Summary

• Aki encourages Denji to think more seriously about his goals and helps him become more accustomed to social norms.
• Aki taught Denji how to deal with people, while Denji taught Aki how to respect and understand demons.
• Aki and Denji learned and grew together as friends, something they both needed to overcome the traumas of their past.

Chainsaw man It wouldn’t be the first anime to introduce the student-mentor dynamic between its characters. However, it contains one of the most interesting applications of the trope. As the protagonist, Denji is known for breaking many of the conventions inherent in other shonen series, so it’s only fitting that his mentor, Aki, also needs to diverge from the status quo. Even though Aki and Denji are far from the norm when it comes to anime mentorships, Aki is as good a teacher as any in shonen.

He's far from a perfect person, but these flaws only make him a better choice for Denji, who would certainly have a hard time learning to be a Shinobi from Kakashi, or studying martial arts from Master Roshi. In fact, Aki is the wisest teacher of all, because he learns as much from Denji as Denji does from him. A great mentor is not just one who passes on their knowledge to their student, but one who grows alongside them; and few mentors in anime history have exemplified this dynamic as well as Aki.

Aki made Denji rethink his goals

Denji's dreams were juvenile and selfish, but Aki helped him see the bigger picture.

“Everyone takes this seriously except you.”

Denji's childhood was tragic. He grew up extremely poor, with no parental guidance and no friends or loved ones to care for him. He was forced to fend for himself from a young age, and the only person who stood by his side was Pochita, a Devil. In fact, Denji has always had a more negative relationship with people than he has with Devils, which is probably why he is much more accepting of them than the average person.

Denji's only interaction with other people for much of his upbringing was with the Yakuza, who used him to pay off his father's debt to them. Denji never attended school, never had any money of his own, and barely had the bare minimum to survive. This kept him completely ostracized from society, lacking even a basic education, much less an understanding of interpersonal etiquette. This made Denji someone who was easily taken advantage of and had no goals or values of his own. Denji's only driving forces were having food to eat and a place to sleep, and nothing he had to do to achieve those goals was off limits.

All of this began to change almost immediately after meeting Aki. Although Aki never taught Denji any formal lessons with the intention of guiding him, Aki's mere presence in Denji's life made Denji begin to question things he had always taken for granted.. Aki and Denji's fight in the alley was the first time Denji had to outwardly rationalize his motivations to another person in order to prove himself worthy of Aki. Later, Aki once again challenges Denji when the latter kills a Demon with an axe to spare him the pain.

Aki reminded Denji that there were people fighting for their families to kill demons, and that this was bigger than just their selfish desire for luxury. Although Denji responded negatively to this idea at first, acting as if Aki didn't know what she was talking about, it was an idea that clearly had an effect on him. This was best demonstrated during his fight with the Leech Devil. When Denji expressed his desire to save Power just to touch her breasts, even the Leech Devil told Denji that it was a stupid dream.

Her response to his motivation instantly provoked anger in Denji due to his previous interactions with Aki. This led Denji to declare that he and the Bloodsucker Devil should have a "dream battle": whoever kills the other proves that they have more determination, thus proving that their dream was the stronger one. Unfortunately, Denji was completely outmatched by the Bloodsucker Devil, proving that his love for the Bat Devil was stronger than Denji's desire to "touch breasts".

This would not be the final word on the matter, however. Instead, it would be Aki who would swoop in to kill Leech and rescue Denji in the end, inadvertently making him the true victor of the “dream battle.” Denji’s dreams at this point were undeniably youthful, but the fact that he had begun to seriously think about what his dreams might be was a major problem for him. Denji never had any distinct moment of epiphany, but he slowly showed signs that he was thinking more and more deeply about his personal goals and dreams, and his early interactions with Aki were the most obvious spark for this change.

Aki was strongly acclimated to the world that Denji was excluded from.

Denji always knew how to take care of himself, but Aki taught him the importance of self-care.

In addition to making Denji think critically about his own motivations, another important way in which Aki contributed to Denji's personal growth was by teaching him the basic principles of fitting into society. Being alone, without meaningful human interaction for much of his childhood, Denji had to essentially relearn how to be a normal person. Aki gave Denji a family, a place to come back to, and home-cooked meals.. These things were the most important lessons any mentor could teach Denji, because they allowed him to learn to trust and rely on people.

Interestingly, just as Aki taught Denji to believe in humanity, Denji taught Aki to believe in demons. Like Denji, Aki also lost his family when he was young. Rather than their deaths being caused by the hand of a human, however, they were caused by the power of a Demon: specifically, the Armed Demon. Aki was then taken in by Public Security and lived most of his life as a member of human society as a Demon Slayer. Although Aki owed his life to Makima, he also developed other relationships with people, such as his fellow Public Security officers, and Himeno in particular.

On the other hand, the loss of his family led Aki to develop an intense hatred for the Gun Devil, making it his life's goal to kill the Gun Devil, and all Devils who like him, no matter what. Although Aki despised Devils before meeting Denji and Power, towards the end of his life, he had no qualms about admitting that he cared deeply for both of them. In a way, Aki found that he identified with Devils, because although he grew up closer to humanity than Denji, he was still a loner who didn't fit in very well.

Denji has protected Aki more than once, but no event has been more important to their bond than when Denji captured Katana Man. Aki and Denji's iconic "nut-throwing contest" is famous for its ridiculousness, but it's also an emotionally powerful moment. It shows how Denji is able to pull Aki out of her cage, thus showing that Aki even gained a certain respect for Denji in that moment. Aki wouldn't step out of her comfort zone like that for anyone.

“See, he shot Himeno… so I guess we can shoot him.”

