Dororo どろろ

2019 winter | Episodes: 24 | Score: 8.3 (666246)

Updated every Mondays at 22:30 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Twin Engine

Synopsis

The greedy samurai lord Daigo Kagemitsu's land is dying, and he would do anything for power, even renounce Buddha and make a pact with demons. His prayers are answered by 12 demons who grant him the power he desires by aiding his prefecture's growth, but at a price. When Kagemitsu's first son is born, the boy has no limbs, no nose, no eyes, no ears, nor even skin—yet still, he lives. This child is disposed of in a river and forgotten. But as luck would have it, he is saved by a medicine man who provides him with prosthetics and weapons, allowing for him to survive and fend for himself. The boy lives and grows, and although he cannot see, hear, or feel anything, he must defeat the demons that took him as sacrifice. With the death of each one, he regains a part of himself that is rightfully his. For many years he wanders alone, until one day an orphan boy, Dororo, befriends him. The unlikely pair of castaways now fight for their survival and humanity in an unforgiving, demon-infested world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Suzuki, Rio

Suzuki, Hiroki

News

Reviews

Anifek
01/22/2025, 02:05 PM
Absolutely masterpiece. Dororo is such an underrated anime and not many people know about it which is sad considering it's one of the best single-season anime ever. Every episode has its own story and characters, the world is amazing and very creative, the characters are well-written and the backstories are brilliant. The only reason why it's a 9 and not a 10 is because of the ending. The ending was too rushed in my opinion and the way the anime ended was a bit disappointing. I wanted to see more and I felt that the last 5 episodes were just really rushed cause they wantedto end the show (It doesn't mean that the ending was badly written (not at all) the ending was well written it's just that it was completely rushed in my opinion) Also in episode 15, the animation was really bad. It was like they ran out of budget and the animation was horrible but other than the rushed and a little disappointing ending and the bad animation of episode 15 I can only say good things about this anime please give it a try and you won't regret that.
Latooq
05/10/2024, 11:19 AM
The worst thing that could possibly happen to a certain anime is to have a much more popular show that airs in the same season. In other words, if your show isn't a brainless battle shonen it will definitely be overshadowed. But a lot of times it only takes the show itself to make even fans fall out of love with it. And Dororo fans can blame Demon slayer for hogging all the attention, but there is more to this. The story takes place in medieval Japan where all the feudal lords decided to play Civilization 6 IRL instead of doing something meaningful. One of thembeing on the verge of loosing resorts to cheating; it is asking demons for help and promising everything in return. Later on, his wife gives a birth to his son, who have no eyes, no nose, no skin, and no limbs. The son became a victim of his father's promise and Daigo happily accepts this outcome in anticipation of prosperity the demons will give him, which makes him the worst father since Evangelion. In the end, the newborn baby is adopted by a craftsman who replaces all the missing parts with prosthesis. After growing up, Hyakkimaru embarks upon a journey to recover his body parts, but given how superior these prosthesis are in this setting I wander why he would risk his life to recover them. The story structure of finding and killing demons is the only thing this anime has in common with Demon slayer. The fight scenes aren't the selling point here but rather the wholesome sibling-like ( not anime-like ) relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, the side stories, which greatly affect the main duo, and the emotional satisfaction from seeing Hyakkimaru recovering his senses and experiencing rain for the first time. In addition all of that is complemented by the confidence of the direction, the amazing cinematography, and the music. The technical execution can't be separated from the story and vice versa. They complete each other just like pineapples complete the pizza. And if you had to suppress your urge to vomit upon reading my analogy, there is a chance you are not going to enjoy the first part as much as I did. During the production of the second part, Mappa employees realized that they are doing Attack on Titan next year so Dororo was handed to art college students as their assignment. Only this can explain why the anime has lost all its charm. "Bad" would be a wrong word to describe it, "unimpressive" is more fitting. The story got repetitive, the character development got stale, the first opening could've been used in the second cour, but it was replaced with the forgettable one. The biggest issue is probably the "central" storyline, which despite having the most screen time made no impression on me. This is just a bunch of sticks duct-taped together that was supposed to morally challenge the viewers but, unfortunately, it fell short. One arc shows the exact same situation, where few innocent people get sacrificed in order to keep the rest save, and the show never tries to build a conflict out of it and doesn't justify anyone. The "core" storyline, on the other hand, where Hyakkimaru is learning the difference between being a human and having a human appearance is much more personal and thus more captivating. The high quality gets back in the third part. And even if the second part already left a bad taste in my mouth, I still can't say that the weakest parts eclipse the strongest ones. I will forget the lows anyway but I will still remember Dororo for its highs. It's also nice to see a finished anime every once in a while, although, the ending is open so there can be a sequel, I would prefer Mappa to make OVAs which would fix the middle part.
Siaksx
09/13/2023, 11:18 AM
"Dororo" deeply resonated with me, leaving an impact that few animes have managed to achieve. Characters: I was utterly enamored by the entire cast. The dynamics between them felt real and layered, touching upon their individual aims and deep-seated motivations. As I followed their journey, I couldn't help but get attached, feeling their struggles. Their purposes weren't just story points; to me, they seemed like heartfelt confessions of their very souls. Art: The artistry in "Dororo" is hauntingly beautiful. Its vivid depictions were so intense that, on more than one occasion, I found myself having nightmares after some of the more episodes. However, these very images alsomade the anime unforgettable, retaining a vivid spot in my memories. Plot: The storyline, for me, was a solid 10/10. It was more than just a narrative; it was an exploration of emotions I've sometimes felt but struggled to articulate. The way it showcased the despicable side of humanity, emphasizing greed, misplaced priorities, stark poverty, and undeniable cruelty, hit close to home. The plot didn't just depict a tale; it mirrored the raw complexities of human nature. In sum, "Dororo" was a personal journey for me, a tale that stirred emotions, brought introspection, and showcased the intricate dance of light and shadow within humanity.
literaturenerd
07/25/2021, 08:53 PM
It's now time for another episode of Literaturenerd's too late reviews. Dororo was hot shit 2 years ago, but already most people have forgotten about it. A lot of critics felt this series was overhyped and it certainly was in 2019, but when you're focused on countering the hype wave, there's a tendency to downplay and go too far the other way. Dororo is actually a pretty good anime, it just didn't quite live up to its full potential. Dororo was based on a very old shonen from 1967 penned by Osamu Tezuka himself! Tezuka wanted to create a shonen version of traditional Japanese ghoststories, so I warn you the premise is pretty ridiculous. However, traditional Japanese ghost stories aren't aiming for realism. While Dororo isn't perfect and isn't considered up there with Tezuka's top works like Buddha and Phoenix, Tezuka was always a masterful storyteller who created fun plots, loveable characters, and infused his stories with a warmhearted humanism. There is plenty to like here in Dororo and this anime was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi of Rurouni Kenshin fame. Dororo is about an evil Lord during the Sengoku Era who sacrifices his first born son named Hyakimaru to demons in exchange for power. The demons take Hyakimaru's eyes, ears, skin, central nervous system, heart, etc. The child is basically just a skeleton with a little muscle over his bones. However, Hyakimaru's righteous indignation is SO great that he refuses to die! He is sent downriver like baby Moses and is found by the world's greatest medical doctor. This doctor is named Jukai and he is probably the best character in this series. He was once a brutal samurai serving a ruthless lord and committed many atrocities. However, he was so filled with guilt and disgusted with himself that he threw himself off a cliff and into the sea. Fortunately, he was recovered by a Dutch ship who saved him and taught him the most advanced medical science known to Europe. With this new knowledge and his own genius, Jukai was able to make prosthetics hundreds of years more advanced than his peers and dedicates his life to treating the injured and repenting for his sins. In his spare time, he also carves LOTS of Buddha statues. Before you ask, yes he inspired the sculptor from Sekiro. Sadly, Jukai really isn't in this anime for more than a couple episodes. In fact, Hyakimaru himself doesn't get enough development and doesn't regain his speech until the very end of the series. Instead, most of the dialogue and the lion's share of the screen time is absorbed by a streetwise orphan named Dororo. The manga was for a young audience, so it made sense for Tezuka to add a child character. Not to mention the fact that manga is supposed to have dialogue and Hyakimaru can't talk. So Dororo's inclusion was a necessity. However, the 2019 anime is a lot darker and edgier than the original manga. They wanted to make a violent gore fest for older teens, but then the main character is this obnoxious little brat that talks big and needs to be rescued in every episode! Dororo is like if Scrappy Doo fused with Short Round from Temple of Doom. Why is he even in this freaking reboot?! Dororo adds very little to the actual plot, which is about Hyakimaru hunting down the demons one by one in order to get his organs back and eventually gather the strength to gain revenge on his father. I think the 2019 anime could have told Hyakimaru's story through facial expression and atmosphere with little dialogue and it would have been really cool. It feels like a wasted opportunity, but they REALLY wanted to be faithful to the manga. Speaking of which, the 1969 anime adaptation changed the manga's ending because they knew anime viewers would hate it. It worked in the manga because it was only 3 volumes, but when you stretch out the anime to a bunch of episodes, the manga's ending feels incredibly anti-climactic and frustrating. The 2019 Dororo actually followed the manga's ending and oh boy were people mad! Mushi Productions called that shit way back in 1969! They knew exactly how audiences would react. Even if you discount the ending, Dororo the 2019 anime really loses steam in the second half. This is unfortunate since the front half is really strong and showcases both Tezuka's strengths and Furuhashi's strengths as a director. Sadly, this wasn't an OVA that could run exactly as long as it needed. I think 12 episodes would have been too short and 24 episodes was too long. Ideally it should have run for about 16 episodes, but a TV anime can't do that. The art and soundtrack are serviceable for the most part. The action in the first half of the series looks pretty damn impressive although it starts to get stale by the end. Then we have the elephant in the room. As several critics before me have mentioned, it also has this hilariously bad CG fire that looks like they were using Windows Movie Maker from 2009. It looks like something you'd see in a Youtube abridged parody from 10 years ago. None Piece had better fire effects than Dororo. So after everything I said, should you watch Dororo? You should definitely watch the first 10-12 episodes. Then if you want to continue you can. Just know that the back half is a little rough and kind of goes downhill. It's not Game of Thrones bad or anything, but definitely ends with a whimper instead of a bang.
orpheusbreeze
01/04/2021, 11:46 PM
A very symbolic show. This show really displayed the true reality of what is was like to live in this era. In most animes, we often only see the good sides or see the rough side of things for a little while, but this anime does not hold back. Quite a realistic telling of how Hyakkimaru got back what was stolen from him. Tackled gender identity quite well in the show, especially not trying to fetishize it (anime shows typically do this unfortunately). Overall a great show. If you're looking for a good story, growing characters, and great development, would recommend this show.
mxdhavv
09/27/2020, 12:00 PM
Dororo (2019) is a real gem of an anime. It has a very interesting and dark story and shows steady yet justified character development. Hyakkimaru and dororo are the main charterers and well-focused on. In only a span of 24 episodes, the viewer gets very well attached to the main characters and envision their ups and downs. The main reason I liked this anime was its very unique storyline and beautiful character development. Music- 8/10 (battle music and openings are good) Story- 9/10 (great and interesting story but fast-paced ending) Animation- 9/10 In conclusion, it is a must-watch anime and is definitely worth your time.
agus_tidona
05/26/2020, 08:53 PM
It does not have spoilers so it wont be long: Its a good reboot of and 60/70s manga, and its the gory, dark and seinen-type adaptation of it. A dark story of Hyakkymaru, a kid born with the curse of devils, in a contract that his father made to have a prosperous land. And then the story flows with this lambless and sense-less main character and his friend Dororo, who would guide Hyakkymaru to not lost his humanity and convert into only a blood-thirsty demon. It setted in an samurai japan, but with demons and prosthetics, making it very interesting in the very beggining. The storydevelops very good yet the pace varies sometimes, getting faster -first episodes- or slower -in the mid-, but with a very good-paced and hyping final episodes. The characters are just fine, Hyakkymaru evolves from a 'semi-human' to a lovely person and Dororo will always a nice character -who carry some secrets almost all the serie. The family of Hyakkymaru, including his ''father'' are very simple but works very good. His 'step-father' had a lot of potential and didn't fail at it, with one of the best scenes of all the show. In the other hand, that old man who is a luck of Plot device. It lows the final rank, simplifying some scenes that could have ended with a lot of emotional charge, but that just wastes the opportunity. And a detail that i couldn't just avoid, was the speed that hyakkymaru learns japanese. Well, this could've been in the travels that we dont see, but still, learns to talk and the meanings of the words, very fast. And God bless the Rapidash -no- The art has it flaws, but it's not due to 'bad animation', it's an style. People saying its bad animated but then loving devilman crybaby? It is not but animated -except one episode, 17 or something, that is truly a downgrade but just in that episode- and sound it's magnific, probably, because of using of that old-japan thematic in the music. I didn't like that much the first opening and the second one neither at first -after you hear it more times it gets better-. The endings were great. Some chapters had very good fights and others had a very 'one-punch' win -that obviously I didn't like-. Very enjoyable and very recommended. It isn't a must, but it's one of the 'big 5' 2019 animes gracias.
ktulu007
09/04/2019, 04:08 PM
Dororo is a reboot of an anime from the late 60s. The original was from Mushi production. The reboot is brought to us by a combination of Tezuka & MAPPA. We know MAPPA from their involvement with such underwhelming works as Garo: Honoo no Kokuin or Sakamichi no Apollon. The latter of which was also a collaboration with Tezuka. This does not give me a lot of hope. Story: We open with a Samurai lord, Daigo, entering the Hall of Demons that resides in his domain. You know, the ordinary kind you can find in any area. We have ours across the street from my apartment complex. Hebeseeches the demons to give him prosperity and, in exchange, they can take anything they want from him. Cue him dropping his trousers and really emphasising the "anything."The Hall gets struck by lightning, leaving him with a scar. Later on, we see his wife give birth only to have the building struck by a flash. He finds that the demons have taken his son's eyes, ears, skin, arms, legs and possibly tongue since he can't talk. But maybe they just took his voice in order to sing fabulously. He's thrilled that the deal's been accepted and orders the midwife to drown the baby. He reassures his wife that he would never survive and they can just make another one. Which I'm sure is exactly what she wants to hear in that situation. The midwife takes pity on the hideously deformed baby and sets him loose in a boat. We cut to years later where a heavily prosthetic young man named Hyakkimaru is wandering in order to hunt demons and reclaim the parts they've taken from him. He starts journeying with a young street rat named Dororo and there we have the plot. There are a couple narrative issues I have with the series. The more pervasive one is that There's not a satisfying explanation for why the demons want these body parts. There's a half assed statement about them wanting to be closer to humans and later they introduce this idea that they're somehow using the parts to awaken but we meet a lot of monsters that are running around and they clearly have enough power to rip a child into pieces seconds after its born while also being powerful enough to summon lightning storms but we're supposed to believe they need human parts to manifest physically? Wouldn't that be a bit like me being able to cause explosions with my mind and levitate but not being able to open a jar of pickles without help? There are also some cases of overly convenient circumstances. For instance, there's a scene where Hyakkimaru gets pretty horribly injured fighting a demon, but he's able to repair all the damage immediately by going back and killing it. Don't you wish you could do that in a war situation? Get shot multiple times, just quickly kill the guy who shot you and watch the bullet wounds vanish. I'll give it a pass when the parts that were stolen reattach due to him breaking the curse, but mending injuries he sustained in battle is far too convenient. The old priest also shows up at just the right moment quite a few times. I know he has an actual name, but I'm calling him Steerforth. With that being said, the premise is a very compelling one. I also appreciate that it can be more than a little dark without going too far. Legitimately, this is a far more optimistic series than you would expect. And I always appreciate it when something can be on the darker side but incorporate lighter elements and make them work. That's rare. Dororo is also a compelling series. It has something of an episodic formula but with a definite sense of progression. The ending is pretty nicely handled too. Characters: The biggest issue with the characterisation is that there are quite a few one episode characters who are just very basic and don't have any real depth. I appreciate that Hyakkimaru's family is not solely portrayed negatively. It would be easy to just make them one note villains who struck a deal with demons for their own gain. Instead, we get a lot about the conditions of Daigo's lands before he made the deal and we see some real positive traits from him. Especially where Tahoumaru is concerned. The series also brings up the legitimate question of whether Daigo and his people would be better off if they did sacrifice Hyakkimaru. Which really helps you understand the antagonists. And his mother is very conflicted, wanting to protect Hyakkimaru but also feeling that her duty to her husband is to support his decision. Dororo & Hyakkimaru are pretty great characters too. Hyakkimaru has a very compelling inner clash with his humanity conflicting with his more guttural, violent tendencies. Dororo is a very street smart child but is still, in many significant ways, very childish. We see them in their better moments, worst moments, vulnerable moments and moments of strength. Which is a significant level of depth. Art: The big issue with the art is that some of the scenes that are supposed to look horrifying do come across as goofy. Like, when Hyakkimaru regains certain parts or the demon shark. I'm sorry, it looks silly. The teeth and feet can look bizarre at times too. There are points where they'll show a character's bare feet and they'll look like they have two toes, one significantly bigger. Like they're supposed to be wearing socks with their sandals even though no one would do that and they clearly aren't. The teeth just frequently have that weirdly sharp, jagged quality. But when they get the designs right, they really get them right. There are quite a few very strongly designed demons in the series. The action sequences are pretty bloody but also nicely intense and interesting to watch. The backgrounds are very well detailed too. Sound: I have to give credit to Suzuki Hiroki, Suzuki Rio, Chiba Shoya, Matsuda Kenichirou & Munakata Mariko. While all the performances are solid, the five of them are exceptional. Ike Yoshihiro's sound track is pretty nicely done. The only aspect of the music I didn't really like were the theme tunes. Especially Kaen. Ho-yay: There's not really any. There's not much in terms of romance in general. Areas of Improvement: Give the demons a more satisfactory motivation for wanting a child's body parts. Maybe human parts freely given grant them more power or, maybe integrating human flesh into them allows them to flawlessly disguise as human. You'd just have to rework some stories involving other monsters to give their human forms a clear flaw. Let Dororo & Hyakkimaru solve their problems without Steerforth coming to the rescue so often. Lose the magic recovery of battle wounds. I get it, there's magic in this world. But it's never really shown to have curative properties except, somehow, when a person kills a demon that injured them and gets the wound immediately repaired. It just comes across as a lazy way to let Hyakkimaru have more grievous injuries without them mattering in the long term. Final Thoughts: With everything considered, I did enjoy Dororo. It may have faults, but it also has quite a few admirable qualities. It's an entertaining adventure with demons, sword play and a pair of non-blood siblings who have very little just trying to make it. If you're a fan of that kind of story, you'll probably enjoy it. For myself, I'm going to go so far as to give it an 8/10.
MisterRational
07/02/2019, 05:34 AM
