Is Dororo Good?
Is Dororo good? Dororo was one of the most anticipated anime of 2019 and it delivers. It is a good anime to watch because it is a good historical anime with great storytelling, has well rounded characters, and is captivating with it’s moral dilemmas.
Background
Dororo was originally a japanese manga series in the early 1960s by Osamu Tezuka, who is often referred to as the “father of manga”. An anime adaptation based on the manga, which consisted of 26 episodes, aired in 1969. A second anime adaption by MAPPA and Tezuka Productions aired from January to June 2019 with 24 episodes.
This is not the first time studio MAPPA has adapted an older classic. Banana Fish (2018) is another remake under MAPPA (Is Banana Fish Good?).
This 2019 anime adaptation was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, a veteran in the anime industry. His best works include Rurouni Kenshin (1996) and Hunter X Hunter (1999). An anime adaptation like Dororo was perfect for him.
Dororo is gory, violent, and contains mature content.
Summary
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.
via MyAnimeList
Dororo is a Good Historical Anime
One of the reasons why Dororo is a good watch is because it is a good historical anime. It takes place in the Sengoku era, a period in Japanese history marked by constant military conflict and political upheaval. Dororo is able to accurately capture the essence of those times. As Dororo and Hyakkimaru travel through the land, the viewer is able to get a sense of the harsh times by seeing how the constant conflict has led to famine, high tension, and death.
There is a poignant scene where a young Dororo is searching for food and comes across a field of dead bodies. Shes asks if this is what Hell looks like? Dororo’s mom responds by saying:
I don’t know but it might not be as bad as this.
Many of the characters in Dororo have a justification for what they do and are forced to commit gruesome acts in order to survive. Dororo is able to stay true to this period and tell a great story without gimmicks or tropes common with alot of anime nowadays. The violence and cruelty of the Sengoku era was showcased without any sugar-coating.
Dororo’s Production
Dororo has some memorable moments production wise. The cinematography in the first episode was great. Specifically, Hyakkimaru’s sword-fighting action scenes with the sludge demon was well done. The fight choreography is incredible for the first half of the series. The audio-visual feedback is visceral with each slash and stab and makes the fight scenes tense and realistic. Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi used mostly black-and-white for the flashback sequences and sometimes left splashes of color that really left an impact (ex. blood).
Dororo has a Great Cast of Characters
Here are the most important characters in Dororo:
Character: Dororo
Dororo is resourceful and smart. Dororo is also smooth talker who is responsible for cashing in on Hyakkimaru’s combat skills and negotiating payment with villagers. Dororo is always by Hyakkimaru’s side. More importantly, Dororo’s ultimate role is to anchor Hyakkimaru to his humanity.
Hyakkimaru is the one primarily fighting demons but as the series progress, Dororo is able to use cunning and wits to assist Hyakkimaru. A leader who is able to motivate and inspire those around him, Dororo shows amazing toughness at an young age. This is mainly due to doing anything to survive after the passing of his parents.
Dororo’s main goal is to survive the war and “defeat it”.
Character: Hyakkimaru
Hyakkimaru is unable to speak, hear, or see in the beginning of the series. As he defeats the demons, he develops more human characteristics, feelings, and is able to express himself better. Being accompanied by Dororo, they begin to understand each other more.
Hyakkimaru was given prosthetic body parts and trained to fight demons at a young age. He has superhuman speed and instincts. Despite not having sight, he is able to see the souls of living things, which allows him to differentiate humans and demons, as well as good and evil beings.
Hyakkimaru’s Journey to Getting his Senses
Hyakkimaru’s journey to getting back his body parts and his senses is a fun ride. Hyakkimaru resembles a newborn as he learns to use some of his senses. He deeply appreciates the limbs and senses he gets back, despite it possibly becoming an disadvantage in battle. For example, he is initially unable to feel pain. When he defeats a demon and is finally able to feel pain for the first time, he accidentally steps on firewood. Rather than avoid the fire, he immediately steps on it again so he can feel the sensation of pain one more time since it’s so foreign to him.
