Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo

I feel like the majority of people who read this manga go in expecting something that this manga is not. I feel like they expect this manga to take itself seriously because of the (rather mild) gore scenes. Please don't read Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo expecting a serious story! This manga isn't quite a parody, but it is a manga that I consider to be comical. I feel like that was the intention of the mangaka; just to make something that - despite bloody murder - is humorous and lighthearted.

STORY (6):
Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo is a short manga revolving around Kirisaki Fumio, a quiet girl with a wild imagination and love for books. The manga is told from Fumio's perspective, and because of her imagination and inner-dialogue, makes the plot simple yet funny. As short as this manga is, the story tells in a way that doesn't seem rushed, as everything is set out at a smooth pace.

Despite the few and light gore scenes, Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo is anything but horror and really doesn't treat such scenes seriously. It doesn't treat anything seriously, actually. This manga focuses less on its plot and more on its protagonist and its audience. It follows Fumio with a bright spotlight; her actions, her thoughts, and her relationship with other characters, make up most of this nonsensical yet fun and silly story.

ART (7):
Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo's art is crisp, clean, and nice. The characters are easily distinguishable, and their designs aren't bad, either. Down to the smallest detail, the art for this manga is pretty nice and pleasantly simple. The anatomy of the characters is fine and mostly realistic. The backgrounds aren't eye-catching, but they aren't messy and cramped. The panels are easy to follow, so this manga makes an uncomplicated read art-wise.

CHARACTER (6):
Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo has a small cast of characters; reading through the manga, you'll probably notice that the only characters whose thoughts and personality are focused on, are Fumio and her friend, Kaoruko. We get to know little to nothing of the other characters, but I don't think that is a necessarily bad thing, as Fumio and Kauroko take up most of the manga.

ENJOYMENT (8):
For me, this manga was unique and fun. At its end, I found myself happy with reading it and puzzled as to why it has such a negative feedback. Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo is a whimsical, enjoyable, and memorable read, and I would suggest it to anyone looking for a short but sweet, comical manga.

OVERALL (7):
Overall, I think Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo is worth a read, and undeserving of its low rating.

Interesting manga.
This is a very surreal manga, right from the start, with a psychic friend telling the main character (Fumio) they were linked to the past. This part was not properly explained.

Gore, horror, tons of unexplained stuff, action scenes similar to Highschool of the Dead (beginning few chapters, remember?).

Story:5
The story started off weird, with a psychic friend. Then a transfer student came and something strange happened with Fumio's bf. Then The psychic friend (Kaoruko) foretold that something was weird with the transfer student. Then Kaoruko became strange as well. Lol.

What was surprising too was the decision to cut down her bf in school. Lol. With a chainsaw. Not to mention it being quirky, it's extremely noticeable. Then the ppl at school act strange too and approach her, cut down etc etc.

The ending was perhaps the most confusing. Not only was stuff she did resolved (WOOT! She didn't really commit a crime! LOL.), it turned into some sci-fi alien abduction and the girl seems to have found her destiny. It was originally a love-bf-turned-hate-turned-violent story before the ending part in chapter 6. But strangely, the ending seemed to be partially fitting with Kaoruko's predictions about the transfer student.

Art:6
Action scenes were sorta messy, with the blood everywhere. Impressive bloody scenes with a lot of impact, btu would be better if the people been killed had acted a bit more unwilling to rest in peace. Lol.

Some scenes were un-understandable.

Character:4
Possibly one of the most confusing character cast in history.
Kaoruko apparently has a "higher voice" coming to her, and Fumio and her uses radio waves to search for them. Lol. I would think it is psychic ability. Not explained.
Fumio was strange, at first she seems mild, but after she lost her friend and bf she turned very "martial", very atheletic lol. Using a chainsaw requires a lot of strength and stamina, didn't think she looked like it.
The transfer student, apparently an alien or something, is totally mysterious. She has multiple abilities, all unexplained.

In short, the characters were all very strange. And what about "reincarnation" and 'protecting him from an assassin'? Totally have no idea what the scenes involving those words meant.

Enjoyment:3
Simply horrible. Started off with strange melodrama. Then horrific massacre. Then ending. Which was totally "Dude, WTH?!".

Overall:5
God, wished I hadn't picked up this manga. I feel worse than I felt before I read this. Partially confused, partially horrified, and totally stunned/fazed.
@_@ Will there be a sequel? Wanna know what the "outside world" in the manga meant.

Any opinions about this manga or review? Pls write on my panel, need excitement >_

I was a little disappointed by the story behind this manga which had actually started out so very well. A story about a jilted girl with a chainsaw at school instantly gravitated me towards the manga and while I thought I could figure out how it would end, I was wrong. Usually I would say an unpredictable ending is a good thing and yet in this case, the ending felt disjointed and out of place as though two different people had written separate halves of the story and then stuck them together at the last night.

Story - 4/10

The story behind this manga is probably the real weak point. It started out very well - a girl and her boyfriend and she has a bestfriend who is connected to her soul. Considering that I have read a lot of Higurashi manga, I was excited by this concept and looking forward to the dramatic creepy and gory "slasher" parts but I felt that the plot got lost in itself when it decided to follow a road of aliens.

I think the story may have actually be -more- successful without the strange sci-fi element where the beginning was very enjoyable and was building up so well.

Art - 8/10

The art was well done and it was easy to differentiate between the characters. The bloody-gore scenes were done well but weren't as horrific as maybe they could have been.

Character 6/10

I felt that the characters were the strongest part and I wish they had focused a bit more on them. I particularly loved the best-friend connection between the two girls who had been in past lives together. I felt they could have built on that even more and used it to further the plot as it would have made for a very interesting ending.
The main protagonist perhaps needed a bit more of a thought process to build up to slaughter-time but all in all, she wasn't a terrible character in the end.

Enjoyment - 5/10

Despite it's flaws, I did enjoy reading Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo and read it all in one sitting as it was short. It did feel a little rushed in places and the manga might have benefited from more of a build up and more evidence of the main character's jealously as her decision to get the chainsaw out seemed a little out of the blue when related to her personality.

Overall 5/10

Part of me wonders if this manga was written to satire other manga of its kind. To sort of say 'Hey here's a normal story and now for something completely unrelated...' It doesn't live up to other horror/gore/slasher manga of its kind. However, if it indeed -was- satire, it made it's point well.

Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo is about a girl who got bumped by her boyfriend and then decides to commit a massacre in her school in order to kill him. And she will use a chainsaw to do so.
It’s pretty much like Columbine but with a chainsaw.

What bothered me with the story is that, Saitama didn’t have a real strong reason to commit such massacre.
Of course she’s shy and doesn’t have a lot of friends. But still I don’t think that justified such massacre and I was expecting some revelations about an obscure past or something like this.

This said, others characters attitude were really… strange.
I mean nobody’s scared when they saw a girl covered with blood and with a chainsaw. And all they do is to complain about how dirty her shoes are or fighting her like if they were zombies.
They’re really not taking things seriously and it’s really not like they’re scared of being killed.
It’s completely unrealistic but is it bad? It really gives a funny, horrifying and quite demented atmosphere which is what I expected from a manga like this.

The students really represent an obstacle for her and her determination is challenged.
Also her relation with her best friend is really well developed and challenged as well.

The art is really nice, there’s some blood and gore but not excessively.
The fights are really well done and quite entertaining.

Overall it was really a nice manga if you like this kind of horror story with people turning all psychotic.
I’m just a little bit disappointed because we didn’t have a lot of revelation about Saitama but it still good anyway.