Meet Chainsaw Man's Denji and Jujutsu Kaisen's Yuji Itadori. For the uninitiated, Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen are manga published in Japan’s most popular manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump. These two series, in particular, share a lot of similarities (including how hard to follow they can be at times). They both have supernatural elements revolving around demons or cursed entities; they both share an art style that’s filled with explosive, bloody violence and, tonally, they’re both very bleak, with their protagonists experiencing a fair share of tragedy.
Most importantly, said protagonists have extremely powerful demonic forms, begging the question: if the two threw down in a fight, who would win? Let's take look.
Let’s start with the titular Chainsaw Man himself. Denji is actually considered a Devil-hybrid, which means he maintains a human form until he pulls a ripcord from his chest that activates his Devil form. It’s in this form that he receives enhanced strength, durability and endurance. Drinking blood allows him to regenerate and even return from death if a second party nurses him back to life.
His most notable weapons are the chainsaws that manifest from his head, arms and legs, which he uses to slash and grind his way through Devils. It doesn’t get any more metal than that... But wait, it does! Chainsaw Man can spit out chainsaw blades and use them to bind his enemies, too. From here, he could launch them, leave them, or pull them closer to him, Scorpion-style. (Get over here!)
Of course, this wouldn’t be a shonen manga without an over-the-top, heavy metal power-up. There are some special, spoilery prerequisites to activate this, but essentially Denji can turn into his full, demonic form, wherein he loses his sense of self, but all of his abilities get multiplied, including a huge boost of speed. He is so powerful in this form, in fact, he has been shown being launched into space and coming back down to Earth unscathed.
Is all of this enough to take on Sukuna, the King of Curses, though? To answer this, first, we have to talk about Sukuna’s vessel, Yuji Itadori. Before Sukuna came into the picture, Yuji already possessed an unnaturally high athletic ability. It’s actually because of this that he was able to contain a god-level Curse like Sukuna in the first place.
Unlike in Denji’s case, even when Sukuna is idle, Yuji receives some of Sukuna’s benefits. His innate physical abilities are enhanced to the point at which he is more than capable of handling himself in his human form against powerful supernatural foes. If it were a human vs. human battle, Denji would lose immediately. Yuji would use his ridiculous speed to pummel him before Denji could process what was happening.
Now, if Sukuna were to take over and was fighting Denji’s full-Devil form? Well, it gets tricky -- at least, at first. Sukuna has all of the enhanced strength, durability and speed that Chainsaw Man does. Chainsaw Man can cut down multiple enemies in a matter of seconds, but so can Sukuna. In fact, that seems to be Sukuna’s signature ability.
In the blink of an eye, his opponents’ limbs drop to the floor without so much as a twitch from Sukuna. He seems to be able to do this at range, as well, and with very little effort. One of his slashing techniques, in particular, Cleave, is a guaranteed one-shot, as it adjusts its strength depending on the durability of the target. With no real defensive options, Chainsaw Man could lose his head. The only way he could win the exchange is to strike first. That’s where regeneration comes into play.
Just like Chainsaw Man, Sukuna can regenerate. Unlike the former, though, who needs blood to come back from death, Sukuna requires no assistance to regain his lost limbs. If Chainsaw Man gets a preemptive strike, Sukuna can heal his wounds immediately whereas if Sukuna dismembers Chainsaw Man, the latter will need a chance to drink blood in order to regenerate. The ease and speed of regeneration could be a deciding factor in this match.
But for the sake of argument, let’s say Chainsaw Man in his full Devil form was able to buy himself enough time to regenerate and form a counter-attack. Even then, Sukuna would have a countermeasure. In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, Curses and jujutsu sorcerers have very strong techniques called “Domain Expansions.” The user projects a dome of energy around themselves and their opponent, which is near-impossible to escape from. It functions like another dimension that grants numerous buffs to the person activating it and leaves the enemy at a huge disadvantage.
In this domain, any of the user’s techniques are guaranteed to hit. The enemy can try to take the brunt of the hit and absorb the damage by applying their own cursed energy (the “chakra” or “ki” of this universe), or they can go on the offensive and project their own domain to counter the enemy’s domain.
Cursed energy aside, Chainsaw Man would not be able to absorb Sukuna’s attacks, because again, Cleave’s properties allow it to penetrate any surface. So, between Sukuna’s Domain Expansion and his signature Cleave, there is no real recourse for Chainsaw Man. It seems wildly overpowered, but because Denji is from a different series and lacks the abilities necessary to survive in the complicated Jujutsu Kaisen universe, the victory would skew toward Sukuna.
What’s even wilder is that these are only Sukuna’s revealed abilities so far. The extent of his strength is still shrouded in mystery in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, but even his current arsenal is too much to contend with. (He can also sling fire around!)
Arguably, it's a little unfair to even apply Chainsaw Man’s character to Jujutsu Kaisen's world since he has no cursed energy or Domain ability that would make it a fair fight. So again, can Chainsaw Man beat Sukuna? Unfortunately, no. Based on the rules established in both series, Sukuna would be the clear victor. There is simply no contest.