Unfortunately, he experiences the cruel realities of the world as he gains his senses. The first sound Hyakkimaru hears in his life is the sound of a woman crying in the rain over a man he just killed.
Despite this, Hyakkimaru is unbelievably determined to get his body parts at any cost.
Character: Kagemitsu Daigo
Daigo is a samurai and lord of the Ishikawa land. Daigo sacrifices his first born son so his land could prosper. He’s very commanding and would do anything to protect his land and people. He essentially believes “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”.
Character: Tahomaru Daigo
Tahomaru is Daigo’s second son and Hyakkimaru’s brother. He’s very assertive and bold, but also sensitive. He takes his role as the heir very seriously. The build up to the eventual showdown between him and Hyakkimaru is great. His development throughout the series is interesting.
Dororo Presents Interesting Moral Dilemmas
The moral dilemmas in Dororo are very interesting. Neither side is ever presented as right or wrong, generally leaving it up to the viewer to decide.
Kagemitsu Daigo’s land is suffering from drought, famine, and war. In order to save his land, he sacrifices his first son for prosperity to demons. The demons take the child’s limbs, facial features, or skin. As a result, Daigo’s land’s starts prospering, the drought ends, and the people of the land live peaceful lives.
Daigo sacrificing his son to demons has dire consequences for those around him. His wife, heartbroken over the loss of his first son, is forced to live in misery and neglects his second son, Tahomaru. Tahomaru constantly looking for his mom’s attention, feels a void. More importantly, the child without limbs, facial features or skin is rescued by Dr. Jukai and is given prosthetic limbs. Years later, he goes a on vengeful quest to retrieve his lost limbs by defeating the demons that stole from him. However, this interferes with the deal Daigo made with the demons and put his land in jeopardy.
There is also instances where humans commit immoral acts for their benefit. For example, people who live in a poor village may allow demons to reside in their village and attack other travelers so they can collect money from the travelers. This is the only way they can survive. Furthermore, not all demons or ghouls are evil.
War forces good people to make hard decisions with no right answers and that’s a running theme in Dororo. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,”. As the powerful commit atrocities in the name of the greater good (like Daigo), the innocents such as Dororo and Hyakkimaru are basically asked to give up trying to better their own lives for the sake of the world that has hurt and robbed them.
Depending on your viewpoint, you may feel Hyakkimaru is just and deserves to get his body back as he never agreed to the deal and was robbed of what is rightfully is. However, from a Japanese point of view, it’s best to put the group over the individual. From this viewpoint, it is fine for Hyakkimaru to sacrifice himself for the good of the land and his people.
No matter where the viewer falls in this spectrum, Dororo presents it in an interesting way.
Dororo’s Shortcomings
Dororo is a good anime but it’s not without it’s faults.
One criticism is the inconsistent animation. This was not much of an issue in the first cour (first 12 episodes) but in the second cour, the animation quality declines and the once stellar choreography becomes lackluster. Episode 15 in particular is directed by Osamu Kobayashi. He is more well known for his work on episode 4 of Gurren Lagann (2007). The movements and actions in this episode were awkward. Furthermore, the low details and weird shots were terrible. The entire episode felt out of place. There was also some filler episodes near the end and it would’ve been better if other characters got some screen time so the tension can be intensified for the finale. Thankfully, the series still got back to form in the later episodes.
A decline in animation quality can be common with anime that has 2 cours, especially with some of the anime studio MAPPA has recently produced. Despite this, the animation and choreography made it’s impact at the climax.
Conclusion
Dororo is a good example of an adaptation being better than it’s source material. It’s a breath of fresh air from your typical action anime. Furuhashi and the rest of the team was able to do Osamu Tezuka’s classic work justice.
For more analysis, check out:
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One thought on “Is Dororo Good?”
Please next season Dororo🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧please