TV Review: Dororo (2019)

We weren’t quite sure where to put this, but since it has demons and this blog is where the demons are, we put it here. And what is ‘this’? A review of 2019 anime series Dororo. We posted about it on social media while watching, but then we felt it deserved a longer review. Since we haven’t read the original manga or watched any previous adaptation, we’re going to focus only on this specific series. Needless to say, there will be SPOILERS.

Dororo follows Hyakkimaru, who travels the country looking for demons to kill, and Dororo, a resourceful orphan who tags along after being saved by him. However, Hyakkimaru isn’t hunting demons out of a sense of duty - he wants the rest of the body that was taken from him at birth, 16 years ago, when his father, Lord Daigo Kagemitsu, made a deal with 12 demons as a way to fulfill his ambitions. As Hyakkimaru gets closer to his goal, the closer he gets to his family, a reunion that will be anything but happy. And that’s not the only problem - the more body parts he recovers, the worse the situation in Daigo’s domain gets, and the more he kills, the more he loses of his humanity. Dororo worries about what Hyakkimaru may become in the end and tries to keep him on the right path. However, that won’t be easy, as his father vows to kill him, his younger brother, Tahomaru, puts the good of his people above his brother’s well-being, and the only demon who didn’t get a piece of him decides he still wants his share.

The series may be named after Dororo, but Hyakkimaru and his plotline are the most interesting and compelling. Yes, Dororo is given stuff to do, but this is mainly his story. Born a lump of flesh with no skin, no limbs, no bones, and no face, he should’ve died, but lived thanks to a goddess’s sacrifice and a midwife who decided to put him on a boat and send it down the river instead of simply disposing of him like Daigo ordered. He’s found by Jukai, a soldier-turned-doctor who specializes in prosthetics. Jukai gives him a body and a name, and later teaches him to fight. He also makes some alterations to his prosthetics, like hiding 2 blades inside his wooden arms. Hyakkimaru’s condition actually gives him an advantage when fighting demons, as does the fact that, though he’s blind, he can see the colour of people’s souls: white = human, red = demon. The fights are pretty good; Hyakkimaru jumps around, slicing and stabbing with his arm blades, while using his wooden limbs to stop his opponents’ attacks. Ironically, the more he succeeds in his quest, the weaker and more vulnerable he becomes, even if the series lets him keep his very useful prosthetic arms and special vision until the end. Though we’re shown his wonderment at being able to smell and feel for the first time in his life, it’s not a seamless transition. The worst happens when he recovers his hearing and takes forever to get used to it, though even that comes in handy in Episode 8 when he can’t use his sight.

Dororo is almost the opposite of Hyakkimaru, bringing (or attempting to bring) a little humour to a violent, tragic series.  She’s the type of character that can easily become annoying, but doesn’t, even if we didn’t think the lighter moments were as funny as they were meant to be. In between the laughs, Dororo often serves as the moral centre of the series and gets her own storyline involving her parents and the hidden treasure left by her idealistic father. We were worried that it might end up becoming a too-long detour from the demon killing quest, but not only did it only take up a couple of episodes, but it ended up connecting with the main plot. Also, in the end, that treasure gave a little hope for the future of the oppressed farmers in the series finale. While Dororo may be resourceful, determined, and capable of taking charge when the adults have no idea what to do, the series doesn’t forget that she’s also a child and an orphan who still misses her parents, which results in some sad moments. Like her flashbacks to her time wandering with her mother after her father died which were almost as depressing as the Mio episodes (5 & 6). Despite their differences, Dororo and Hyakkimaru become like siblings, willing to risk their lives for each other, and refusing to leave the other behind.

When it comes to the pursuit of his goal, Hyakkimaru is relentless, even as he learns of what him getting his body back will mean for the innocent people who inhabit Daigo’s land. He wants his body because it’s his, because the demons are still eating it, because he wants to feel all the things other people feel. At no point does he consider sacrificing himself for the greater good. We liked that; usually a character in this situation would at least doubt himself, so this was an interesting change. However, there are risks, as the greater his anger and violence, the more his soul gets peppered with red spots. There’s a lot of talk about that between Dororo and Biwamaru, a blind demon hunting priest who keeps running into them, and Dororo intervenes more than once to stop Hyakkimaru from going too far. And if he never doubts his goal, Dororo often wonders if they’re doing the right thing. Unfortunately, she tends to wonder that in the weirdest situations. In Episode 6, Dororo watches in horror as he kills several human soldiers and then stops him from killing the last one… after they just killed the woman who had taken them in and the orphans she was taking care of. Then, in Episode 15, as she sees the destruction caused by their killing of a demon, she wonders if they did the right thing… in stopping a village that was feeding travellers to demons and whom before that, had burned down a temple, killed the nun, and fed the orphans to those same demons so they could maintain a perfect existence. Oh, and the destruction was caused by the villagers turning against each other after Dororo burned their storehouse full of rice. This is not the right time for questioning Hyakkimaru’s killings. Does the series hate orphans or something? Hyakkimaru and Jukai’s reunion in Episode 17 did a better job of relaying the message that Hyakkimaru’s goals come with a steep price that may include his humanity. In fact, though the series keeps emphasizing his and Dororo’s connection, we thought his relationship with Jukai was equally deep.

