Public Safety Saga

Running in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2018 through 2020, this first installment of Tatsuki Fujimoto's series spans the earliest chapters and eleven collected volumes. It is succeeded by the Academy Saga, which carries the narrative into its second part. The storyline centers on Denji as he settles into a hazardous career exterminating devils within the Public Safety bureau.

A poverty-stricken youth, Denji forms a bond with the devil Pochita, only for his life to be cut short. Pochita revives him by taking the place of his heart, fusing the two into a half-human hybrid able to manifest as the Chainsaw Man. Drawn in by Makima after this transformation, Denji enlists with Public Safety to make his living as a hunter. There he gains companions including Aki Hayakawa and Power, and the trio tackle a string of assignments rooting out devils. The arc moves through several distinct chapters, from Denji's first brush with the Zombie Devil, to a rescue mission targeting the Bat Devil, an ambush by the Eternity Devil, a brutal raid led by the Katana Man, a romance that masks the explosive Reze, an onslaught of foreign assassins, and the long-awaited clash against the Gun Devil.

The saga's closing stretch unravels the people Denji had trusted. Both Aki and Power perish, and Makima is unmasked as the Control Devil, a being scheming to seize the Chainsaw Devil for herself. Grieving and manipulated, Denji is pushed into a final confrontation against Makima and the squad of hybrids she commands, ultimately bringing her down and setting the stage for the next part of his journey.