The Early Work Of Chainsaw Man’s Creator Just Got An Anime, And It’s Amazing

While Tatsuki Fujimoto is best known for creating Chainsaw Man, his career started well before its publication. In 2016, for example, Fujimoto published the cult hit Fire Punch, and even before then, he had numerous one-shots published in Shueisha publications, dating back to as early as 17, all of which gradually established him as an author to look out for.

Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shots were eventually collected into a duology titled Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man, and it was recently announced that they would be made into an animated anthology titled Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26. Said anthology is finally out on Amazon Prime, and sure enough, it’s as amazing as one could expect stories from the creator of Chainsaw Man to be.

Chainsaw Man’s Creator Was Always One Of The Weirdest Writers In Anime

If there’s one thing that defines Tatsuki Fujimoto as a writer, it’s his weird and surreal writing style. Many of his stories have absurd premises filled with characters defined by their extreme and otherwise odd personalities, and even moments that are meant to be down-to-earth will be contrasted by an occasionally weird line of dialogue.

That style has defined Chainsaw Man, and 2025’s Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 shows that it began well before then, as well. Aside from Mermaid Rhapsody, which was Fujimoto’s attempt at writing a grounded story, every story in the anthology has the same absurdist writing that’s defined Fujimoto’s career, and it’s just as fun there as it is in his modern work.

If anything, Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 might be even more bizarre than Fujimoto’s modern work; a one-shot needs to grab someone’s attention as quickly as possible with a limited number of pages, so each story takes Fujimoto’s penchant for weirdness even further with his unfiltered takes on romance and the supernatural, all of which translates surprisingly well into animation.

Of course, just like with Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s early work isn’t defined solely by being weird. Amidst all of Fujimoto’s absurdist storytelling is always a genuinely heartfelt story about people living their lives, and between bittersweet tragedies, heartfelt romances, and complicated relationships, Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 has some of the best representations of that, by far.

Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Early Work Destroys Chainsaw Man’s Visuals

Another standout of Tatsuki Fujimo 17-26 is the stellar visuals accompanying every short. Despite how much each short differs in genre, each one has a great combination of fluid animation and all-around creative visuals to highlight the absurdity of their stories, making every one of them great to watch from start to finish.

The anthology’s animation is especially notable when compared to Chainsaw Man; not only are most of the shorts far more creative than season 1, but their incredible animation is just as good as MAPPA’s Chainsaw Man: The Movie — Reze Arc in terms of visuals, if not better, and with how gorgeous a film that was, that’s saying a lot.

That idea can be seen as easily as with the first short, A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin’ in the Schoolyard. That short was the most action-packed short in the anthology, resulting in some truly stunning animation at least on par with the Chainsaw Man movie, and that made it and the entire anthology truly a sight to behold.

Is Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 A Shoe-In For Anime Of The Year?

Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 received a lot of attention by virtue of being from the creator of Chainsaw Man, and suffice to say, it more than lived up to the hype with the strong character-driven writing of each short and the incredible visuals accompanying them from start to finish, especially A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin’ in the Schoolyard.

The fact that Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 came out around the same time as Chainsaw Man: The Movie — Reze Arc helped sell its quality even more; the popularity of the Chainsaw Man movie has made Fujimoto’s brand the biggest its been in years, and that added even more momentum to 17-26 which, in turn, makes it look even better than normal.

The great writing and animation of Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 has made it one of the best short anime a person can watch, and with the momentum of Chainsaw Man backing it, it’s easy to see Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 as an easy contender for anime of the year, and overall, there are few stories that would be better choices.

All 8 Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 Episodes, Ranked From Worst to Best