Chainsaw Man's anime features a wacky cast of lively, off-beat characters who both embody and reject familiar shonen tropes and archetypes, which makes for some unusual fan art and shipping. It's one thing to recognize Naruto/Hinata as perfect lovers or cry at Tohru and Kyo's happily ever after, but shipping Chainsaw Man characters takes some guts.
These characters aren't typical friends or potential romantic partners. Most Chainsaw Man characters, even the protagonists, are crude antiheroes with serious personal flaws and plenty of awkward or unflattering scenes to their names. One example was the eye patch-wearing Himeno and her stomach-turning kiss scene with Denji, and then there's Power, Denji's official partner and the series' unusual Best Girl. That would normally call for some shipping, but maybe not this time.
Why Fans Ship Shonen Protagonists Like Denji & Power
Anime fans love to ship their favorite characters in all kinds of ways, even if the two characters involved don't have amorous feelings for one another in the original story. Fans might even ship characters in a distinctly non-romantic anime like Chainsaw Man, using fan art, fan fiction and more to get those unlikely lovers together. This is often done just for fun -- to explore "what if?" scenarios where two characters who grate on one another are secretly in love or even where sworn enemies are somehow romantically linked. Fans might also ship characters to predict what might become an official, canon romance, or they might ship characters out of pity.
A variety of love-struck anime characters are down on their luck and have tough lives, so a sweet romance is just what the character needs in the official story to cheer up. Naruto Uzumaki was terribly lonely and had no one to share his heart of gold with, so fans correctly predicted Naruto and Hinata Hyuga getting together in Naruto. They both needed it, with that potential romance easing Naruto's loneliness and giving the dandere Hinata a confidence boost with a lover backing her up. Demon Slayer fans might also ship protagonist Tanjiro Kamado with Kanao Tsuyuri, both of whom have experienced heart-wrenching losses and misfortune. A good love story might help cheer Tanjiro up and potentially help him build a new family to make up for the one he lost. Tanjiro might even get slash pairings with Inosuke and Zenitsu to ease his loneliness.
These trends continue in Chainsaw Man, with some fans wondering who will steal Denji's heart. So far, signs point toward Denji ending up with the mysterious Makima due to Denji's desperate infatuation with her and Makima's seductive ways. Other fans might ship Denji with his true equal, Power, as they're both lonely underdogs who need someone to support them. They've also learned to get along after their mishap with the bat devil, and they live together and seem to have fun in each other's company. In just a few episodes, Denji and Power became a dynamic duo with amusing chemistry, which throws open the doors for some serious shipping. However, Chainsaw Man's story, and some fans, have other ideas.
The True Nature of Denji's & Power's Relationship
Denji and Power both need one another as dangerous misfits desperate for stability, and in fans' imaginations, that could lead to an antihero-style pairing of two oddballs who just need a little love in their wild lives. That makes for good fan art, but it's inconsistent with Chainsaw Man's actual themes. Denji, Power and Aki Hayakawa are almost a loose found family, with Denji and Power having no one to support and accept them until the tsundere Aki reluctantly did so. It's not on par with Spy x Family's Forger family, but by Chainsaw Man's grim standards, these three make a decent found family. Denji and Power have platonically become family, even if they annoy each other with their outrageous behavior sometimes.
In that way, Denji and Power are more like foster siblings. They accept and support one another deep down while outwardly antagonizing and teasing one another, not unlike a real sibling duo. Brothers and sisters might annoy one another all the time or take each other for granted as family, but when a threat arrives, they can still fight together without question. Denji complains about Power's sloppy, crude ways in everyday life and Power thinks that Denji is foolishly sentimental about everything, yet they could never bring themselves to hate one another.
Instead of falling in love, they've joined hands as a wacky new family, and each of them has room in their heart for a separate lover. Denji views Power as his devil "sister," while his prospective girlfriend is Makima herself. Power has no evident interest in romance or dating, but if she did, she'd look elsewhere while relying on Denji, her "brother," to act as a reference in what to look for (or not look for) in a partner. Denji and Power have each opened their hearts to each other, but not in that way. True love will have to wait.