If there’s one recurring pattern in the Chainsaw Man manga, it’s that almost every adversary, including the Gun Devil, has been fixated on obtaining Denji’s heart.
But why would a being as powerful as the Gun Devil want Denji’s heart—a seemingly insignificant human?
The answer lies in Denji’s heart itself, or more specifically, in Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil. So, when the Gun Devil sets its sights on Denji’s heart, it’s actually after Pochita, the true Chainsaw Devil.
At first glance, the Gun Devil was introduced as an all-powerful final adversary, so it might seem odd that it would need Denji’s heart.
However, if we consider shonen manga tropes, where the protagonist often possesses some form of hidden, extraordinary power, it is easy to deduce that the Chainsaw Devil is likely one of the most fearsome entities in this world.
Following this logic, the Gun Devil’s interest in Denji’s heart is not about Denji himself, but about harnessing the incredible power of Pochita.
So, it seems simple, doesn’t it? The Gun Devil wants Denji’s heart because it desires the power of the Chainsaw Man.
But this assumption holds true only until the actual fate of the Gun Devil is revealed in the manga.
While the Chainsaw Man’s immense power is undeniable, the Gun Devil’s pursuit of Denji’s heart turned out to be a huge red herring.
Want to know why? Keep reading!
PS: Major manga spoilers ahead!!
Makima reveals that the Gun Devil had actually been defeated in the past, and various countries are now in possession of its parts.
The devil is not even sentient, less alone be able to command lackey devils to go after Pochita, or Denji’s heart.
P.S. Read about what happened to the Gun Devil by checking out the article linked below! It’ll help understanding what follows in this post!
But then, everyone from the Eternity Devil, who had a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh, and Akane Sawatari, who claimed to have made a contract with the Gun Devil, were after Denji’s heart.
So exactly were these people, especially Akane and the Eternity Devil, working for if not the Gun Devil. Who is pulling the strings from the darkness?
Allow me to say this: Fujimoto is a master storyteller. And the whole Gun Devil being after Denji’s heart was just a red herring. In the end, it all boils down to a single character – Makima!
Let’s take this step by step, starting with the Eternity Devil.
The Eternity Devil was mighty suspicious:
On the surface, it seems that the Eternity Devil was working for its own benefit. And the reason it was after Denji was to get revenge. Well, that part may be true considering his dialogues in the manga.
When Denji was busy sawing off the Eternity Devil, the latter mentions that the Chainsaw Man has grown weaker, suggesting that they had fought each other sometime in the past.
The Eternity Devil was probably killed by the Chainsaw Man in hell, causing its rebirth on Earth.
While that assumption might be true, let me draw your attention to something else. How is it that the Eternity Devil got a piece of the Gun Devil?
If you read the previous article about what happened to the Gun Devil, you’ll understand that there is a good chance that the Eternity Devil might just have chanced upon a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh which was left behind.
Suspicions are first raised in chapter 13 of Chainsaw Man, when Himeno questions if the devils consumed the gun chunks on their own or if they were fed the pieces by someone.
This person definitely would have be a mastermind manipulator, someone who has the power to control!
Then there’s this whole deal with Akane Sawatari.
What’s the deal with Akane Sawatari?
Let’s clarify something right off the bat: Akane was the mastermind pulling Katana Man’s strings. She’s the one who turned him into a hybrid and intriguingly brought the Gun Devil’s deal to the table.
From the moment Akane entered the picture, the Gun Devil’s name started popping up more frequently.
However, in retrospect, we know the Gun Devil wasn’t sentient enough to form a contract with her. So, who was Akane really working for?
The deeper you dig, the more it becomes apparent that this entire situation reeks of Makima’s influence. Stay with me as I sieve through the content of the manga and put things into perspective!
The key to understanding all of this is the ambush on the Special Division members.
Early hints of suspicion toward Makima are planted when Madoka questions her knowledge of this ambush in Chapter 28.
Even Kishibe, thanks to his razor-sharp instincts, felt something was off about the attack on Public Safety. In fact he confronted Makima about this in Chapter 32, further heightening the suspicion surrounding her.
But after the Katana Man’s capture, Makima reports to the higher-ups that Akane had a contract with the Gun Devil. Akane herself seemed convinced of this fact. As part of her supposed contract, Akane armed her terrorists with guns.
So, does this mean Akane was working directly for the Gun Devil? Not quite.
The Gun Devil was never in the picture:
To understand why, we need to take a look at chapter 73 where Makima reveals the truth about the Gun Devil.