Dororo is a 2019 anime and one of the very best. How do I know this? Well where should I start? Dororo is an adaptation from a manga penned by the most influential figure in the history of manga, Osamu Tezuka. The man has constantly been referred to as "the father of manga", mostly by people inexperienced with a single one of his works. But what does that matter? He birthed classic franchises like Astro Boy and Black Jack, both of which have had an obvious influence on anime and manga moving forward. So what if he wrote dozens of other manga you've never heard of thatweren't popular, didn't sell and collectively almost killed the industry? That's of little importance here. In the world of today, Tezuka is synonymous with 'good' and if I repeat his name enough, you'll see that too. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Not sold yet? Not to worry, because Dororo was adapted by the fantastic team over at Studio MAPPA, who have worked on adapting old forgotten manga for today's audience. They did it with Ushio no Tora, a generic shounen that followed the footsteps of its predecessors but could never fit their shoes, and only added animation and music to turn the series into an outdated one. Last year they tried their hand with BANANA Fish, but rather than adding to the story, it managed to regress it down to the main homosexual romance with even duller visuals than the freakin' black-and-white manga. But have no fear, MAPPA is basically the continuation of Madhouse's best talent (even though barely any of the old Madhouse staff are with MAPPA nowadays but who cares about actual research amirite!). So maybe the names of studios are too vague to rely on (no shit). But Dororo is different! It features the likes of Kazuhiro Furuhashi on staff, who directed classics from the 90's such as Rurouni Kenshin and the original anime for Hunter x Hunter. It is a fact (Wikipedia sourced) that he is amongst anime's foremost directors, even today, with his last directed work being none other than the worst of Netflix's original anime, Neo Yokio. What about Osamu Kobayashi? The man behind Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad and Paradise Kiss? Yes he was also part of the staff here, with the position of storyboarding, key animation, in-between animator and episode director. That's a lot of work, even if it's only credited to the first ED and literally nothing else for the show. And speaking of, those openings and endings were such bangers. Really incredible stuff, because they matter SO MUCH when reviewing the quality of a show. Alright, it appears that rattling off names attached won't convince you either, so lets talk about the show. Dororo features the UNLIKELY pairing between a loudmouth child and a silent, stoic badass. It's SO UNIQUE that for how influential Tezuka's work was, something like this hasn't been replicated in anime since (they have). Nevertheless the two set out on a journey full of action and supernatural elements that effectively distance itself from the homosexual happy-go-crappy anime also airing. Kimetsu no Yaiba? That began one season later - doesn't count. Dororo is such an interesting show; so grounded in the historical setting, Tezuka format and folklore of Japan that gives it a timeless nature, but also subversive in its own right. There are no tropes present here as the duo follow their path, defeating whatever monster they have to face each episode to achieve their goal. Wait, was that a contradiction?.... Moving on. What's really interesting about this version of Dororo lies in the presentation. It's just so cinematic: the backgrounds, the cinematography, such fluid animation, the way sound is edited to each scene, etc. If I could praise it like this all the time, I might confuse it for the second season of Mob Psycho 100, a legitimately well-made anime production-wise. The series initially does impress with its production quality, but it does *slightly* decline the closer to the midway point you get, until episode 15 hits you square in the eyes, and you wonder why you can't see the faces of different characters until you realize they weren't even drawn in. The action scenes however are the prominent highlights of the show visually. They're smooth, crisp and feel like authentic battles between swordsman. The way the show adds tension to these moments is also noteworthy purely for how smart the staff were. Static pictures of each character used in several instances, as well as zooming in and out of still images are not only very effective in building suspense, but also work as cost-effective methods while on a budget. And the best part is that they worked. How? Because everyone who praised the show so highly failed to ever mention them in their reviews ;) I can understand though, if I were keeping up with 20 other seasonal anime to review every 3 months then I'd probably forget a couple things as well, no matter how obvious they are. Once again, I can't help but point out just how great this series is. Dororo really broke onto the scene with a strong sense of masterful storytelling (Tezuka). Despite drifting away from the original source on numerous occasions, the series keeps the heart of Dororo alive with every budget cut at their disposal. It's like watching a movie if you've never seen a feature film before, bringing with it this Disney-esque (LMAO WUT?) essence, that you can't help but feel warm and cozy inside watching one guy slice numerous others. I should have prefaced this by saying I barely watched Dororo, or remember it for that matter, but that's ok, I still love Dororo, as I do Tezuka, and MAPPA, (and helpfuls). Now excuse me while I give more fellatio to the series and Tezuka in private. While I'm gone, here's some food for thought: try to get to know what you plan on dickriding before you start putting out like a hoe.
Eoussama
06/28/2019, 04:09 AM
A kid exiled from their parents' warmth, only to deliver a harsh payback years later. A man meditates on top of a mountain, only to find out everything he was praying for had already faded away, stories of redemption, regret and overcoming hardships like these give off a strange nostalgic vibe of a rainy night, embraced by your grandmother as she tells you about some urban legend whilst you're sipping from your warm bowl of soup, holding on to her on the rough parts of the story, waiting for the conclusion to drop so that you can fill up the lost bits of the story on your own later, probablyas you dream hoping it doesn't turn into a fever hell. “Grandson/Granddaughter, shall we start?”, “Yes Granny, what are story are you going to tell us today, is it the bunny one?!”, mysteriously ignores you as she proceeds into her storytelling; “A long, long time ago, demons existed, and a boy named Hyakkimaru was born...” A modern take on an already pretty established series, “Hyakkimaru” get mass attention from the fans on its airing season, reviving its old forgotten stories, it founded a great following from both returning old and brand fresh new fans. A show like nothing we're used to especially lately, with gloomy colors, heavily traditional, and aggressively dark and controversial for its airing time. - Story (8.5/10): In a world where demons have the superstitious upper hand, corruption is the common language, wars everywhere, famine every day and genocide is a solution for everything. A samurai ruler sacrifices his newborn son for the demons in order for his land to nourish, as his ruling mind convinced him that sacrificing a potential heir is a small price for his people's salvation. Several demons reacted, each of them consumed something off of the poor little kid, and it just happens that one of them fails at consuming whatever was left from a rusty skeleton and a mush of rotten flesh, no eyes, no ears, no limbs and not even a healthy mind. Given all the odds against him, he still survived under the care of a monk-looking doctor that has taken from providing prosthetic limbs for the dead and the sick a profession, a weird flex, but it only gets weirder from here on. Hyakkimaru was the named given to the cursed poor kid, he had spent plenty of years under the care of the doctor until it was time for him to leave and walk his own path of restoring what was taken from him, defeating demon after demon, until that one day he met a mysterious kid. enter Dororo. - Art (8.5/10): It was visually interesting, to say the least. It feels as if Dororo took the same old school art style every other show used back in the day, added in some seasoning by none other than the kitchen donkey himself and threw it on a plate for consumption and that was probably the best thing to do for an old series such as it was, it definitely helped make it easier to watch through episode by episode. For a seasonal series, it's disappointing how it lacked a definitive consistency through its serialization, some episode were just the best out of all airing shows, whilst others did not scale up to the same standards, almost as if you were watching a different show altogether. The animation was, at the hight of it, breathtaking. For an action show, you bet you're getting a fight at least once an episode, and for the major ones? Enter movie quality scenes, even for a couple of seconds. The hand to hand and swordfight feels natural and exciting, no such reusable snaps or slacking low-rate frames to drag down the rest of the production. - Sound (9/10): Let me get this right off the way first, the opening and ending songs in this show are party bangers, every single one of them. And I'm confident enough to call the first opening as the best in the crown, really inspiring and with great vocal cords, something you definitely don't see in every Anime. The ending theme songs are probably the least spoken about on every show, and you can't help but understand why seeing how most people see them as skippable extra topping that is just there to fill up the 24 minutes mark but not with “Dororo”. The voice acting in this show is a little bit weird, I don't know if it's just me, but I can't help but feel a very old school vibe from it, it's almost visible to the naked eye how for example, Dororo's voice feels like it was recorded two decades ago, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, it just worked so well with everything else. - Character (8/10): From a newborn to a full-on adult. It feels like you've been raising a child on your own for decades, mostly because of how frequently Hyakkimaru's personality changes as he wins something of his back, he may have never experienced hearing in his life, but when he finally hears something, it just changes him, it flips his world, it influences his fighting style, it even alters his behavior and interaction to the world, and that was just an example of what a single sense does to him, and you can only imagine how different of a person he is at the end of the series from what he started off as in the beginning. A lot of minor characters come and go, pulls off some plot-changing decisions and then disappear until they face the consequences back. - Enjoyment (9/10): This was definitely one of those shows that makes you feel empty after you finish it, you get too interested on a weekly basis, and then suddenly it's the end. I'm not a big fan of how it ended, but I can think of a lot of other ways it could have been bad, so I'll suttle with how it turned out for the sake of being faithful for what it set out for. I really enjoyed the fights, I enjoyed the characters, I loved the songs and the visuals, I wrote theories, I basically had a phenomenal experience with the series, I felt connected, concerned, mild feelings of anger, happiness, and sadness, it was one heck of a rollercoaster. - Overall (8.6/10): As someone who hasn't seen the original series yet (as of writing this review), I was definitely hooked. If I remember correctly, it was around the 5th or the sth episode were it all clicked for me, but going back, the first episodes were very high quality too. I would definitely recommend diving into this series, especially for fantasy/mystery/action fans out there, watching the original does not really matter, it takes nothing out from the experience, and I would probably guess that it's the proper way to experience the series.
iAimWendy
06/26/2019, 08:27 AM
! SPOILERS AHEAD! So I just finished watching Dororo and I’m sorry to say that this has to be one of the biggest dissapointments of 2019 as far as anime goes. Dororo starts off very strong. The art is solid, animation fluid with a very small number of still images, the characters, Dororo and Hyakkimaru are interesting and fun to watch as they travel across Japan searching for demons. Other characters such as the epic grandpa, the mysterious man, who raised Hyakkimaru and the members of Hyakkimaru’s family are all interesting enough for the viewer to look forward to learning more about them. You get excited tosee what kind of problem or quest will Dororo and Hyakkimaru encounter next. What body part will Hyakkimaru get back? Will he know how to use it? How will he react when he finally gets to hear and see and feel? All of these questions were flying through my head as I impatiently waited another week to see what comes next. The conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family was also one of the things I really looked forward to. As his father, who believed/hoped that his first son was already dead, his mother praying day to day so that her son is still alive (or regreting letting him go), and his brother Tahoumaru, who has never been told about his older brother, therefore he doesn’t even know he exists. To the viewer it’s quite obvious that they will eventually reunite, but it’s this kind of predictibility that I personally love and I couldn’t wait to see how the family will react, when they find out that Hyakkimaru is not only alive, but is slowly getting all the body parts that were taken away from him back. The pacing of the first half of the show is good enough to where the viewer doesn’t get bored easily. As for the music, I love both of the openings, especially the first one, since it achieved to be one of the most memorable openings of the season. Sadly, as for the soundtrack, most of it was pretty forgettable. If I could rate the first half of the show alone, I would give it a 10/10 and I would’ve thrown it into my favourites without a second thought, but that’s where the second half of the show comes in. SECOND HALF Let’s start with the art and animation: You notice as you transition into the second half of the show, the animation budget drops drastically. The episodes are filled with still images and most of the time, even the still images look straight up horrible. And when there is no movement in the characters, your eyes wonder to the plain, boring and washed out, poorly drawn background. Actually, all of the colors seem more washed out then before, not sure if it was intentional to have some kind of older look or something, but it just doesn’t work and it’s not very pleasing to look at. At some point I thought, maybe they were saving all the good stuff for the climax, but no. The last episode looks as horrible as all the other, if not worse. Characters: I noticed that, for some reason, after Hyakkimaru finally meets his family, ALL of the characters become either very one dimentional or their goals and motivation change completely. Hyakkimaru goes from a boy who’s clearly shown some love and empathy, to a one dimentional "I want my body back, out of my way" guy, who often pushes Dororo away, only to later wonder around trying to find/save Dororo. His motivations jump form "get body back" to "all I need is Dororo" randomly and it can get annoying very quickly. Dororo didn’t actually change all that much. But she still did. Unlike in the first half, where Hyakkimaru is the one depending on Dororo, to lead and guide him through out the adventures, in the second half, Dororo drags behind Hyakkimaru (partially trying to stop him) and gets kidnapped so many times, needing Hyakkimaru to rescue her. It was a shame, since Dororo seemed like the type of character that could find a way to escape these kind of situations on her own, but, I guess not. The grandpa goes from epic side character to savior ex-machina. He only appeared in the most "ooohh man if only there was someone to help us right now" moments. Plus most of his dialogues consisted of "dis boi gonna be a demon", which was also a shame, because the grandpa was my favourite character in the first half, before they made him so one dimentional. As for the man that raised Hyakkimaru, I have nothing against him in any way, even in the second half. I really loved the episode where he and Hyakkimaru meet after some time, Hyakkimaru talks to him and calls him mom, it was really like the only time I got actually emotional in the second half of the show. Hyakkimaru’s brother goes from kind hearted and pitiful towards his older brother, to an evil douge that would rather get possesed by a demon then give up trying to kill his brother. And yes, I know, he was just listening to what his father said, trying to impress him and I guess also doing the right thing by trying to kill his brother, since if he didn’t, it would destroy their land, but after his change in motivation, he never shows any signs of the empathy he had before, and it just makes his character unlikable and, if I may say so, ONE DIMENTIONAL. Thankfully, Hyakkimaru’s parents remain mostly the same as before. Story and pacing: So, basically, the second half of the show wasted time on these pointless episodic stories, instead of actually progressing the plot. Which, those were actually part of the first half as well, but as episodes went by, they got really repetitive, predictable and boring. At least in the first half, Hyakkimaru would gain something from these filler episodes, be it a body part or some kind of experience, that would later influence his actions and helped to build his character. I don’t know why the show acted as if it had time for some pointless filler episodes, ’cause it didn’t. Episodes like this can be used in long, ongoing shows like One Piece, Naruto etc., not in a 24 episodes per entire show anime, that is very close to ending and still has underveloped climax aproach (if I may call it that). The ending, aka the last two episodes, could easily be a whole paragraph alone, or an entire hour long presentation about how NOT to end an anime. I won’t spoil the ending here, but let me just say, that that was one of the most rushed, confusing, and unsatisfying endings I have ever seen. I still refuse to believe, that a show that started so well, had so much potencial and had so many ways to end, ended like this. If they don’t make an OVA episode, fixing at least some things that they had done, I am suing the studio. Like I already said, if I could, I would divide the ratings for the first and second half. The first half gets a 10/10, amazing, beautiful, will rewatch pretending it ends at episode 12. The second half gets a 2/10, one word. DISSAPOINTMENT. Overall, I give it a 5/10. Thank you for reading my first review. Sorry it’s so long, I just had a lot to say.
MrGoldiii
06/24/2019, 03:58 PM
Episode one of Dororo had a beautifully choreographed fight scene betweeen Hyakkimaru and the demon. The way Hyakkimaru catapults himself through his surroundings slicing, through the sight of darkness within the demon. It sold me on the show and had me hyped to watch it weekly. However, to my disappointment the show had a very stagnant middle section. It introduced some awesome characters, and brilliant plotlines, however it lost the 'it' factor that really drew me in intially. The fight scenes no longer lived up to the beautiful fight choreography shown in the first few episodes, and the brilliant story direction. However, what really redeemedthe show from its lackluster midsection, was the shakespearean ideas brought forth in the final four episodes. There was a huge theme on morality and ethics, bringing forth ideas of good and evil, combined with ambition and struggle. The story clearly takes a lot of ideas from Shakespearean stories such as Macbeth, and with the presence of a complicated relationship between Hyakkimaru and Tahomaru a Romeo and Juliet twist. Kazuhiro Furuhashi did a brilliant job of providing the audience with an ethical debate, allowing us to reflect on what the best thing to do is. The open-ended finish worked to Dororo's advantage, wrapping up the story we have been following and letting us question what happens next. The art style is very modern, and gives a slick polish to the old-school style of story written by the god of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. The soundtrack has an oldschool, semi-0riental style which appeases the ears, and ramps up its flair during the action scenes. Both of the of the openings are fantastic, and introduce the episodes beautifully. Recommend this if you want to delve into a grand demon-slaying epic whilst delving into an ethical and moral debate.
CodeBlazeFate
06/24/2019, 02:03 PM
*Given the nature of the series itself, it’s hard for me to discuss it without at least mentioning mild spoilers. Also, there’s a RWBY spoiler in here. Proceed with caution.* With the exception of One Punch Man Season 2, Dororo is probably the most deflating anime I’ve seen so far in 2019. That’s honestly a real shame cuz on top of being a popular retelling of an anime from the ’60s, it's a 2000s samurai anime displaced in time. Furthermore, one of the main protagonists fights demons and samurai with swords for limbs! That sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Then halfway through the show, you realizethe cool moments are rendered moot and surrounded by mediocrity. Even worse, the show lost a lot of stream after peaking early on, causing the second half to become especially bothersome given the lackluster writing that permeates it. If nothing else, Dororo makes for a generally well-produced spectacle of samurai battles and bloodbaths. Even outside of the fight scenes, there are some incredibly well-animated sequences, like whenever demonic lightning would flash or when people or demons were burnt to ashes. At their best, the battles are crisp, fluid, and decently choreographed, with lots of sakuga moments where characters clash blades and get hacked to pieces. At their worst, they’re short, barely animated, and often replaced by animation shortcuts like static character portraits flashing in one after another, or slash marks on a black screen being followed up by a lack of anything satisfying, juicy, or vivid. The production values also worsen throughout the third quarter of the show in general, with bad CGI water, unriveting choreography and barely-animated fight scenes, several awkward shots and animation cuts, and overall inferior character models and animation throughout. None of this is horrible, not even the infamous episode 15 barring a few terrible sequences, but it does show that the production is a tad uneven. As for the character designs, at least for most of the main duo, they’re fairly attractive and mostly on-model barring a few stylistic changes throughout episodes and fight scenes (which are as hit or miss as the episodes themselves). Most of the secondary and tertiary characters are not very distinct or interesting and suffer from off-model syndrome a tad more, but it’s never anything heinous. As for the designs of the demons that are slain throughout the show, the only interesting ones were the ghost foxes that appeared halfway into the show, as well as a possessed horse near the end of the show. I also like the monochrome aesthetic, as it complements the atmosphere and designs of the show, especially when the animation kicks into high gear. It’s probably one of MAPPA’s more well-produced titles, even if nothing here is especially exciting. That’s where most of the compliments end, as the writing leaves a lot to be desired. I like the idea they were going with. It would have been interesting to see how the episodic stories impact Dororo and especially Hyakkimaru in their journey to slay demons and regain the latter’s humanity and body parts, which were robbed from him at birth. Having their escapades intertwine with the story of a falling kingdom and a family whose secrets unravel as specific members learn of Hyakkimaru’s survival could have been exciting. An overarching narrative where the characters often deal with episodic occurrences is certainly nothing bad, nor anything groundbreaking. One-off episodes are a great way of allowing for action spectacles and powerful moments that could impact character arcs tremendously. They also allow for more diverse narratives and world-building. Series such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Moribito are excellent examples of this. Dororo fails in all regards here, as most of the stories follow the exact same narrative beats and character archetypes, causing the side stories to lose any identity and worth by the second half. The show has a disconcerting number of one-off femme fatales, ridiculous psychopaths working with demons, and rambunctious kids wandering around to find a mother or sister figure they care about, both in the main story and the one-off episodes and arcs. If the one-off