AsaDen

AsaDen is the het ship between Asa Mitaka and Denji from the Chainsaw Man fandom.

Canon
When Asa is first introduced in Chapter 98, she has a negative opinion of Chainsaw Man and wishes he would die, although she is unaware that he is Denji. When she makes a contract with the War Devil, AKA Yoru, Yoru can now take over Asa's body whenever she wants and speak to her telepathically. Yoru is enemies with Chainsaw Man and wants to kill him by turning him into a weapon, so she forces Asa to help her, and Asa reluctantly agrees in the hopes of regaining her body. She first crosses paths with Denji in Chapter 102 when she is running from the Bat Devil, and Denji unintentionally saves her by killing the Bat Devil in crossfire in his battle with the Cockroach Devil. Afterward, Asa asks Yoru why she hates Chainsaw Man so much.

In Chapter 103, we find out that Denji is looking to reveal his identity as Chainsaw Man in a natural way in order to get a girlfriend. Since Yoshida is tasked by an organization to keep Denji safe and therefore prevent him from revealing his identity, he wants to get Denji a girlfriend to stop him from doing so. In Chapter 104, Yoshida asks Denji what his type is, which he says is "girls who're desperate for a boyfriend." Yoshida believes Asa fits that description since she asked him out when they met for the first time (though he was unaware that it was actually Yoru in control then), so he takes Denji to introduce him to Asa, which is when the two first properly meet. Yoshida asks her if it's true she was saved by Chainsaw Man, which she confirms, making Denji aware. Yoshida tells Asa that Denji wanted to meet her because he's a huge Chainsaw Man fan, which Asa is disappointed and a little weirded out by. Asa then says that although she used to hate Chainsaw Man, she's now neutral on him, so Denji asks her why she hated him.

Although Asa initially hesitates in fear of hurting Denji's feelings as a Chainsaw Man fan, Yoshida assures her that Denji can take anything she says. She goes on to say she hated him for various reasons, all of which Denji tries to disprove or defend. Her reasons include him always being filthy and covered in blood, his idiotic appearance, the way he only saves women, which she calls "blatantly horny," and the rumors that he eats cats, dogs, and people since he's a devil. When Denji defends his alter ego, Asa says that there's no way he would know since he isn't Chainsaw Man and berates him by saying how she hates the way Chainsaw Man fans defend him over anything. Denji becomes increasingly frustrated that she doesn't know the truth, so he outright reveals his identity and tells her that he's Chainsaw Man. Denji seems confident and proud, but Asa is unimpressed as she doesn't believe him and responds with just one word: "loser," before walking away and slamming the door behind her, making the smile disappear from Denji's face as he shouts that he really is Chainsaw Man while she continues walking.

In Chapter 105, we see that Yoru initially believed that Denji was telling the truth, but Asa convinces her otherwise since "it'd be so stupid if he was." In Chapter 106, after Yuko told Asa about how she made a contract with the Justice Devil and planned on "getting rid of Asa's bullying problem," she wants to talk her out of it, but Yoru convinces her otherwise in hopes that Chainsaw Man will appear to stop her. In Chapter 109, while Asa is briefly knocked out, Denji shows up and defeats Yuko as Chainsaw Man. Yoru then takes over Asa's body (while she is only wearing her underwear) and confronts Denji. In Chapter 110, Yoru prepares to fight Denji, but Denji instead only focuses on her/Asa's half-naked body. Before Yoru is able to hit him, he is dragged away by Yoshida. Yuko is later killed by an impostor named Chainsaw Man, though neither Denji nor Asa are aware of this.

In Chapter 112, Asa meets Haruka Iseumi, who reveals a cord in his chest identical to Chainsaw Man's and claims to be him, which Asa and Yoru believe, meaning Asa is convinced Denji is not Chainsaw Man. Asa tells Yoru she is now willing to make a human into a weapon to defeat Chainsaw Man because the sooner she does so, the sooner Yoru will leave. Asa says she would rather kill a human than a cat, but that she doesn't want to kill someone normal, only a criminal or someone who deserves to die. Yoru tells her that this won't work because the weapons they make become more powerful as her guilt for making them grows, so a weapon made from a criminal would be weak. Yoru then tells her to kill someone "between cat and criminal," a person she is willing to kill without being someone who deserves to die.