After all, the only reason he started smoking was because of Himeno's influence. Likewise, Aki only got his ears pierced because Himeno encouraged him to. Convincing him to get a piercing is hard enough, so for Aki to change his entire perspective on something as central to his life as killing demons is no easy feat. Of course, changing Aki's entire view of Devils wasn't something Denji did entirely on his own—Angel, Galgalgi, and Power all had big roles to play in it, too—but Denji was the person who most directly challenged Aki's perception of what a Devil should be.asand how they should be treated.

It wasn't just that Aki had become more accustomed to the Devils thanks to Denji; the reverse could also be said of Denji's relationship with human society. The biggest factor in Denji learning any sort of manners or social etiquette was due to the time he spent with Aki. The most obvious indication of Denji's complete turnaround occurred immediately after Makima's death. After Denji killed Makima, his way of ensuring that she wouldn't revive was to eat her, and Denji chose to do this by cooking her into various meals to make her more palatable.

Notably, the one who always cooked for Denji was Aki, because Denji and Power were notoriously bad cooks when they first moved in with Aki. The fact that Denji was able to cook several dishes with “Makima meat” shows that he has truly undergone a dramatic change from his previous life. In Chapter 165 of Chainsaw man, Denji even reveals that he used to eat toilet paper to survive, and fans are well aware of his penchant for “swallowing anything with nutritional value.” Denji has come a long way since eating toilet paper and vomit, and Aki is definitely the one Denji has to thank for that.

Aki understood Denji because of his past

Sometimes experience is the best teacher

Although Aki and Denji's early lives took dramatically different directions, aspects of their childhoods were similar because they both lost their families at a young age. Part of the reason Aki is the best person to guide Denji is because he understands him after having to grow up without his family as well. In fact, although neither of them realizes it, Both Denji and Aki feel extreme guilt over the loss of their families, which is a defining factor in who they both become as people..

Aki blames himself for his brother's death and ultimately feels survivor's guilt for being the only member of his family to survive the Gun Devil's attack. Similarly, Denji killed his own father to protect himself from one of his father's drunken tirades, leaving him alone and without a father to guide him. As someone who lived as a member of the society that Denji was ostracized from, Aki serves as the parental figure that Denji never had, keeping him in line and even scolding him when necessary.

Aki is a person with a strong sense of justice and an unwavering belief in his personal values, and this is the complete opposite of what Denji is. While Aki may be too unwavering, this contrasts perfectly with Denji, who is willing to waver in any direction without a second thought. This naturally leads to conflict between the two, and their constant bickering ends up forcing them to eventually meet somewhere in the middle, which is the perfect place for both of them.

Aki tirelessly puts others before himself, and it gets to the point where most of his decisions are detrimental to his own well-being. Conversely, Denji does practically everything for his own well-being, and even the things he does for other people are only because they align with his selfish goal. By constantly challenging each other whenever they lean too far in one direction, both Aki and Denji pulled each other back to reality.

Denji was also Aki's mentor, in a way.

Aki learned from Denji as much as Denji learned from him.

Although Aki was able to understand Denji because of the similarity of the traumas they faced, Denji and Aki were also, in many ways, opposites of each other. Their opposing dispositions caused conflict at the beginning of their relationship, but also ended up benefiting both of them in the end. Both Denji and Aki were able to show each other another aspect of life that they had always missed.but it took some time for each of them to be able to open up to this possibility.

Aki and Denji's conflicted relationship was best summed up in their first and last moments together. The first time Denji and Aki met, they fought, leaving Aki more injured than Denji due to Denji's nature as a Devil Hybrid (not to mention his particularly vicious fighting technique). When reporting to Makima, Aki was forced to lean on Denji despite being beaten by him - this is exactly the kind of relationship Aki and Denji would always have.

Despite Denji being more trouble than he's worth, Aki found himself leaning on Denji out of necessity, though he never intended to. For Denji's part, he never planned or purposefully intended to be friends with Aki; it simply happened organically for him. Just as he naturally helped Aki get back on his feet after beating him up on their first meeting, Denji served as a distraction from Aki's loneliness, giving him the one thing he always needed but never wanted: someone by his side.

Even when Aki had hit Denji to push him away the first time they met, Denji had fought back, not for Aki's sake, but because it was what he wanted. Ultimately, that was what Aki needed more than anything. If Denji had intended to be by Aki's side on purpose, it's likely he would have refused and pushed him away even further. It was only because Denji was forcefully pushed on him that he was able to accept him.

This dynamic was explained perfectly by Aki in the last moment shared between him and Denji before Aki became the Gun Fiend. Denji and Power accompanied Aki on a trip to see his family's grave; a trip that was always emotional for him. This time, however, Denji and Power were such a nuisance to Aki that he never got the chance to focus on his sadness.

As Aki said, “Every year when I went to visit their graves, I remembered nothing but bad things about it.” Aki had always been someone who spent a lot of time inside his own head. Since Denji was someone who was so willing to expose himself, just spending time around him helped bring Aki out of his shell.

Aki was the best mentor for Denji because he wasn't a mentor

Denji needed a mentor, Aki gave him a friend

Aki was the perfect mentor and guide for Denji, but it wasn't just a one-way street. Denji also taught Aki valuable lessons that inspired a remarkable change in him by the end of CSM Part 1. In addition to freeing Aki from his loneliness and distracting him from his depression, Denji changed Aki by teaching him to respect demons as he would other people.

It may very well be that the reason Aki was such a great mentor to Denji is that he wasn't really a mentor, but rather a friend. What Denji needed more than anything was another human being to care for him and protect him.and Aki doing that was enough to teach Denji everything he needed to know about being a good person.