DENJI THREAD

Denji may present as a stereotypical, happy-go-lucky protagonist, and that's because he essentially is, but he has layers of depth that make that incredibly interesting.

For his entire life before the first chapter, Denji has been deprived of almost every single need aside from the bare minimum, barely having food, water, and shelter

While I don't believe this characterization was based off Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, I'll be using it as a framework to view Denji's character

Start of series Denji is constantly at risk of being broke and dying, relying on selling his organs just to stay alive, he's completely lacking in any form of safety. Without these essentials, he can't develop emotional complexity, intimacy,

or even grow beyond the basic intelligence he possesses. Denji, at this stage in his life, is animalistic. He's purely instinctual, and lives entirely off his base desires, craving sex and security

as the series progresses, Denji slowly climbs up the pyramid and becomes more emotionally complex. He has a job and an apartment, giving him safety and security, he begins to form close relationships with the people around him, like Aki and Power.

Denji is growing as his needs are being met. The scene where he has the opportunity to touch Power’s boobs sticks out to me the most, because start of series Denji would’ve leaped at the opportunity, but this more mature Denji doesn’t like it, he knows that sexual fulfillment

only comes with the emotional attachment and love, and Makima can give that to him. Reze serves the same purpose.
This is the Denji we see for most of the series. He’s no longer an animalistic, instinctual pup of a man, he’s creating fulfilling friendships and pursuing goals

(and now my favorite part of the series)
until Makima rips all of that away from him. She makes him kill Aki and sends him into emotional turmoil, and now all of that progress he’s made is hurting him, this is where he feels grief and loss of his best friend

The old Denji wouldn’t have cared, death would not phase him, but all of this emotional growth makes him feel the pain of loss. Denji rejects this, he hates this new feeling, and he turns to Makima to take away his pain. He wants to revert back to the little boy he was.

then Makima cements this idea. She kills Power, taking away his only other support system, and blames him for the death of his father. All of his progress is lost, and Denji devolves into an easily controlled little boy once again, afraid of all of his emotions

Anyway stuff happens cool raw fight scenes so raw

Denji is now in a slump, he is ready to give up on the life he’s lived, but Power, his closest friend, pull him out of it and reminds him how good it felt to have friends and emotional fulfillment

and now Denji approaches the top of the pyramid, craving adoration, accomplishment and self fulfillment

Ultimately, Denji succeeds. Not as Chainsaw Man or the Hero of Hell, but as himself, following his own motivations and goals. Denji is emotionally developed and is living life for the things he cares about

anyway those r my thoughts there’s a lot more I wanted to cover and talk about in detail but I’m lazy