Review of Dorohedoro
What a WILD anime. It is rare to find such an amazing anime that is so unique in its approach, design, character building and storytelling. The closest thing I could compare this anime to is Kekkai Sensen, but far more extreme and bloody, with a much better MC than Leo. (And I like Leo.). But, this might be the first anime I have seen where I like every single character. Literally ALL of the characters are great, heroes and villains. Although, I feel like there are no heroes in this story. Everybody is kind of screwed up in theirown way. Even the side characters were likable. There was no one who was boring or "just there". Everybody is a mixture of eccentric, psychotic, funny and violent. It's just a crazy crash of distinct personalities.
The story itself is a mystery. Caiman is a victim of a sorcerer who turned his head into that of a Caiman Lizard and stripped him of his memories. In a quest to find out who did this to him, he teams up with Nikaido, a dope female martial artist with a complicated history of her own. Together, the two of them brutally hunt and kill sorcerers who come to their world "Hole" to do magical experiments on humans and find the sorcerer who did it to Caiman.
Their quest eventually takes them to the world of the sorcerers, where they clash with the En Family. I won't say anymore than that, so as not to spoil it. But, the En Family are, for the most part, just like a likable as Caiman and Nikaido. Especially Shin and Noi, En's enforcers. Two giant, absolutely savage killers who are basically unstoppable. Following them around kind of reminded me of Jules and Vincent in Pulp Fiction, only in an even bloodier anime version, where one is a giant woman.
That's really the strength of the anime, the Characters. The characters are just really well done. The story is very intriguing and it's different from so many cookie cutter animes that come out these days.
But, Dorohedoro does have two major flaws. One is the animation style. It's in 3D and the 3D isn't the best. But, like with any animation that has strong story telling, comedy and characters, you forget about it quickly. However, because the anime is 3D, it also made the action scenes much smoother, as 3D really looks more fluid in fighting than 3D. Although, I can't wait for the day when 3D in anime catches up to Houseki No Kuni as a standard.
The second flaw is the ending. It's an unfulfilling cliffhanger ending. It felt more like an episode 11 than an episode 12. More could have been explained or fleshed out, and there could have been a more climatic ending to the season. Nevertheless, it didn't take away from my thorough enjoyment of the anime and left me with a thirst for more. There's a part of me that wants to give this a 9/10, but, I just can't bring myself to give it less than a 10, I enjoyed it so much.