it, but the original author and the director are two different people, so no matter what you do, you will create things from different perspectives. Within that, I wanted to create a work that, while valuing the “core atmosphere”, would also be interesting to those who came into contact with “Chainsaw Man” for the first time through the anime.”

For the cinematic approach that was employed by Nakayama time and again in Chainsaw Man, in another interview (available on sekainootomodachi.com), the director revealed that the premise of the animation for Chainsaw Man involved “a live-action style” that would coincide with Fujimoto’s manga style “so as not to destroy the atmosphere of the original manga.” Continuing, he said:

“We have reduced deformation, and have placed emphasis on how we want the viewer to see the anime as a visual image rather than easily giving it an anime-like appearance.” 

Nakayama had even mentioned how he contributed to drawing for action scenes of the anime several times, which he felt was an area he was familiar with. Elaborating on producer Keisuke Seshimo’s query on the director’s take on action, Nakayama said:

“What I am thinking about is how the world would look moving if someone were peering into it at that moment, including the way they speak and the tone of their voice. Denji and his team are simply living in this world, and if we reflect the animator’s strong intention of how they want their work to look, the realism will be filtered too much. It can be said that the characteristics of each creator are expressed in this area, so there is no need to eliminate them. If we compare it to cooking, we want to use only the tasty parts of a dish by straining out the umami and other elements such as miscellaneous tastes.”

The events of the Chainsaw Man episode 1 was fast-paced, but definitely not rushed. The animation held onto Fujimoto’s trademark style, but with Nakayama, it became more refined and detailed. While Fujimoto’s character designs of Chainsaw Man had some roughness to the lines, Nakayama and his team showed a smoothness in the character designs, which was complemented well with the muted palette that didn’t overwhelm the viewers.

The use of muted colors was indeed a genius stroke by Nakayama to present the dark and gritty world of Fujimoto onto the screen. Moreover, the frenetic pacing, which gained momentum with Denji’s transformation into the Chainsaw Devil, was followed by the intense action sequences full of gore that only made viewers anticipate for the next episode. 

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In contrast to the pilot, the last episode (Katana vs Chainsaw) proved to be a satisfying watch because of its visual choices and action scenes. The events maintained its structure, faithfully adapting the manga chapters. And under the guidance of Ryu Nakayama, the animation brought an energetic flavor from episode 1 to tantalize the viewers. Aside from that, Nakayama was not just part of these two episodes, he also storyboarded episode 7 (The Taste of a Kiss). As for the general credit of direction that the series has, this also happens to be by Ryu Nakayama. 

Suffice to say, the freshness and zing that Nakayama brought to Chainsaw Man would be hard to replace since his personal aspirations were at work here. While MAPPA works with several renowned directors, the bar that Nakayama had set with season 1 raises questions on the quality of season 2, which might suffer a blow if not handled expertly.

However, on the other end is the “rumored” exit of Nakayama, which only remains a subject of intrigue among the fandom as there has been no official confirmation on it from the studio or the director. Moreover, the latest MAPPA Stage 2023 didn’t make any announcements about season 2, so it remains to be seen how long fans would have to wait before they get official clarity on the matter.

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Priya is an anime lover and writer at GamesHorizon. A graduate from EFL University, she is deeply interested in anything remotely anime, manga, and fan culture. In her free time, she likes to draw, cook, visit cafes, and read fanfiction on a variety of anime fandoms' ships.