Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories Novel

 In these exclusive tales that won't be found in the manga, author Sakaku Hishikawa explores the lives and (mis)adventures of the many heroes from Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man: Power takes on the role of the master detective from her favorite anime…despite having all of the intelligence and insight as, well, Power; the disgruntled Kishibe and the mysterious Quanxi explore their tumultuous relationship.

Even while both have been tasked with introducing a newcomer to the world of devil hunting; Aki reminisces on the very first mission he ever took with his mentor, Himeno; and the Chainsaw Man himself, Denji, reflects on the dream vacation he'd always wanted to take with Ms. Makima and his new friends…

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I'll admit, I was worried about whether or not the inherently cinematic and bizarre aesthetic of the Chainsaw Man manga would translate into prose form. Tatsuki Fujimoto's meticulous and deceptively roughshod artwork is a huge part of what makes the manga work so well, after all. Thankfully, I only needed to read a few pages of Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories to assuage my fears.

 Author Sakaku Hishikawa is more than capable of capturing the manga's madcap tone and the endearing and, er, unique quirks of the character's voices, all of which are translated into English very well by Kevin Steinbach. The prose struggles a bit when it comes to capturing the more horrific and action-oriented elements of the Chainsaw Man aesthetic, but with a title like Buddy Stories, the book at least makes it clear that we're here first and foremost for the vibes, which means that it can still play to CSM's greatest strengths. Plus, Fujimoto himself contributed a handful of nice, original illustrations for the book, which lends it a further air of authenticity.

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