characters were more interesting and varied, or if the protagonists were more engaging, this wouldn’t be a big deal. Another major issue is how none of the side stories leave any real impact on our main duo. The only thing of note in most of these is how Hyakkimaru gets his body parts back. They did have an arc where Hyakkimaru had to deal with the shock of having ears again, forcing him to slowly and painfully adjust to the act of hearing. Had the series explored that concept with his other body parts and spaced them out better to allow for said exploration, I likely would have cared about Hyakkimaru a lot more. Sadly, at most, we get one-off lines about the differences in what he can do with his swords, only for him to still do the same things he always did, but with one less sword limb or with longer reach. Even worse, most of his developments after that point feel less gradual or tactile, and more “start and stop”. The worst examples are when in between episodes 12 and 13, he goes from barely uttering words to forming a complete sentence, or when in episode 20, he flips out due to a demon not granting him a body part back (an occurrence that has happened a few times by this point) and becomes a raging beast who wants his body and Dororo back during the final arc of the show before arbitrarily becoming more level-headed again in the finale. Backtracking to the non-impact issue, in the fifth episode, Hyakkimaru finds himself being taken care of by someone who he ends up having an affection towards. Meanwhile, Dororo interacts with her and the kids she’s taking care of, all while giving Hyakkimaru time to recover. At the end of episode 6, everyone who took care of them there dies, and Hyakkimaru goes on a rampage, killing almost everyone who murdered them. You’d think such an event would leave an impact on both of them, especially Hyakkimaru who finally found someone else he cared about that could help him. Apart from minor flashbacks in the middle of Dororo getting angry at someone, and a scene of another secondary character comforting Dororo, it means absolutely nothing and doesn’t get referenced in any meaningful way. I’m left with flashbacks to RWBY, when in Volume 3 Ruby watches Roman Torchwick get eaten after beating her up and challenging her heroic idealism with talk of how cold and nihilistic reality is. This scene comes between the death of two of her friends for an added gut punch. This is prime real estate for her to develop as a character (the main one at that) before Volume 4 completely has her going nowhere with this outside of two scenes of her feeling scared and horrible for what happened, causing her to completely abandon this idea outside of one scene in Volume 5 where she brings up the deaths of her friends. Hell, even that had more of an impact than what happened in this arc, which is still the most emotionally resonant arc in the series! None of this would matter too much if the characters were dynamic and colorful, cuz that would make it so even if an episode is only there for variety, it’s still engaging. Unfortunately, Dororo’s characters barely go beyond their character archetypes, and the ones who aren’t stock characters often leave a lot to be desired. I already discussed how poorly they handled Hyakkimaru’s development, which is a real shame since there are moments where he comes off as fun, even adorable with how he has to learn to really socialize with others on a level beyond that of a toddler. Dororo, by contrast, is far more lighthearted, sometimes even naive regarding “right and wrong”, as she’s a child. She’s an orphan that has watched her parents die and seen villages burn, and that completely clashes with how naive she is and how horrifying such violence seems to her in the first leg of the show, but she’s still a child. Speaking of clashing, her character trait of being a street rat who regularly attempts to swindle people or make a quick buck makes some of her more gullible actions in later episodes (15) seem entirely out of place. She has two sides to her that are fundamentally at odds with one another at times, resulting in a character that feels weak, on top of feeling shallow. That shallowness is compounded by the lack of development, a trait which only Hyakkimaru and one of the antagonists have any kind of access to (as dodgy as their development is). I know that a lack of character development is one of the tackiest, most misused complaints thrown at an anime, but when the characters are this shallow, and none of the side stories leave any kind of impact on a pair of characters consisting of a child and a person slowly gaining back and developing his humanity, I'm left begging for something, anything to change before completely checking out by episode 18. I’m barely gonna touch on the side characters, even Hyakkimaru’s family and the people that serve them, as they’re mostly just boring character archetypes like the suffering mom, the warlord who cares about his nation almost as much as he does his reign over them, and the edgy, jealous younger brother who constantly tries to prove himself in order to not feel overshadowed. There’s also the wise, badass old man with some sense of humor. To be fair, the show does a fine enough job not screwing these characters up with dumb decision-making or erratic personality shifts, at least for the most part. It’s just that it’s hard to care about characters who are on autopilot, just as it’s hard to care about our main characters. There is one exception to the lack of character shifts, that being when in episode 12 Hyakkimaru’s brother suddenly goes from someone torn on the moral quandary of his brother’s life vs the nation that thrived off his unwilling sacrifice, to someone hell-bent on killing him after failing to end a deal between the demons who cursed Hyakkimaru, and his father who made a pact with them for the sake of power and a prosperous nation. Apart from that moment, you can predict every character’s archetype and actions the moment you see them. The only recurring character with anything to him is the guy that took care of Hyakkimaru for most of his life: Jukai. He has a genuinely horrific backstory that informs his somber nature and constant need to seek out ways for his craft to be used in ways that compliment life, something he feels he’s stuck with due to not having the right to die like everyone around him does. At this point, I’ll just list a few other issues with the writing. The characters arbitrarily doing stupid things for the sake of the plot in the second half, such as Dororo randomly falling for a trap door in a seemingly abandoned shack in episode 15 despite her being a trickster character who would never be this gullible, or Hyakkimaru not even thinking to chisel the rock trapping Dororo’s arm to free her as she’s drowning in episode 20. The old man conveniently shows up as a deus ex machina, and his first instinct is to chisel the rock and that lets Dororo get out of there, making this problem all the more aggravating. In the second half of the show, Hyakkimaru somehow knows where an important character is and tracks them down offscreen, not once, but twice despite there being nothing presented to the audience or to Hyakkimaru himself that could feasibly allow him to track them down. In episode 15, a village is consumed by fire and it’s blamed on an underground oil spill reacting to a moth demon randomly crashing onto a watch tower with a torch which subsequently exploded, except there’s no way it could have affected the oil in order to cause the fire to consume the village. The show also constantly beats you over the head regarding how tragic things are, and it often has the narrator or character reiterating what they’re doing. Apart from one spoiler-heavy moment a bunch of characters could have easily avoided if they had any sense of urgency, these are the only real big issues I can think of regarding issues with bad writing. The episodic narratives are generally fine enough on their own. It’s just that most of them feel rather samey and end up not mattering. The overarching narrative, despite being on autopilot, isn’t necessarily badly written either. It’s just unengaging thanks to the main character arc that drives the plot not being handled well and the characters being on autopilot. That just leaves the music, which is somehow my least favorite part of the show. The background OST has decent tone-setting tracks, but nothing memorable. Half the time, I didn’t even know there was a soundtrack. Then we have the OPs and EDs. I hate them all to varying degrees. The vocals in all of them are unbelievably grating, especially the first OP, which is probably one of my most hated anime songs of all time, let alone this year. The second OP is probably the most disappointing, as it starts off with a kickass grunge-like guitar solo for about 6 seconds before completely shifting gears and eventually succumbing to the problem of bad vocals. Unlike the EDs, the OPs stick, but it’s not out of me finding any appeal in them. I expected Dororo would lose steam eventually given what I had heard, but I wasn’t prepared for how the show ultimately became less than the sum of its parts. Apart from a few specific complaints, both the overarching narrative and the episodic and bi-episodic narratives are fine. It’s just that anything potentially interesting or emotionally resonant is completely undermined by a lack of cohesion between these two elements and how little impact anything seems to have. The characters certainly don’t help, as those that aren’t shallow archetypes aren’t handled with enough care for their plights to matter. The inconsistent spectacles aren’t enough to carry a show that feels so bog-standard and at-odds with itself. As a result, I largely stopped caring after a while, and that’s one of the worst feelings a promising show can inflict. There are moments where it picks up and the spectacle and emotions speak for themselves, but by the second half, I was usually either bored or on autopilot. I may not hate or dislike the show, nor do I think it’s terrible, but I’m left wondering why I bothered before asking myself what could have been. Written and edited by: CodeBlazeFate Proofread by: Peregrine
Mury0kush0
06/24/2019, 12:29 PM
Dororo is a great anime in itself. I’m not trying to make you watch it by saying how it’s the anime which inspired other animes so even if you find it cliched watch it because animes exists thanks to this. No. I honestly enjoyed everything in the anime. I recommend you to watch because it’s so well produced and the storyline is great too. Some episodes seem like not connected to the main plot but they have a connection Ofcourse and are great episodes to be watched freely. The art: 10/10 Honestly hats off to the production team. Just compare it to the 1969 version. Eversince I saw the first look of the poster I was impressed. The animation quality although drops a bit during 1~2 episodes, otherwise the animation is great. The fight scenes are so amazing and satisfying. The characters : 9.5/10 I quite liked the characters especially Hyakkimaru Dororo Tahomaru etc. Despite whatever side they were on I appreciate their ethical and mora values. None of the characters were shallow, something I really admired. The demons were well animated too because woah some were creepy like wth. The story : 9/10 The story is really nice. As someone who loves historical shounen action animes I thoroughly enjoyed it. Honestly the last scenes felt abrupt to me??? Like it could’ve gone in infinite numerous directions so why? (Not spoiling) But the last ep as a whole was great so not complaining. Will leave the rest to my imagination. The Music : 10/10 I loveeeeeed both the opening and endings. The Ost play an important role for me too and all 4 didn’t let me down at all. Even if you aren’t going to watch the anime do have a listen to the opening and endings! I rated Dororo a 10/10. As I say I review based on my experience solely because there are others who can critically evaluate better than me. I really enjoyed these 6 months thanks to Dororo and although it has nothing hi-fi, I just enjoyed watching it a lot. I just love great re-adaptations of old animes made to fit modern viewers criterias!
ZB_Blades
06/24/2019, 10:39 AM
Miracles do exist and Dororo is proof of that. By all accounts something like Dororo should never have been made. I’m not saying it’s bad, in fact quite the contrary. The Dororo manga is old, really old. Up until late last year I had never heard of it before. Typically the only anime that gets green lit is stuff that is relevant. Stuff that people are currently talking about. Pretty much the opposite of Dororo. Yet someone took a chance and decided to adapt it and I could not be more happy with their decision. The story of Dororo is quite simple and easy tofollow. It’s the story of a young man on a quest to regain what was stolen from him. In his current state you could call him an inhuman monster. Probably a bit harsh but when you have been robbed of everything that makes you physically human what are you left with. As the story goes on our main character Hyakkimaru regains those lost limbs but at what cost. I really loved the theme that Dororo went with. It’s all about give and take. For every piece of your human body you try to obtain, a bit of your humanity is lost. It’s a complex question ripe for intelligent discussion and Dororo handles that question masterfully. While most of our focus and attention story wise is put on Hyakkimaru the anime is called Dororo for a reason. As an audience we are seeing things play out mostly through Dororo’s eyes who exists mostly as comic relief to keep the show lighthearted enough so that we are not bogged down by Hyakkimaru’s unending quest for vengeance. Dororo plays a perfect host for this journey and a great companion. Just because Dororo is a kid doesn’t mean they can’t be useful. In fact that’s something I want to point out. Typically child characters in anime are a nuisance. They are annoying, a liability in any given situation and frankly there to cause problems. The thing I like about Dororo is that Dororo is intelligent. Dororo helps our protagonist on his journey. Not just with the demons but also making sure Hyakkimaru does not fully lose what little humanity he has left. Other characters that have relevance include a wise wandering old man who you could call a sensei for Hyakkimaru when it comes to navigating this world. Sometimes he pops in to lend a helping hand but is never overbearing nor a deus ex machina, and he is always giving sagely words of wisdom both to the main characters and us as well. Of course what story is complete without an antagonist. The antagonist for Dororo revolves around Hyu’s father and brother even. What I like about Dororo’s portrayal of the antagonists is their motives for their actions make sense. They are not bad for the sake of being bad. Any other story and they would be the heroes instead. A well fleshed out hero for a story is nice but a well fleshed out villain can definitely elevate some series to the level of greatness. Throw in some meaningful side characters and Dororo has all the makings of a fantastic anime. The art and animation for this story received quite the facelift. The original manga that I peeked has a comic like cartoony style of animation that may have worked for the time it was made but would need to be updated for a modern audience. The choice to update the designs was a great decision on the studios part. As for animation, wow. I was not expecting a show like Dororo to look as good as it did. Everything moved and flowed nicely. Most action scenes featured breathtaking sequences that you rarely see these days. There was a bit of a hiccup for one episode which depending on your taste could be very good or very bad. Fortunately it only lasts for one episode and then everything goes back to normal afterwards. The sound for Dororo was great especially the first opening song. It’s straight fire which going by some of the lyrics is an accurate description. The ending song is nice too, almost has a sort of ballad feel to it. The 2nd OP and ED are good too but the first set is what defines the series sound wise. I really hope that more studios in the future look to anime like Dororo and decide to take a chance on older works. There are so many great stories out there that deserve to be adapted and given the same respect that Dororo was given. This is certainly a classic in the making.
CorkMars
06/24/2019, 10:26 AM
“The path I take, does not lead that way. I am human. Don’t you become a demon either. Live on as a human.” I won't say too much in this review. Over the past several months I've had so much to say about, what I believe is, the best anime of 2019 thus far. But now that its over, I'm content saying less rather than much. **vague SPOILERS ahead** Dororo is unlike much of the media coming out of Japan concerning the samurai. We've see a great deal of glory hoisted onto these "heroes," of the past. Dororo is an anime that is not afraid to criticize thishistory, while also telling an extremely original story. This review will probably get lost in the end of season ocean of reviews, but I feel my final impressions are important to write down. In the beginning it is the sins of the father which creates pain and suffering. We have all seen this before. But in the end, it is the sins of the father which promise life and stability in Dororo. Maybe that is the difference in leaving a male or female behind to succeed you in an unforgiving world. The line between man and demon becomes increasingly blurred as Dororo moves progresses, what were once hated antagonists become sympathetic men, and beloved protagonists display flashes of the demon within. Maybe the point of Dororo is to show that while we all may harbor these demons, it is within our power to be eaten by desire, or to conquer it. The final episode shows us a protagonist who has long wanted, no longer chasing after "things," finally happy with just having a full body. Society tells us that we never have enough, that we have to want, but Hyakkimaru finds happiness by obtaining simply what most of us are born with, a body of ones own. I see this story as a coming of age tale from two different perspectives. Hyakkimaru is the yang, Dororo the Yin. The taichi symbol shows that within black there is white, and within white there is black. The growth of these two ^ throughout the series is similar to other anime in someways, but different in many. The conclusion was executed perfectly by MAPPA and the production maintained an efficient work schedule. The love put into this anime is so much more evident than many others, and now that I've watched it weekly, I'll have to experience the entire story as one. I hope everyone else enjoyed this anime as much as I did!! Live on as humans! :)
TakaCode
06/24/2019, 06:35 AM
In this day and age we have been presented with remakes of classic anime from various decades. From Magical Circle Guruguru, Fruits Basket, Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Bogglepop Phantom. With the few exceptions that shall not be named theses remakes have been well received by fans and critics. This leads me to on of the more recent anime remakes Dororo. Unlike any other remake minus Fruits Basket 2019 I had high expectations as this being done one of my favourite directors Kazuhiro Furuhashi the same director that gave us the underrated cop drama Your Under Arrest, the flawed but highly enjoyable Rurouni Kenshin adaptations and theatmospheric Hunter x Hunter 1999. Fortunately the series managed to almost perfectly deliver my high expectations as this is easily one of the best anime remake I have seen period. The story follows a ronin named Hyakkimaru who is born malformed and is required to kill demons to obtain his missing body parts. He is accompanied by a troublesome orphan thief called Dororo during his travel. From there the duo roamed around various countries, hunting for ghouls and demons. There a lot of things to like about Dororo. For starters this show is very dark both visually and narratively. It's Sengoku-era of Japan after all. The most darkest period for Japan. The dark nature of Dororo is only enchanted with the show asking us the viewer various deep questions what makes us human and what defines a machine and what makes a monster. Hyakkimaru character arc is a brilliant case study of this. From the first episode he has a personality of a machine where he hunts down demons without breaking a sweat. As he gains more body parts he starts to becomes more human where he starts to understand the world that he is in but at the same time Hyakkimaru's journey of collecting body part's is slowly breaking him mentally. Not only the harsh reality of the world starts to mentally creep him he also has to face the fact that he has killed various people along he's journey hunt and as a result it makes Hyakkimaru less of an actual human. This is Dororo biggest strengths by a long shot as it makes you the viewer think about all the actions that Hyakkimaru has done thought he's body part journey. This is the main reason why it was hard for me to call Dororo a full out episodic series. Similar to Cowboy Bebop and to a less extant Ouran High School Host Club the series has all the elements of a standard episodic series yet the characters are developing along with the plot. When the series starts taking the overarching plot approach towards the end it's feels natural thanks to the series strong direction and build up. It didn't pull it's overarching plot from its ass as every single episode of Dororo had a purpose despite it being mostly episodic. The second best thing about Dororo is how brilliant the world-building is. The series is set in Sengoku-era of one of the most darkest periods for japan yet it does a splendid job of making the world of Dororo feels alive thanks to the spectacular attention to detail towards various locations and races. Unfortunately Dororo does have some minor faults. To say that at times Dororo doesn't have enough substance at times is an understatement. Granted that compared to any other MAPPA series excluding Banana Fish. Dororo has the most substance thanks to it's setting, characters writing and thematic exploration but at same time Dororo clearly had its fair share style over substance moments where the writing was put in a bus in favour of visual presentation at times. This also leads to my second and final problem with Dororo the inconsistent quality of the episodic episodes. Granted there was not an episode in Dororo that I consider to be bad or even average but I still felt like some episodes had clearly better written than others. The weakest episodes of Dororo went for the more typical approach by featuring less memorable one off characters and stories. Regardless theses two flaws did not shut down the adventurous party that was Dororo. A silent protagonist in any fictional work is very hard to pull off as can easily becomes blank stake for that particular work. Fortunately Hyakkimaru doesn't fall into the same traps of other silent protagonists he is an interesting character from start to finish. His character arc was well-handled thanks to great writing, and he's just a sympathetic character overall despite him being mostly silent. Similar to a silent protagonist a child protagonist in any fictional work is very hard because they can easily be the most annoying thing in your story. Fortunately the character Dororo doesn't fall into the same traps as most other child protagonists as he's a great and enjoyable character. She's the perfect companion for Hyakkimaru as she tries to best to help Hyakkimaru succeeds of his journey of getting his body parts back. Her personality is full of life and humanity despite being a child living in a harsh world. The best part about these two protagonist is their strong character chemistry with each other. I really loved the dynamic duo of Dororo and Hyakkimaru as they have a strong and unbreakable bond. Both Dororo and Hyakkimaru would do anything to ensure that their partner is safe from danger. The rest of the characters were good. Some of them are better than others, but they all served they roles and purpose in the story. If, I had two words to describe the visuals of Dororo it would be atmospheric and gorgeous. MAPPA did a fantastic job of bring this classic series to life with its beautiful soft colour palette, well-drawn characters designs and splendid background secretly that is filled with attention to detail. This is only enchanted with the fantastic visual direction. When the show decides to have a flashback the entire show minus the blood goes to black and white which homages the visual presentation of the original series. The animation was for the most part is beautifully choreographed and well-animated. It does dip at times notably episode 14-15 but it never dipped to a point of being ugly. The soundtrack is outstanding. The series uses a mixture of Melancholic and Japanese folk music pieces only enhances the plot and setting. The same thing can be said for all the opening and ending themes that Dororo has to offer. The voice acting is strange in a good way. The Seiyuus that did the voices for Dororo and especially Hyakkimaru were newcomers. With this in mind you would think that the voice acting would be bad because of this but no. In fact, they were amazing as they fitted with they respective roles perfectly. My favourite Seiyuu out of the two is Rio Suzuki as Dororo as she did an outstanding job at being the cheeky Dororo to life. There is currently no English Dub as from June 2019 then again the show has gained a big following from both vintages and casuals watching meaning the series will someday get a quality dub and I hope Bangzoom will be the ones that will dub it. Dororo is what an anime remake should be. It takes everything that was great about the original series from 1960s and expanded it to new heights with its beautiful presentation, smooth soundtrack, strong characters and intriguing plot that has a purpose. It did have a few faults along the way but the faults didn't shut down the grim and fascinating party. Amazing job MAPPA. You finally made a modern anime classic.
