The Statue of Liberty IS A GUN DEVIL! Chainsaw Man Chapter 178 Review

In the previous chapter, Yoru uses the Gun Devil’s power to not only shoot down Chainsaw Man but summon the Statue of Liberty.

Chapter 178 is titled, “Gun Goddess”

Immediately, we see what the title is refering to.

As it turns out, the fans were right!

The Statue is also a weapon.

However, unlike every weapon produced by Yoru, this seems to be more of a sentient being,

I had initially suspected that the crack was from the impact of the blast Yoru was about to unleash since it has been established that the gun devil could kill several people from a faraway distance due to the impact of its gunfire.

However, what we are seeing is another application of the Chainsaw Man power system.

Contracts give humans the power to use devil abilities without becoming immortal hybrids but always with a price.

Yoru has the power to turn anyone or anything into a weapon, with the weapon becoming stronger depending on the amount of guilt or emotion she or Asa feel.

Apply both concepts, the contract power system and weapon creation, and you get a Japanese high school girl who transformed America’s most recognizable landmark into an unholy Silent Hill demon that holds a giant rifle.

This one shot, at the cost of 400,000 American trigger fingers, manages to nearly kill Pochita and probably hundreds of people in Tokyo or even any other part of Japan.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to the American people and has been treated as a symbol of freedom but if you look closely, it also represents American’s feeling of moral superiority.

Holding a torch as a guiding light for the world to see, it gives the sense that America IS Lady Liberty but through Yoru, Fujimoto makes it very clear that the guide to freedom is merely a facade and it will impose its will through the gun.

The Gun Devil’s design speaks to the kind of culture America embraces: a paradoxical privilege of fear.

Because of fear, guns are justified but this is a fear that comes from privilege because most desire guns to protect their property or wealth, believing that they live in a world constantly out there to get them.

Because of recent terrorism and the emergence of new social movements and dynamics, these fears become justified and so do the privileges associated with guns.

And since devils come from and get stronger because of fear, then this cycle of fear and fear satisfaction works in favor of the Devils.

This act by Yoru makes us readers question if this is the right move.

It will stop Chainsaw Man and might even save Denji but it only seemingly justifies War and its own eternal politics, where fear begets fear and thus the Devils win.

The War Devil loves America and America loves war.

America is the new vehicle and empire to express War’s feats, from Manifest Destiny justifying the colonization of former colonies and Native American lands to the creation of the Atomic Bomb itself.

Yoru did express a desire to see the Nuclear Weapon Devil and it could even be one of the goals she is striving for in this fight since she views the Weapon Devils as her comrades, and in the case of two of them, family.

Yoru feels like a true force of war to be reckoned with.

However, I feel that the Tank Gauntlet loses its uniqueness as a weapon when its only known appearance throughout the Chainsaw Man series makes it a “twin” of the Gun Devil, with nothing distinct about its characteristics, such as providing Yoru with a defensive boost.

Most people do associate the term “tank” with hardiness and tanks by themselves are sluggish, heavily armored vehicles.

Perhaps it makes sense that the two do not have a distinction since the use of the Tank Gauntlet is simply to fire like the Gun Devil and that they are essentially the same thing for the purposes Yoru summoned the two devils for.

It could also reflect Yoru’s mentality as a mother to the Weapon Devils, that because a weapon’s purpose is to harm or kill, their specific qualities are not as relevant but this is still just conjecture on my part.

Yoru is delighted by the carnage, feeling her pride as been reclaimed.

Since Asa is awake through all of this, at least she will not be as traumatized as Yuji Itadori when he woke up to Sukuna destroying most of Shibuya.

Instead, Asa remarks that Yoru is a devil who takes delight in pointless carnage.

Speaking of taking delight in pointless carnage, the Aging Devil appears in front of Chainsaw Man, giving him some of its blood to revive him and pay attention to its deal.

Now we are paying off the plot point regarding the Japanese government’s extremely messed up and unethical plan to sacrifice 10,000 children to rid the entire world of aging.

But this gets a bit more twisted as the Aging Devil seems almost…sadistic here.

Granted, the devil culture values human fear and delights in their misery but coming from a devil that does not use fear for its survival but sees no point in surviving.

This is not simple hatred or self-loathing at this point as the Aging Devil’s very condition makes it completely apathetic and numb to everything.

Imagine being an immortal devil constantly aging and embodying one of the Primal Fears of humanity since the first time humans gained self-awareness.

That hollows out a being like that, making them unable to really feel anything.

But something changed here.

It seems like death was the way for the Aging Devil to feel alive and with purpose.

Through its death to be devoured by Chainsaw Man, not only will humans be rid of the eternity of aging but it is done through a terrible price.

Originally, when this proposal came up in Chapter 174, the Aging Devil seemed to not express any sentiment, treating the deal as a matter of fact.

But then two things happened.

First the Aging Devil begins to express…strong emotion, calling its death romantic.

Second, the Aging opens a mirror, revealing the children the government has gathered for the contract.

It seems that after Yoru made Pochita regurgitate the Mouth Devil in Chapter 176, the government carried out the order to acquire children from multiple orphanages.

The deal also stipulated that the children had to be brought near mirrors, as this was a condition for the devil to use its ability or fulfill the contract.

The Aging Devil’s mirror ability reflects (pun intended) the anxiety of aging that both created and empowered it.

People do look at the mirror to check if they have wrinkles, white hair, receding hairlines, any of the hallmarks of aging.

Now the mirrors show the reverse: of young children who do not have such a fear because life to them is endless bliss.

The Aging Devil adds flavor and purpose to its own death, as rather than seeing it as the same inevitable fate given unto it, like its eternal aging, the Aging Devil is overtaken by desire, wanting to die and be annihilated thoroughly by the Chainsaw Devil’s ability to erase devils and their concepts.

Furthermore, the Aging Devil asks to be eaten slowly, with the head saved for last.

Aging has hollowed out the Aging Devil, so the idea of annihilation and the feeling of pain from the consumption process might give the devil a sense of sexual fulfillment and euphoria, something not usually seen in devils.

The Aging Devil serves as a commentary on Japan’s aging population but aging goes beyond the physical experience.

Although some studies show that the Japanese culture finds aging meaningful, the reality is that aging brings some problems.

With a large aging population, the pension system may not be enough to support everyone and the elderly who live in poor families or live alone poor might struggle and must bear with such a life.

With a culture focused on hard work and compliance, the Japanese people spend time devoted to work that not much time is given to building families or to relax.

By experiencing constant toil and the seeming eternal of repetition, the population ages in its mentality as well, as well as economically.

The Aging Devil is shown to find euphoria in this waste of life, whether through its own death finally giving it a sense of freedom for the first time in eternity or the mass of death produced by killing young lives.

There could even be a hint of envy from the Aging Devil for doing this.

Will Chainsaw Man take the first bite?

The chapter gives us a look at the grim state of the real world, with America revealing its ugly, true self with the unraveling of the Statue of Liberty and the danger of throwing children’s lives for the sake of national prosperity or security.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 179 will be released on October 1, 2024.

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