Asa then spots Denji picking up cigarette butts and thinks to herself that, while Denji is "an idiot and a loser," he's also a good person. However, she then sees him taking apart the cigarettes to make them into new ones. Curious, she starts following him, leading her to find out he's selling the recycled cigarettes to homeless people at high prices. This makes her think he's "a piece of crap," but she looks guilty as she thinks he's not so bad that he deserves to die. However, Yoru convinces her to turn him into a weapon anyway, so she goes to talk to him. Denji first recognizes her as "the chick who hates Chainsaw Man," and when Asa questions him about selling cigarettes, he gets a little mad and tells her he's busy and asks her to go away. Closing her eyes and taking a moment to collect herself, Asa then asks him if he's busy the next day as well, to which Denji angrily replies that he's busy for the next two days, though he calms down to ask why she's asking. Asa, who is now visibly smiling in embarrassment and blushing, asks Denji out on a date. A stunned and blushing Denji then accepts, despite claiming he was busy earlier.

In Chapter 113, Asa is preparing her outfit for the date. Yoru asks if she's capable of seducing him, which Asa claims is "too easy" since she thinks "boys fall for anyone who can show them a fraction of a good time," and that he'll be "head over heels for her," once they hang out. Their date is at an aquarium, where Asa unloads a long-winded lecture about sea anenomes to a bored Denji. Denji asks her to stop because he wants to see the penguins, but Asa refuses to deviate from her "perfect plan for enjoying the aquarium," which Denji reluctantly accepts. When Asa continues her lecture about starfish, an impatient Denji asks her to stop. However, Asa says that the plan is to look at starfish for another 30 minutes, which Denji is shocked by. As she continues her lecture, she thinks to herself that Denji must be falling for her now, since "even the aquarium employees couldn't give explanations this interesting." Denji once again asks her if they can see the penguins, and an unhappy Asa rudely asks him to shut up, telling him to follow her plan and that he doesn't need to think about anything. Fed up, Denji tells her that he's decided to think about things in his own way and leaves to see the penguins by himself.

Asa is shocked and tells Yoru that he's the one in the wrong. Yoru tells Asa she's a total bore and has bored both her and Denji, which Asa is offended by. Asa then tells Yoru that she and Denji are the bores and reveals that she studied up on ocean facts at the library in preparation for the date, claiming she did everything right. The elusive Famine Devil, AKA Fami, then shows up and tells Asa she isn't mentally capable of turning Denji into a weapon, so she temporarily separates Yoru from Asa and turns the aquarium into an endless, repeating hallway so that Asa can't escape until she turns Denji into a weapon. Denji then returns to Asa to tell her about the situation they're in, believing the Eternity Devil to be responsible for it.

In Chapter 114, the two have walked 100 meters through the hallway together, and when Denji mentions the Eternity Devil again, Asa tells him to shut up and to stop making things up, claiming she knows more because she's in the Devil Hunter Club. The pair then run into the leader of said club, Haruka Iseumi, along with two other members, as well as Yoshida. Asa then remembers that Iseumi is supposedly Chainsaw Man and hopes that he can help them get out without needing to turn Denji into a weapon. She then contemplates killing Iseumi instead to prevent needing to hurt anyone else and stares blankly in thought as she wonders if she can really kill Denji. The group then continues on searching the area, finding some resources, including a way to cook fish to eat. Asa tells the group (excluding an absent Denji) that she can't eat fish since it looks too much like a dead animal, before leaving the room in embarrassment at her peers' reactions.

She then promptly meets Denji, and the two are shocked to see each other. Asa asks Denji what he's doing, and he reluctantly confesses that he's picking up a bag with 1,000 yen in it. Asa calls him a thief and asks if he's ashamed for not helping. Denji then rebuttals by asking what she's done to help, and when Asa realizes she hasn't helped either, she immediately gets mad and tells him to go to hell, causing the two to repeatedly yell at each other to go to hell. When Denji walks away, Asa is mad at him for being so rude, even though she took him out on a date, and she tells an absent Yoru that maybe she should turn him into a weapon. Asa then tells herself she "isn't a loser like Denji" and goes back inside to help by potentially communicating with outside help with her cellphone. However, she accidentally slips and breaks the cellphone, causing the group to react in shock and disappointment. Asa, who is extremely embarrassed, sits alone outside the room in a fetal position.