HellLyter
06/24/2019, 06:30 AM
Tales of samurai and supernatural beings are commonplace in Japanese culture, and Dororo, an old anime that has gotten a reboot after decades, is one such story. This anime tells your typical story of a man wronged by practically everything ever who goes on a journey to discover himself. No, not in a spiritual sense or whatever like you might suspect. This dude is literally searching for his body parts. Which, might I add, were sacrificed to demons by his dad. Yeah, it's pretty intense. Unfortunately, while the creator of Dororo thought up quite the dark and gruesome setting for his work, he failed toconvey a significant message due to a variety of both narrative and technical flaws. The stoy centers around Hyakkimaru and his child companion Dororo as they travel around the country slaying demons who have stolen Hyakkimaru's body parts. They also encounter both friend and foe along the way. The problem is that this anime lacks central direction. It takes an episodic approach for the most part that features a bunch of hit or miss (for me they mostly miss, bruh) side stories that don't really go anywhere. They feature new characters who are usually killed off or never seen again and the episodes don't really contribute to the narrative. I mean Hyakkimaru just comes in, kills some monsters, grows some body parts, and then moves on with Dororo in tow. There's next to no development of any character in such episodes and they have practically no impact on the overarching story. Only a few of the mid and the last several episodes tackle the the central conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family. And these episodes actually aren't that bad. They address themes such as the value of one weighed against the value of a land filled with many and feature some interesting confrontations. Had this anime been one cour and more focused, I might have actually found it to be decent. Unfortunately, it's just held back by a plethora of bland and in some cases plain bad episodes. One of my problems is that I don't really get a lot of the traditional Japanese monsters/spirits. Call me uncultured or whatever, but when I see a dude riding sharks or a giant floating baby head thingy, I can't take the story seriously. I think the plot is at its best when it doesn't have a bunch of weird creatures that spawn out of nowhere to randomly help or hinder the protagonist. Plus most of the demons that Hyakkimaru fights are usually bland creatures with no originality. Now there are a select few that I did enjoy and thought were handled well, like the spider lady. Nonetheless, I found most of these monsters to be pretty mediocre. I get that this is a supernatural show and not some historical documentary, but I honestly think that its fantasy elements were generally utilized poorly. Studio MAPPA obviously isn't known for having pristine animation, but their works usually incorporate eye catching color schemes and the like to make up for the generally average animation of their shows. Yet with Dororo, I just couldn't help but be bored by its visual presentation. I get that its monochrome look fits with the style of the story it's trying to tell, but its dull and uninspired visage left more to be desired. Top that off with the plain character designs and uninspired backgrounds, and you get what I find to be a poorly animated anime. The most annoying aspect of Dororo would have to be the voice of the titular character herself. I rarely give harsh criticism on voice acting, but this seiyuu unfortunately deserves it. I would cringe internally almost every time she spoke. My poor eardrums just couldn't take it! Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but I just didn't like her performance. Maybe her voice sits fine with you, but I for one just couldn't wait for her to stop talking. The other voices were, uh, fine I guess? None of them were really that memorable to be honest. Speaking of forgettable, how about dem characters! I've already mentioned how annoying I find Dororo to be, but how about everyone else? The best one to start with would of course be Hyakkimaru. He has a pretty messed up origin story, which was the sole reason as to why I bothered to watch this anime in the first place. His character is basically what you would expect from a lifeless husk of a man...you know, lifeless. And empty. He's honestly a pretty boring character who instead of developing just seems to get more angry as the show goes on. Which I guess you could call development from a certain point of view, but I don't see it that way. His stagnant nature only serves to hurt the story. The saving grace would be the bond between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. I thought their chemistry was good, and the development of their relationship was handled a lot better then the development of their individual characters. As I mentioned before, the rest of the cast are pretty bland, though there are a few stand outs who, uh, still don't really stand out that much. I'll give some of them a brief mention. There's this old priest dude who is wise and stuff but doesn't really contribute to the story. There's a cute girl named Mio who had potential, but was grossly underutilized. Hyakkimaru's parents are ok, and they honestly fulfil their role well enough. I think Tahoumaru was handled well for five seconds before they turned him into a carbon copy of his father. The last character I'd like to mention is Itachi, who actually ended up being my favorite character in the show despite his small amount of screen time. The way the anime made him out to be so despicable yet make me actually like him by the end was impressive, and I have to commend the good writing of his character. Since I don't want to be all edgy and depressing like this anime, let's end on some positives! Dororo boasts some pretty great music, and I do enjoy the more traditional Japanese pieces. The first opening theme song is of course the highlight of the sound department. It gets bonus points for fitting perfectly in my own vocal range, so I sing it like, a lot (to the misfortune of those around me I'm sure). As much as I bashed Dororo's execution, I do think that the premise is quite interesting and unique. Hyakkimaru's predicament really is a cool concept. I just wish it was handled more appropriately. And as much as I disliked the show's episodic approach, I did end up liking a few of the stories. Though of course the main conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family ended up being the best part of the show that kept it from sinking into awful territory in my eyes. Being grim and violent doesn't automatically make something deep and thought provoking. Dororo tries hard to tackle dark concepts, and you know what? It succeeds. It just fails to do anything significant with its dark material in my eyes, and it ended up being quite mediocre because of it.
Stark700
06/24/2019, 06:27 AM
Older classics from the history books getting back to modern times seems to be one of MAPPA’s hobbies in recent years. We’ve had Ushio to Tora from Summer 2015 and more recently Banana Fish from Summer 2018. Dororo’s remake under MAPPA’s umbrella made an outstanding impression and gives more reasons to bring old classics back. What a time to be alive in this timeline. The original series aired some 50 years ago in the late 1960s. Most of us probably weren’t alive back then to see this older timer. Manga with content revolving around demons seemed like a popular trend among children those days. The brainchildbehind this work is Osamu Tezuka, who is regarded as a “the father of manga”. With famous franchises like Black Jack and Astro Boy, he goes down in history is a legendary figure. Dororo is a dark fantasy adventurous tale with supernatural elements and dealing with characters’ emotional journey of discovery. From its very few episodes, I noticed an old school feeling that blends with modern quality productions. The original series had a much simpler animation style with cartoony character designs and black and white quality. MAPPA and Tezuka Productions decided to take their style to bring these characters to modern standards. Immediately, I felt as if the show had a credible outline for its artwork. Consisting of 24 episodes, the roadmap of the show also gives an easy pacing for new viewers. Do note that I have not read the manga but jumping into this anime isn’t much of a problem. We have two main characters – Hyakkimaru and Dororo traveling together during the Sengoku period. Hyakkimaru is the limbless ronin due to circumstances of his birth while Dororo is the thief who joins as his partner during their journey. The two forges a unique bond despite their contrasting differences. And throughout their journey, they face many obstacles ranging from powerful demons, saving people, and overcoming their own personal struggles. At the heart of the show, Dororo is known for its moody and dark tones. There’s the theme of revenge born from the beginning. The episodic structure (as some fans dubs it as ‘monster of the week’) is a typical style of storytelling for this show. However, Dororo’s intriguing content comes from character development. This is especially true for Hyakkimaru as he begins to develop human characteristics, feelings, and becoming more of himself. Being accompanied by Dororo, they begin to understand each more and more with each progressing episode. At some point, we even see Hyakkimaru laughing, which is something he’d probably never expected from himself. Dororo is also a character that injects a dose of playful energy into the show. Let’s face it, Dororo is a kid but sometimes shows the mature personality of an adult. As a show about survival in a dark and grim world, the duo relies on each other every step of the way. In the latter half of the show, Hyakkimaru’s mentality contains both of a human and demon. His desire to protect Dororo may also be his greatest weakness as he is forced to rely on his demonic side. It makes the overall show very thrilling as viewers will anticipate the consequences of his actions. In Dororo, notice how almost every character our duo encounter faces some sort of challenge in their lives. Whether it’s about personal relationships or just to survive, this anime makes it clear that it’s not an easy world to be in. There’s carnage with gory content as the show establishes itself as a dark fantasy. The monsters are characterized with a fusion between classic and modern designs while taking ideas from folklore. There’s also a question to be addressed – what really makes a monster? Is human another word for monster? There’s a sense of grey morality explored in later episodes that will no doubt be controversial. This includes the actions of Kagemitsu Daigo and Tahomaru. For their motives and actions that greatly influenced the show’s plot, they can be viewed as monsters. In other words, if we behave like beasts, we are no better than the beasts themselves. Nonetheless, I don’t see Dororo as a complicated storyteller. The episodic nature and dark fantasy elements brings together a classic adventure. It holds itself together as a visual masterpiece with its aesthetics. Particularly, I find some episodes with the black and white coloring to fit perfectly. What also amazes me is how Dororo doesn’t make battles feel pointless. There’s action to follow, behaviors to observe, and see how each fight progresses change for characters. Hell, such a show with all this despair even has its happy moments. The show’s humor comes off naturally thanks to Dororo’s personality. It doesn’t play out forcefully with questionable dialogues and character interactions. Instead, the character chemistry between our two main leads is what does the talking. The more you watch this anime, the more you’ll feel attached to our duo. It’s not a question of how but the way they develop together in their journey. For being an iconic classic, Dororo’s modern adaptation will easily get people into the mood for those who has a taste for dark fantasy. Even if you don’t belong in that category, that’s alright because it’s a chance to experience the artistic creativity of Osamu Tezuka. And I’m so glad to be alive in this timeline to experience it.
Snapshot426
06/24/2019, 06:22 AM
Remakes can be seen as good and bad at times. A good remake is when that you can retell the story but improve on it by tweaking it by learning from the mistakes of the previous one or by following its original material more closely. A bad remake just remakes it for the sake of being a quick cashgrab through name recognition and not improving on it or tweaking what already worked and making it worse. In an era where remakes are coming out of the whazoo in the west lately, it can get rather tiresome. Remakes for anime are less common, but have atrack record for being better than the original. Hunter x Hunter, JoJo and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are examples of this trend being true. So where does this anime rank along with them then? Sit back, relax, put on your prosthetic arm and grapple your way to save the prin...(Oh wait, that’s Sekiro, S**T!) as I present to you the anime review of the 2019 remake of Dororo. Lets begin shall we? Story: 8/10 Set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, our story starts with Daigo, a lord of a land that is slowly dying and is facing a war is seemingly inevitable. Seeking power, he abandons his belief in Buddha and instead prays to the power of daemons. Granted power and a wealthy land, the daemons claim his unborn son and take every part of his body, leaving a husk…that is still alive; which was quickly disposed of. 16 years later, the boy, named Hyakkimaru, survived and with new prosthetic body parts, he wanders the land; slaying every ghoul and daemon he comes across to regain his body. On his travels, he encounters a street orphan by the name of Dororo who starts following him. Together, they form a bond and hunt for the daemons in order to reclaim Hyakkimaru’s body. Positioned as a monster of the week type setup, the story of this show is a rather simple one to begin with as its basically sees Hyakkimaru and Dororo wandering the land, searching for Daemons to slay, all while encountering plenty of characters along their journey. Some are just one episode characters, others are recurring characters we see more than once and act as motivators for our main two characters. While that may seem slightly bare bones, its the little details that make this show’s story rather enjoyable. The interactions, the growing character development and the questions that this show likes to throw at the viewer. It likes to focus on the on the moment to moment scenes rather than the big picture so that we can see how our characters progress as the story goes along. There is still an overarching story, don’t get me wrong. But the story is very character driven and likes to focus on them. The main question that this show gradually asks the viewer is that is it right to kill the daemons? That may seem like a stupid question to ask since, well, THEY’RE DAEMONS. But the show likes to show how the daemons are affecting people’s lives for the better. Sure they need bargains, but as the saying goes “The needs of the many out-way the needs of the few.” So is killing the daemons the right thing to do if people are going to suffer from it? The show does well of understanding the actions of both sides of the argument. For Hyakkimaru, he wants to reclaim his body that was stolen from him at birth. For Daigo and his son Tahoumaru, they want their land to thrive and their people to prosper. It makes you think of who is really in the right here and comes up with some very interesting dilemmas to keep the viewer intrigued. Characters: 8.5/10 Hyakkimaru is a rather interesting character for the fact that he didn’t have much of a personality to begin with. Of course that is understandable considering he doesn’t have his body parts and is literally a walking doll. But his character growth was interesting because it’s like watching a child trying to grasp new things so suddenly. He can’t hear, see, speak or feel pain when you meet him. But as the story goes on, you see him having to adapt to them when he gets them. His behaviour also changes as he gets his body back. From starting out calm and collective to acting irrational and angry that makes his character progression rather interesting, especially when you consider how Dororo also progresses throughout a show. Is he slowly becoming the thing he has hunted down? That’s another question that the show asks the viewer with some visual evidence to go along with it to justify your answers. Speaking of Dororo, her character arc (Yes, she is a girl. Its been stated and hinted at multiple times that she is a girl) is the best in this show. Starting out as a wise cracking, immature orphan who just uses Hyakkimaru to get food and make money. She starts to slowly mature as the show goes on as if Hyakkimaru rubbing some of his personality onto Dororo. As well as how Dororo handles certain situations in a rather mature manner. In fact, it’s almost like our main characters personalities are swapping as the show goes on. As Dororo matures and acts more grown up, Hyakkimaru gets more immature as time goes on. It helps hammer in the fact that these two need each other to learn and grow from one another. It shows how important character growth is important and how our experiences and interactions from other people help change and define who we are as a person. Something I think this show does incredibly in a rather subtle way that makes you gradually realise what is going on with Hyakkimaru and Dororo. The supporting cast is varied. Like I said earlier, it varies between one episode characters and recurring characters that appear in multiple episodes. They are rather clear cut and defined rather well. Some act as motivators for Hyakkimaru and Dororo, while others act as assh**es that act as impedance to Hyakkimaru and Dororo’s progress. Some you will forget probably about 2-3 episodes after the episode they appear in, but some do leave a lasting mark on our characters and considering the tone of the show, some of these characters get a rough time, making you sympathise with them. Mio is a great example of this, acting as a pivitol point in Hyakkimaru’s character growth. My favourite supporting character though is definitely Tahoumaru, Lord Daigo’s son and brother to Hyakkimaru. His own character arc is rather interesting due to him having a sense of conflict within him. He doesn’t want to fight his own, long lost brother, but he has a duty and seeing the land crumbling before him, he does what he must for the better of the land. He has his own reasons as to why he must kill Hyakkumaru in order to him to protect the people he must care about and to please Daigo. He acts as a great foe for Hyakkimaru to fight and a reminder that both sides of the argument have reasons for fighting each other. There is no clear cut villain. Just people doing what they believe is best and Tahomaru is indeed a great example of this. Animation: 8.5/10 This is where I think the remake aspect of this show has benefited the most. The art style looks more appropriate to reflect the dark tone of the show while the character designs still pay homage to the original designs but with a more modern look to it. It fits better with some of the content you will be seeing in this show. While I do think a little bit more polish to the character designs could have been useful. Their movements and expressions are endearing enough to make me like them. The fight scenes are well choreographed and shot well; considering the variety of daemons that Hyakkimaru was fighting in this series. This was a good job to make each fight slightly more distinct than the last fight. Human and human sword fighting was also enjoyable to watch with a quick pace to it and plenty of movement to go along with it, especially with all the acrobatics that Hyakkimaru can do. Seriously, whatever MAPPA touches turns to Gold at this point of time. Sound: 10/10 The music is appropriate for this series. A heavy use of flutes and banjos is used to help immerse in what kind of time period this anime is based in. The banjos especially are used very well to help signify when danger is coming and sends a chill down your spine. The show also sounds good with the correct use of sound effects to add to a scene and having little to no music when we get sword on sword action just makes me appreciate the sound effects used in these scenes. The show overall sounds good and helps get immersed in a scene. The openings help carry on that sentiment. "Kaen" by Ziyoou-vachi is the first opening was one of the contributors as to why the Winter Season's openings were so good. It sounded unique and captivating that you had to listen to and the visuals were beautiful, with also some homages to the shows original art style thrown in there. Seriously, why were there so many good openings that season? The second opening, "Dororo" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, took its time but it eventually grew on me as I listened to it more. As the name suggests it likes to focus on the relationship that Hyakimmaru and Dororo have built and the animation, while not as captivating as the first opening, was still good to look at and the song was also enjoyable with a nice fast but somewhat sweet sound to it. The endings continued to highlight the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, but in a much more calmer tone. Both are visually striking for the kind of art style they use in each of their openings that help give this sense of beauty to them, whether visually, vocally or how the combination of the two is used. Conclusion Dororo 2019 feels like this was necessary thing to do. A remake of a classic manga and anime but given a more modern look to match the tone of the show. From what I've seen from the original compared to the remake, I would say it worked. But the animation isn’t just the only great thing about this show. The characters and the moment to moment scenes in the story help make Dororo an enjoyable anime to watch. A very good show that can keep the viewer hook but can also make the viewer think about the actions of our characters and who is in the right. The show is an enjoyment to watch and if you are into anything related to mythical Japan, then this is something to check out. My Personal Enjoyment: 8/10 Overall score: 8.6/10 Recommendation: Watch it

