When Denji chose a cat over the lives of multiple civilians in Chainsaw Man, the internet lost it. Some said it was peak character writing. Others said it was bad writing. What this tells us is that there is a disconnect at its core: People keep trying to judge this series by the shonen rules that it never signed on to.The morality of Chainsaw Man operates under a system that is not based on the altruistic systems of traditional hero narratives; nothing is better than that. Denji is not caught between a justice vs revenge decision-making process like most protagonists. He is trying to weigh whether killing people who like him leaves him more alone than he already is. That is not heroic. That is pure and raw selfishness in the form of honest introspection.Hatred towards Chainsaw Man (Image Source: VIZ)Chainsaw Man works as a character drama wrapped in battle shonen clothing. The plots regarding fights serve the characters, as opposed to the characters serving the plot centers of the fights. People coming at it with expectations of deep lore and complex power systems are simply not understanding what Fujimoto is about. He is not building the next Hunter x Hunter. He is exploring what happens to a kid who never learned how to be human.The show is smart enough to let you, the audience, show rather than tell. Denji doesn't have to give one of those long speeches about his trauma over five pages for you to see it in his eyes when he seems to make a decision based on rejection from society, or when the Ghost Devil pulls Denji's ripcord after Himeno's death. You can tell without anyone saying much at all.The Justice Devil Incident in Chainsaw ManChainsaw Man saves a cat instead of humans (Image Source: VIZ)The discussion around Denji saving a cat while civilians are dying captures the very essence of a situation that Chainsaw Man does very well to defy any stereotypical ways of viewing morals. Denji saved a cat instead of those people, but this is neither portrayed as completely heroic nor villainous. He was focused on the cat.This moment of a possible moral choice shows the difficulties surrounding Denji's understanding of morals. Later, he shows some real remorse about people dying, but in the moment? His brain was broken, and it thought small, living things that can't hurt it, like cats, were more important. Denji forms stronger connections to animals than humans because he has only been manipulated and abused by humans.Denji's Selfish Reasoning Makes Perfect SenseMoral compass questioning in the series (Image Source: VIZ)Recently, Denji says he doesn't want to kill people who like him, because he would have fewer people to be around him. This isn't kind or noble. This is purely self-interest. But it is honest in a way that most protagonists never are.Now, compare to the usual shonen heroes, who are always proclaiming they will fight to protect everyone. Denji can't even fake care about people he doesn't know. His world was reduced to survival mode ages ago; he hasn't been progressively thinking about morality. That kind of selfishness presents a much better idea of a real person than one hundred "I'll protect my friends!" speeches.The Absence of Clear Heroes and VillainsChainsaw Man creates a universe of moral grayness. Makima uses Denji for her purposes, but she also seems to care about him in her twisted way. Aki wants revenge, but makes a real connection to something worth living for. Power is literally a demon, but she ends up one of Denji's family.Even secondary characters exist in this grayness. Himeno tries to sleep with an intoxicated minor, and the narrative doesn't mention it, and then waves it away as kind of quirky. It is awkward driving it home. That's the point. Chainsaw Man does not redeem or condemn. It shows broken people doing broken things.The Story's True FocusTake away the chainsaw duels and devil contracts, and Chainsaw Man is a story about humanity in the sense that he barely learned how to be human. Denji's journey does not consist of defeating a final boss; it is a journey to learn about himself and process the trauma of living his life.The manga challenges us. Can a person who has only been exploited learn to love healthily? What does happiness mean to a person who started with nothing? If he were about hypertrophied world-building as opposed to character-building, it could not tell its story in 97 chapters. Such efficiency is possible not through contrived confusion, but rather because we learn what matters for the story.So please stop comparing this series to other series, it couldn't have cared less to imitate. Chainsaw Man is not Jujutsu Kaisen and its endless permutations of cursed techniques. It is not One Piece, and its sprawling world-building is launched a few hundred chapters deep. Chainsaw Man is closer to Western comic book efficiency in storytelling than it is to traditional manga.ConclusionChainsaw Man dares its readers to get on board with leads who don't fit into neat boxes of morality. Denji saves cats rather than people. He kills for very banal personal reasons. He is selfish and broken and figuring it all out. This is the point. The series is successful because Fujimoto focused entirely on characters and themes rather than overly long world-buildingThe sooner a person accepts that Chainsaw Man has a different set of rules to operate under, the sooner they can appreciate what is special about it.