Review of Dororo

A simple yet powerful story filled with unforgiving situations is what the anime "Dororo" is composed of. The sheer brutality is not something to question here, nonetheless in this story can be found many teachings about anything. Don't know exactly where to begin but i will try my best because I was starstruck by the anime. Sin, greed, perseverance, tragedy and regret are the subjects this anime breaches, combined with an incredible way of writing it makes up a compelling story. A story of a boy trying to find and take back what was taken from him, accompanied by a young kid name Dororo which itselfhas its own hardships. These two setting out for a journey, each have their own reasons, but that does not make them have any distance, in fact it is the opposite, they are drawn to each other more and more in each episode.

Our first protagonist, silent for most of the episodes, Hyakkimaru, he was a living sacrifice, a sacrifice that saved a people spanning an entire region, yet no one was aware of this. The sin that his father committed, dealing with the demons, the deal was involved that Hyakkimaru at birth shall lose everything, his eyes, hands, legs, nose, ears, face, skin even pain. That same kid, trying to take back his not only parts but also his humanity back, as each demon he defeated out of the 12, that were taking up his body parts, he would get back one of his body parts. Hyakkimaru, does not show any feelings for much time, he wants only to live, but even that does not seem so easy, as each demon he defeats the worse the domain/land of his father, who was the lord of it, would get by tragedies and misfortunes. Equipped with prosthetics a man made for him, he was fighting for himself and himself only.

The second protagonist, a playful, smart, cocky but at the same time sentimental kid, Dororo. He randomly stumbled upon Hyakkimaru, but soon was impressed by his skills even though he was missing so many things in his body. He saw Hyakkimaru as a brother, relying on him but helping him at the same time. Dororo was an orphan as well, not a mother nor father, surviving on intellect, stealing and outsmarting people.

The world at the time was cruel, wars, samurai and death were just the usual. An unforgiving environment, filled with despair and futility, everyone was trying to manage in every way they could, doing unspeakable crimes, acts, deals. The way it was written, is quite special, anyone could see and guess that this story was not made in the 21st century, it has elements far extinct in todays industry. The anime was trying to tell a story and nothing else, by that, the were moments that could shake any viewer, scenes consisting of abhorrent things, happiness was a rare sight and the story always carried on with no time to process.

The animation was really well made, the palette was eye-pleasing and in general it was not rushed in any case. The last few episodes could be considered a little bit of drop in animation but not in many scenes and mostly unnoticeable. The soundtracks are absolutely amazing, matching the scenes plus the opening songs are really well thought out in the lyrical sense, especially the first one, which in my opinion is straight fire.

Conclusion? Well, it is not for everybody, the lacking interaction of the protagonist is not something to not consider, plus the disturbing way the story operated in is a bit avoided by people and its completely understandable. However, it is just something different form todays shounen anime, it has a nostalgic touch to it which makes it even more special. Every episode is a story of itself, making it harder to just sit down and watch it in one go, I would recommend to watch a few every time but it is addicting so do as you will.

My conclusion? If i may so, it is an absolute masterpiece we are talking about, a literal work of art, something so shocking but at the same time addicting. Everything could be "translated" to todays world, the demons, the samurai, the villagers who only suffer, giving us an example of how humanity operated and still does to this day, stepping on peoples throats for one's profit, sacrificing things for one's gain. But outside of that, the plot, the action, the stakes and the two very different perspectives it offers form something that could make someone fall out of their seat when watching. Everything was on point, small details, side-characters, plot twists.

To conclude everything, its more than a decent anime, considering the rating and popularity it has, it is something worth investing and watching until the end, and lastly, I believe anyone would find it at least a bit enjoyable.

"Feeling pain means you are still alive so don't act dead already" -Dororo
"Just because I let you go, doesn't mean I wanted to" -Hyakkimaru