Even though people claim they obtained guns by making a contract with the Gun Devil, in reality it is the governments that circulate guns, which they themselves manufactured in secret.
This proves that the Gun Devil was never a part of the equation.
But that’s not the best part. Makima’s involvement in the whole mess is confirmed in chapter 76, when we see Akane connected to her with a chain.
This proves beyond doubt that Makima was the one pulling the strings.
If this was the case, why did Akane believe that she was working for the Gun Devil? Was she simply lying to mislead everyone? Seems not.
Akane genuinely believed that she had a contract with the Gun Devil. This too was a side-effect of being under Makima’s control!!
Let’s revisit the chapters where Makima’s true identity is revealed.
Her powers had made Angel Devil forget what he actually did in the past. In fact, the whole time he was under Makima’s control, without even realizing it. The same thing could have happened to Akane.
She did not realize that she was being controlled by Makima, and instead believed that she had a contract with the Gun Devil and went ahead to take the fall for the whole incident.
There are a couple of more incidents in the Chainsaw Man manga which build our case. Akane’s death is one of them.
No matter how you look at it, the Gun Devil doesn’t have a very strong reason to eliminate Akane. Akane was killed because the real instigator of the incident wished to remain in the shadows. They did not want their name to be out.
And now, since we know it’s Makima who was behind all this, the former’s death makes much more sense.
While describing the incidents to the higher ups she talks about the involuntary suicide pact that Akane might have had in her contract, which resulted in the Snake Devil lopping her head off.
Makima included such a term, because it completely eliminated the possibility of her involvement coming to light.
Then there’s also this small detail about Makima knowing the names of everyone who was involved in the ambush. And rather than detaining them for questioning, she outright killed them all, leaving no loose ends behind. Remember the eerie panel at the Kyoto shrine?
The Katana Man was the only one who was captured alive. And we don’t see any mention of him, until chapter 86, where he had already turned into one of her pawns, suggesting that she held dominion over him too.
So, to sum up and answer in short, Akane was under Makima’s control and it was she who orchestrated the whole incident. The Gun Devil never wanted Denji’s heart. It was all a huge setup by Makima.
But why? Why would Makima do all this? What did she gain from doing so?
Makima’s reason for arranging the ambush:
To better understand this, let’s rewind to the conversation between Makima and Kishibe.
During their meeting, Makima explains her reasons for wanting the operation against Katana Man to succeed. But Kishibe, in his usual blunt manner, calls her a liar.
However, not everything she said was false.
Makima’s end goal behind orchestrating the incidents with the Eternity Devil and the Katana Man was to give Division 4 more operational freedom. And in that regard, her plan worked flawlessly.
By eliminating key members of the Special Division, Makima created a personnel shortage, which worked in her favor.
This allowed her to form a new Division 4, filled with odd and powerful members, including fiends and devils such as Spider and Angel, all of whom were under her control. This restructuring was crucial in setting the stage for her ultimate plan.
Akane and Katana Man were never meant to succeed in kidnapping Denji. They were pawns from the beginning—set up to fail so that Makima could seize more influence within the Public Safety Devil Hunter division.
By doing so, she minimized resistance and positioned herself to move forward with her true agenda.
Aggressive Reporting as Part of the Plan:
Makima wasn’t lying about the aggressive media coverage either. This, too, was part of her long-term strategy to defeat Chainsaw Man.
By thrusting Denji (Chainsaw Man) into the public spotlight, Makima cleverly made him a symbol—a hero of the people. But there was a hidden consequence to this.
The more people saw Chainsaw Man as a hero, the less they feared him. And as fear surrounding Chainsaw Man decreased, so did his power.
Makima understood this perfectly and, in Chapter 89, she explicitly states that weakening Chainsaw Man was essential to her plan.
Her cold and calculated actions were all leading to one objective: to claim Denji’s heart for herself.
By weakening him through public adoration and constructing the right environment within Division 4, she set the stage to finally go head-to-head with him.
The Gun Devil was merely a smokescreen—a distraction used to keep attention away from the real orchestrator behind the scenes: Makima.
She paraded its name to focus the narrative on a larger threat while keeping her own goals hidden in plain sight.
In the end, this entire operation was meticulously planned by Makima, with every move contributing to her ultimate goal. Her calculated strategy, from the ambush to the restructuring of Division 4 and the manipulation of public perception, allowed her to get closer to Chainsaw Man and execute her plan with precision.