In Chapter 115, Iseumi reveals to Asa that he isn't actually Chainsaw Man. Later on, we see Asa once again sitting in the fetal position, this time in a broken aquarium tank that still has a few inches of water in it. Denji comes to check on her and asks if she's okay, and when she says she's hungry, Denji tells her to eat fish, but she tells him she can't. Asa then apologizes to Denji for asking him on a date and getting him into this situation. She confesses that she was trying to turn him into a weapon, but even when starving, she still can't do it, not because she doesn't have the guts or because it goes against her principles, but because she has no idea what's right or wrong, which is why she's a total bore. Asa then looks up to see that Denji has sat down in the wet tank with her, and he asks her what she's muttering about. Smiling, Denji helps accommodate Asa's inability to eat fish by bringing her a starfish, revealing that he may have actually paid attention to her lecture earlier since she mentioned that starfish were edible.

In Chapter 116, Asa tells Denji that the types of starfish in the aquarium are inedible and have to be boiled to be safe to eat. Denji assures her that it's no problem as he goes to get a pot lid to boil them in and a lighter before cooking some starfish for the both of them. Asa questions Denji about his obsession with money, and he reveals that he has a younger sister for whom he is saving a college tuition. The two then eat the starfish together, but Asa says it's not enough food. She then sees some dried fish that Denji has made and asks to have some, which Denji accepts, though he's confused since she said she couldn't eat fish. Asa then reluctantly bites into the fish before gagging and nervously taking another bite, which Denji laughs at. He calls her fun, which she is surprised at. He then tells her, "What you say is totally boring, but you're interesting to watch." Asa then starts blushing and says she is an interesting woman, to which Denji agrees with a simple "yeah." Now filled with confidence, she stands up and proudly asks Denji for affirmation if she's fun, to which he once again agrees. She loudly says that she's glad Denji noticed and that he has a good eye, and confidently asks if she's charming. Denji looks amused and says he likes her attitude since it reminds him of an old friend, which Asa asks for affirmation on if it's good.

Coming up with a plan to escape, she calms down and sits down to continue eating her fish before asking Denji to assist her, which he gladly does. Asa reveals that her plan is to collect money, and Denji helps by telling her about locations with money in the aquarium. Asa enthusiastically says that they should steal the things he mentioned too, to which Denji happily replies, "Hell yeah!" The two then run around the aquarium together while collecting money, and at one point they look at each other while running and smiling, visibly having fun. Once they collect enough money, Asa asks Denji to give it all to her, which he adamantly refuses. Asa then says she'll grant him any request once they escape, and Denji instantly offers all the money to her. She tells him to do exactly as she says for the time being, which he responds to with, "Yes, ma'am!" She then tells him to stand far away, cover his eyes, and close his ears, which he promptly does. In an effort to escape, she convinces herself that she now owns the aquarium with the money they collected and attempts to turn the whole aquarium into a weapon.

Fanon
Although this ship wasn't initially popular upon Asa's introduction, some naturally ship them simply for both being the main protagonists of the manga. It gained its first surge in popularity when Asa and Denji met for the first time, since Denji's failure at seducing Asa became the subject of many memes and he was seen as a "loser" because of it, though many were just making jokes instead of actually shipping them. The ship became even more popular once Asa asked Denji out and got an even larger growth during their date, due to how comedically bad Asa's attempt at impressing Denji with her encyclopedic sea-life knowledge was and her failure to seduce him, despite his character being known for being easy to impress. This drew parallels to Denji's poor seduction skills towards Asa earlier, and many started shipping them due to how they were both "losers", with lots of fan art being centered around that fact, although once again, some just found their relationship humorous without actually shipping them. The ship gained its biggest growth in popularity yet thanks to the most recent chapter, Chapter 116, where Asa and Denji are seen enjoying their time together for the first time. In one panel, they are depicted laughing together, with some fans claiming that Asa has what appears to be heart-shaped pupils.

Besides the humorous parallels, this ship is also popular due to some angsty parallels, especially the fact that both have experienced lots of trauma and loss in their life and are now mostly alone because of it, and so shippers think they could find solace and comfort in each other. This is also coupled with the fact that Denji has an extremely tragic history with his past relationships, since multiple women pretended to care about him when they were just wanting to use him, notably in DenMaki and ReJi. Although Asa also only initially cared about Denji because she needed to turn him into a weapon, she is against doing so and has recently grown to like him. However, there is still much anxiety among the fandom over whether Denji will be turned into a weapon or if either one of them will die, since the author Tatsuki Fujimoto is infamous for mercilessly killing off his characters. Although the future of their relationship is very unclear, fans of the ship are hoping for a happy ending while dreading the more likely and inevitable tragic outcome.

Its main competition is YoshiDen, since it is currently Denji's only other major ship (with an alive character). As of the beginning of January, 2023, it is in the top 10 most popular Chainsaw Man ships on AO3 with 32 works.

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