Review of Dorohedoro

Okay, we're finally into our horror anime month reviews. I went through my list of requests and I did find some horror genre stuff. Starting with Dorohedoro. This one was handled by MAPPA and based off of a manga by Hayashida Q. I don't know the manga writer but I do know that MAPPA has been involved with more anime I'd consider sub-par or worse, like Banana Fish, Garo or Kakegurui than it has anime I've actually liked. The only anime they were involved in that I watched and liked was Dororo. So, I'd like to see something good here, but I don't expect it.Let's dive in.

Story:

Our protagonist is Kaiman, a lizardman living in Hole. A wretched hive of scum and villainy where sorcerers come to test their spells. He's looking for the sorcerer who gave him a lizard head so that they can fix him. Even though he kills sorcerers regardless and their spells wear off when they die, so you'd think the checking part wouldn't be needed. He's working with his friend, a young woman named Nikaidou. Little does he realise, that she has a dark secret that could threaten their friendship.

The big issue with the series is that it doesn't always seem like they thought things through. Kaiman opening his mouth and having sorcerers talk to the man inside is a great example. It's established pretty early on that he kills sorcerers regardless. It's also established that their spells wear off when they die. So, as a rule, there's no reason for him to check. He could just kill them and, if he still has a lizard head, he would know that wasn't the right one. Especially since he plans on killing them any way. I think there are two times in the series when he puts someone's head in his mouth and decides not to kill them. And a couple cases where he tries to get the kill but fails. The world building is another aspect where that shines through. It doesn't feel like there was a defined concept for the world to begin with. It feels like the world building is being made up as the series progresses.

The comedy varies. There are definite gross out jokes that rely on the audience finding vomit or human waste or some such thing funny to work. I will say, to the series' credit, those jokes are in the minority. Most of the humour relies on you having a dark, macabre sensibility. And that actually works quite well for me. I like macabre comedy. I can also appreciate that a lot of effort went into balancing the dark humour with some actual creepy content that could work in a straight up horror work. It's not an easy aesthetic to pull off, but I think Dorohedoro mostly manages it well. I also do think they end it on a strong point where they're clearly going for more but they give you a solid climax for something that happens within the series. I do also think that the series does a good job of staying compelling throughout. There's always some source of tension that still needs explored.

Characters:

The characters are pretty interesting. They have a good balance of quirky and complex. At least with the main characters. There are some side characters that are a bit one note but it's mostly characters who don't get much screen time which is kind of understandable. I do also quite like the character dynamics. The friendship betwixt the two leads is pretty nice and I do think it develops really well throughout the series.

Art:

The series uses this weird, Cel-shaded style that actually winds up working quite well given the weird horror comedy aesthetic. It wouldn't work that well if this were pue horror, but it works very nicely for a horror comedy.

Sound:

MAPPA got some strong acting for this one. Takagi Wataru, Kondou Reina, Kobayashi Yuu and Hosoya Yoshimasa all give strong performances. If there's a weakness, it's Tomita Miyu. And it's not anything that's her fault. Her character is just the one that does the comedy that gets slightly annoying in how over the top it is. The music works quite well. Know Name did a good job. They also did the music in Fairy Gone which wasn't quite as strong.

Ho-yay:

There's a blatantly gay sorcerer who's interested in the main antagonist. That's all you really get for ho-yay.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Dial back the gross out jokes. They're the biggest weakness of the comedy by far.

2. Play Ebisu with more subtlety.

3. Think your world through more cohesively.

Final Thoughts:

This is definitely the second best anime I've seen from MAPPA. I know, it's not exactly stiff competition, but this is a solid series with a lot of strong elements. If you have a penchant for macabre humour, I would say give it a watch. For me, I'm giving it a solid 7/10.