While Hyakkimaru and Dororo fight demons, his father, Daigo Kagemitsu, slowly realizes his firstborn is still alive and what his continued existence will cost him. He’s unrepentant and self-assured to the point of delusion, still willing to make another deal with the demons of the Hall of Demons until near the end. While he did finally admit he made a mistake, we don’t think it was for the right reasons. Yes, Hyakkimaru would’ve made a good heir, but that’s not really the point, is it? How about not feeding babies to demons regardless of their worth as successors? Hyakkimaru’s mother, Lady Nui, and brother, Tahomaru, are more sympathetic, tragic figures. You just know from the beginning that they’re not going to make it - how could they? After her husband took her baby away, Lady Nui spent her days praying to the Goddess of Mercy, incapable of forgetting her first son and bonding with her second son. She’s pretty much resigned to her fate as she sees her sons end up on opposite sides and awaits the inevitable collapse of her husband’s domain. At first, Tahomaru just wants to please his father and resents his mother’s neglect, but the character grows into a proper future ruler, who actually cares about his father’s people and decides that they’re more important than the unfairness of Hyakkimaru’s plight. He remains angry about how his brother’s existence affected his life, but that’s not his only motivation. And just like Hyakkimaru becomes angrier, Tahomaru becomes more willing to do whatever it takes to stop him. The series gives him plenty of screentime to develop as a character, though we felt it was a little too much at times, especially Episode 10 with the crab monster fight. Yes, we get it, unlike his father, he’s doing this for the good of his people. Tahomaru has 2 loyal friends, Hyogo and Mutsu, and the series keeps showing their bond, but even after they were given a sad backstory, we honestly didn’t care about them.

Before the series gets to the final confrontation between Hyakkimaru and his family and the 12th demon, it offers plenty of colourful antagonists, both human and demonic. Sometimes it’s a straightforward mission to save defenceless humans from evil demons, but others, things get complicated as the humans turn out to be in league with them. In Episode 7 things go in an even more unexpected direction as the spider demon, Ohagi, not only bonds with a human, but also turns out to not even kill her prey. The lead duo is put in the role of antagonists, as they completely misread the situation in that village and end up causing trouble for the oppressed human workers trying to flee slavery. The craziest of the villains was Shiranui (episodes 16 & 18), whom Dororo meets when Itachi, a former member of her father’s group who betrayed them out of greed, kidnaps her to get the location of her father’s hidden treasure. He has 2 sharks that he considers family and who he feeds with human flesh, including his own arm. At one point, one of the sharks offers him part of one of the new victims, so he’s a cannibal, too. Unlike the previous and later antagonists, this felt kinda random and just too crazy. Sabame (episodes 14 & 15) was the most bizarre, with his creepy stare and too-happy village that you just know is hiding a very dark secret. Saburota was the most messed up - leaving his mother; her severed hand, which he cut, still holding on to his clothes; feeding people to the demon that killed her; and finally merging with said demon after being eaten by it. The lamest was the Amanojaku from Episode 19, which was pretty much a filler episode. Ironically, the moment that truly shocked us had nothing to do with demons - it happened in Episode 21, when one of Daigo’s minions sends a horse carrying explosives against Hyakkimaru and we actually see it explode. This series is definitely not for children and has plenty of fucked up moments, but somehow we didn’t expect it to actually blow up a horse on screen. That, by the way, was not a wise move, as the horse came back as a demon.

Underneath the flashy fights and dramatic confrontations, Dororo tackles some deeper themes, like the devastating effects of war and sacrifice, especially that which is imposed by the strong on the weak. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo’s respective backgrounds reflect this, and the series doesn’t shy away from the dilemma presented by his quest: of course, Hyakkimaru deserves to be whole again, but at the same time, breaking the deal with the demons will mean ruin to a great number of powerless people who had nothing to do with that and are now paying the price of their lord’s ambition. However, the way this is presented can be pretty heavy-handed at times. The situations Hyakkimaru and Dororo encounter become more obvious stand-ins for his quest, making Dororo and the viewers wonder if all the collateral damage is really worth it, and the characters outright discuss the matter more than once. While the series insistence in spelling out these issues, as if it didn’t trust its audience to get it or was worried they might forget about it, was annoying, it avoids easy resolutions. There are no simple answers in Dororo, and sometimes there are no answers at all, and unlike in other series/movies/books, the darker, more violent moments come across as adult rather than juvenile attempts at shocking viewers.

VERDICT

Dororo (2019) has an interesting plot, and complex and compelling characters. It deals with deeper subjects regarding the cost of war and sacrifice, but manages to maintain a good balance between light and dark, ending on a more hopeful note that feels earned. It also features cool fights and a demon horse biting someone’s head off, because why not do both? Dororo isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good and definitely worth a watch.