Let me preface by saying that I am a huge fan of Welcome to the NHK, written by the same author. NHK was a story of human struggle, and not in a fantastical or hyper dramatic way. It was merely about people trying to overcome their inner-demons, life, and anxieties. Why is this important? Because when I had seen he also wrote a story called "Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge," I figured that he had lost his marbles and wrote something completely unlike NHK. While true that it isn't a 1 for 1 copy of NHK, there's a similar spirit inside of NHCE (shortened for the rest of the review) that appealed to me in every way.

STORY:

What seemed to be a story about a loser wanting to be a "cool" hero that fought bad guys along side a cute anime girl, ended up being a story of overcoming the darkness in one's own heart, particularly sadness. While the premise isn't anything incredible, the way the story focuses on the parallel between the fight with "the chainsaw man" and the emotional dilemmas of the main characters was nothing short of great. What I like so much about this story is how it's not directly about the chainsaw man, nor the fight against him, it's about an internal fight against depression. This lack of knowing what to do in life, utter loneliness, and a sadness too hard to cope with, is all too familiar. Maybe we don't all fight chainsaw wielding sacks of depression, but most of us struggle to cope with the hardships of life at one point or another. To me, that's what's so great about the story of NHCE.
(8/10)

CHARACTERS:

I'll be honest, the main reason I liked the manga so much was for the themes, not the characters. However! I do like the characters a lot, considering the short amount of time we have with them. What makes them work is not detailed characterization, but rather the relationship behind them. I don't mean to say that they have a particularly deep relationship, but I love how it ties into the themes mentioned earlier. Not only is it about overcoming personal issues, but being there to support the ones you care about. Yousuke doesn't really help in the fights with chainsaw man for quite awhile, what's important is that he cheers on Eri and to protect her if she ever needs it. What seems like a shallow relationship, is actually the bridge between the parallel I mentioned before, the chainsaw man and the internal struggle he represents. These characters, and their relationship, are nothing groundbreaking. Still, I can't help but feel they were written perfectly for the themes that are channeled through them.
(8/10)

ART:

While nothing too impressive, the art still holds up. Within the first few pages, I noticed how similar the art is to the NHK manga, despite being drawn by an unrelated artist. I figure this means the author has a specific taste in art and this falls right in place. Again, it's nothing that will blow your mind, but the main highlight is the humorous expressions. I had to change my profile picture (on Discord) to one of Yousuke's faces just because they cracked me up that much, but that might just be me. Anywho, it get's the job done well enough.
(7/10)

ENJOYMENT:

Honestly, I fell in love with NHCE within the first chapter because it remind me of NHK in a weird way. I didn't know what it was at first, but it slowly became for apparent as I continued reading page after page. It was the heart and core of the manga. It's the idea that, no matter how bad life gets, we can overcome our personal inner demons. Even if we need a little support sometimes, fighting is better than giving up and dying. That's a message I deeply loved in NHK, and NHCE reminded me just how important it is. Perhaps I could complain about the short length, sitting at two volumes, but I felt that everything was said that was needed to be. For that, I enjoyed it a lot.
(9/10)

OVERALL:

What can I say? I think this is an underrated gem that more people should check out, especially if you're a fan of NHK. While not perfect and a little on the short side, Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge is certainly a great manga.
(8/10)