There are three different products to keep straight: the twelve-episode TV series, the compilation that retells it, and the Reze film that moves the story forward. The manga’s later “Part 2” is another distinction entirely. This guide follows the official announcements and publisher contents so you can choose the next work without skipping a stretch of Denji’s story. It avoids the film’s ending and later manga revelations.
Assassins Arc is the announced continuation
The official announcement of 21 December 2025 confirms production of Assassins Arc and explicitly identifies it as the sequel to the Reze film. Its teaser visual introduces assassins targeting Denji’s heart. That establishes a continuation rather than a rumour that the franchise might return someday.
The 19 June 2026 update adds a new teaser, shown during MAPPA’s fifteenth-anniversary presentation. It describes assassins moving against Denji and the appearance of new characters. Neither notice supplies a premiere date, an episode total or a television-versus-film format. “Season 2” is the familiar search label; the title the production has actually announced is Assassins Arc.
The current official staff page identifies MAPPA as the studio, Tatsuya Yoshihara as director, Hiroshi Seko as screenwriter and Kensuke Ushio as composer. This gives the project more substance than an unverified trailer upload. It still does not turn an estimated production interval into a release window. There is no confirmed 2027 premiere to put in your calendar from these notices.
That leaves a useful choice rather than a countdown. You can finish the material already available and keep the next story for animation, or read ahead in the original manga. The second option changes how you encounter future reveals, so decide whether discovering them on the page suits you before opening a chapter summary or a character wiki.
Watch the television story before the Reze film
For a first viewing, watch the original TV series through episode 12, then Reze Arc. The official finale announcement identifies episode 12 as the end of that television run. The movie then gives Denji a new encounter with Reze; its place between the series and Assassins Arc follows directly from the sequel announcement.
The film is part of the continuing story. Its format does not make it a side adventure you can leave until after the next anime. Moving straight from the TV finale to Assassins Arc would omit the event that the production itself names as its predecessor. You do not need to learn the movie’s ending in advance to understand where it belongs.
A returning viewer can begin with the film if the first season is still clear in memory. If you have forgotten how Denji entered Public Safety or how his relationships with Aki, Power and Makima developed, revisit that run first. The point of a refresher is to recover the people and setting the film builds on, rather than complete a second mandatory version of the same episodes.
The compilation revisits the first season
The official compilation announcement describes a recut of all twelve TV episodes. It also includes Chenso Biyori, newly animated material from the manga’s volume-end extras. The additional material gives an established viewer a reason to be curious, but the compilation’s main function remains revisiting the television story.
The production’s own combined screening programme makes the distinction especially clear. It lists a first compilation part, a second compilation part, and then Reze Arc as a separate film. “Two parts” in a catalogue can therefore refer to the two halves of a recap, without telling you anything about the next anime season.
If you have watched all twelve episodes, you can go directly to Reze Arc. Choose the compilation when you want its edited presentation and extras, or a refresher before the movie. For somebody starting from scratch, my recommendation remains the full TV series: it lets the first run’s encounters unfold in their original episode structure. That is a viewing preference, rather than a claim that the recap is missing a formally required scene.
After Reze Arc, chapter 53 begins volume 7
For a reader who has finished the film and wants to move ahead, begin with chapter 53 in volume 7. Shueisha’s published contents explicitly place chapter 53 at the beginning of volume 7. Its synopsis introduces Denji’s international notoriety and the assassins assembling in Japan. That connects the book entry to the broad conflict named in the next anime announcement.
This is a practical manga starting point, not a promise that the unreleased anime’s first episode will begin at an identical panel or that its final episode will stop at a particular chapter. An arc title tells us the focus of the announced project; it does not establish the length of its eventual adaptation.
For the standard English paperback, VIZ identifies Chainsaw Man, volume 7 as a 200-page manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, with ISBN 978-1-9747-2096-5. Use the title, language and ISBN together when a shop displays several editions. A Japanese-language volume, an English digital edition and a collected set can appear beside the paperback without being the same purchase.
If you have only watched the TV series, do not use this after-film instruction to jump straight to volume 7. Watch Reze Arc first, or read that intervening story in the manga. Beginning with manga volume 1 is the simplest complete source route if you would rather experience Fujimoto’s original page layouts and pacing without choosing an adaptation handoff.
There is also a good reason to reread material you have already watched: images on a page let you set the speed of an exchange, while an adaptation chooses its duration, voices and sound. Reading from the start is therefore a different experience, rather than just a longer way to reach an unseen event. It is an option for that interest, not homework imposed on everyone who wants to continue.
Manga Part 2 starts much later
Avoid treating “Part 2” on a manga listing as the book equivalent of anime season 2. Shueisha identifies volume 12 as the opening of the manga’s second part, and its contents begin at chapter 98. Its synopsis introduces Asa Mitaka. That is a later stretch of the original story, well beyond the chapter 53 entry after Reze Arc.
The numbers belong to different publishing and adaptation structures. A second TV run, the second half of the compilation, manga volume 2 and manga Part 2 do not identify the same material. When looking for your next purchase or stream, use the actual work title or chapter number instead of choosing the first result containing a “2.”
Find the complete film before choosing a subscription
Reze Arc has already had a streaming release. Crunchyroll announced its arrival on 30 April 2026, in subtitled and dubbed versions. Check the actual film listing, your territory and the language you want before paying. A licence announcement does not mean every account has the same catalogue or audio options, and this guide does not claim a playback test in your country.
Use the full film title when searching. A trailer, a compilation, an interview programme and the movie can all appear under the same franchise heading. If the service sells a rental separately from its subscription, read that particular offer before choosing a plan. Our Crunchyroll and HIDIVE comparison explains why the exact title and edition should lead the subscription decision.
Once you have seen the movie, our Reze Arc character analysis is optional later reading, with spoilers. You do not need that interpretation to follow the viewing route.
