Chainsaw Man will bring season one to a close soon, and of course, all eyes are on Denji ahead of the finale. If you did not know, episode 12 will close the anime, and this week’s episode set up a wild fight for our heroes. The Future Devil has made their big debut, but rather than focus on its powers, it seems fans are honing in on one of the devil’s controversial lines.
For those who haven’t caught on to the drama, here’s an explainer. The whole thing got started this week when the Future Devil made their debut, and they told our heroes the future is the best more or less. This line is straightforward, but it has a lot of weight to it in Brazil of all places.
Videos by ComicBook.com
After all, Chainsaw Man is huge in South America, and Brazilian fans turned the Future Devil’s line into a meme years ago. Back in the day before official translations were in, a popular fan translation tackled the manga’s take on this devil. When the fan translation reached this chapter, it turned the Future Devil’s line into “future é pica” as it loosely translates to the future is awesome. The slang terminology by itself was fine by fans even if its tone did not match that of Fujimoto’s original text. But later on, the line became controversial as the fan translation of Chainsaw Man began using derogatory jokes. A slew of homophobic and transphobic lines was added to the manga, and well – it gave the whole translation a bad name aside from it being unofficial.
READ MORE: Chainsaw Man Confirms Season Finale Release Date
The situation mostly blew over in Brazil and online until this week’s episode of Chainsaw Man went live. The update covers this line by the Future Devil, and as expected, Crunchyroll’s Portuguese subtitles use a different translation from the fan-made one. However, there is a reference to the controversial line in the subtitle coding. Brazilian fans did digging on the website using Inspect Element, and it is there code can be found referencing “future é pica”.
Now, the situation has prompted debate among fans online, and it is all about translation validity. As manga and anime grow globally, fans are always going to want the most accurate translations possible. Chainsaw Man is now experiencing that issue firsthand. But when it comes to which of these lines you prefer, well – that comes down to you and you alone.
What do you make of this Chainsaw Man controversy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