Dororo どろろ

2019 winter | Episodes: 24 | Score: 8.3 (666246)

Updated every Mondays at 22:30 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Twin Engine

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Suzuki, Rio

Suzuki, Hiroki

News

Reviews

Anifek
01/22/2025, 02:05 PM
Absolutely masterpiece. Dororo is such an underrated anime and not many people know about it which is sad considering it's one of the best single-season anime ever. Every episode has its own story and characters, the world is amazing and very creative, the characters are well-written and the backstories are brilliant. The only reason why it's a 9 and not a 10 is because of the ending. The ending was too rushed in my opinion and the way the anime ended was a bit disappointing. I wanted to see more and I felt that the last 5 episodes were just really rushed cause they wantedto end the show (It doesn't mean that the ending was badly written (not at all) the ending was well written it's just that it was completely rushed in my opinion) Also in episode 15, the animation was really bad. It was like they ran out of budget and the animation was horrible but other than the rushed and a little disappointing ending and the bad animation of episode 15 I can only say good things about this anime please give it a try and you won't regret that.
Latooq
05/10/2024, 11:19 AM
The worst thing that could possibly happen to a certain anime is to have a much more popular show that airs in the same season. In other words, if your show isn't a brainless battle shonen it will definitely be overshadowed. But a lot of times it only takes the show itself to make even fans fall out of love with it. And Dororo fans can blame Demon slayer for hogging all the attention, but there is more to this. The story takes place in medieval Japan where all the feudal lords decided to play Civilization 6 IRL instead of doing something meaningful. One of thembeing on the verge of loosing resorts to cheating; it is asking demons for help and promising everything in return. Later on, his wife gives a birth to his son, who have no eyes, no nose, no skin, and no limbs. The son became a victim of his father's promise and Daigo happily accepts this outcome in anticipation of prosperity the demons will give him, which makes him the worst father since Evangelion. In the end, the newborn baby is adopted by a craftsman who replaces all the missing parts with prosthesis. After growing up, Hyakkimaru embarks upon a journey to recover his body parts, but given how superior these prosthesis are in this setting I wander why he would risk his life to recover them. The story structure of finding and killing demons is the only thing this anime has in common with Demon slayer. The fight scenes aren't the selling point here but rather the wholesome sibling-like ( not anime-like ) relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, the side stories, which greatly affect the main duo, and the emotional satisfaction from seeing Hyakkimaru recovering his senses and experiencing rain for the first time. In addition all of that is complemented by the confidence of the direction, the amazing cinematography, and the music. The technical execution can't be separated from the story and vice versa. They complete each other just like pineapples complete the pizza. And if you had to suppress your urge to vomit upon reading my analogy, there is a chance you are not going to enjoy the first part as much as I did. During the production of the second part, Mappa employees realized that they are doing Attack on Titan next year so Dororo was handed to art college students as their assignment. Only this can explain why the anime has lost all its charm. "Bad" would be a wrong word to describe it, "unimpressive" is more fitting. The story got repetitive, the character development got stale, the first opening could've been used in the second cour, but it was replaced with the forgettable one. The biggest issue is probably the "central" storyline, which despite having the most screen time made no impression on me. This is just a bunch of sticks duct-taped together that was supposed to morally challenge the viewers but, unfortunately, it fell short. One arc shows the exact same situation, where few innocent people get sacrificed in order to keep the rest save, and the show never tries to build a conflict out of it and doesn't justify anyone. The "core" storyline, on the other hand, where Hyakkimaru is learning the difference between being a human and having a human appearance is much more personal and thus more captivating. The high quality gets back in the third part. And even if the second part already left a bad taste in my mouth, I still can't say that the weakest parts eclipse the strongest ones. I will forget the lows anyway but I will still remember Dororo for its highs. It's also nice to see a finished anime every once in a while, although, the ending is open so there can be a sequel, I would prefer Mappa to make OVAs which would fix the middle part.
Siaksx
09/13/2023, 11:18 AM
"Dororo" deeply resonated with me, leaving an impact that few animes have managed to achieve. Characters: I was utterly enamored by the entire cast. The dynamics between them felt real and layered, touching upon their individual aims and deep-seated motivations. As I followed their journey, I couldn't help but get attached, feeling their struggles. Their purposes weren't just story points; to me, they seemed like heartfelt confessions of their very souls. Art: The artistry in "Dororo" is hauntingly beautiful. Its vivid depictions were so intense that, on more than one occasion, I found myself having nightmares after some of the more episodes. However, these very images alsomade the anime unforgettable, retaining a vivid spot in my memories. Plot: The storyline, for me, was a solid 10/10. It was more than just a narrative; it was an exploration of emotions I've sometimes felt but struggled to articulate. The way it showcased the despicable side of humanity, emphasizing greed, misplaced priorities, stark poverty, and undeniable cruelty, hit close to home. The plot didn't just depict a tale; it mirrored the raw complexities of human nature. In sum, "Dororo" was a personal journey for me, a tale that stirred emotions, brought introspection, and showcased the intricate dance of light and shadow within humanity.
literaturenerd
07/25/2021, 08:53 PM
It's now time for another episode of Literaturenerd's too late reviews. Dororo was hot shit 2 years ago, but already most people have forgotten about it. A lot of critics felt this series was overhyped and it certainly was in 2019, but when you're focused on countering the hype wave, there's a tendency to downplay and go too far the other way. Dororo is actually a pretty good anime, it just didn't quite live up to its full potential. Dororo was based on a very old shonen from 1967 penned by Osamu Tezuka himself! Tezuka wanted to create a shonen version of traditional Japanese ghoststories, so I warn you the premise is pretty ridiculous. However, traditional Japanese ghost stories aren't aiming for realism. While Dororo isn't perfect and isn't considered up there with Tezuka's top works like Buddha and Phoenix, Tezuka was always a masterful storyteller who created fun plots, loveable characters, and infused his stories with a warmhearted humanism. There is plenty to like here in Dororo and this anime was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi of Rurouni Kenshin fame. Dororo is about an evil Lord during the Sengoku Era who sacrifices his first born son named Hyakimaru to demons in exchange for power. The demons take Hyakimaru's eyes, ears, skin, central nervous system, heart, etc. The child is basically just a skeleton with a little muscle over his bones. However, Hyakimaru's righteous indignation is SO great that he refuses to die! He is sent downriver like baby Moses and is found by the world's greatest medical doctor. This doctor is named Jukai and he is probably the best character in this series. He was once a brutal samurai serving a ruthless lord and committed many atrocities. However, he was so filled with guilt and disgusted with himself that he threw himself off a cliff and into the sea. Fortunately, he was recovered by a Dutch ship who saved him and taught him the most advanced medical science known to Europe. With this new knowledge and his own genius, Jukai was able to make prosthetics hundreds of years more advanced than his peers and dedicates his life to treating the injured and repenting for his sins. In his spare time, he also carves LOTS of Buddha statues. Before you ask, yes he inspired the sculptor from Sekiro. Sadly, Jukai really isn't in this anime for more than a couple episodes. In fact, Hyakimaru himself doesn't get enough development and doesn't regain his speech until the very end of the series. Instead, most of the dialogue and the lion's share of the screen time is absorbed by a streetwise orphan named Dororo. The manga was for a young audience, so it made sense for Tezuka to add a child character. Not to mention the fact that manga is supposed to have dialogue and Hyakimaru can't talk. So Dororo's inclusion was a necessity. However, the 2019 anime is a lot darker and edgier than the original manga. They wanted to make a violent gore fest for older teens, but then the main character is this obnoxious little brat that talks big and needs to be rescued in every episode! Dororo is like if Scrappy Doo fused with Short Round from Temple of Doom. Why is he even in this freaking reboot?! Dororo adds very little to the actual plot, which is about Hyakimaru hunting down the demons one by one in order to get his organs back and eventually gather the strength to gain revenge on his father. I think the 2019 anime could have told Hyakimaru's story through facial expression and atmosphere with little dialogue and it would have been really cool. It feels like a wasted opportunity, but they REALLY wanted to be faithful to the manga. Speaking of which, the 1969 anime adaptation changed the manga's ending because they knew anime viewers would hate it. It worked in the manga because it was only 3 volumes, but when you stretch out the anime to a bunch of episodes, the manga's ending feels incredibly anti-climactic and frustrating. The 2019 Dororo actually followed the manga's ending and oh boy were people mad! Mushi Productions called that shit way back in 1969! They knew exactly how audiences would react. Even if you discount the ending, Dororo the 2019 anime really loses steam in the second half. This is unfortunate since the front half is really strong and showcases both Tezuka's strengths and Furuhashi's strengths as a director. Sadly, this wasn't an OVA that could run exactly as long as it needed. I think 12 episodes would have been too short and 24 episodes was too long. Ideally it should have run for about 16 episodes, but a TV anime can't do that. The art and soundtrack are serviceable for the most part. The action in the first half of the series looks pretty damn impressive although it starts to get stale by the end. Then we have the elephant in the room. As several critics before me have mentioned, it also has this hilariously bad CG fire that looks like they were using Windows Movie Maker from 2009. It looks like something you'd see in a Youtube abridged parody from 10 years ago. None Piece had better fire effects than Dororo. So after everything I said, should you watch Dororo? You should definitely watch the first 10-12 episodes. Then if you want to continue you can. Just know that the back half is a little rough and kind of goes downhill. It's not Game of Thrones bad or anything, but definitely ends with a whimper instead of a bang.
orpheusbreeze
01/04/2021, 11:46 PM
A very symbolic show. This show really displayed the true reality of what is was like to live in this era. In most animes, we often only see the good sides or see the rough side of things for a little while, but this anime does not hold back. Quite a realistic telling of how Hyakkimaru got back what was stolen from him. Tackled gender identity quite well in the show, especially not trying to fetishize it (anime shows typically do this unfortunately). Overall a great show. If you're looking for a good story, growing characters, and great development, would recommend this show.
mxdhavv
09/27/2020, 12:00 PM
Dororo (2019) is a real gem of an anime. It has a very interesting and dark story and shows steady yet justified character development. Hyakkimaru and dororo are the main charterers and well-focused on. In only a span of 24 episodes, the viewer gets very well attached to the main characters and envision their ups and downs. The main reason I liked this anime was its very unique storyline and beautiful character development. Music- 8/10 (battle music and openings are good) Story- 9/10 (great and interesting story but fast-paced ending) Animation- 9/10 In conclusion, it is a must-watch anime and is definitely worth your time.
agus_tidona
05/26/2020, 08:53 PM
It does not have spoilers so it wont be long: Its a good reboot of and 60/70s manga, and its the gory, dark and seinen-type adaptation of it. A dark story of Hyakkymaru, a kid born with the curse of devils, in a contract that his father made to have a prosperous land. And then the story flows with this lambless and sense-less main character and his friend Dororo, who would guide Hyakkymaru to not lost his humanity and convert into only a blood-thirsty demon. It setted in an samurai japan, but with demons and prosthetics, making it very interesting in the very beggining. The storydevelops very good yet the pace varies sometimes, getting faster -first episodes- or slower -in the mid-, but with a very good-paced and hyping final episodes. The characters are just fine, Hyakkymaru evolves from a 'semi-human' to a lovely person and Dororo will always a nice character -who carry some secrets almost all the serie. The family of Hyakkymaru, including his ''father'' are very simple but works very good. His 'step-father' had a lot of potential and didn't fail at it, with one of the best scenes of all the show. In the other hand, that old man who is a luck of Plot device. It lows the final rank, simplifying some scenes that could have ended with a lot of emotional charge, but that just wastes the opportunity. And a detail that i couldn't just avoid, was the speed that hyakkymaru learns japanese. Well, this could've been in the travels that we dont see, but still, learns to talk and the meanings of the words, very fast. And God bless the Rapidash -no- The art has it flaws, but it's not due to 'bad animation', it's an style. People saying its bad animated but then loving devilman crybaby? It is not but animated -except one episode, 17 or something, that is truly a downgrade but just in that episode- and sound it's magnific, probably, because of using of that old-japan thematic in the music. I didn't like that much the first opening and the second one neither at first -after you hear it more times it gets better-. The endings were great. Some chapters had very good fights and others had a very 'one-punch' win -that obviously I didn't like-. Very enjoyable and very recommended. It isn't a must, but it's one of the 'big 5' 2019 animes gracias.
ktulu007
09/04/2019, 04:08 PM
Dororo is a reboot of an anime from the late 60s. The original was from Mushi production. The reboot is brought to us by a combination of Tezuka & MAPPA. We know MAPPA from their involvement with such underwhelming works as Garo: Honoo no Kokuin or Sakamichi no Apollon. The latter of which was also a collaboration with Tezuka. This does not give me a lot of hope. Story: We open with a Samurai lord, Daigo, entering the Hall of Demons that resides in his domain. You know, the ordinary kind you can find in any area. We have ours across the street from my apartment complex. Hebeseeches the demons to give him prosperity and, in exchange, they can take anything they want from him. Cue him dropping his trousers and really emphasising the "anything."The Hall gets struck by lightning, leaving him with a scar. Later on, we see his wife give birth only to have the building struck by a flash. He finds that the demons have taken his son's eyes, ears, skin, arms, legs and possibly tongue since he can't talk. But maybe they just took his voice in order to sing fabulously. He's thrilled that the deal's been accepted and orders the midwife to drown the baby. He reassures his wife that he would never survive and they can just make another one. Which I'm sure is exactly what she wants to hear in that situation. The midwife takes pity on the hideously deformed baby and sets him loose in a boat. We cut to years later where a heavily prosthetic young man named Hyakkimaru is wandering in order to hunt demons and reclaim the parts they've taken from him. He starts journeying with a young street rat named Dororo and there we have the plot. There are a couple narrative issues I have with the series. The more pervasive one is that There's not a satisfying explanation for why the demons want these body parts. There's a half assed statement about them wanting to be closer to humans and later they introduce this idea that they're somehow using the parts to awaken but we meet a lot of monsters that are running around and they clearly have enough power to rip a child into pieces seconds after its born while also being powerful enough to summon lightning storms but we're supposed to believe they need human parts to manifest physically? Wouldn't that be a bit like me being able to cause explosions with my mind and levitate but not being able to open a jar of pickles without help? There are also some cases of overly convenient circumstances. For instance, there's a scene where Hyakkimaru gets pretty horribly injured fighting a demon, but he's able to repair all the damage immediately by going back and killing it. Don't you wish you could do that in a war situation? Get shot multiple times, just quickly kill the guy who shot you and watch the bullet wounds vanish. I'll give it a pass when the parts that were stolen reattach due to him breaking the curse, but mending injuries he sustained in battle is far too convenient. The old priest also shows up at just the right moment quite a few times. I know he has an actual name, but I'm calling him Steerforth. With that being said, the premise is a very compelling one. I also appreciate that it can be more than a little dark without going too far. Legitimately, this is a far more optimistic series than you would expect. And I always appreciate it when something can be on the darker side but incorporate lighter elements and make them work. That's rare. Dororo is also a compelling series. It has something of an episodic formula but with a definite sense of progression. The ending is pretty nicely handled too. Characters: The biggest issue with the characterisation is that there are quite a few one episode characters who are just very basic and don't have any real depth. I appreciate that Hyakkimaru's family is not solely portrayed negatively. It would be easy to just make them one note villains who struck a deal with demons for their own gain. Instead, we get a lot about the conditions of Daigo's lands before he made the deal and we see some real positive traits from him. Especially where Tahoumaru is concerned. The series also brings up the legitimate question of whether Daigo and his people would be better off if they did sacrifice Hyakkimaru. Which really helps you understand the antagonists. And his mother is very conflicted, wanting to protect Hyakkimaru but also feeling that her duty to her husband is to support his decision. Dororo & Hyakkimaru are pretty great characters too. Hyakkimaru has a very compelling inner clash with his humanity conflicting with his more guttural, violent tendencies. Dororo is a very street smart child but is still, in many significant ways, very childish. We see them in their better moments, worst moments, vulnerable moments and moments of strength. Which is a significant level of depth. Art: The big issue with the art is that some of the scenes that are supposed to look horrifying do come across as goofy. Like, when Hyakkimaru regains certain parts or the demon shark. I'm sorry, it looks silly. The teeth and feet can look bizarre at times too. There are points where they'll show a character's bare feet and they'll look like they have two toes, one significantly bigger. Like they're supposed to be wearing socks with their sandals even though no one would do that and they clearly aren't. The teeth just frequently have that weirdly sharp, jagged quality. But when they get the designs right, they really get them right. There are quite a few very strongly designed demons in the series. The action sequences are pretty bloody but also nicely intense and interesting to watch. The backgrounds are very well detailed too. Sound: I have to give credit to Suzuki Hiroki, Suzuki Rio, Chiba Shoya, Matsuda Kenichirou & Munakata Mariko. While all the performances are solid, the five of them are exceptional. Ike Yoshihiro's sound track is pretty nicely done. The only aspect of the music I didn't really like were the theme tunes. Especially Kaen. Ho-yay: There's not really any. There's not much in terms of romance in general. Areas of Improvement: Give the demons a more satisfactory motivation for wanting a child's body parts. Maybe human parts freely given grant them more power or, maybe integrating human flesh into them allows them to flawlessly disguise as human. You'd just have to rework some stories involving other monsters to give their human forms a clear flaw. Let Dororo & Hyakkimaru solve their problems without Steerforth coming to the rescue so often. Lose the magic recovery of battle wounds. I get it, there's magic in this world. But it's never really shown to have curative properties except, somehow, when a person kills a demon that injured them and gets the wound immediately repaired. It just comes across as a lazy way to let Hyakkimaru have more grievous injuries without them mattering in the long term. Final Thoughts: With everything considered, I did enjoy Dororo. It may have faults, but it also has quite a few admirable qualities. It's an entertaining adventure with demons, sword play and a pair of non-blood siblings who have very little just trying to make it. If you're a fan of that kind of story, you'll probably enjoy it. For myself, I'm going to go so far as to give it an 8/10.
MisterRational
07/02/2019, 05:34 AM
