A talk show featuring the production staff of the film version of Chainsaw Man, Reze Arc, based on the popular manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, was held at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo) on January 31st, with Director Tatsuya Yoshihara, Assistant Director Masato Nakazono, and Music Director Kensuke Ushio appearing. They spoke about the behind-the-scenes of the production.
Ushio, who was in charge of the music for the TV anime that aired from October to December 2022, explained about the music for the "Reze" arc, "In the case of movies, it's called film scoring, which means creating music to match the visuals. Of course, it's important to create a song that fits the length perfectly, but the viewing environment is also very important. For example, you can't hear the violin in the scene at the end where Reze is on the beach on TV. We use a technique called sul ponticello, but it's a very delicate sound, so you can only hear it in a place like a movie theater. In a theater, it's quiet, you can concentrate, and you can listen on good speakers, so you can use everything from delicate sounds to loud sounds. That's what makes it different from a TV anime."
"Especially with regards to the Reze story, I heard early on that it would be made into a theatrical production, so I had been thinking about using an orchestra. With an orchestra, you can use all sounds, from small to large, so I had that in mind from the beginning. This worked particularly well in the pool scene with Reze and Denji, and it was fun to work on," he recalled.
Another memorable musical theme is "Jane Slept in the Church," a Russian song sung by Reze in the film. In the original story, episode 43, only the lyrics were included. Ushio explained the production process: "First of all, I don't understand Russian, so I didn't know where to place the words. It was extremely difficult. I worked closely with the translator to create the song. Also, while the original lyrics were used in their entirety in the film, the poem itself is quite lengthy. If we'd included interludes and other elements, the song would have been over two minutes long, but we only had about 90 seconds to use. So we added odd time signatures and trimmed it down to fit. However, doing so meant there were no breathing spaces, so we had to rely on Reina Ueda, who plays Reze, to figure out how to do it manually, which was quite a challenge."
"Chainsaw Man" is a dark hero action story that follows Denji, a boy possessed by a demon, as he works as a devil hunter. Part 1 was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) from December 2018 to December 2020. Part 2 has been serialized on Shueisha's manga app "Shonen Jump +" since July 2022. The total number of copies of the comics published has exceeded 34 million.
The "Reze Arc" is the story of Reze and the main character, Denji, who also appeared at the end of the TV anime that aired from October to December 2022, and became a hot topic. While Denji is excited about a date with his crush, Makima, he takes shelter from the rain and meets Reze, a young girl who works at a cafe. The film is directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, who was the action director for the TV anime, and produced by MAPPA. It was released on September 19, 2025, and has been a long-running hit. There is also talk of a sequel to "Reze Arc," titled "Chainsaw Man: Assassin Arc," being produced.
