Dororo was originally a manga series created by Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s. The first anime series was adapted in 1969, followed by a live-action film in 2007. This review is for the second anime series adaptation, which aired on Amazon Prime from January to June 2019 and was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi and written by Yasuko Kobayashi.
Dororo follows the story of two main characters: Hyakkimaru, a teenager whose body is entirely prostethic, and Dororo, a young, orphan thief. I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand why the series is called “Dororo” when the story more so revolves around Hyakkimaru. Dororo is important, and has some important side plot of their own, but Hyakkimaru is the beginning and end for the overall plot. Allow me to expand a bit.
In ancient Japan, a prideful and greedy samurai lord named Daigo Kagemitsu rules over a dying land. Vying to increase his domain and power, he makes a pact with 12 demons. As demons do, they grant his wish, but a price must be paid. The price is Daigo’s first born son. His son is born with no limbs, no nose, no eyes, no ears, not even skin, but because of his mother, Nui No Kata (Oku), and her devout faith, the gods protected his heart and the baby lived.
Daigo instructed the child to be disposed of, so Oku’s midwife set him in a basket down the river to be forgotten. The baby was then found and saved by Jukai, a medicine man, who built him a prosthetic body, equipped with swords of course, and taught him how to survive despite not being able to see, hear, talk, or feel anything. He named the baby, “Hyakkimaru,” Hyakkimaru then sets out on his path to kill demons and with each defeat, he regains part of himself (skin, arms, legs, etc.). Along his travels, Hyakkimaru meets Dororo, who decides to travel with him – their journey is a hard one as they navigate a treacherous world full of evil, not just the demonic kind, but that of humans as well.
I fell in love with Dororo after the first episode. Hyakkimaru seriously tears off his prosthetic arms and legs to wield them as blades when he fights and it’s so freaking cool every time. Every time he gets a new body part you just feel so happy for him. But at the same time, things aren’t so simple because every time he gets a body part back, something bad happens to the land due to the demons’ pact being broken. It’s quite the dilemma, does Hyakkimaru let the demons live so the land with thrive, or does he fight to regain the body that’s rightfully his?
Yes, the people want him to sacrifice his body for their own prosperity, but how is that fair when he didn’t even get a choice? He lived this horrible, hard life for all these people whom he owes nothing to. It’s an interesting moral conundrum. I also really love the sibling bond that grows between Dororo and Hyakkimaru, while he fights to regain his body, it’s Dororo who is helping him become truly human. Plus it’s just nice to have a show where there isn’t some kind of love triangle or romantic conflict.
Honestly, the only let down of the show was the very end. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it just didn’t feel like a real ending to the adventure. I feel a certain amount of closure, but not enough that made me think it was perfect. There could definitely have been more, or just something actually concrete that left us with 0 doubts. It’s like when you’re on a rollercoaster, it’s had loops and major drops, you’ve been having a blast, and the final dip comes but its small and barely anything, then suddenly you’re back in the main entry being told to exit and have a nice day and you can’t help but think “that could have been better”. I’m just not a fan of open endings. Some people enjoy them, but I prefer closure to my stories.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.8 / 10
While the ending may be a little disappointing to those like me, the show is still fantastic with 23 and a half episodes that will keep you enthralled right up to the end.
