Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guest Graham Day, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.
This week, Tatsuya Yoshihara’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc.
Denji is a Japanese teenager with the ability to turn himself into a human chainsaw. He has been hired by Public Safety to hunt down demons. However, a chance encounter with a beautiful young coffee shop worker named Reze has the potential to completely alter the trajectory of Denji’s life, teaching him the true value of love.
At time of recording, it was ranked 234th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show Notes:
- Recorded 1st March 2026.
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc at The Internet Movie Database.
- Read Graham’s reviews at Scannain.
- Hear Graham on Speaking Geek.
- Read Graham’s guide to Irish Gaming at Gameir.
- Follow Graham on Twitter.
- Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline reports on the success of Chainsaw Man at the global box office, October 2025.
- Rebecca Rubin at Variety reports on the surprise success of Chainsaw Man at the American box office, October 2025.
- Charles Gant at Screen Daily reports on Chainsaw Man leading the global box office, November 2025.
- Ayaan Paul at Daily O reports on the hospitalisation of an animator working at MAPPA, November 2023.
- Lynzee Loveridge at Anime News Network reports on animators describing working conditions at MAPPA, May 2021.
- A.R. Madillo at Anime Hunch considers the reputation of MAPPA within the anime industry, February 2025.
- Johan Lindqvist at Dalarna University considers the role of seniority in Japanese office culture, June 2025.
- Jawana Kamal at The University of Alabama at Birmingham considers the work culture in Japan, November 2024.
- Bill McGarvey at America Magazine considers the pressures and stress placed upon young people in Japan, June 2014.
- NHK World reports on the record suicide rates among Japanese students, January 2026.
- Yuki Kawano at The Asahi Shimbun reports on the general decline of suicide in Japan, except among schoolchildren, February 2026.
- Max Kim at The New York Times considers the pressures placed upon children in South Korea, February 2026.
- Casey Hall at Reuters considers the Chinese concept of “involution”, September 2025.
- Alix Spiegel at NPR considers the western obsession with East Asian teaching methods, November 2012.
- The Straits Times reports on Korean adults explaining why they are not having children, November 2024.
- Debopriyaa Dutta at Polygon considers Yoko Taro’s upcoming reboot of Neon Genesis Evangelion, February 2026.
- Lucia Santaolalla at The Westwood Horizon reports on MAPPA taking over animation of Attack on Titan, February 2021.
- Alex Garland talks to Polygon about his affection for Attack on Titan, May 2022.
- Debopriyaa Dutta at Polygon considers MAPPA’s work on Jujutsu Kaisen, March 2026.
- Glenn Kenny at The New York Times reports on Crunchyroll’s cultivation of a fanbase and community, August 2017.
- Ryan Faughnder at The Los Angeles Times considers Sony’s investment in Crunchyroll, March 2022.
- Samantha Masunaga at The Los Angeles Times considers anime’s recent breakout moment, September 2025.
- Joshua Hunt at The New York Times reports how anime took over American popular culture, September 2025.
- Rahul Purini talks to The Hollywood Reporter about Crunchyroll’s breakout year, September 2025.
- Jeremy Kay at Screen Daily reports on Sony taking over the American release of Scarlet, August 2025.
- Kaare Eriksen at Luminate Data points to Sony’s anime release strategy as a bright spot for the company, September 2025.
- Pierre Perifel talks to Coming Soon about the influence of anime on The Bad Guys, June 2022.
- Joel Crawford talks to /Film about the influence of anime on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, June 2022.
- Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans talk to Animation Magazine about making KPop Demon Hunters, May-June 2025.
- Rebecca Rubin and Naman Ramachandran at Variety consider the box office success of Ne Zha 2, February 2025.
- Jenny G. Zhang at Slate considers the panic over Ne Zha 2, August 2025.
- Tom McBrearty at Vext Magazine argues that the box office success of Ne Zha 2 is a lie, December 2025.
- Salvatore Babones at The National Interest argues that China has a history of lying about its economy, March 2020.
- Brooks Barnes at The New York Times reports on the massive financial success of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, September 2025.
- Isaac Rouse at Polygon reports on Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle outgrossing Superman and therefore any superhero film at the year’s box office, October 2025.
- Patrick Brzeski at The Hollywood Reporter reports on Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle surpassing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the American box office, November 2025.
- CBBC reports on Ash Ketchum finally becoming a Pokémon master, September 2019.
