Tatsuki Fujimoto’s brilliant storytelling in Chainsaw Man has garnered him immense success. In the world of shonen where memorable and strong female characters are truly a rarity, Fujimoto excelled in creating multiple characters who fit the archetype. From the feisty Makima to the bold Himeno, he displayed a genius for creating numerous dynamic characters.
Among the wondrous but flawed women of Chainsaw Man, Reze stands out to fans for her unique personality. But creating her wasn’t an easy task. Even with his skillset, creating Reze propelled Fujimoto to outdo himself. She became a character that pushed him to explore the uncharted territory.
Fujimoto’s Favourite Character
In the initial stages of the story, Reze livens up the plot with her presence. Her melancholic uniqueness quickly made her a fan-favorite. The Bomb Girl Arc was notably the best part about the manga at the point it came out, simply because of how Reze turned things around. She was a morally grey character who was similar to Denji.
Not only the readers, but Tatsuki Fujimoto found himself growing fond of the character. In a special interview at Jump Festa 2022, Fujimoto named Reze (via translations on X) upon being asked about his favorite character. Calling her cute, he expressed how drawing her was like an assignment, a challenge.
Reze. It’s fun to draw her. It’s a challenge for me to draw a cute girl, not in the sense of ‘moving a character’ but as a stand-alone drawing.
Despite the challenge, he was able to convincingly portray the endearing side of her quite well. It was probably the favoritism and the devotion to his craft that made Fujimoto go all out while creating her. But he accepted that he was extremely conscious while crafting her character.
Besides his own vision, he even sought inspiration from Hiroyuki Okiura’s ‘Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade’. He stated that even though its common for him to seek inspiration from others, the influence of Jin-Roh was the most evident.
Of course, I also combined other works that influenced me, but I was most conscious of this one. If you re-read the Reze version with that in mind, you might notice many things about it.
The knowledge of this fact makes the two stories reminiscent of one another. The panels of Reze from the manga in Chapter 44 bear a striking resemblance to the scenes from the movie.
Fujimoto had multiple plans for Reze’s character
Chainsaw Man wasn’t the first time the idea of Reze came about in Fujimoto’s mind. Before Chainsaw Man he was planning to create a story titled ‘Ibuki’ with a character named ‘Reze’ as the protagonist. He often circled around different possibilities in his head. Initially, she was supposed to be a character that Denji falls in love with. With Makima breaking them apart later on. In a sense, we saw a version of this storyline in the manga.
All the different versions and thoughts in his mind beautifully came to fruition as ‘Reze’. While cute is definitely a word that comes to mind at the mention of her, the duality of her character is astounding. In the upcoming movie as her arc gets animated, we’ll get to see her in a new light.
Chainsaw Man is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
