Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc Revs Up the Crowd at NYCC 2025

The acclaimed anime studio MAPPA had a huge presence at New York Comic Con 2025, culminating in a spotlight panel on Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc. The movie is set for an October 24 wide theatrical release in the United States, with the creative team behind the hit anime franchise sharing behind-the-scenes secrets around the film and offering a rapt audience a sneak peek. Judging by what we’ve seen and heard from its creators, fans are in for a bloody good time, full of wall-to-wall action and romantic comedy when the movie gets its worldwide release through Sony this month.

For the uninitiated, Chainsaw Man is based on the best-selling manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto, which was adapted into a similarly popular anime series in 2022. The story follows Denji, a young man who is bonded to the Chainsaw Devil, which allows him to transform into the titular Chainsaw Man and battle malevolent Devils. With this unique power, Denji begins working as a Public Safety Devil Hunter under the watchful eye of Makima, whom he harbors a crush on. 

Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc serves as a continuation of the story from the first season of the anime, while also adapting the titular arc from Fujimoto’s manga. As Denji’s relationship with Makima seems to be reaching a turning point, he meets a mysterious young woman named Reze with whom he strikes up a strong rapport with the potential for romance. This is complicated by Denji taking on new and more powerful Devils which, of course, ties directly into Denji’s messy personal life.

Joining the moderator and translator on stage were assistant director Masato Nakazono, supervising producer Manabu Otsuka, and CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa. Nakazono observed that the movie opted for a more vibrant color palette than the television series, something highlighted by subtle changes to returning characters and visible in Makima’s hair color. The movie also beautifully blends hand-drawn animation styles with CG animation, which offers a sense of realism to the environments and more kinetic action set pieces.

During a sneak peek of one of the movie’s big action scenes, Tannawa provided commentary on how the production combined these two animation techniques. This behind-the-scenes look included animatics of hand-drawn elements in the CG environments that were seamlessly integrated as Denji battled a Devil while on the road. Tannawa explained that this was done to create one comprehensive visual experience while scaling up to the cinematic possibilities offered by the movie format.

Thousands of attendees received copies of the Den of Geek New York Comic Con 2025 Special Edition magazine, which included a colorful spotlight on Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc. Not only did Chainsaw Man fans eagerly dig into this special issue, but several lucky attendees won tickets to an advance screening of the movie given away through a raffle at the panel. The energy at the movie’s panel was palpable, with the English voice cast even making an appearance to feed into the hype behind the movie’s American release.

Otsuka shared that this was MAPPA’s first major appearance at New York Comic Con, which offered a wider audience than Los Angeles’ Anime Expo. Appreciating the energetic and positive response to Chainsaw Man, Otsuka noted that the studio would take this favorable feedback with them to fuel their work back in Japan. Before a packed audience waving Chainsaw Man paper chainsaws, the future for the hit anime franchise looks bright as it leaps to the big screen.

Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc opens in theaters on Oct. 24.