- Harmeet Kaur at CNN reports on Ash Ketchum finally becoming the very best, September 2019.
- Saturo Saito at Rutgers reports on manga outselling comic books in America, December 2019.
- James McCurtis at The Daily Iowan considers the shift away from comic books towards manga in the American market place, October 2024.
- Darren Mooney at Second Wind considers how anime is filling a niche for kids that superhero media has vacated, March 2026.
- Rafael Motamayor at Vulture reports on MAPPA’s decision to handle the animation of Chainsaw Man entirely in-house, October 2025.
- Geoffrey Cain at Time reports on the relationship between The Simpsons and South Korean animation studios, October 2010.
- Eric Pfanner at The New York Times considers the outsourcing of Illumination’s animation to Mac Guff Ligne, July 2010.
- The Los Angeles Times reports on Universal’s acquisition of French animation studio Mac Guff Ligne for Illumination, November 2011.
- Kevin Cirugeda at Sakugo Blog writes about the production of the Chainsaw Man anime series, October 2022.
- Ryo-Timo talks to Full Frontal about the “webgen” movement within anime, December 2023.
- Kim Morrissy at Anime News Network reports on the debates within the anime industry over the “webgen” movement, March 2019.
- Matteo Wattzky at Anemétudes considers the “webgen” influence on anime, August 2021.
- Naledi Ramphle at GameRant considers the history of Dragonball AF, February 2025.
- Mark Julian at AnimeMojo reports on Toyotarou being named by Akira Toriya as his successor, June 2025.
- Adam Wescott at /Film reports on why the producers of the Chainsaw Man anime wanted a first-time director for the show, January 2023.
- Brett Cardaro at Comic Book Resources considers the changes made from the show to the film to appease Chainsaw Man fans, October 2025.
- Character designer Kazutaka Sugiyama explains on Twitter that there were changes made to the look of the Chainsaw Man film to more closely resemble the manga, March 2025.
- Kevin Cirugeda at Sakugo Blog considers the production and development of Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, January 2026.
- Joshua Mackey at Nerdist considers the relationship between anime and its Black fans, May 2021.
- Method Man talks to Forbes about his love of comic books, December 2020.
- Aaron McGruder talks to UGO about The Boondocks, October 2007.
- Darren Mooney at Second Wind considers the capitalist body horror of Chainsaw Man, March 2026.
- Isaac Rouse at Polygon considers Attack on Titan and Chainsaw Man as commentaries on modern masculinity, October 2025.
- Jackson P. Brown at Jackson P. Brown considers Chainsaw Man as a meditation on capitalism and alienation, January 2023.
- Nick Creamer at Wrong Every Time considers the late capitalist dystopia of Chainsaw Man, August 2022.
- Cameron Summers at Broken Hands Media considers the postmodern late capitalism of Chainsaw Man, January 2025.
- In Japan: A Reinterpretation, Patrick Smith considers the nation’s complicated relationship to the idea of individualism, 1997.
- Evan Robins at Trent Arthur reflects on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s love of movies, November 2025.
- Rudraa Abirami Sudarshan at Rolling Stone India reflects on the influence of movies upon the development of Chainsaw Man, October 2022.
- Tyler Erzberger at Newsweek reflects on the ending of the Chainsaw Man manga, March 2026.
- Brett Cardaro at Comic Book Resources reports on the fan controversy around the ending of Chainsaw Man, March 2026.
- Gavin McDowell at the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture considers the “exoticisation” of Christianity in Japanese pop culture, February 2026.
- David Mikkelson at Snopes reports on the urban legend that Japanese store placed Santa Claus on a crucifix, October 1999.
- Will Gottsegen considers Clavicular for The Atlantic, March 2026.
- Francis Fukuyama considers the end of history in The National Interest, Summer 1989.
- Kurt Anderson argues at Vanity Fair that fashion and culture never truly moved past the nineties, January 2012.
- Kurt Andersen argues at Lit Hub that the nineties never ended, August 2020.
- Gail Simone discusses the history and origin of the term “fridging” with ComicsAlliance, December 2014.
- Naman Ramachandran at Variety reports on the restoration of the anime Akira, June 2025.
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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: anime film, audience preferences, box office results, Chainsaw Man, character arcs, cultural significance, gender representation, graham day, imdb, MAPPA, podcast, Reza Arc, societal challenges, storytelling, The 250, themes |
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