Review of Dorohedoro
Based on the CGI alone, I did not think I'd like this show too much. However, the promo poster for Dorohedoro looked good enough to give it a shot. It's controversial, I'm sure, but I a habitual passive consumer with media. Often times I will have either two shows at once playing at the same time, a show in the background while I'm listening to music as well, or typing away at this review as I'm finishing up Snow White with the Red Hair. Netflix has lots of great choices for anime to watch and sometimes I'll throw on a show I'm not interested inwatching based on the premise, art, or word of mouth surrounding it and fall asleep to it. I generally do that last bit when I know I wouldn't check the show at any other time. Dorohedoro however breaks that rule as being a rare case for a great show that surpassed expectations.
Dorohedoro caught the corner of my eye through its visual story telling and concepts that were so weird a or complex that it took many episodes for me to put the pieces together and recognize the work put into the characters and their development. The settings are intricate and one of the most colorful, and at the same time dim, pallets from a new show in recent memory. Many scenes depict a bleak reality in an ever-receding societal progression. Like natural selection and predation, characters are often shown either killing people or being killed in gruesome fashion. This is a world that is seemingly lawless and the act of murder comes off as second nature for nearly the entire cast. This fact does not interfere in characters' work practices, dining experiences, and even a game of baseball.
The characters themselves all have different mystiques and secrets to them that slowly reveal themselves bit by bit through each episode. Not everything is cut and dry, laid out in front for the audience. Abstract concepts like a 7ft tall guy with a lizard head taking a bite of someone else's head, from the neck up, and having that person now in a standing perspective inside the lizard's mouth and talking to a mysterious figure and saying whether or not they are "the one" or not is just one of these estranged concepts. A favorite sorcery power of mine is one character able to produce black smoke that rises from their mouth and turning anything it touches into mushrooms. A favorite scene of mine is that same character inviting his gangster family to a fancy dress party where the ceremony revolves around corpses dangling from the ceiling brought by other guests for the purpose of their resurrections.
Although I've sold this show as being a gore-fest, the show is just as light-hearted as it is grotesque. The characters are often joking around with each other as well as get into sticky situations found in shows such as Lupin III and Cowboy Bebop. The discourse between characters can quickly switch from comical to seriousness depending on the interactions, even when a number of characters are being slaughtered by their own hands. It goes to show how desensitized most people in this world are to the thing that go on. I wouldn't exactly classify this as a comedy show as much as a show primarily governed by the mafia, action, and the apocalypticism genres. It's a world I'd expect to be driven by chaos and one where I'd crazy thinking I could die at any moment if I didn't have a special magic property to my disposal to ensure my protection. .
The art is gorgeous but the animation is a matter of if you're accepting of CGI anime. Despite the ability for more fluid animation and giving us more impactful motions for violence it can look limited at the same time with sometimes stilted movements and less than innovative motions to take advantage of. The sound and music is pretty good overall, with the settings and actions often complimenting the sound design work, but at the same time nothing sticks the landing in terms of a memorable soundtrack. Characters are rich and rounded as mentioned previously and I believe if a room full of people watched this show and were shout their favorite character that there'd be all sorts of different responses. My enjoyment was present throughout most of the show, but likewise I wasn't captivated like I was other dark shows (Akira, Berserk, Devilman: The Birth etc.) but I liked it enough to consider binging the first 8 episodes upon a first viewing and binging the rest on the second.
Lots to be said about Dorohedoro, but if the show is too violent or too incoherent at times that you may lose track of the ultimate purpose of the show then don't feel pressured to check it out. It might not be my favorite show of the year, if I had checked out more that actually were released in 2020, but it'd be a safe frontrunner for that position if I did.