Kobeni Higashiyama’s Attempted Murder
First, spoiler alert: I’m going to talk about events that will spoil both episode 6 (Kill Denji) and episode 9 (From Kyoto). If don’t want those spoiled, please bail now! There will be spoilers especially for Chainsaw Man’s Kobeni Higashiyama.
But if you’ve seen those episode and want to share a brief moment of “Holy hell can you believe what just happened?”, read on!
Remember how Chainsaw Man’s Kobeni Higashiyama tried to stab Denji back in episode 6? The Eternity Devil said that if the Devil Hunters handed over Denji’s heart, they would not have to die. Kobeni, who chose Devil Hunter instead of Sex Worker, clearly had second thoughts about her career choice, because she decided murdering Denji was a good idea. Aki Hayakawa threw himself in front of the attack and took the knife thrust.
It was a whole to-do. What’s important is that Kobeni reflected on her attempted murder and felt quite bad about it. Capture from the Hulu stream.
What can we say? Mistakes were made.
But as we’ll see in her Most Heartfelt Apology Ever (So Far), Kobeni felt really bad about trying to murder Denji. As in, very, very bad.
Chainsaw Man’s Kobeni Higashiyama: The Penance Fit the Sin
If you’re a member of one of the Christian faiths, then you’re probably familiar with the idea of penance. Basically, if you do something wrong (commit a sin), you should do something to make it right. That “make it right” can be thought of as penance. Generally, the bigger the sin, the bigger the penance. It’s like “an eye for an eye” sort of thing on a sliding scale.
If we look at what kind of penance Kobeni took on herself, we can see just how sorry she was — and how badly she thought she had screwed up in the first place. And guess what?
This might be the most heartfelt penance I’ve ever seen. Kobeni is a frightened young woman. She’s in over her head, and she knows it. But when her partner took a bullet meant for her, something snapped. Suddenly, she saw her world from a different perspective. A perspective in which protecting your team is important. Most importantly, a perspective in which not murdering your team is the best approach. Kobeni did what any normal, red-blooded human would do.
Kobeni said she was sorry. I’m inclined to take her at her word! Capture from the Hulu stream.
She freaking snapped.
She took a knife — a kitchen knife in fact — and attacked the single most powerful Devil wielder we’ve seen (also so far). Kobeni dodged an attack from a devil that overcame Himeno (may she rest in peace). She dodged bullets as well as Chisato ever did. Her knife sliced off the arm of weakened Katana Devil (or whatever he’s called). Then she drove off the most insanely strong enemy we’ve found. And in doing so, she protected Denji.
“I’m sorry I tried to kill you the other say,” she said (18:42) she said to his lifeless corpse.
You know what? If I were Denji, I’d tell her not to mention it; that we’re even. That is, I’d tell her that after reassembling my body, because at the moment, I’m not sure where Denji’s lower half is.
Damn, man. This show is just brutal.
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