Tatsuki Fujimoto has taken a lot of creative liberty when it comes to Chainsaw Man part 2. Not only did the pacing of the series change considerably, Denji, the titular character, saw his appearances in the manga limited in order to accommodate Asa Mitaka, who was undeniably the new main character.
Denji wasn’t the only familiar face missing from Chainsaw Man’s second part. Fan favorites like Kishibe seemingly vanished entirely.
However, CSM Chapter 162, which released on April 10, 2024, brought a sigh of relief and a surge of excitement among fans yearning for any breadcrumbs regarding these characters.
In this chapter, Quanxi, another popular character from Part 1, mentioned an advice from an old friend. Savvy readers were quick to deduce that this friend was none other than the enigmatic Kishibe.
Quanxi and Kishibe’s friendship is well documented in the Chainsaw Man series. Not only have they known each other for a very long time, Kishibe had also tried his best to woo the Bow Hybrid throughout his youth. His failure to do so only seemed to have cemented their bond as friends.
Naturally, this first possible mention of Kishibe in part 2 has fans very excited, with some even speculating that the character might make an appearance soon in the manga.
Additionally, Kyle Scouter on Twitter also broke down the Japanese word used to mention this old friend in order to give fans a better perspective of the matter.
According to them, Quanxi used the word 腐れ縁 (Kusareen) which “refers to a relationship between individuals that seems unlikely to succeed or prosper due to various obstacles, differences, or conflicts, yet continues to persist inexplicably.”
Despite the negative sounding connotations, this represented a “a strong, enduring connection between people who may have conflicting personalities”, suggesting that the person in question was none other than Kishibe.
Some fans on the other hand were worried about the somber tone of the panel as a whole. From the way Fujimoto composed the panel and Quanxi talked about Kishibe, speculations arose that he could very well be dead.
Also, this piece of information confirmed that Kishibe was not among those involved in the plan to make Denji’s life a living hell. It is also possible that Kishibe has left the public safety completely or that there are multiple factions within the organization.
More details about Kishibe will probably drop in upcoming chapters of Chainsaw Man. The next chapter is due to release on April 23, 2024.
Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first part was serialized in Shueisha’s shonen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2018 to December 2020; its second part began serialization in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ online magazine in July 2022.