Chainsaw Man season 2 is announced — and I'm hyped and terrified at the same time
MAPPA confirmed Chainsaw Man season 2 'Assassins Arc' at Jump Festa 2026. Here's what I want, and here's why I'm still nervous.
In December 2025, at Jump Festa 2026, MAPPA officially announced Chainsaw Man Season 2 — Assassins Arc. Key visual: Denji bound by intestines (so very Fujimoto). Short teaser, no release date.
And as a fan — I read the manga through the current part 2 (Asa Mitaka POV), watched season 1 three times, cried at the Reze Arc film — my immediate reaction was: simultaneously jumping up screaming and quietly worried.
This post is the rambling of a Chainsaw Man fan from the days Denji was still living with Pochita, written for both anime and manga fans: why season 2 is what we need, and why it’s also the biggest risk MAPPA has ever faced.
What’s happened so far
For anyone just rejoining the series:
- Anime season 1 (2022): 12 episodes, MAPPA, adapting chapters 1–38 of the manga (ends right before Reze appears). Reception split — animation was peak, but the OP/ED changed every episode and the pacing felt slow compared to manga reader expectations. Ratings didn’t hit Demon Slayer or JJK numbers.
- Reze Arc (film, 2024): adapts chapters 39–52, won fans back. Box office solid, animation peak. The Reze + Denji barge scene is heartbreakingly beautiful.
- Season 2 (2026/2027? — TBD): announced at Jump Festa 2026, will adapt the International Assassins Arc (chapters 53–70). This is the arc where Denji faces a wave of international assassins coming to Japan to hunt his Chainsaw Heart.
Why Assassins Arc is the key
Reze Arc was good — but it didn’t show the scale of the series. Reze was one enemy. Assassins Arc is different: it’s multiple countries, multiple cursed devils, multiple assassins showing up at once, fighting each other, with Denji as the shared target.
In the manga, this is the arc:
- Quanxi (a young Chinese devil hunter) shows up — one of the most beloved characters in the series.
- Santa Claus — assassin with a “Santa Claus” cursed power that’s exactly the nightmare fuel it sounds like.
- The Cosmos Devil reduces Beam to muttering random words about cosmos forever.
- Most importantly: this is the last hurrah of Aki + Power + Denji as a trio — three characters built up since chapter 1 peak emotionally here, before manga part 2 shifts the entire POV to Asa.
Manga fans call this “the one MAPPA cannot mess up.” It’s short (only 18 chapters), dense in action, dense in emotion, and it pays off every setup from season 1.
What I’m most worried about
1. MAPPA’s schedule is overloaded
MAPPA is currently producing:
- Jujutsu Kaisen Culling Game film trilogy
- Attack on Titan: Tales of the Junior High spinoff (?)
- Several smaller projects
Animator burnout has been a public topic since JJK season 2. MAPPA was directly interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter and Anime News Network about its work culture.
Throwing Chainsaw Man season 2 into the current production load = frame-quality risk without enough lead time. Independent animator analyses on YouTube suggest season 2 is 2027 at the earliest — I’d bet 2027 Q3 or Q4.
2. Nakayama Ryū hasn’t been confirmed as director
Nakayama Ryū directed season 1 (and the Reze film) — and he’s the reason the anime has a different visual identity: dark, gritty, framing borrowed from noir film instead of standard shōnen anime. If he doesn’t return to direct season 2 (for whatever reason), the series identity could get lost.
As of writing, MAPPA hasn’t announced a director. That’s the first thing I check whenever updates drop.
3. Will 12-episode pacing fit 18 manga chapters?
Reze got the film treatment because “12 anime episodes would dilute the pacing.” That was the right call — a 2-hour film paced those 14 chapters perfectly. But Assassins Arc is 18 chapters, dense with characters, with multi-front fights. If it also gets compressed into a film, Quanxi and crew could lose screen time.
My ideal format: 2 cours (24 episodes) or 1 cour + 1 film. If MAPPA only does 12 episodes like season 1 — they’ll have to cut, and I’ll be sad.
What I trust will hold
To balance the worries, there’s plenty I do trust:
1. Fujimoto’s writing will still be weird
Tatsuki Fujimoto is one of those mangaka you can’t blend into anything else. His pacing breaks shōnen rules, characters die unexpectedly, comedy sits next to trauma without explanation. Assassins Arc has gore scenes + slapstick comedy + family drama scenes back-to-back without transition — and it works.
If MAPPA just preserves that rhythm (without trying to “fix” it into a standard shōnen), 70% of the work is done.
2. The voice cast is solid
Toda Kikunosuke (Denji), Tomori Kusunoki (Power), Sakuma Shōgo (Aki) — all great from season 1. Power’s voice is especially iconic. If the cast holds (as it did with the Reze film), half the soul of the series is preserved.
3. Kensuke Ushio’s soundtrack
Ushio’s score for season 1 is one of the best-of-decade anime OSTs. “CHAINSAW BLOOD,” the track underscoring Denji’s transformation — it’s iconic. If Ushio returns, the audio identity is locked.
Advice for manga fans waiting
Re-read chapters 53–70 starting now. When season 2 drops (even in 2027), you’ll want to remember who’s who, who allied with whom, who dies when. Character density in this arc is high — the Quanxi crew alone is 5 people, plus Reze fan-arc material, plus US assassins, plus former-Soviet assassins. Re-reading sets up clean onboarding when the anime drops.
And rewatch the Reze film before season 2 lands, since it immediately precedes — several plot points connect directly.
Advice for anime fans who haven’t read the manga
Don’t read ahead if you want to keep the surprise. But if you can’t wait (it’s been 4 years since season 1, could be 1–2 more) — read the manga. Chapters 53–70 can be done in a single evening. Then keep reading part 1 to its end (chapter 97), then come back and wait for the anime to adapt that in 2030.
(Joking. I’m hoping for 2029, actually.)
Final word
Chainsaw Man season 1 wasn’t perfect, but it was one of the most ambitious adaptations of the decade. MAPPA proved with the Reze film they understand the series. The remaining questions: schedule, director, format — three question marks deciding whether Assassins Arc becomes the defining anime moment of the decade or not.
I’d put it 60/40 it succeeds. Needs MAPPA to be sober + give animators time + keep Nakayama. Not easy for current-MAPPA — but possible.
While I wait, I’m rereading the Quanxi vs Denji chapter. Quanxi is too good.