RT Record-Breaking Anime Film Is ‘If a Ghibli Movie Was a Psychedelic Nightmare’
As anime films continue breaking box office records in 2025, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc has officially premiered in North America. Earning a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 99% audience score, the film is set to live up to all of Chainsaw Man’s fan expectations.
Ahead of the film’s debut, CBR spoke with Ryan Colt Levy, the English dub voice of Denji, for an exclusive interview about Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Levy discussed what fans can expect from the series’ newest and most emotional chapter yet and how the film fits into the world of theatrical anime, comparing it to the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
Chainsaw Man Star Compares New Anime Movie to Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki
Amid 2025’s wildly successful year for anime and a growing trend of anime arcs being adapted for theaters rather than traditional episodic seasons, Fontes asked Levy what made Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc different. “I feel like it’s meant to be a film,” Levy said. “The thing that has been said to me by multiple people who have seen it now, who have not spoken to each other, because none of them know each other, is the word ‘Miyazaki.'”
Hayao Miyazaki, the genius behind Studio Ghibli and Oscar-winning films Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, laid the groundwork for much of anime’s overseas success. “And it’s what I thought about when I was recording,” Levy stated. “I was like, ‘This feels like if a Ghibli movie was a psychedelic nightmare.'” Ghibli films are known for their stunning visuals and beautiful narratives, and Miyazaki was groundbreaking in establishing animation as a method of storytelling that communicated mature themes to audiences of all ages. Levy compared Studio Ghibli works to Reze Arc, calling it a horrifying and beautiful story that brings Denji’s world to life cinematically.
“It is so deeply beautiful,” Levy said. “This arc was inherently cinematic; it is literally baked into the language of the arc. Going to the movies and talking about cinema is a whole element of it. [Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto] is a cinematic storyteller who loves film, and it’s part of how he’s telling this story.” Levy also delved into why Reze Arc worked as a film rather than a season, stating that it was a combination of the arc’s timing and emotional depth.
“[The Reze Arc] is such a condensed arc compared to how the rest of the story moves forward, and if we were at a different point in [Chainsaw Man], I don’t think a movie would actually make sense,” he said. He further explained, “But this particular arc is so romantic and sad and beautiful, and it plays to so many different kinds of things that people love to see in a movie. It is just enough set pieces to keep contained, but also expand on a massive scale.”
Manga readers will also know that the Reze Arc is a particularly crucial moment in Denji’s journey into adulthood, which Levy also touched on in his explanation, stating, “It also takes the characters so much deeper. To have that on a big screen, where you have to focus in on it, is really crucial. This has worked out because it was always meant to be a movie.”
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is now playing in theaters.
