Chainsaw Man has been in the middle of the third story arc in Part 2 of the series, which has been dubbed the “Academy Saga.” A large part of the “Academy Saga” has been a focus on our newest protagonist to join Denji, Asa Mitaka. Fujimoto Tatsuki has spent a lot of time building the narrative around Asa as the host to the War Devil and all that entails. With the one thing that has been noticeably missing from Chainsaw Man during the “Academy Saga” is big, epic battles. Now Tatsuki appears to have fixed that with Chainsaw Man Chapter 125 as Denji faces off against the Falling Devil.
When it comes to Chainsaw Man Part 2’s “Academy Saga” we’ve seen Tatsuki have a shift in the way he has done action for the series. Rather than challenging aspects of fighting Devils that represent different fears. Instead what we’ve gotten more of is a focus on how inexperienced characters, specifically Asa, deal with fighting these Devils compared to Devil Hunters we followed during the “Public Safety Saga.”
The biggest fight we’ve had thus far was with Yuko the Justice Devil. That fight lasted from Chainsaw Man Chapter 107 to Chapter 109. Though the first two of those chapters were about Asa and her school’s Devil Hunter Club fighting the Justice Devil with little success. Then once Denji appeared in Chapter 109 he promptly mopped the floor with the Justice Devil, showing his experience as Chainsaw Man paying off.
Outside of that the 20+ chapters of the “Academy Saga” has been largely about building up Asa as the current lead protagonist. That is a story choice by Tatsuki that has had its fair share of ups and downs. As Rokk has mentioned in his reviews for Chapter 115 and Chapter 120 while character development continues to be a strength for the series the pacing of the “Academy Saga” has not always been handled well.
Now with this latest story arc, it appears Tatsuki is fixing a lot of that with the introduction of the Falling Devil. This is a credit to all the character development for Asa and other characters that with the introduction of the Falling Devil is such a big deal. Right away from Chapter 122 until now with Chapter 125 we see how truly over their heads that Asa and the War Devil are as inexperienced Devil Hunters.
What makes the Falling Devil stand out from the Justice Devil, Cockroach Devil, and Bat Devil we saw earlier in the “Academy Saga” is the danger level. It’s not just the horror villain scared for the character’s life that makes the Falling Devil such a big threat. It has been how Tatsuki has put over how the Falling Devil embodies humans’ primal fear of heights and falling.
Throughout these last three chapters, we see the body count pile up as the Falling Devil’s abilities force people to defy gravity for horrible results. Not only that but the Falling Devil is committing all her killings using gravity manipulation while talking in a polite manner. Falling Devil has certainly redefined the meaning of “killing them with kindness.”
All of that sets up the ending of Chainsaw Man Chapter 125 with Denji as Chainsaw Man beginning his fight with Falling Devil in epic fashion. To kick off their fight Denji comes to quickly realizes that the Falling Devil has a regeneration ability that matches his own. We see that after Denji rips Falling Devil apart the first time the Falling Devil regenerates to do the same to Chainsaw Man. While the chapter does end with Denji retaliating by ripping Falling Devil apart once again that is likely not the end of the battle.
The question is if this fight with the Falling Devil does continue in the following chapter is how can Denji overcome them? Especially considering Denji hasn’t experienced the Falling Devil’s gravity manipulation ability. As of now the only way to negate Falling Devil’s abilities is for a person to focus on pain or some other powerful emotion. We know that from the War Devil having Asa injure herself multiple times to focus on the pain that is greater than a fear of heights.
Given that Tatsuki had Asa and the War Devil discover this about the Falling Devil it wouldn’t be a surprise if they end up helping Denji out. This likely adds to how we are far from seeing the end of the Falling Devil fight. Rather, the fight with the Falling Devil is just the beginning of the biggest fight we’ve had in Chainsaw Man’s “Academy Saga.”
