Notes

Title is slightly sensationalized to hook people, please read the post and bear with me.
Since I went back to watching anime, I've been carried by people hype a few times now and every time its been a disappointment.  With the most recent one before csm being Cyberpunk Edgerunners.
I've read a lot of positive stuff about chainsaw man, so I went and read the manga. I finished it about 3 months ago and to be honest I already forgot the majority of it. Which nearly never happens to me and i've binged quite a lot.
I won't review the manga in detail but i'll write what comes up to me as very egregious. I'll keep manga spoilers to minimum.
The manga starts off with Denji, a perverted guy who never went to school. It does the typical battle shonen trope things. Powerful devil inside the MC, comic relief annoying girl, brooding dark haired guy for the trio. for other of the cast they're also archetypal (Kobeni/Zenitsu, Kishibe/Kakashi Sensei characters etc). Devil hunting (corrupt) Organization and other typical similarities.
Some people say Denji is a very realistic and relatable character. But I fail to understand that, how is a guy who sees people get gored and doesn't care, lets them get gored in front of him , never went to school, struggling for food. Realistic and relatable?  The only relatable and realistic thing about him is the teenage horniness.
Power is an annoying character who exists for gag. I dislike her and kobeni.
Aki is the best character in the manga by far, but he's also the most standard. I like the tragic hero trope and I never get bored of it.
However the trio aren't as good as other shonen trios because the author just doesn't let them interact.
I'll spoiler the rest.
spoiler
There's no overarching plot, this isn't a negative per se. but when most of the characters are shallow and die in a few chapters its important to have one instead of being character driven. The characters just move around until they meet a devil to progress the story for the most part. It lacks cohesion. It feels as if the author just overuses shock value over and over. It feels like he thinks "I GOT YOU I GOT YOU" when he writes a chapter. little world building as well.

Shallow and uninteresting characters, most of whom do not develop or demonstrate deeper character traits and die soon after their introduction.They're almost as relevant as an unnamed character dying.
Aki was the best by far, but that is also because he's the standard tragic hero trope, which I love. to a much lesser extent there's Power. I cannot see how anyone can have an emotional attachment to any other character.
There's barely any character development for the cast. Makima is very shallow. Power system is poor, the MC will just regenerate over and over or have some secret  asspull ability to win like eating devils. Or we have some plot reveal that a chainsaw devil is somehow the strongest of all time and conveniently teams up with the poor MC without any cost. Majority of Fights feel boring due to this lack of creativity, and most of the fun comes from who dies or from the cool panels that come up. Reze's was by far the best. 
The asspull of chainsaw devil being the strongest ever and the only devil who can erase concepts and eats demons left a bad taste. But that is common in shonen to give the main character an OP ability, so meh.
Back to the shonen trio part above. Aki interacted more with Angel than the two combined! Yet we're somehow supposed to believe they were close friends and have emotional attachment to them. I think Aki only talked to power once or twice in the entire manga?
Though the comedy is vulgar and childish, it is distinct from typical chibi shonen fare, and it occasionally hits the mark.The paneling is very creative at times and fun to look at. Some devil designs are very cool. There is no lengthy exposition, and the dialogue is good. The premise of devils being powered up by fear is also cool!
I see a lot of influence from series like Doroheodro and Abara (even though they have same names like Denji and
spoiler
Nayuta

Really author?) and others, such as FLCL and Devilman. But I found Dorohedoro much better in every aspect.
I don't know why people call it original and groundbreaking either when the inspirations are very clear. Is it due to deaths?because Chainsaw Man isn't the best in that department. There are many who have more and much more impactful ones, like Jojo,  AOT, Death Note, and many others. Is the MC not a chosen one?A lot of battle shonen are the same as well. Gore and edge? That neither.
 
Overall, I found it a fun manga, but not really up to the hype. People overhyped and overrated it, as they have done with every shonen anime in recent years. And that is the conclusion I also find myself coming up with every time. The description of it being a schlocky B manga is very apt. Style over substance: I won't be watching or reading much based on people's hype anymore. Perhaps I'm too old to relate to young people's tastes or shonen characters anymore and would have found it more fun if I were a teenager.