According to Henry Jenkins: “Fanfiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk.” Chainsaw Man might be about underdogs but it’s already on its way toward becoming a huge anime franchise. As such, readers will be more and more likely to set their own writing endeavors in its universe, correcting what didn’t satisfy them, or experimenting with pairings. The ensemble cast of dysfunctional characters only aids the creation of fan content, as this is particularly the type of story that lends itself well to fanfiction. Here are a few that caught our eye:
In this very short work by strawberry_cider, available in Archive of Our Own, Aki helps Denji and Power fall asleep; it even bears the tag “Literal Sleeping Together” as there’s no sexual content whatsoever. Such fluffy fanfic might feel boring to some. But, in our discussion of Chainsaw Man’s age rating we have mentioned that the anime is ofter so violent even the characters themselves are traumatized. Because of that, fans are fond of giving them the cute, sweet moments they’ve been denied. Aki is a fan-favorite character, and, in this story, the writer chose to give him a bittersweet, kind of angsty story with the Angel Devil. The Angel Devil is an oddity amongst Devils in that he bears no ill will towards humanity. But what would happen if there was romantic tension between him and a Devil Hunter? Read to find out. It’s short and sweet, and, refreshingly, it explores Denji and Power’s relationship as entire platonic, highlighting the brother-sister dynamic between them. The other end is character studies - occasionally devastating ones. Aki’s character perfectly lends himself to the latter, being a deconstruction of the shonen anime deuteragonist. rip me a heart by seclusion is a great example of an Aki character study, short, lyrical, and heart-wrenching. You can read it on Archive of Our Own.
Denji might not always be the most likable main character, but his desperate attempts to balance conflicting tasks and his struggle for a better life resonate with many. For those who don’t mind canon divergence, Nerve Ape follows Denji’s imagined adventures after he leaves his past with Makima behind, enrolls in school, and continues to fight Devils.
One of the many functions of fanfiction is to bring fans closer to the world and characters they love, allowing them to imagine themselves as a part of the story. This can almost never work in original fiction, but there’s less and less guilt associated with fanfiction, where such indulgence is okay! Told mostly in the first person but also exploring the consciousness of other characters, this is a great fanfiction to check out if you’re looking for something on the longer side. At Least We Have Each Other is one of the top Chainsaw Man stories that readers mark as their favorite. In it, Denji and Power try to navigate the traumatic events they experienced and find comfort in their friendship. Chainsaw Man is anything but innocent. Yet, it’s heartwarming to see so many fans reconstruct the main characters’ experiences and grant them healing. Chainsaw Man is unlike most anime we’ve seen before, and it violently deconstructs its shonen elements. So, what if the main characters of a more wholesome shonen were in the precarious world of Chainsaw Man? The Chainsaw Hero, Deku! explores the possibility of Deku from My Hero Academia becoming a Chainsaw Devil and more than two hundred fans marked it as a favorite on Fanfiction.net. I Don’t Smoke, on Archive of Our Own explores this dynamic, focusing on all-consuming grief. You know. Cheerful stuff. As a short story about a character’s mourning, this should be read after the manga. If you’d like to get started with something really short and in character, check out Waiting Regret on Fanfiction.net, featuring Asa Mitaka and her budding dynamic with her classmate, Yuko.
