Do Denji and Aki Become Friends in Chainsaw Man? Their Relationship Explained!

The interpersonal relationships of Chainsaw Man characters are quite intriguing, especially because they are quite important for the plot itself, which is not always the case with such manga and anime series. In accordance with what we’ve said just now, we are going to focus on the interpersonal relationship between two Chainsaw Man characters in this article, and they are Denji, the protagonist, and Aki Hayakawa, his colleague and one of the principal supporting characters in the series. In this article, you’ll learn whether the two of them became friends in the series or not.

Denji and Aki Hayakawa start off as enemies, as Aki disliked Denji for several reasons. But, since the two of them were forced by Makima to work and even live together, they got to know each other better with time and they actually became close friends. In the end, Aki cared deeply for Denji’s well-being and considered him a true friend, which as also true from Denji’s point of view.

The rest of this article is going to be divided into three sections. The first two sections are going to explore the characters’ personalities, as they are a vital element in understanding their relationship and how it actually works; you have to know the psychology of a character to properly analyze their relation to the world and other people. The final section is going to give you details about the relationship between Denji and Aki, as well as how it’s evolved over the course of the manga.

What kind of a person is Denji?

Denji is the protagonist of Chainsaw Man and a very intriguing character from a psychological point of view. Although not completely unique, he has a very rare type of personality and the story really put in a lot of effort to properly explain Denji and his behavior. In this section, we are going to analyze his personality for you as well.

Denji is a very straightforward character. As someone who’s had no education whatsoever and has lived most of his life as a wild animal, he doesn’t really have the manners or the sensibility to properly perceive the world as it is. He is naive, he trusts people easily, and because of his own poverty, he will do all kinds of crappy stuff just to get his hands on some money. This is evidenced at the beginning of the manga, where we see him work as an illegal Demon Hunter, but also swallow a burning cigar for some money.

And while his personality did change after he became Chainsaw Man, Denji ultimately returned to his old self, a person who depends on others and cannot live alone; he can, physically, but he would die as he has absolutely no money. This is why his personality shift after he became Chainsaw Man, was just a temporary one.

He is a modest person in his needs. As someone who has lived like a bum his whole life, he is aware that he doesn’t need much and while he is aware that he could ask for much more, he rarely does that; basically never. He wants some jam and a place to sleep, and a girlfriend, with the latter – of course – being free. His appetites grew briefly during Part 1 but, as we’ve said, his needs reverted back to their old state in Part 2.

He is also a very brash person. Since he was never taught any manners, nor did he learn how to socialize with other people, Denji is very direct and sometimes rude when talking to other people, not even caring whether he comes out offensive or not. Namely, he simply doesn’t have either the psychological or the social barriers to say a euphemism or something similar – he simply says what’s on his mind and he doesn’t care about the consequences because he is not aware that he should. His personality is rather simple and very childlike, although he is not an evil person and is capable of empathizing with other people with much precision, which is surprising for someone who lacks basic social skills.

Although it might seem so from time to time, Denji is not a stupid person. He is actually quite intelligent and is capable of coming up with very smart and witty solutions to certain issues. Now, he is not educated – and that is evident in more ways than one – and he is certainly not a genius, but he is much smarter than he looks.

In the end, Denji is a living contradiction. He looks and behaves like an animal most of the time, but ultimately, he is a very damaged and lonely person. He desperately craves attention from anyone, which is why he is absolutely ready to do whatever it takes to keep someone around, even if it means giving his whole personality up for them, as was the case with Makima. This is why he worked for the yakuza. And this is also why Denji is actually so intriguing – on the one hand, he is a beast and the Chainsaw Man, whereas, on the other, he is a very gentle and hurt soul who simply wants to be cared for and taken care of because it is something he never had.

What kind of a person is Aki?

Aki is a character whose personality is not so unique in the world of anime. Outwardly, he is a cold and emotionless stoic, but is actually very gentle and kind on the inside; he just doesn’t show it that often. In that aspect, he has some similarities to Denji, but the two are different in several very important aspects.

Aki Hayakawa is a professional Devil Hunter. He is a very serious, responsible, and reliable person who takes his job very seriously, which is why he often gets mad at Denji and Power, as the two treat their extremely important and dangerous job as a game. He has two reasons for such behavior. First of all, Aki realizes the dangers that the Devils pose to humans, which is why he is so desperate to do his job right. This is also part of the reason why he is so ruthless and cruel to these Devils.

The second reason why Aki is so serious about his job is the fact that he actually does take it personally. Namely, his family was killed by the Gun Devil so he wants to take revenge on it; this is why he is so determined to rid the world of Devils, as well as make them suffer while he kills them. He thinks that they deserve it and such an attitude is reflected in his demeanor toward them; this does change with time, though, as he grows close to Denji, Power, as well as his colleague, the Angel Devil.

But, while Aki does seem like a very cold and emotionless person, he is actually very soft on the inside. He cares deeply for his colleagues and has not grown indifferent towards the sufferings of his colleagues; he still cries over the losses he faces, as witnessed after Himeno dies. He also grows close to Denji and Power, as we have said, so much that he wants to quit his job and give up on his revenge when he sees a future in which Denji and Power die a horrible death, which is something he wants to avoid.

Do Denji and Aki become friends? Explaining their relationship!

Ultimately, the relationship between Denji and Aki is both a complicated and intriguing one. For starters, we all know how it began. Denji was assigned to Aki’s unit and he took him out and beat the crap out of him in order to force him to quit the force. He despised Denji because he was a Hybrid, because he wanted to become Makima’s boyfriend, and because he has such a careless attitude toward their job and their mission. Still, Denji is not intimidated and the “Nut Devil” incident is still one of the more memorable moments in the story.

But, as the two of them were forced to work together, even live together at one point, they got to know each other better, and first a feeling of mutual respect developed between them, and after that – friendship. Aki grew to care deeply for Denji and Power, especially since he was in a position in which he had to care for them literally and make sure that they were fine. This is why he wanted to quit – to avoid them being hurt.

Denji also grew to respect Aki with time, and the two actually did become real friends. They were colleagues and allies, which is why the fact that Aki became the Gun Fiend at one point, was really heartbreaking as the two of them never should have become enemies, especially in a way in which Aki became the very thing he wanted to obliterate.

The story of Denji and Aki is an intriguing one. Antagonistic towards each other in the beginning, the two became very close friends and associates over time, with both Aki caring deeply for Denji and his well-being, as well as vice versa. They had an intriguing dynamic because they had completely opposite approaches to certain things, but they did ultimately care for each other and were very good friends, with their relationship being one of the more beautiful and interesting ones in the series.