Denji and Pochita's relational dynamic was inspired by Finn the Human and Jake the Dog from Adventure Time as Fujimoto was a fan of them.

Manabu Otsuka enjoyed the focus of Denji, Aki and Power as Fujimoto is able to highlight the bond the characters form while living together.

After showing him how to connect with someone on a deeper level, and asking him always to remember her bite on his finger, "even if he goes blind," Makima promises Denji any favor, provided he kills the Gun Devil - perpetrator of the greatest massacre in human history.

[12] Denji and Power are trained by Kishibe, a master Devil Hunter, after yakuza members Samurai Sword and Akane Sawatari attack the division.

Sometime later, Denji begins a romance with a young woman named Reze, who is actually the Bomb Devil, a hybrid spy for the Soviet Union, sent to capture him.

Makima explains her apparent goals: to use the Chainsaw Devil's power to eliminate concepts from reality to create a world without suffering, where everyone is equal; to this end, she was empowered by the government with immortality.

Denji battles Makima, uses a chainsaw made from Power's blood to kill her, and eats her flesh in an "act of love" to bypass her immortality.

He sells recycled cigarettes for a living while using his newfound superhero fame as the Chainsaw Man to attract women.

He later meets Asa Mitaka, a student who is secretly the War Devil Yoru's vessel, and immediately disbelieves him when he tries to convince her he is the Chainsaw Man.

Disgusted with his behavior, she plots to turn Denji into her weapon for Chainsaw Man, unaware of his true nature.

Anna Neatrour of Manga Report called Denji an "incredibly damaged but potentially powerful hero.

"[15] Due to his traits such as his devil powers, Denji has often been compared with Akira Fudo, the protagonist of Devilman while also acting as the audience surrogate.

[22] In regards to the appeal of the action scenes, Anime News Network enjoyed MAPPA's handling of Denji's due to how gory and entertaining they are done.

[25][26][27] Comic Book Resources saw him as a seemingly unique Devil Hunter due to his simplicity, his relationship with his teammates and ambiguous last moments with Pochita who saves him from death in his debut.

[28] Reviewing the series' 97th and last chapter published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Reiichi Narima of Real Sound commented that Denji's growth through loss is a storytelling more related to seinen manga than shōnen manga, adding that he was "deeply moved" by the inclusion of this kind of stories in the magazine, ultimately calling it a masterpiece and concluding: "at the core of bloody violence, there was a boy's sad love story.

"[29] For the series' second story arc, Siliconera saw several parallels between Denji and the new protagonist Asa due to their connections with devils, as well as upbringing.

[30] Comic Book Resources did not notice major changes within Denji's characterization after several chapters and found it unsetting how his bond with Power seemingly faded as the protagonist only cares about becoming popular rather than searching a devil.

Five of Denji's international voice actors were nominated for the "Best Voice Artist Performance" category, namely Kikunosuke Toya (Japanese), Ryan Colt Levy (English), Emilio Treviño (Spanish), Joel Gómez Jimenez (Castillian), and Mosè Singh (Italian); Levy, Treviño, Jimenez, and Singh won their respective awards, while Toya lost to Yuichi Nakamura's Satoru Gojo.