If you haven't heard of Chainsaw Man, you probably don't watch anime. The uber-popular franchise blew up even before its animated iteration debuted in 2022 but, by the end of the year, five-year-old Chainsaw Man was sitting in the same big leagues as record-setting titles like Demon Slayer.
Appropriately, Chainsaw Man now has its own UNIQLO collaboration, issued through UNIQLO UT, the Japanese retailer's graphic T-shirt sub-label.
Kosuke Kawamura, artist and creative director of UNIQLO UT, developed the Chainsaw Man collection in partnership with the Chainsaw Man team and publisher Shueisha, yielding a line that stands distinct from other Chainsaw Man merch without abandoning the franchise's core elements.
“I used a lot of the original anime art and scenes for this collection," Kawamura said in a statement.
"Since the drawings are very detailed, it was easy to expand the range of ideas as design material, and I was able to try various collage styles and methods. My aim was to create designs that long-time fans of Chainsaw Man could enjoy as something a little different, and that people unfamiliar with the anime would want to wear as well."
As such, you've got nine distinct black, white, and navy Chainsaw Man T-shirts ($24.90 apiece), launching August 24 on UNIQLO's website and stores. Free stickers will be given to first-come-first-served purchases.
Scanning the stickers will activate an Chainsaw Man AR experience, according to UNIQLO's press release.
Key imagery in UNIQLO's Chainsaw Man capsule includes protagonist Denji in his terrifying Devil Form, Pochita the chainsaw devil (naturally), and a few of the Tokyo Special Division 4 Devil Hunter team members.
As is typical of UNIQLO UT, there are plenty of slogans borrowed from the manga, rather than the anime, as well as illustrated panels rendered with minimalist linework.
Really, this entire capsule is classic UNIQLO UT, riffing on the signature motifs of a popular manga franchise without getting too into the minutiae.
UNIQLO UT's next Attack on Titan collection, scheduled for Autumn 2023, is similar evidence of this stylistic approach. If it ain't broke...