Dororo is a 2019 anime and one of the very best. How do I know this? Well where should I start? Dororo is an adaptation from a manga penned by the most influential figure in the history of manga, Osamu Tezuka. The man has constantly been referred to as "the father of manga", mostly by people inexperienced with a single one of his works. But what does that matter? He birthed classic franchises like Astro Boy and Black Jack, both of which have had an obvious influence on anime and manga moving forward. So what if he wrote dozens of other manga you've never heard of thatweren't popular, didn't sell and collectively almost killed the industry? That's of little importance here. In the world of today, Tezuka is synonymous with 'good' and if I repeat his name enough, you'll see that too. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Tezuka. Not sold yet? Not to worry, because Dororo was adapted by the fantastic team over at Studio MAPPA, who have worked on adapting old forgotten manga for today's audience. They did it with Ushio no Tora, a generic shounen that followed the footsteps of its predecessors but could never fit their shoes, and only added animation and music to turn the series into an outdated one. Last year they tried their hand with BANANA Fish, but rather than adding to the story, it managed to regress it down to the main homosexual romance with even duller visuals than the freakin' black-and-white manga. But have no fear, MAPPA is basically the continuation of Madhouse's best talent (even though barely any of the old Madhouse staff are with MAPPA nowadays but who cares about actual research amirite!). So maybe the names of studios are too vague to rely on (no shit). But Dororo is different! It features the likes of Kazuhiro Furuhashi on staff, who directed classics from the 90's such as Rurouni Kenshin and the original anime for Hunter x Hunter. It is a fact (Wikipedia sourced) that he is amongst anime's foremost directors, even today, with his last directed work being none other than the worst of Netflix's original anime, Neo Yokio. What about Osamu Kobayashi? The man behind Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad and Paradise Kiss? Yes he was also part of the staff here, with the position of storyboarding, key animation, in-between animator and episode director. That's a lot of work, even if it's only credited to the first ED and literally nothing else for the show. And speaking of, those openings and endings were such bangers. Really incredible stuff, because they matter SO MUCH when reviewing the quality of a show. Alright, it appears that rattling off names attached won't convince you either, so lets talk about the show. Dororo features the UNLIKELY pairing between a loudmouth child and a silent, stoic badass. It's SO UNIQUE that for how influential Tezuka's work was, something like this hasn't been replicated in anime since (they have). Nevertheless the two set out on a journey full of action and supernatural elements that effectively distance itself from the homosexual happy-go-crappy anime also airing. Kimetsu no Yaiba? That began one season later - doesn't count. Dororo is such an interesting show; so grounded in the historical setting, Tezuka format and folklore of Japan that gives it a timeless nature, but also subversive in its own right. There are no tropes present here as the duo follow their path, defeating whatever monster they have to face each episode to achieve their goal. Wait, was that a contradiction?.... Moving on. What's really interesting about this version of Dororo lies in the presentation. It's just so cinematic: the backgrounds, the cinematography, such fluid animation, the way sound is edited to each scene, etc. If I could praise it like this all the time, I might confuse it for the second season of Mob Psycho 100, a legitimately well-made anime production-wise. The series initially does impress with its production quality, but it does *slightly* decline the closer to the midway point you get, until episode 15 hits you square in the eyes, and you wonder why you can't see the faces of different characters until you realize they weren't even drawn in. The action scenes however are the prominent highlights of the show visually. They're smooth, crisp and feel like authentic battles between swordsman. The way the show adds tension to these moments is also noteworthy purely for how smart the staff were. Static pictures of each character used in several instances, as well as zooming in and out of still images are not only very effective in building suspense, but also work as cost-effective methods while on a budget. And the best part is that they worked. How? Because everyone who praised the show so highly failed to ever mention them in their reviews ;) I can understand though, if I were keeping up with 20 other seasonal anime to review every 3 months then I'd probably forget a couple things as well, no matter how obvious they are. Once again, I can't help but point out just how great this series is. Dororo really broke onto the scene with a strong sense of masterful storytelling (Tezuka). Despite drifting away from the original source on numerous occasions, the series keeps the heart of Dororo alive with every budget cut at their disposal. It's like watching a movie if you've never seen a feature film before, bringing with it this Disney-esque (LMAO WUT?) essence, that you can't help but feel warm and cozy inside watching one guy slice numerous others. I should have prefaced this by saying I barely watched Dororo, or remember it for that matter, but that's ok, I still love Dororo, as I do Tezuka, and MAPPA, (and helpfuls). Now excuse me while I give more fellatio to the series and Tezuka in private. While I'm gone, here's some food for thought: try to get to know what you plan on dickriding before you start putting out like a hoe.
Eoussama
06/28/2019, 04:09 AM
A kid exiled from their parents' warmth, only to deliver a harsh payback years later. A man meditates on top of a mountain, only to find out everything he was praying for had already faded away, stories of redemption, regret and overcoming hardships like these give off a strange nostalgic vibe of a rainy night, embraced by your grandmother as she tells you about some urban legend whilst you're sipping from your warm bowl of soup, holding on to her on the rough parts of the story, waiting for the conclusion to drop so that you can fill up the lost bits of the story on your own later, probablyas you dream hoping it doesn't turn into a fever hell. “Grandson/Granddaughter, shall we start?”, “Yes Granny, what are story are you going to tell us today, is it the bunny one?!”, mysteriously ignores you as she proceeds into her storytelling; “A long, long time ago, demons existed, and a boy named Hyakkimaru was born...” A modern take on an already pretty established series, “Hyakkimaru” get mass attention from the fans on its airing season, reviving its old forgotten stories, it founded a great following from both returning old and brand fresh new fans. A show like nothing we're used to especially lately, with gloomy colors, heavily traditional, and aggressively dark and controversial for its airing time. - Story (8.5/10): In a world where demons have the superstitious upper hand, corruption is the common language, wars everywhere, famine every day and genocide is a solution for everything. A samurai ruler sacrifices his newborn son for the demons in order for his land to nourish, as his ruling mind convinced him that sacrificing a potential heir is a small price for his people's salvation. Several demons reacted, each of them consumed something off of the poor little kid, and it just happens that one of them fails at consuming whatever was left from a rusty skeleton and a mush of rotten flesh, no eyes, no ears, no limbs and not even a healthy mind. Given all the odds against him, he still survived under the care of a monk-looking doctor that has taken from providing prosthetic limbs for the dead and the sick a profession, a weird flex, but it only gets weirder from here on. Hyakkimaru was the named given to the cursed poor kid, he had spent plenty of years under the care of the doctor until it was time for him to leave and walk his own path of restoring what was taken from him, defeating demon after demon, until that one day he met a mysterious kid. enter Dororo. - Art (8.5/10): It was visually interesting, to say the least. It feels as if Dororo took the same old school art style every other show used back in the day, added in some seasoning by none other than the kitchen donkey himself and threw it on a plate for consumption and that was probably the best thing to do for an old series such as it was, it definitely helped make it easier to watch through episode by episode. For a seasonal series, it's disappointing how it lacked a definitive consistency through its serialization, some episode were just the best out of all airing shows, whilst others did not scale up to the same standards, almost as if you were watching a different show altogether. The animation was, at the hight of it, breathtaking. For an action show, you bet you're getting a fight at least once an episode, and for the major ones? Enter movie quality scenes, even for a couple of seconds. The hand to hand and swordfight feels natural and exciting, no such reusable snaps or slacking low-rate frames to drag down the rest of the production. - Sound (9/10): Let me get this right off the way first, the opening and ending songs in this show are party bangers, every single one of them. And I'm confident enough to call the first opening as the best in the crown, really inspiring and with great vocal cords, something you definitely don't see in every Anime. The ending theme songs are probably the least spoken about on every show, and you can't help but understand why seeing how most people see them as skippable extra topping that is just there to fill up the 24 minutes mark but not with “Dororo”. The voice acting in this show is a little bit weird, I don't know if it's just me, but I can't help but feel a very old school vibe from it, it's almost visible to the naked eye how for example, Dororo's voice feels like it was recorded two decades ago, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, it just worked so well with everything else. - Character (8/10): From a newborn to a full-on adult. It feels like you've been raising a child on your own for decades, mostly because of how frequently Hyakkimaru's personality changes as he wins something of his back, he may have never experienced hearing in his life, but when he finally hears something, it just changes him, it flips his world, it influences his fighting style, it even alters his behavior and interaction to the world, and that was just an example of what a single sense does to him, and you can only imagine how different of a person he is at the end of the series from what he started off as in the beginning. A lot of minor characters come and go, pulls off some plot-changing decisions and then disappear until they face the consequences back. - Enjoyment (9/10): This was definitely one of those shows that makes you feel empty after you finish it, you get too interested on a weekly basis, and then suddenly it's the end. I'm not a big fan of how it ended, but I can think of a lot of other ways it could have been bad, so I'll suttle with how it turned out for the sake of being faithful for what it set out for. I really enjoyed the fights, I enjoyed the characters, I loved the songs and the visuals, I wrote theories, I basically had a phenomenal experience with the series, I felt connected, concerned, mild feelings of anger, happiness, and sadness, it was one heck of a rollercoaster. - Overall (8.6/10): As someone who hasn't seen the original series yet (as of writing this review), I was definitely hooked. If I remember correctly, it was around the 5th or the sth episode were it all clicked for me, but going back, the first episodes were very high quality too. I would definitely recommend diving into this series, especially for fantasy/mystery/action fans out there, watching the original does not really matter, it takes nothing out from the experience, and I would probably guess that it's the proper way to experience the series.
iAimWendy
06/26/2019, 08:27 AM
! SPOILERS AHEAD! So I just finished watching Dororo and I’m sorry to say that this has to be one of the biggest dissapointments of 2019 as far as anime goes. Dororo starts off very strong. The art is solid, animation fluid with a very small number of still images, the characters, Dororo and Hyakkimaru are interesting and fun to watch as they travel across Japan searching for demons. Other characters such as the epic grandpa, the mysterious man, who raised Hyakkimaru and the members of Hyakkimaru’s family are all interesting enough for the viewer to look forward to learning more about them. You get excited tosee what kind of problem or quest will Dororo and Hyakkimaru encounter next. What body part will Hyakkimaru get back? Will he know how to use it? How will he react when he finally gets to hear and see and feel? All of these questions were flying through my head as I impatiently waited another week to see what comes next. The conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family was also one of the things I really looked forward to. As his father, who believed/hoped that his first son was already dead, his mother praying day to day so that her son is still alive (or regreting letting him go), and his brother Tahoumaru, who has never been told about his older brother, therefore he doesn’t even know he exists. To the viewer it’s quite obvious that they will eventually reunite, but it’s this kind of predictibility that I personally love and I couldn’t wait to see how the family will react, when they find out that Hyakkimaru is not only alive, but is slowly getting all the body parts that were taken away from him back. The pacing of the first half of the show is good enough to where the viewer doesn’t get bored easily. As for the music, I love both of the openings, especially the first one, since it achieved to be one of the most memorable openings of the season. Sadly, as for the soundtrack, most of it was pretty forgettable. If I could rate the first half of the show alone, I would give it a 10/10 and I would’ve thrown it into my favourites without a second thought, but that’s where the second half of the show comes in. SECOND HALF Let’s start with the art and animation: You notice as you transition into the second half of the show, the animation budget drops drastically. The episodes are filled with still images and most of the time, even the still images look straight up horrible. And when there is no movement in the characters, your eyes wonder to the plain, boring and washed out, poorly drawn background. Actually, all of the colors seem more washed out then before, not sure if it was intentional to have some kind of older look or something, but it just doesn’t work and it’s not very pleasing to look at. At some point I thought, maybe they were saving all the good stuff for the climax, but no. The last episode looks as horrible as all the other, if not worse. Characters: I noticed that, for some reason, after Hyakkimaru finally meets his family, ALL of the characters become either very one dimentional or their goals and motivation change completely. Hyakkimaru goes from a boy who’s clearly shown some love and empathy, to a one dimentional "I want my body back, out of my way" guy, who often pushes Dororo away, only to later wonder around trying to find/save Dororo. His motivations jump form "get body back" to "all I need is Dororo" randomly and it can get annoying very quickly. Dororo didn’t actually change all that much. But she still did. Unlike in the first half, where Hyakkimaru is the one depending on Dororo, to lead and guide him through out the adventures, in the second half, Dororo drags behind Hyakkimaru (partially trying to stop him) and gets kidnapped so many times, needing Hyakkimaru to rescue her. It was a shame, since Dororo seemed like the type of character that could find a way to escape these kind of situations on her own, but, I guess not. The grandpa goes from epic side character to savior ex-machina. He only appeared in the most "ooohh man if only there was someone to help us right now" moments. Plus most of his dialogues consisted of "dis boi gonna be a demon", which was also a shame, because the grandpa was my favourite character in the first half, before they made him so one dimentional. As for the man that raised Hyakkimaru, I have nothing against him in any way, even in the second half. I really loved the episode where he and Hyakkimaru meet after some time, Hyakkimaru talks to him and calls him mom, it was really like the only time I got actually emotional in the second half of the show. Hyakkimaru’s brother goes from kind hearted and pitiful towards his older brother, to an evil douge that would rather get possesed by a demon then give up trying to kill his brother. And yes, I know, he was just listening to what his father said, trying to impress him and I guess also doing the right thing by trying to kill his brother, since if he didn’t, it would destroy their land, but after his change in motivation, he never shows any signs of the empathy he had before, and it just makes his character unlikable and, if I may say so, ONE DIMENTIONAL. Thankfully, Hyakkimaru’s parents remain mostly the same as before. Story and pacing: So, basically, the second half of the show wasted time on these pointless episodic stories, instead of actually progressing the plot. Which, those were actually part of the first half as well, but as episodes went by, they got really repetitive, predictable and boring. At least in the first half, Hyakkimaru would gain something from these filler episodes, be it a body part or some kind of experience, that would later influence his actions and helped to build his character. I don’t know why the show acted as if it had time for some pointless filler episodes, ’cause it didn’t. Episodes like this can be used in long, ongoing shows like One Piece, Naruto etc., not in a 24 episodes per entire show anime, that is very close to ending and still has underveloped climax aproach (if I may call it that). The ending, aka the last two episodes, could easily be a whole paragraph alone, or an entire hour long presentation about how NOT to end an anime. I won’t spoil the ending here, but let me just say, that that was one of the most rushed, confusing, and unsatisfying endings I have ever seen. I still refuse to believe, that a show that started so well, had so much potencial and had so many ways to end, ended like this. If they don’t make an OVA episode, fixing at least some things that they had done, I am suing the studio. Like I already said, if I could, I would divide the ratings for the first and second half. The first half gets a 10/10, amazing, beautiful, will rewatch pretending it ends at episode 12. The second half gets a 2/10, one word. DISSAPOINTMENT. Overall, I give it a 5/10. Thank you for reading my first review. Sorry it’s so long, I just had a lot to say.
MrGoldiii
06/24/2019, 03:58 PM
Episode one of Dororo had a beautifully choreographed fight scene betweeen Hyakkimaru and the demon. The way Hyakkimaru catapults himself through his surroundings slicing, through the sight of darkness within the demon. It sold me on the show and had me hyped to watch it weekly. However, to my disappointment the show had a very stagnant middle section. It introduced some awesome characters, and brilliant plotlines, however it lost the 'it' factor that really drew me in intially. The fight scenes no longer lived up to the beautiful fight choreography shown in the first few episodes, and the brilliant story direction. However, what really redeemedthe show from its lackluster midsection, was the shakespearean ideas brought forth in the final four episodes. There was a huge theme on morality and ethics, bringing forth ideas of good and evil, combined with ambition and struggle. The story clearly takes a lot of ideas from Shakespearean stories such as Macbeth, and with the presence of a complicated relationship between Hyakkimaru and Tahomaru a Romeo and Juliet twist. Kazuhiro Furuhashi did a brilliant job of providing the audience with an ethical debate, allowing us to reflect on what the best thing to do is. The open-ended finish worked to Dororo's advantage, wrapping up the story we have been following and letting us question what happens next. The art style is very modern, and gives a slick polish to the old-school style of story written by the god of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. The soundtrack has an oldschool, semi-0riental style which appeases the ears, and ramps up its flair during the action scenes. Both of the of the openings are fantastic, and introduce the episodes beautifully. Recommend this if you want to delve into a grand demon-slaying epic whilst delving into an ethical and moral debate.
CodeBlazeFate
06/24/2019, 02:03 PM
*Given the nature of the series itself, it’s hard for me to discuss it without at least mentioning mild spoilers. Also, there’s a RWBY spoiler in here. Proceed with caution.* With the exception of One Punch Man Season 2, Dororo is probably the most deflating anime I’ve seen so far in 2019. That’s honestly a real shame cuz on top of being a popular retelling of an anime from the ’60s, it's a 2000s samurai anime displaced in time. Furthermore, one of the main protagonists fights demons and samurai with swords for limbs! That sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Then halfway through the show, you realizethe cool moments are rendered moot and surrounded by mediocrity. Even worse, the show lost a lot of stream after peaking early on, causing the second half to become especially bothersome given the lackluster writing that permeates it. If nothing else, Dororo makes for a generally well-produced spectacle of samurai battles and bloodbaths. Even outside of the fight scenes, there are some incredibly well-animated sequences, like whenever demonic lightning would flash or when people or demons were burnt to ashes. At their best, the battles are crisp, fluid, and decently choreographed, with lots of sakuga moments where characters clash blades and get hacked to pieces. At their worst, they’re short, barely animated, and often replaced by animation shortcuts like static character portraits flashing in one after another, or slash marks on a black screen being followed up by a lack of anything satisfying, juicy, or vivid. The production values also worsen throughout the third quarter of the show in general, with bad CGI water, unriveting choreography and barely-animated fight scenes, several awkward shots and animation cuts, and overall inferior character models and animation throughout. None of this is horrible, not even the infamous episode 15 barring a few terrible sequences, but it does show that the production is a tad uneven. As for the character designs, at least for most of the main duo, they’re fairly attractive and mostly on-model barring a few stylistic changes throughout episodes and fight scenes (which are as hit or miss as the episodes themselves). Most of the secondary and tertiary characters are not very distinct or interesting and suffer from off-model syndrome a tad more, but it’s never anything heinous. As for the designs of the demons that are slain throughout the show, the only interesting ones were the ghost foxes that appeared halfway into the show, as well as a possessed horse near the end of the show. I also like the monochrome aesthetic, as it complements the atmosphere and designs of the show, especially when the animation kicks into high gear. It’s probably one of MAPPA’s more well-produced titles, even if nothing here is especially exciting. That’s where most of the compliments end, as the writing leaves a lot to be desired. I like the idea they were going with. It would have been interesting to see how the episodic stories impact Dororo and especially Hyakkimaru in their journey to slay demons and regain the latter’s humanity and body parts, which were robbed from him at birth. Having their escapades intertwine with the story of a falling kingdom and a family whose secrets unravel as specific members learn of Hyakkimaru’s survival could have been exciting. An overarching narrative where the characters often deal with episodic occurrences is certainly nothing bad, nor anything groundbreaking. One-off episodes are a great way of allowing for action spectacles and powerful moments that could impact character arcs tremendously. They also allow for more diverse narratives and world-building. Series such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Moribito are excellent examples of this. Dororo fails in all regards here, as most of the stories follow the exact same narrative beats and character archetypes, causing the side stories to lose any identity and worth by the second half. The show has a disconcerting number of one-off femme fatales, ridiculous psychopaths working with demons, and rambunctious kids wandering around to find a mother or sister figure they care about, both in the main story and the one-off episodes and arcs. If the one-off characters were more interesting and varied, or if the protagonists were more engaging, this wouldn’t be a big deal. Another major issue is how none of the side stories leave any real impact on our main duo. The only thing of note in most of these is how Hyakkimaru gets his body parts back. They did have an arc where Hyakkimaru had to deal with the shock of having ears again, forcing him to slowly and painfully adjust to the act of hearing. Had the series explored that concept with his other body parts and spaced them out better to allow for said exploration, I likely would have cared about Hyakkimaru a lot more. Sadly, at most, we get one-off lines about the differences in what he can do with his swords, only for him to still do the same things he always