Does Aki Die in Chainsaw Man? Here’s What Happens to Him!
Aki is one of the main supporting characters of the Chainsaw Man manga and anime. A curious man, Aki was initially very antagonistic towards Denji but would later become his close friend. As far as the manga is concerned, Aki’s story is over, but since he is still appearing in the anime, people want to know what they can expect from him in the future. In this article, we are actually going to tell you how Aki’s story ended, as you are going to find out how Aki Hayakawa died in Chainsaw Man and what happened to him.
After being killed by the Gun Devil while protecting Makima, Aki has his body possessed by that same Devil, his arch enemy, which turns him into the Gun Fiend. As the Gun Fiend, he went on to kill Denji and Power, but as Aki fought the Gun Devil from the inside, Denji used Aki’s unwillingness to fight his friend to attack and kill the Gun Fiend, which also killed Aki in the process.
The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Aki Hayakawa’s fate and his final clash against Denji. You already know what happened and how it happened, so we are just going to bring you the details so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a lot of spoilers so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.
Is Aki dead in Chainsaw Man?
It has to be said that Aki Hayakawa’s story is intrinsically connected to that of the Gun Devil and that knowing that story is relevant to fully understand Aki’s fate in the series. In the past, the Gun Devil was responsible for killing Aki Hayakawa’s parents and younger brother, thereby orphaning the future Devil Hunter. The Gun Devil didn’t target his family specifically, but they died as collateral victims of another attack.
Aki Hayakawa vowed to become a Devil Hunter in order to exact revenge on the Gun Devil following the November 18, 10:00 a.m. attack by the latter, which targeted the entire planet for five minutes and killed his parents and younger brother. Before meeting Himeno, who had recently lost her mission companion, he signed a deal with the Fox Devil who was his loyal companion later on. Aki Hayakawa, whom she trains, eventually picks up some of her bad habits, like smoking. Aki Hayakawa later joins the Anti-Devil Special Unit 4 (the precise date is uncertain).
Later on, the focus shifts to the Gun Devil Arc, which was a major arc from Part 1 of the Chainsaw Man manga and it was the story in which the Gun Devil finally appeared and was the principal antagonist, although he was mentioned earlier several occasions before. In between the original mention of Aki’s backstory and his desire to avenge the death of his family and the beginning of the Gun Devil arc, there were several other, some more, some less important, arcs that furthered Aki’s story but they did not reveal much backstory details about him and are not relevant for this article, which is why we are going to skip these events, as they are not directly related to Aki’s ultimate fate, as it was portrayed during the Gun Devil Arc.
On September 12, 1997, a 12-second Gun Devil attack takes place in the Japanese town of Nikaho in the Akita Prefecture. The Gun Devil’s ability to fire bullets is activated as soon as he emerges. The Gun Devil approaches Makima as he burns villages to the ground and murders their residents. It might be visible to Makima from 500 kilometers away. The Gun Devil halts before turning to shoot at Makima.
Just before being shot, Makima unleashes her power. Nevertheless, the Gun Devil kills Makima and Aki, who attempted to save Makima from death by setting aside his own vengeance in order to maybe save her. Makima had just recorded her 29th kill. Makima combines the abilities of both the Angel and Spider Devils, as well as the agreements she has with Yutaro Kurose, Akane Sawatari, Michiko Tendo, and Aki Hayakawa, to defeat it.
Nevertheless, Makima “failed” to destroy the Gun Devil. Namely, Aki Hayakawa’s corpse was infested by the Gun Devil’s remnants, which ultimately turned Aki into the Gun Fiend in one of the most heartbreaking and ironic moments of the whole series. The Gun Fiend, now an enemy, moves swiftly toward Aki’s residence and knocks on the door. Makima tells Denji, who has no clue what is going on, to open it, but the Gun Field shoots him in the stomach immediately after.
A significant amount of Aki’s apartment is destroyed in the process, while Denji and Power are catapulted into the air in the direction of the attack. The Gun Fiend then engages Denji in combat, completely destroying the neighborhood in the process and injuring several bystanders as well. In the process, Aki remembers the snowball fight he had with his younger brother just before his family was killed by the Gun Devil, but this time – in the vision – it is Denji and not his younger brother he is playing with.
After taking blood and hearing pleas for assistance from the locals, Denji eventually kills the Gun Fiend and defeats him. This happened because Aki had a second vision of Denji crying, which is why he ultimately gave up on fighting him, because he both remembered his little brother, and considered Denji a friend. Still, despite that, it seems that this was not the last we’ve seen of the Gun Devil, but he has not appeared since.
On the other hand, Aki Hayakawa died twice in the process. His human body dies when he was killed by the Gun Devil, whereas he – as the Gun Fiend – died after being killed by Denji during their fight. This is why the story of the Gun Devil is intrinsically connected to Aki’s story and knowing all of these facts is vital to understanding both of these characters.
Who killed Aki?
As the previous s section stated, Aki Hayakawa was ultimately killed by Denji while he was the Gun Fiend, after Denji killed the Gun Fiend. This was a very ironic thing from his perspective, as Aki’s only goal for becoming a Devil Hunter was to kill the Gun Devil, and yet he ended up being transformed into a fiend by him and ultimately killed in that form. Still, there was absolutely no way for Denji to save Aki from the Gun Devil’s possession, as Aki had already been dead when the Gun Devil possessed his body, which is why he ultimately struck him down and killed him. It was a heartbreaking moment for Denji, but we’re absolutely sure that Aki would have told him to do that exact thing had he been able to.
Will Aki be back in Chainsaw Man?
The future of the Chainsaw Man manga is currently unknown so we don’t have a definitive answer to this question. Namely, Aki Hayakawa is definitely dead and since he was never a Devil, it means that he cannot be resurrected in that way. Seeing how the story has moved on, such a turn of events made Aki, as a character, quite redundant. But, it wouldn’t be strange for such an important character – as Aki really did play an important role in Denji’s life – to make a return, as it is something relatively common in the world of anime and manga.
Still, we don’t know how much Chainsaw Man is going to follow shonen traditions, which is we cannot give you a definitive answer. As things stand now, Aki Hayakawa won’t be coming back, but we cannot rule it out (even if it’s just in the form of a flashback).
