Yoru may have just initiated Chainsaw Man's final phase - an all-out war

Chainsaw Man has just weaponized multiple states of the United States by transforming them into projectiles to be used in this ongoing story arc with Pochita. Chapter 221 does not take its readers gently into the next phase of conflict in the series; rather, this chapter shows how the previous chapters' view of scale isn't even close to the truth.

Oregon is used as a sword, Virginia is used to power a nuclear punch, and Michigan already disappeared in the last chapter. Yoru is treating the geography of America as a grocery list by scratching out entire states to use as strikers against Pochita.

By transforming so many American states into weapons that result in a nuclear-level assault on Pochita, Yoru has declared complete and total war—not just against Chainsaw Man, but also against the very idea of being restrained in battle. This shows that the escalation we have seen here is bringing us closer to the climax of Chainsaw Man, a point at which the stakes are so high that traditional storytelling cannot contain them.

Oregon's transformation into a weapon proves how far Yoru would go to sacrifice millions of people without any regard or remorse for their loss. She converts buildings into blade forms while wiping entire populations off the earth into the sea. Then came the Virginia phase where its residents were totally wiped from existence to create what Yoru labeled as her "nuclear punch".

This explosion was powerful enough to even threaten Hell's doors themselves, and indicates how widespread the reach of this attack will be. Overall, through the tremendous amount of devastation that is visible in this explosion, Fujimoto is ultimately hinting at what will eventually be a conclusive point.

Death's Erasure Creates An Impossible Stalemate in Chainsaw Man

The series's major accomplishment is that, by the act of devouring the Death Devil, Chainsaw Man has rendered death nonexistent. Therefore, the battle becomes an ironic "safe battle," because neither Chainsaw Man nor Yoru is capable of dying.

As such, this opens up all sorts of interesting philosophical issues for Chainsaw Man. Because there is no death to be expected, the stakes paradoxically become increasingly dire; it will now be an endless series of battles without any resolution or release from suffering that once resulted from the inevitability of death, and even without death. A war that has no end to it is quite a different horror.

The effects of the "safe battle" also affect those who are the victims of Yoru's nuclear strike; while they do not die, they will experience extreme bodily injuries and disfigurements, creating an endless world of pain and suffering for the survivors. This takes existential dread to new extremes.

Why This Signals The Final War

So many indicators show that Chainsaw Man is now heading toward its final chapter. For one, the level of power increase has gone absolutely bonkers! If states are now considered just bullets, how much further can this story really go?

Another thing is that Pochita's regenerative ability has been through the roof in terms of total immunity. He can be completely cut into two pieces or blown into pieces, and he'll still regenerate to the same form. Except when he's in Hell, nothing has ever been able to touch Chainsaw Man, and even sonic cannons, bombs, and missiles weren't enough to leave any damage when he entered Earth's atmosphere.

Finally, the setup for how the story is going is all about the ending. The Four Horsemen and weapon devils have all been shown fighting Pochita in Hell and leaving him dirt-napping on a pile of rubble; now all of that is coming back to the surface of Earth.

What Comes After Nuclear Devastation?

Chainsaw Man is left asking itself about the conclusion to a battle that cannot end in death for either person involved. Death has always been one of the biggest parts of being alive, so taking out death from the equation also takes away a very large part of what gives people and life their purpose.

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So maybe that's the point! War without death removes the ultimate result of the conflict from it. Yoru can destroy an entire population through nuclear means, but what does "winning" look like when it is impossible to lose permanently?

Chainsaw Man has been and continues to be the greatest deconstruction of the shonen manga genre, and this may be the biggest leap in doing so. The battle has begun. We don't know how it will finish (if it will finish), and that is what makes the story and its conclusion something to look forward to.

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