Chainsaw Man's Most Controversial Hero isn't Just One its Best, They're One of the Most Important

Summary Kobeni Higashiyama, though ordinary, plays a significant role in Chainsaw Man and serves as a valuable ally to Denji.

Kobeni's relatability as an average girl in a world of horror makes her a grounding presence in the story.

Despite her seemingly weak appearance, Kobeni's judgment and humanity shine through in the face of atrocities.

When thinking of the most relevant Chainsaw Man characters, Kobeni Higashiyama might not be one of the first choices that comes to mind, but this is unfair to her character, to say the least. Ever since the Eternity Devil Arc, she has been labeled as annoying and weak, not to mention how quickly she could become a traitor if it meant saving her life. Though those traits are not entirely false, there’s so much more to Kobeni’s personality and attributes that make her a very important character in the story.

Throughout the story, Kobeni proves that she’s a valuable ally to Denji, even if it wasn't her true intention. She has also formed significant relationships with other characters, most notably the fiends Power and the Violence Devil.

Even after quitting her job as a public Devil Hunter, her presence didn’t fade in the narrative, she remained involved in the unfortunate events that followed Part 1's climax. Tatsuki Fujimoto writes solid three-dimensional women, but Kobeni is truly one of a kind.

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The One Chainsaw Man Character We Can All Relate To

Original series created by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Kobeni is just trying to make it through life, and is characterized as being very average. This might be her most characteristic trait, and the one that makes her stand out from all the other characters. She doesn’t have a personal reason to hunt devils. In fact, she’s very scared of them; she just needs a job, and to keep herself alive while living paycheck to paycheck, which is a common struggle for the average person.

Kobeni has ranked within the top 10 in the manga's Official Popularity Polls. Hilariously, her car ranked even higher than her in the first poll.

On a surface level, Kobeni might be seen as the comic relief character, given how misfortune seems to follow her whatever she does. From getting the car that she worked so hard for destroyed in the International Assassins Arc, to literally dancing for her life in chapter #86, Kobeni seems to have no choice but to accept whatever is happening around her. She might panic and cry, but in the end, she’s one of the few that has made it through everything.

Kobeni’s Personality Is Grounding For Both Denji & Readers

Kobeni's unfiltered humanity gives the series' world a realistic edge

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It is precisely how ordinary she is what makes Kobeni such an interesting character. She’s often the only one with a human reaction to all the horror and bloodshed happening around her. She’s a gentle reminder that, despite how cool fights may seem, there are still several lives being lost, and real attachments being affected by violence. “There’s no such thing as a life free of bad things,” is something Kobeni tells Denji in chapter #92, after he complains he’s always going to be following someone else’s orders. She also expresses how she’s glad she’s finally got an excuse to cut ties with her family.

That statement revealed a lot about Kobeni’s character, even though she said early in the series that she only became a Devil Hunter so she could assist her family in taking her little brother to college, it turns out she only did it because “she had to”, not out of genuine love for her family. Compared to others, Kobeni might seem a bit wimpy, but she’s actually got great judgment and a grounded point of view despite all the atrocities she’s witnessed. In a world where most characters have supernatural abilities, she’s a fresh reminder of humanity.

With the manga approaching its final arc, it’s unlikely that Kobeni will show up in Part 2, as she’s been absent so far. If her last appearance were to be considered as closure for her character, at least this young woman had a fortunate fate: unrelated to devil hunters and with her family ties cut off.