did, but with one less sword limb or with longer reach. Even worse, most of his developments after that point feel less gradual or tactile, and more “start and stop”. The worst examples are when in between episodes 12 and 13, he goes from barely uttering words to forming a complete sentence, or when in episode 20, he flips out due to a demon not granting him a body part back (an occurrence that has happened a few times by this point) and becomes a raging beast who wants his body and Dororo back during the final arc of the show before arbitrarily becoming more level-headed again in the finale. Backtracking to the non-impact issue, in the fifth episode, Hyakkimaru finds himself being taken care of by someone who he ends up having an affection towards. Meanwhile, Dororo interacts with her and the kids she’s taking care of, all while giving Hyakkimaru time to recover. At the end of episode 6, everyone who took care of them there dies, and Hyakkimaru goes on a rampage, killing almost everyone who murdered them. You’d think such an event would leave an impact on both of them, especially Hyakkimaru who finally found someone else he cared about that could help him. Apart from minor flashbacks in the middle of Dororo getting angry at someone, and a scene of another secondary character comforting Dororo, it means absolutely nothing and doesn’t get referenced in any meaningful way. I’m left with flashbacks to RWBY, when in Volume 3 Ruby watches Roman Torchwick get eaten after beating her up and challenging her heroic idealism with talk of how cold and nihilistic reality is. This scene comes between the death of two of her friends for an added gut punch. This is prime real estate for her to develop as a character (the main one at that) before Volume 4 completely has her going nowhere with this outside of two scenes of her feeling scared and horrible for what happened, causing her to completely abandon this idea outside of one scene in Volume 5 where she brings up the deaths of her friends. Hell, even that had more of an impact than what happened in this arc, which is still the most emotionally resonant arc in the series! None of this would matter too much if the characters were dynamic and colorful, cuz that would make it so even if an episode is only there for variety, it’s still engaging. Unfortunately, Dororo’s characters barely go beyond their character archetypes, and the ones who aren’t stock characters often leave a lot to be desired. I already discussed how poorly they handled Hyakkimaru’s development, which is a real shame since there are moments where he comes off as fun, even adorable with how he has to learn to really socialize with others on a level beyond that of a toddler. Dororo, by contrast, is far more lighthearted, sometimes even naive regarding “right and wrong”, as she’s a child. She’s an orphan that has watched her parents die and seen villages burn, and that completely clashes with how naive she is and how horrifying such violence seems to her in the first leg of the show, but she’s still a child. Speaking of clashing, her character trait of being a street rat who regularly attempts to swindle people or make a quick buck makes some of her more gullible actions in later episodes (15) seem entirely out of place. She has two sides to her that are fundamentally at odds with one another at times, resulting in a character that feels weak, on top of feeling shallow. That shallowness is compounded by the lack of development, a trait which only Hyakkimaru and one of the antagonists have any kind of access to (as dodgy as their development is). I know that a lack of character development is one of the tackiest, most misused complaints thrown at an anime, but when the characters are this shallow, and none of the side stories leave any kind of impact on a pair of characters consisting of a child and a person slowly gaining back and developing his humanity, I'm left begging for something, anything to change before completely checking out by episode 18. I’m barely gonna touch on the side characters, even Hyakkimaru’s family and the people that serve them, as they’re mostly just boring character archetypes like the suffering mom, the warlord who cares about his nation almost as much as he does his reign over them, and the edgy, jealous younger brother who constantly tries to prove himself in order to not feel overshadowed. There’s also the wise, badass old man with some sense of humor. To be fair, the show does a fine enough job not screwing these characters up with dumb decision-making or erratic personality shifts, at least for the most part. It’s just that it’s hard to care about characters who are on autopilot, just as it’s hard to care about our main characters. There is one exception to the lack of character shifts, that being when in episode 12 Hyakkimaru’s brother suddenly goes from someone torn on the moral quandary of his brother’s life vs the nation that thrived off his unwilling sacrifice, to someone hell-bent on killing him after failing to end a deal between the demons who cursed Hyakkimaru, and his father who made a pact with them for the sake of power and a prosperous nation. Apart from that moment, you can predict every character’s archetype and actions the moment you see them. The only recurring character with anything to him is the guy that took care of Hyakkimaru for most of his life: Jukai. He has a genuinely horrific backstory that informs his somber nature and constant need to seek out ways for his craft to be used in ways that compliment life, something he feels he’s stuck with due to not having the right to die like everyone around him does. At this point, I’ll just list a few other issues with the writing. The characters arbitrarily doing stupid things for the sake of the plot in the second half, such as Dororo randomly falling for a trap door in a seemingly abandoned shack in episode 15 despite her being a trickster character who would never be this gullible, or Hyakkimaru not even thinking to chisel the rock trapping Dororo’s arm to free her as she’s drowning in episode 20. The old man conveniently shows up as a deus ex machina, and his first instinct is to chisel the rock and that lets Dororo get out of there, making this problem all the more aggravating. In the second half of the show, Hyakkimaru somehow knows where an important character is and tracks them down offscreen, not once, but twice despite there being nothing presented to the audience or to Hyakkimaru himself that could feasibly allow him to track them down. In episode 15, a village is consumed by fire and it’s blamed on an underground oil spill reacting to a moth demon randomly crashing onto a watch tower with a torch which subsequently exploded, except there’s no way it could have affected the oil in order to cause the fire to consume the village. The show also constantly beats you over the head regarding how tragic things are, and it often has the narrator or character reiterating what they’re doing. Apart from one spoiler-heavy moment a bunch of characters could have easily avoided if they had any sense of urgency, these are the only real big issues I can think of regarding issues with bad writing. The episodic narratives are generally fine enough on their own. It’s just that most of them feel rather samey and end up not mattering. The overarching narrative, despite being on autopilot, isn’t necessarily badly written either. It’s just unengaging thanks to the main character arc that drives the plot not being handled well and the characters being on autopilot. That just leaves the music, which is somehow my least favorite part of the show. The background OST has decent tone-setting tracks, but nothing memorable. Half the time, I didn’t even know there was a soundtrack. Then we have the OPs and EDs. I hate them all to varying degrees. The vocals in all of them are unbelievably grating, especially the first OP, which is probably one of my most hated anime songs of all time, let alone this year. The second OP is probably the most disappointing, as it starts off with a kickass grunge-like guitar solo for about 6 seconds before completely shifting gears and eventually succumbing to the problem of bad vocals. Unlike the EDs, the OPs stick, but it’s not out of me finding any appeal in them. I expected Dororo would lose steam eventually given what I had heard, but I wasn’t prepared for how the show ultimately became less than the sum of its parts. Apart from a few specific complaints, both the overarching narrative and the episodic and bi-episodic narratives are fine. It’s just that anything potentially interesting or emotionally resonant is completely undermined by a lack of cohesion between these two elements and how little impact anything seems to have. The characters certainly don’t help, as those that aren’t shallow archetypes aren’t handled with enough care for their plights to matter. The inconsistent spectacles aren’t enough to carry a show that feels so bog-standard and at-odds with itself. As a result, I largely stopped caring after a while, and that’s one of the worst feelings a promising show can inflict. There are moments where it picks up and the spectacle and emotions speak for themselves, but by the second half, I was usually either bored or on autopilot. I may not hate or dislike the show, nor do I think it’s terrible, but I’m left wondering why I bothered before asking myself what could have been. Written and edited by: CodeBlazeFate Proofread by: Peregrine
Mury0kush0
06/24/2019, 12:29 PM
Dororo is a great anime in itself. I’m not trying to make you watch it by saying how it’s the anime which inspired other animes so even if you find it cliched watch it because animes exists thanks to this. No. I honestly enjoyed everything in the anime. I recommend you to watch because it’s so well produced and the storyline is great too. Some episodes seem like not connected to the main plot but they have a connection Ofcourse and are great episodes to be watched freely. The art: 10/10 Honestly hats off to the production team. Just compare it to the 1969 version. Eversince I saw the first look of the poster I was impressed. The animation quality although drops a bit during 1~2 episodes, otherwise the animation is great. The fight scenes are so amazing and satisfying. The characters : 9.5/10 I quite liked the characters especially Hyakkimaru Dororo Tahomaru etc. Despite whatever side they were on I appreciate their ethical and mora values. None of the characters were shallow, something I really admired. The demons were well animated too because woah some were creepy like wth. The story : 9/10 The story is really nice. As someone who loves historical shounen action animes I thoroughly enjoyed it. Honestly the last scenes felt abrupt to me??? Like it could’ve gone in infinite numerous directions so why? (Not spoiling) But the last ep as a whole was great so not complaining. Will leave the rest to my imagination. The Music : 10/10 I loveeeeeed both the opening and endings. The Ost play an important role for me too and all 4 didn’t let me down at all. Even if you aren’t going to watch the anime do have a listen to the opening and endings! I rated Dororo a 10/10. As I say I review based on my experience solely because there are others who can critically evaluate better than me. I really enjoyed these 6 months thanks to Dororo and although it has nothing hi-fi, I just enjoyed watching it a lot. I just love great re-adaptations of old animes made to fit modern viewers criterias!
ZB_Blades
06/24/2019, 10:39 AM
Miracles do exist and Dororo is proof of that. By all accounts something like Dororo should never have been made. I’m not saying it’s bad, in fact quite the contrary. The Dororo manga is old, really old. Up until late last year I had never heard of it before. Typically the only anime that gets green lit is stuff that is relevant. Stuff that people are currently talking about. Pretty much the opposite of Dororo. Yet someone took a chance and decided to adapt it and I could not be more happy with their decision. The story of Dororo is quite simple and easy tofollow. It’s the story of a young man on a quest to regain what was stolen from him. In his current state you could call him an inhuman monster. Probably a bit harsh but when you have been robbed of everything that makes you physically human what are you left with. As the story goes on our main character Hyakkimaru regains those lost limbs but at what cost. I really loved the theme that Dororo went with. It’s all about give and take. For every piece of your human body you try to obtain, a bit of your humanity is lost. It’s a complex question ripe for intelligent discussion and Dororo handles that question masterfully. While most of our focus and attention story wise is put on Hyakkimaru the anime is called Dororo for a reason. As an audience we are seeing things play out mostly through Dororo’s eyes who exists mostly as comic relief to keep the show lighthearted enough so that we are not bogged down by Hyakkimaru’s unending quest for vengeance. Dororo plays a perfect host for this journey and a great companion. Just because Dororo is a kid doesn’t mean they can’t be useful. In fact that’s something I want to point out. Typically child characters in anime are a nuisance. They are annoying, a liability in any given situation and frankly there to cause problems. The thing I like about Dororo is that Dororo is intelligent. Dororo helps our protagonist on his journey. Not just with the demons but also making sure Hyakkimaru does not fully lose what little humanity he has left. Other characters that have relevance include a wise wandering old man who you could call a sensei for Hyakkimaru when it comes to navigating this world. Sometimes he pops in to lend a helping hand but is never overbearing nor a deus ex machina, and he is always giving sagely words of wisdom both to the main characters and us as well. Of course what story is complete without an antagonist. The antagonist for Dororo revolves around Hyu’s father and brother even. What I like about Dororo’s portrayal of the antagonists is their motives for their actions make sense. They are not bad for the sake of being bad. Any other story and they would be the heroes instead. A well fleshed out hero for a story is nice but a well fleshed out villain can definitely elevate some series to the level of greatness. Throw in some meaningful side characters and Dororo has all the makings of a fantastic anime. The art and animation for this story received quite the facelift. The original manga that I peeked has a comic like cartoony style of animation that may have worked for the time it was made but would need to be updated for a modern audience. The choice to update the designs was a great decision on the studios part. As for animation, wow. I was not expecting a show like Dororo to look as good as it did. Everything moved and flowed nicely. Most action scenes featured breathtaking sequences that you rarely see these days. There was a bit of a hiccup for one episode which depending on your taste could be very good or very bad. Fortunately it only lasts for one episode and then everything goes back to normal afterwards. The sound for Dororo was great especially the first opening song. It’s straight fire which going by some of the lyrics is an accurate description. The ending song is nice too, almost has a sort of ballad feel to it. The 2nd OP and ED are good too but the first set is what defines the series sound wise. I really hope that more studios in the future look to anime like Dororo and decide to take a chance on older works. There are so many great stories out there that deserve to be adapted and given the same respect that Dororo was given. This is certainly a classic in the making.
CorkMars
06/24/2019, 10:26 AM
“The path I take, does not lead that way. I am human. Don’t you become a demon either. Live on as a human.” I won't say too much in this review. Over the past several months I've had so much to say about, what I believe is, the best anime of 2019 thus far. But now that its over, I'm content saying less rather than much. **vague SPOILERS ahead** Dororo is unlike much of the media coming out of Japan concerning the samurai. We've see a great deal of glory hoisted onto these "heroes," of the past. Dororo is an anime that is not afraid to criticize thishistory, while also telling an extremely original story. This review will probably get lost in the end of season ocean of reviews, but I feel my final impressions are important to write down. In the beginning it is the sins of the father which creates pain and suffering. We have all seen this before. But in the end, it is the sins of the father which promise life and stability in Dororo. Maybe that is the difference in leaving a male or female behind to succeed you in an unforgiving world. The line between man and demon becomes increasingly blurred as Dororo moves progresses, what were once hated antagonists become sympathetic men, and beloved protagonists display flashes of the demon within. Maybe the point of Dororo is to show that while we all may harbor these demons, it is within our power to be eaten by desire, or to conquer it. The final episode shows us a protagonist who has long wanted, no longer chasing after "things," finally happy with just having a full body. Society tells us that we never have enough, that we have to want, but Hyakkimaru finds happiness by obtaining simply what most of us are born with, a body of ones own. I see this story as a coming of age tale from two different perspectives. Hyakkimaru is the yang, Dororo the Yin. The taichi symbol shows that within black there is white, and within white there is black. The growth of these two ^ throughout the series is similar to other anime in someways, but different in many. The conclusion was executed perfectly by MAPPA and the production maintained an efficient work schedule. The love put into this anime is so much more evident than many others, and now that I've watched it weekly, I'll have to experience the entire story as one. I hope everyone else enjoyed this anime as much as I did!! Live on as humans! :)
TakaCode
06/24/2019, 06:35 AM
In this day and age we have been presented with remakes of classic anime from various decades. From Magical Circle Guruguru, Fruits Basket, Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Bogglepop Phantom. With the few exceptions that shall not be named theses remakes have been well received by fans and critics. This leads me to on of the more recent anime remakes Dororo. Unlike any other remake minus Fruits Basket 2019 I had high expectations as this being done one of my favourite directors Kazuhiro Furuhashi the same director that gave us the underrated cop drama Your Under Arrest, the flawed but highly enjoyable Rurouni Kenshin adaptations and theatmospheric Hunter x Hunter 1999. Fortunately the series managed to almost perfectly deliver my high expectations as this is easily one of the best anime remake I have seen period. The story follows a ronin named Hyakkimaru who is born malformed and is required to kill demons to obtain his missing body parts. He is accompanied by a troublesome orphan thief called Dororo during his travel. From there the duo roamed around various countries, hunting for ghouls and demons. There a lot of things to like about Dororo. For starters this show is very dark both visually and narratively. It's Sengoku-era of Japan after all. The most darkest period for Japan. The dark nature of Dororo is only enchanted with the show asking us the viewer various deep questions what makes us human and what defines a machine and what makes a monster. Hyakkimaru character arc is a brilliant case study of this. From the first episode he has a personality of a machine where he hunts down demons without breaking a sweat. As he gains more body parts he starts to becomes more human where he starts to understand the world that he is in but at the same time Hyakkimaru's journey of collecting body part's is slowly breaking him mentally. Not only the harsh reality of the world starts to mentally creep him he also has to face the fact that he has killed various people along he's journey hunt and as a result it makes Hyakkimaru less of an actual human. This is Dororo biggest strengths by a long shot as it makes you the viewer think about all the actions that Hyakkimaru has done thought he's body part journey. This is the main reason why it was hard for me to call Dororo a full out episodic series. Similar to Cowboy Bebop and to a less extant Ouran High School Host Club the series has all the elements of a standard episodic series yet the characters are developing along with the plot. When the series starts taking the overarching plot approach towards the end it's feels natural thanks to the series strong direction and build up. It didn't pull it's overarching plot from its ass as every single episode of Dororo had a purpose despite it being mostly episodic. The second best thing about Dororo is how brilliant the world-building is. The series is set in Sengoku-era of one of the most darkest periods for japan yet it does a splendid job of making the world of Dororo feels alive thanks to the spectacular attention to detail towards various locations and races. Unfortunately Dororo does have some minor faults. To say that at times Dororo doesn't have enough substance at times is an understatement. Granted that compared to any other MAPPA series excluding Banana Fish. Dororo has the most substance thanks to it's setting, characters writing and thematic exploration but at same time Dororo clearly had its fair share style over substance moments where the writing was put in a bus in favour of visual presentation at times. This also leads to my second and final problem with Dororo the inconsistent quality of the episodic episodes. Granted there was not an episode in Dororo that I consider to be bad or even average but I still felt like some episodes had clearly better written than others. The weakest episodes of Dororo went for the more typical approach by featuring less memorable one off characters and stories. Regardless theses two flaws did not shut down the adventurous party that was Dororo. A silent protagonist in any fictional work is very hard to pull off as can easily becomes blank stake for that particular work. Fortunately Hyakkimaru doesn't fall into the same traps of other silent protagonists he is an interesting character from start to finish. His character arc was well-handled thanks to great writing, and he's just a sympathetic character overall despite him being mostly silent. Similar to a silent protagonist a child protagonist in any fictional work is very hard because they can easily be the most annoying thing in your story. Fortunately the character Dororo doesn't fall into the same traps as most other child protagonists as he's a great and enjoyable character. She's the perfect companion for Hyakkimaru as she tries to best to help Hyakkimaru succeeds of his journey of getting his body parts back. Her personality is full of life and humanity despite being a child living in a harsh world. The best part about these two protagonist is their strong character chemistry with each other. I really loved the dynamic duo of Dororo and Hyakkimaru as they have a strong and unbreakable bond. Both Dororo and Hyakkimaru would do anything to ensure that their partner is safe from danger. The rest of the characters were good. Some of them are better than others, but they all served they roles and purpose in the story. If, I had two words to describe the visuals of Dororo it would be atmospheric and gorgeous. MAPPA did a fantastic job of bring this classic series to life with its beautiful soft colour palette, well-drawn characters designs and splendid background secretly that is filled with attention to detail. This is only enchanted with the fantastic visual direction. When the show decides to have a flashback the entire show minus the blood goes to black and white which homages the visual presentation of the original series. The animation was for the most part is beautifully choreographed and well-animated. It does dip at times notably episode 14-15 but it never dipped to a point of being ugly. The soundtrack is outstanding. The series uses a mixture of Melancholic and Japanese folk music pieces only enhances the plot and setting. The same thing can be said for all the opening and ending themes that Dororo has to offer. The voice acting is strange in a good way. The Seiyuus that did the voices for Dororo and especially Hyakkimaru were newcomers. With this in mind you would think that the voice acting would be bad because of this but no. In fact, they were amazing as they fitted with they respective roles perfectly. My favourite Seiyuu out of the two is Rio Suzuki as Dororo as she did an outstanding job at being the cheeky Dororo to life. There is currently no English Dub as from June 2019 then again the show has gained a big following from both vintages and casuals watching meaning the series will someday get a quality dub and I hope Bangzoom will be the ones that will dub it. Dororo is what an anime remake should be. It takes everything that was great about the original series from 1960s and expanded it to new heights with its beautiful presentation, smooth soundtrack, strong characters and intriguing plot that has a purpose. It did have a few faults along the way but the faults didn't shut down the grim and fascinating party. Amazing job MAPPA. You finally made a modern anime classic.
