Makima is Listening: The Truth About Her Fate and Frieren’s Demons

When you hear about the «Makima is listening» meme, it’s easy to dismiss it as just another internet joke. But digging into Tatsuki Fujimoto’s *Chainsaw Man* reveals that Makima really was always watching. She had a massive surveillance network using humans and demons to keep tabs on everyone.

So, how does the story actually end for her? Makima is finally defeated by Denji. It’s not a battle of brute force—Denji realizes she never saw him as a person, just a vessel for Pochita. He uses that emotional blind spot to surprise her. The defeat is incredibly dark: Denji literally cooks and eats Makima to stop her from regenerating through her contracts with the Japanese government.

But does the story end there? Absolutely not. In *Chainsaw Man*, demons are manifestations of human fears, so when they die, they don’t just disappear—they cycle back into existence.

Makima dies, but the Control Devil is reborn as a young girl named Nayuta. It’s a fascinating concept: she is the same entity reincarnated, yet she doesn’t carry Makima’s exact memories or personality. Denji decides to raise her specifically so she can grow up without becoming another Makima.

This brings us to an interesting comparison with *Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End*. Are these demons like the ones in Frieren? Not at all. In *Chainsaw Man*, they are supernatural manifestations of abstract concepts and fears. They lose their memories when reborn, which is why Nayuta isn’t exactly Makima.

In contrast, *Frieren* features a completely different approach: demons there are an actual biological species that evolve to mimic human behavior as a survival mechanism. While both universes reach the conclusion that you shouldn’t assume a demon thinks like a human, they arrive there through opposite paths—biological evolution versus abstract personification.

Ultimately, this reveals one of Fujimoto’s most elegant and brutal storytelling choices: Makima was listening all along, but she failed because she never truly paid attention to Denji as an individual. It leaves the reader wondering if that cycle of control can ever actually be broken.