Music Focus
It's impossible to talk about the Chainsaw Man anime without mentioning its soundtrack, which has become a phenomenon in its own right in just a few months. Between the opening and ending themes entrusted to different artists for each episode and the original score by Kensuke Ushio, the series' sound design has deeply impacted viewers. Here's an overview of the essential tracks to know.
A Unique Concept: A Different Artist for Each Ending Theme
The most striking feature of the Chainsaw Man soundtrack lies in its approach to ending themes. Rather than keeping a single track throughout the season, the production made the audacious choice to entrust each ending theme to a different Japanese artist, offering a musical diversity rarely seen in an animated production. This bold decision echoes all the production choices made by Studio MAPPA, which we detail in Studio MAPPA and its work on the anime.
This approach allows each episode to conclude with its own emotional tone, directly resonating with the events that have just unfolded on screen. This strengthens the series' cinematic identity, an aspect we detail in our article on the cinematic influences behind Fujimoto's style, where music plays as important a role as visuals.
This novel approach also had an unexpected effect on how the audience consumes the series: each new episode now comes with a dual expectation—that of the continuation of the story, but also that of discovering the new ending theme and the artist performing it. This additional curiosity helped maintain very high community engagement throughout the broadcast, with each week bringing its share of musical discoveries in addition to plot twists.
Kensuke Ushio, the Anime's Sound Architect
Behind the series' instrumental soundtrack is Kensuke Ushio, a composer already recognized for his work on other notable Japanese animation productions. His music for Chainsaw Man blends electronic sounds, tense orchestrations, and skillfully placed silences, creating a sonic atmosphere as anxiety-inducing as it is fascinating, perfectly in tune with the work's tone.
This work on silence and progressive tension directly recalls techniques used in Western genre cinema, where the absence of music can sometimes be more effective than its presence. Ushio masters this balance with a precision that was widely praised by specialized critics from the very first episodes. This demanding sound design is also found in the voice acting, a subject we compare in detail in French vs. Japanese voices: which dub to choose.
This compositional work is not limited to major action scenes. Some of the most memorable tracks from the original soundtrack, on the contrary, accompany moments of apparent calm, where the subtle tension of the music deliberately contradicts the visual calm of the scene, creating a pervasive unease in the viewer. This counter-intuitive use of music greatly contributes to the unsettling atmosphere that runs through the entire series, even in its seemingly most peaceful moments.
Opening Themes: Energy and Strangeness Combined
The series' openings are no less impressive, each offering a sound and visual aesthetic radically different from typical Japanese animation standards. These tracks, often performed by artists from the Japanese alternative music scene, immediately set the series' unique atmosphere from the very first seconds of each episode.
This stylistic diversity perfectly reflects the spirit of Chainsaw Man itself: a work that defies categorization, mixes genres, and constantly surprises its audience, including musically. Many fans even consider these opening themes as standalone works, regardless of the series they accompany. This overall artistic standard has not gone unnoticed by industry institutions, as our article Chainsaw Man at the Anime Awards: all the awards won by the series reminds us.
The Most Striking Musical Moments of the Season
Certain sequences in the anime owe much of their impact to their musical accompaniment. The fight against the Tomato Devil, Power's introduction at the police station, or the more intimate scenes between Denji and his colleagues, gain an additional dimension thanks to meticulous sound work, which can be as subtle as it is explosive when needed. Several of these musically striking sequences are also featured in our top 10 most stylish Chainsaw Man fights.
This mastery of sound dynamics greatly contributes to the immersive experience of the series, an aspect that our comparison between the Chainsaw Man manga and anime identifies as one of the adaptation's main strengths compared to the paper version, which obviously cannot convey this auditory dimension.
It is also important to highlight the work on sound mixing, which goes far beyond just music. The chainsaw sound effects, the impacts, Denji's breathless gasps during fights: this entire sound ecosystem contributes to a complete immersive experience, meticulously designed by the production team.
This level of detail in sound design extends to background atmospheres, often neglected in other productions but carefully crafted here: the sound of rain on Tokyo's rooftops, the echo of Public Safety corridors, the heavy silence before a confrontation. These elements, almost imperceptible to conscious listening, nonetheless contribute enormously to the overall immersion and atmospheric coherence of each episode.
Where to Listen to the Soundtrack Outside the Anime?
Given the critical and popular success of this musical dimension, many tracks from the series have been made available on streaming platforms, allowing fans to relive their favorite scenes even outside of watching the anime. This availability has largely contributed to the lasting popularity of certain themes, which continue to loop for many listeners long after the corresponding episodes have aired.
This musical dimension has also strengthened the fan community, who regularly share their favorite tracks and debate the respective merits of each artist who participated in Chainsaw Man's sound adventure, thus extending the series' experience far beyond simply watching the episodes.
Some fans even go so far as to organize collaborative rankings of their favorite ending themes, chapter after chapter, turning this musical dimension into a genuine topic of discussion within the community. This collective appropriation of the soundtrack illustrates how Chainsaw Man has made music a pillar of its identity, just like its storyline or animation. The anticipation surrounding the sound accompaniment of the Chainsaw Man Movie Reze Arc also illustrates how much the community now anticipates the music as much as the action, an issue that our portrait of Reze, the Bomb Girl, victim or manipulator also addresses from the character's emotional angle. And despite the pervasive darkness, the series also knows how to be lighthearted in both music and writing, as our article on the funniest scenes in the series reminds us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does each episode have a different ending theme?
This creative choice allows each episode to be associated with a specific musical tone, enhancing the emotional impact of each episode's conclusion.
Who composed the anime's original music?
The instrumental original soundtrack was composed by Kensuke Ushio, known for his work on several notable Japanese animation productions.
Is the soundtrack available for streaming?
Yes, a large portion of the tracks, both ending themes and original music, are available on major music streaming platforms.
Will this musical approach continue in future seasons?
Nothing has been officially confirmed, but the success of this formula makes its continuation likely for subsequent seasons of the anime.
Chainsaw Man Complete Guide