Waifu Wednesday: Power (Chainsaw Man)
The world of Chainsaw Man is brutal and deadly, but it is also filled with characters that make you care about what happens to them. Power is one of the best of the bunch, with countless moments where she not only exemplifies the themes of the manga but manages to be strangely adorable while doing it. In a setting that can be depressing and overbearing, Power gives the reader much-needed relief.
This week’s Waifu Wednesday is the indomitable spirit of Power, who bursts into every scene with more personality than anyone else in the show.
Who is Power?
Like many of the characters in Chainsaw Man, Power is a devil with superhuman powers that she uses to fight other devils and demons. Her powers stem from her ability to manipulate blood in her body, turning it into a variety of weapons like a giant hammer and a blood spear. Alongside Denji, she is a straightforward fighter, leaving the intricacies of planning and strategy to others around her.
However, it isn’t her physical strength that has earned Power the title of Best Girl in Chainsaw Man. She bursts into every scene in the manga like a force of nature, breaking down doors and demanding that those on the other side kneel before her. Unlike Makima, she is a creature of impulse, living her life from one moment to the next. She doesn’t plan beyond the day she lives in now, and that’s a big part of her charm.
Why we love her
I don’t want to startle anyone, but Chainsaw Man is a highly political anime and manga. Power and Denji exemplify the attitudes of the millennial generation, particularly those in the working class. Their goals are simple because they have been taught by experience that their greater ambitions will be crushed by society’s demands on them. They find joy in the moment because they have been taught that tomorrow is not guaranteed. To Power, planning for the future is a luxury that she can’t afford.
Power knows that she is being manipulated and controlled by the people in charge but is happy to simply survive. Despite this, she proudly declares that she is the greatest and strongest creature in existence at the slightest provocation, a self-affirmation that doesn’t impress anyone but herself. She is, even though she is a devil with powers beyond any normal human, one of the most relatable characters in Chainsaw Man. Power fights to survive, just like the rest of us.
Why you’ll love her
It’s hard to overstate how much Chainsaw Man has to say about the state of the world and how unsubtle it is about it. Power is every young person in the world, stumbling from crisis to crisis with no rest or relief in sight. Her job, which is her only means of survival in a world that was never built for someone like her, is also a death sentence. She just has to go from mission to mission, hoping that today isn’t the day that she meets her end.
The thing that makes Power such a wonderful character is that she isn’t delusional about any of this. She knows everything about her world is corrupt and actively trying to kill her, yet she chooses to live her life with a defiant attitude. The greatest strength of Power isn’t her blood manipulation – it is her ability to endure the world’s evil without letting it break her.
Not caught up on Chainsaw Man? It is already one of the biggest shows of the autumn anime season over on Crunchyroll, but you can also get read the entire manga on the Shonen Jump app.
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