HellLyter
06/24/2019, 06:30 AM
Tales of samurai and supernatural beings are commonplace in Japanese culture, and Dororo, an old anime that has gotten a reboot after decades, is one such story. This anime tells your typical story of a man wronged by practically everything ever who goes on a journey to discover himself. No, not in a spiritual sense or whatever like you might suspect. This dude is literally searching for his body parts. Which, might I add, were sacrificed to demons by his dad. Yeah, it's pretty intense. Unfortunately, while the creator of Dororo thought up quite the dark and gruesome setting for his work, he failed toconvey a significant message due to a variety of both narrative and technical flaws. The stoy centers around Hyakkimaru and his child companion Dororo as they travel around the country slaying demons who have stolen Hyakkimaru's body parts. They also encounter both friend and foe along the way. The problem is that this anime lacks central direction. It takes an episodic approach for the most part that features a bunch of hit or miss (for me they mostly miss, bruh) side stories that don't really go anywhere. They feature new characters who are usually killed off or never seen again and the episodes don't really contribute to the narrative. I mean Hyakkimaru just comes in, kills some monsters, grows some body parts, and then moves on with Dororo in tow. There's next to no development of any character in such episodes and they have practically no impact on the overarching story. Only a few of the mid and the last several episodes tackle the the central conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family. And these episodes actually aren't that bad. They address themes such as the value of one weighed against the value of a land filled with many and feature some interesting confrontations. Had this anime been one cour and more focused, I might have actually found it to be decent. Unfortunately, it's just held back by a plethora of bland and in some cases plain bad episodes. One of my problems is that I don't really get a lot of the traditional Japanese monsters/spirits. Call me uncultured or whatever, but when I see a dude riding sharks or a giant floating baby head thingy, I can't take the story seriously. I think the plot is at its best when it doesn't have a bunch of weird creatures that spawn out of nowhere to randomly help or hinder the protagonist. Plus most of the demons that Hyakkimaru fights are usually bland creatures with no originality. Now there are a select few that I did enjoy and thought were handled well, like the spider lady. Nonetheless, I found most of these monsters to be pretty mediocre. I get that this is a supernatural show and not some historical documentary, but I honestly think that its fantasy elements were generally utilized poorly. Studio MAPPA obviously isn't known for having pristine animation, but their works usually incorporate eye catching color schemes and the like to make up for the generally average animation of their shows. Yet with Dororo, I just couldn't help but be bored by its visual presentation. I get that its monochrome look fits with the style of the story it's trying to tell, but its dull and uninspired visage left more to be desired. Top that off with the plain character designs and uninspired backgrounds, and you get what I find to be a poorly animated anime. The most annoying aspect of Dororo would have to be the voice of the titular character herself. I rarely give harsh criticism on voice acting, but this seiyuu unfortunately deserves it. I would cringe internally almost every time she spoke. My poor eardrums just couldn't take it! Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but I just didn't like her performance. Maybe her voice sits fine with you, but I for one just couldn't wait for her to stop talking. The other voices were, uh, fine I guess? None of them were really that memorable to be honest. Speaking of forgettable, how about dem characters! I've already mentioned how annoying I find Dororo to be, but how about everyone else? The best one to start with would of course be Hyakkimaru. He has a pretty messed up origin story, which was the sole reason as to why I bothered to watch this anime in the first place. His character is basically what you would expect from a lifeless husk of a man...you know, lifeless. And empty. He's honestly a pretty boring character who instead of developing just seems to get more angry as the show goes on. Which I guess you could call development from a certain point of view, but I don't see it that way. His stagnant nature only serves to hurt the story. The saving grace would be the bond between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. I thought their chemistry was good, and the development of their relationship was handled a lot better then the development of their individual characters. As I mentioned before, the rest of the cast are pretty bland, though there are a few stand outs who, uh, still don't really stand out that much. I'll give some of them a brief mention. There's this old priest dude who is wise and stuff but doesn't really contribute to the story. There's a cute girl named Mio who had potential, but was grossly underutilized. Hyakkimaru's parents are ok, and they honestly fulfil their role well enough. I think Tahoumaru was handled well for five seconds before they turned him into a carbon copy of his father. The last character I'd like to mention is Itachi, who actually ended up being my favorite character in the show despite his small amount of screen time. The way the anime made him out to be so despicable yet make me actually like him by the end was impressive, and I have to commend the good writing of his character. Since I don't want to be all edgy and depressing like this anime, let's end on some positives! Dororo boasts some pretty great music, and I do enjoy the more traditional Japanese pieces. The first opening theme song is of course the highlight of the sound department. It gets bonus points for fitting perfectly in my own vocal range, so I sing it like, a lot (to the misfortune of those around me I'm sure). As much as I bashed Dororo's execution, I do think that the premise is quite interesting and unique. Hyakkimaru's predicament really is a cool concept. I just wish it was handled more appropriately. And as much as I disliked the show's episodic approach, I did end up liking a few of the stories. Though of course the main conflict between Hyakkimaru and his family ended up being the best part of the show that kept it from sinking into awful territory in my eyes. Being grim and violent doesn't automatically make something deep and thought provoking. Dororo tries hard to tackle dark concepts, and you know what? It succeeds. It just fails to do anything significant with its dark material in my eyes, and it ended up being quite mediocre because of it.
Stark700
06/24/2019, 06:27 AM
Older classics from the history books getting back to modern times seems to be one of MAPPA’s hobbies in recent years. We’ve had Ushio to Tora from Summer 2015 and more recently Banana Fish from Summer 2018. Dororo’s remake under MAPPA’s umbrella made an outstanding impression and gives more reasons to bring old classics back. What a time to be alive in this timeline. The original series aired some 50 years ago in the late 1960s. Most of us probably weren’t alive back then to see this older timer. Manga with content revolving around demons seemed like a popular trend among children those days. The brainchildbehind this work is Osamu Tezuka, who is regarded as a “the father of manga”. With famous franchises like Black Jack and Astro Boy, he goes down in history is a legendary figure. Dororo is a dark fantasy adventurous tale with supernatural elements and dealing with characters’ emotional journey of discovery. From its very few episodes, I noticed an old school feeling that blends with modern quality productions. The original series had a much simpler animation style with cartoony character designs and black and white quality. MAPPA and Tezuka Productions decided to take their style to bring these characters to modern standards. Immediately, I felt as if the show had a credible outline for its artwork. Consisting of 24 episodes, the roadmap of the show also gives an easy pacing for new viewers. Do note that I have not read the manga but jumping into this anime isn’t much of a problem. We have two main characters – Hyakkimaru and Dororo traveling together during the Sengoku period. Hyakkimaru is the limbless ronin due to circumstances of his birth while Dororo is the thief who joins as his partner during their journey. The two forges a unique bond despite their contrasting differences. And throughout their journey, they face many obstacles ranging from powerful demons, saving people, and overcoming their own personal struggles. At the heart of the show, Dororo is known for its moody and dark tones. There’s the theme of revenge born from the beginning. The episodic structure (as some fans dubs it as ‘monster of the week’) is a typical style of storytelling for this show. However, Dororo’s intriguing content comes from character development. This is especially true for Hyakkimaru as he begins to develop human characteristics, feelings, and becoming more of himself. Being accompanied by Dororo, they begin to understand each more and more with each progressing episode. At some point, we even see Hyakkimaru laughing, which is something he’d probably never expected from himself. Dororo is also a character that injects a dose of playful energy into the show. Let’s face it, Dororo is a kid but sometimes shows the mature personality of an adult. As a show about survival in a dark and grim world, the duo relies on each other every step of the way. In the latter half of the show, Hyakkimaru’s mentality contains both of a human and demon. His desire to protect Dororo may also be his greatest weakness as he is forced to rely on his demonic side. It makes the overall show very thrilling as viewers will anticipate the consequences of his actions. In Dororo, notice how almost every character our duo encounter faces some sort of challenge in their lives. Whether it’s about personal relationships or just to survive, this anime makes it clear that it’s not an easy world to be in. There’s carnage with gory content as the show establishes itself as a dark fantasy. The monsters are characterized with a fusion between classic and modern designs while taking ideas from folklore. There’s also a question to be addressed – what really makes a monster? Is human another word for monster? There’s a sense of grey morality explored in later episodes that will no doubt be controversial. This includes the actions of Kagemitsu Daigo and Tahomaru. For their motives and actions that greatly influenced the show’s plot, they can be viewed as monsters. In other words, if we behave like beasts, we are no better than the beasts themselves. Nonetheless, I don’t see Dororo as a complicated storyteller. The episodic nature and dark fantasy elements brings together a classic adventure. It holds itself together as a visual masterpiece with its aesthetics. Particularly, I find some episodes with the black and white coloring to fit perfectly. What also amazes me is how Dororo doesn’t make battles feel pointless. There’s action to follow, behaviors to observe, and see how each fight progresses change for characters. Hell, such a show with all this despair even has its happy moments. The show’s humor comes off naturally thanks to Dororo’s personality. It doesn’t play out forcefully with questionable dialogues and character interactions. Instead, the character chemistry between our two main leads is what does the talking. The more you watch this anime, the more you’ll feel attached to our duo. It’s not a question of how but the way they develop together in their journey. For being an iconic classic, Dororo’s modern adaptation will easily get people into the mood for those who has a taste for dark fantasy. Even if you don’t belong in that category, that’s alright because it’s a chance to experience the artistic creativity of Osamu Tezuka. And I’m so glad to be alive in this timeline to experience it.
Snapshot426
06/24/2019, 06:22 AM
Remakes can be seen as good and bad at times. A good remake is when that you can retell the story but improve on it by tweaking it by learning from the mistakes of the previous one or by following its original material more closely. A bad remake just remakes it for the sake of being a quick cashgrab through name recognition and not improving on it or tweaking what already worked and making it worse. In an era where remakes are coming out of the whazoo in the west lately, it can get rather tiresome. Remakes for anime are less common, but have atrack record for being better than the original. Hunter x Hunter, JoJo and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are examples of this trend being true. So where does this anime rank along with them then? Sit back, relax, put on your prosthetic arm and grapple your way to save the prin...(Oh wait, that’s Sekiro, S**T!) as I present to you the anime review of the 2019 remake of Dororo. Lets begin shall we? Story: 8/10 Set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, our story starts with Daigo, a lord of a land that is slowly dying and is facing a war is seemingly inevitable. Seeking power, he abandons his belief in Buddha and instead prays to the power of daemons. Granted power and a wealthy land, the daemons claim his unborn son and take every part of his body, leaving a husk…that is still alive; which was quickly disposed of. 16 years later, the boy, named Hyakkimaru, survived and with new prosthetic body parts, he wanders the land; slaying every ghoul and daemon he comes across to regain his body. On his travels, he encounters a street orphan by the name of Dororo who starts following him. Together, they form a bond and hunt for the daemons in order to reclaim Hyakkimaru’s body. Positioned as a monster of the week type setup, the story of this show is a rather simple one to begin with as its basically sees Hyakkimaru and Dororo wandering the land, searching for Daemons to slay, all while encountering plenty of characters along their journey. Some are just one episode characters, others are recurring characters we see more than once and act as motivators for our main two characters. While that may seem slightly bare bones, its the little details that make this show’s story rather enjoyable. The interactions, the growing character development and the questions that this show likes to throw at the viewer. It likes to focus on the on the moment to moment scenes rather than the big picture so that we can see how our characters progress as the story goes along. There is still an overarching story, don’t get me wrong. But the story is very character driven and likes to focus on them. The main question that this show gradually asks the viewer is that is it right to kill the daemons? That may seem like a stupid question to ask since, well, THEY’RE DAEMONS. But the show likes to show how the daemons are affecting people’s lives for the better. Sure they need bargains, but as the saying goes “The needs of the many out-way the needs of the few.” So is killing the daemons the right thing to do if people are going to suffer from it? The show does well of understanding the actions of both sides of the argument. For Hyakkimaru, he wants to reclaim his body that was stolen from him at birth. For Daigo and his son Tahoumaru, they want their land to thrive and their people to prosper. It makes you think of who is really in the right here and comes up with some very interesting dilemmas to keep the viewer intrigued. Characters: 8.5/10 Hyakkimaru is a rather interesting character for the fact that he didn’t have much of a personality to begin with. Of course that is understandable considering he doesn’t have his body parts and is literally a walking doll. But his character growth was interesting because it’s like watching a child trying to grasp new things so suddenly. He can’t hear, see, speak or feel pain when you meet him. But as the story goes on, you see him having to adapt to them when he gets them. His behaviour also changes as he gets his body back. From starting out calm and collective to acting irrational and angry that makes his character progression rather interesting, especially when you consider how Dororo also progresses throughout a show. Is he slowly becoming the thing he has hunted down? That’s another question that the show asks the viewer with some visual evidence to go along with it to justify your answers. Speaking of Dororo, her character arc (Yes, she is a girl. Its been stated and hinted at multiple times that she is a girl) is the best in this show. Starting out as a wise cracking, immature orphan who just uses Hyakkimaru to get food and make money. She starts to slowly mature as the show goes on as if Hyakkimaru rubbing some of his personality onto Dororo. As well as how Dororo handles certain situations in a rather mature manner. In fact, it’s almost like our main characters personalities are swapping as the show goes on. As Dororo matures and acts more grown up, Hyakkimaru gets more immature as time goes on. It helps hammer in the fact that these two need each other to learn and grow from one another. It shows how important character growth is important and how our experiences and interactions from other people help change and define who we are as a person. Something I think this show does incredibly in a rather subtle way that makes you gradually realise what is going on with Hyakkimaru and Dororo. The supporting cast is varied. Like I said earlier, it varies between one episode characters and recurring characters that appear in multiple episodes. They are rather clear cut and defined rather well. Some act as motivators for Hyakkimaru and Dororo, while others act as assh**es that act as impedance to Hyakkimaru and Dororo’s progress. Some you will forget probably about 2-3 episodes after the episode they appear in, but some do leave a lasting mark on our characters and considering the tone of the show, some of these characters get a rough time, making you sympathise with them. Mio is a great example of this, acting as a pivitol point in Hyakkimaru’s character growth. My favourite supporting character though is definitely Tahoumaru, Lord Daigo’s son and brother to Hyakkimaru. His own character arc is rather interesting due to him having a sense of conflict within him. He doesn’t want to fight his own, long lost brother, but he has a duty and seeing the land crumbling before him, he does what he must for the better of the land. He has his own reasons as to why he must kill Hyakkumaru in order to him to protect the people he must care about and to please Daigo. He acts as a great foe for Hyakkimaru to fight and a reminder that both sides of the argument have reasons for fighting each other. There is no clear cut villain. Just people doing what they believe is best and Tahomaru is indeed a great example of this. Animation: 8.5/10 This is where I think the remake aspect of this show has benefited the most. The art style looks more appropriate to reflect the dark tone of the show while the character designs still pay homage to the original designs but with a more modern look to it. It fits better with some of the content you will be seeing in this show. While I do think a little bit more polish to the character designs could have been useful. Their movements and expressions are endearing enough to make me like them. The fight scenes are well choreographed and shot well; considering the variety of daemons that Hyakkimaru was fighting in this series. This was a good job to make each fight slightly more distinct than the last fight. Human and human sword fighting was also enjoyable to watch with a quick pace to it and plenty of movement to go along with it, especially with all the acrobatics that Hyakkimaru can do. Seriously, whatever MAPPA touches turns to Gold at this point of time. Sound: 10/10 The music is appropriate for this series. A heavy use of flutes and banjos is used to help immerse in what kind of time period this anime is based in. The banjos especially are used very well to help signify when danger is coming and sends a chill down your spine. The show also sounds good with the correct use of sound effects to add to a scene and having little to no music when we get sword on sword action just makes me appreciate the sound effects used in these scenes. The show overall sounds good and helps get immersed in a scene. The openings help carry on that sentiment. "Kaen" by Ziyoou-vachi is the first opening was one of the contributors as to why the Winter Season's openings were so good. It sounded unique and captivating that you had to listen to and the visuals were beautiful, with also some homages to the shows original art style thrown in there. Seriously, why were there so many good openings that season? The second opening, "Dororo" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, took its time but it eventually grew on me as I listened to it more. As the name suggests it likes to focus on the relationship that Hyakimmaru and Dororo have built and the animation, while not as captivating as the first opening, was still good to look at and the song was also enjoyable with a nice fast but somewhat sweet sound to it. The endings continued to highlight the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, but in a much more calmer tone. Both are visually striking for the kind of art style they use in each of their openings that help give this sense of beauty to them, whether visually, vocally or how the combination of the two is used. Conclusion Dororo 2019 feels like this was necessary thing to do. A remake of a classic manga and anime but given a more modern look to match the tone of the show. From what I've seen from the original compared to the remake, I would say it worked. But the animation isn’t just the only great thing about this show. The characters and the moment to moment scenes in the story help make Dororo an enjoyable anime to watch. A very good show that can keep the viewer hook but can also make the viewer think about the actions of our characters and who is in the right. The show is an enjoyment to watch and if you are into anything related to mythical Japan, then this is something to check out. My Personal Enjoyment: 8/10 Overall score: 8.6/10 Recommendation: Watch it

Dororo どろろ

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Dororo どろろ

North American Anime & Manga Releases for September

North American Anime & Manga Releases for June

Q2 2021 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 6/17]

Interview: Composer Yoshihiro Ike Talks Industry Experience and Career

PV Collection for Mar 25 - 31

Winter 2019 Simulcast List [Update 2/3]

Winter 2019 Preview

TV Anime 'Dororo' Announces Additional Cast Members

TV Anime 'Dororo' Announces Staff and Cast Members

Twin Engine Reveals Upcoming Anime Lineup