Chainsaw Man‘s manga came to a close in March, and the series’ ending continued a disappointing new-gen trend — one I wish we’d find a way to abandon. It’s no secret that Chainsaw Man is among the biggest recent shonen series, right alongside hits like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. And its popularity started with Tatsuki Fujimoto’s source material, which got off to a strong start in Part 1 but wavered as it approached its finale.
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Sadly, many of the criticisms leveraged at Chainsaw Man‘s manga ending stem from one key problem. It’s an issue that’s plagued other series, too, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, and even Demon Slayer to an extent. In an attempt to speed up the pacing from older shonen series, these titles may have overcorrected. They’d likely have been better off seeking a middle ground rather than rushing through pivotal parts of their stories.
Chainsaw Man Is Being Criticized for Rushing to the Finish Line
Without wading too heavily into spoilers, Chainsaw Man‘s manga upended the series’ timeline in its finale — a twist that worked out for some characters but ignored too many others. And that’s not to mention all the lingering questions that remained, leaving readers with the sense that Chainsaw Man‘s manga could have gone on at least a little longer. At 232 chapters, it’s far from the shortest manga out there. However, its extensive lore and popularity could have produced more. There’s a reason shonen hits like Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece all surpassed 600 chapters. (One Piece broke 1,000 and is still going.)
And Chainsaw Man didn’t need to go to those extremes, but the manga embracing a slightly longer run could have helped it avoid its biggest criticisms. Fans on Reddit and other social-media sites are dubbing it an “abrupt” conclusion. And it wouldn’t feel this way if it had taken more time to wrap up the story’s finer details. Some are holding out hope for another part of Chainsaw Man‘s manga to smooth things over. But as it stands, it feels like the series should have been a bit longer. Sadly, it’s not the only popular new-gen manga to struggle with its pacing and wrap too soon for readers’ liking.
Chainsaw Man Is the Latest New-Gen Manga to Face This Ending Criticism
The discourse surrounding Chainsaw Man‘s ending feels reminiscent of the criticisms aimed at Jujutsu Kaisen‘s. Despite Gege Akutami’s manga having a strong, 271-chapter run, its ending failed to address many of the threads introduced throughout the story. Although the main threat was dealt with, fans were left wondering why JJK hadn’t gone on longer. Like Chainsaw Man, it had the potential for a much lengthier, more thorough lead-up to the conclusion; it simply didn’t capitalize on it as much as fans would have liked.
Despite having one of the stronger conclusions in recent manga history, Demon Slayer‘s manga raised similar discussions upon taking its final bow. The action was incredible, and the ending fit — but the world and character arcs left plenty to explore had Koyoharu Gotouge wanted to continue. And less massive series have faced this issue as well. At 129 chapters, Kaiju No. 8 rushed through a story with an incredible concept, leaving many disappointed with how it played out.
There’s something to be said about properly pacing a story, and knowing when to end it. However, looking at these examples, it seems a lot of manga are jumping the gun on the latter, which doesn’t just hurt their finales. It also makes it hard for any series to achieve a legacy akin to those of anime’s Big Three. I’d argue we need more long-running series, at least when popular stories with massive world-building potential emerge.
These New-Gen Manga Endings Prove We Need More Long-Running Series
Speeding up the pacing of new-gen manga isn’t necessarily a bad trend, but I wish we’d abandon the urgency to get to the finish line. It’s possible to have a well-paced story that fully digs into everything it needs to — and slows down when the time comes to give its characters and world the depth they deserve. If doing so takes a manga beyond the 300-chapter mark, so be it. Not every series needs to be the next One Piece, but manga like Chainsaw Man highlight what’s lost with shorter, quicker storytelling. It’s not worth it to leave so much on the table, especially for series as popular as this one.
Do you think new-gen manga need longer runs? Leave a comment and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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