Review of Dororo

Remakes can be seen as good and bad at times. A good remake is when that you can retell the story but improve on it by tweaking it by learning from the mistakes of the previous one or by following its original material more closely. A bad remake just remakes it for the sake of being a quick cashgrab through name recognition and not improving on it or tweaking what already worked and making it worse. In an era where remakes are coming out of the whazoo in the west lately, it can get rather tiresome. Remakes for anime are less common, but have atrack record for being better than the original. Hunter x Hunter, JoJo and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are examples of this trend being true. So where does this anime rank along with them then?

Sit back, relax, put on your prosthetic arm and grapple your way to save the prin...(Oh wait, that’s Sekiro, S**T!) as I present to you the anime review of the 2019 remake of Dororo. Lets begin shall we?

Story: 8/10

Set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan, our story starts with Daigo, a lord of a land that is slowly dying and is facing a war is seemingly inevitable. Seeking power, he abandons his belief in Buddha and instead prays to the power of daemons. Granted power and a wealthy land, the daemons claim his unborn son and take every part of his body, leaving a husk…that is still alive; which was quickly disposed of. 16 years later, the boy, named Hyakkimaru, survived and with new prosthetic body parts, he wanders the land; slaying every ghoul and daemon he comes across to regain his body. On his travels, he encounters a street orphan by the name of Dororo who starts following him. Together, they form a bond and hunt for the daemons in order to reclaim Hyakkimaru’s body.

Positioned as a monster of the week type setup, the story of this show is a rather simple one to begin with as its basically sees Hyakkimaru and Dororo wandering the land, searching for Daemons to slay, all while encountering plenty of characters along their journey. Some are just one episode characters, others are recurring characters we see more than once and act as motivators for our main two characters. While that may seem slightly bare bones, its the little details that make this show’s story rather enjoyable. The interactions, the growing character development and the questions that this show likes to throw at the viewer. It likes to focus on the on the moment to moment scenes rather than the big picture so that we can see how our characters progress as the story goes along. There is still an overarching story, don’t get me wrong. But the story is very character driven and likes to focus on them.

The main question that this show gradually asks the viewer is that is it right to kill the daemons? That may seem like a stupid question to ask since, well, THEY’RE DAEMONS. But the show likes to show how the daemons are affecting people’s lives for the better. Sure they need bargains, but as the saying goes “The needs of the many out-way the needs of the few.” So is killing the daemons the right thing to do if people are going to suffer from it? The show does well of understanding the actions of both sides of the argument. For Hyakkimaru, he wants to reclaim his body that was stolen from him at birth. For Daigo and his son Tahoumaru, they want their land to thrive and their people to prosper. It makes you think of who is really in the right here and comes up with some very interesting dilemmas to keep the viewer intrigued.

Characters: 8.5/10

Hyakkimaru is a rather interesting character for the fact that he didn’t have much of a personality to begin with. Of course that is understandable considering he doesn’t have his body parts and is literally a walking doll. But his character growth was interesting because it’s like watching a child trying to grasp new things so suddenly. He can’t hear, see, speak or feel pain when you meet him. But as the story goes on, you see him having to adapt to them when he gets them. His behaviour also changes as he gets his body back. From starting out calm and collective to acting irrational and angry that makes his character progression rather interesting, especially when you consider how Dororo also progresses throughout a show. Is he slowly becoming the thing he has hunted down? That’s another question that the show asks the viewer with some visual evidence to go along with it to justify your answers.

Speaking of Dororo, her character arc (Yes, she is a girl. Its been stated and hinted at multiple times that she is a girl) is the best in this show. Starting out as a wise cracking, immature orphan who just uses Hyakkimaru to get food and make money. She starts to slowly mature as the show goes on as if Hyakkimaru rubbing some of his personality onto Dororo. As well as how Dororo handles certain situations in a rather mature manner. In fact, it’s almost like our main characters personalities are swapping as the show goes on. As Dororo matures and acts more grown up, Hyakkimaru gets more immature as time goes on. It helps hammer in the fact that these two need each other to learn and grow from one another. It shows how important character growth is important and how our experiences and interactions from other people help change and define who we are as a person. Something I think this show does incredibly in a rather subtle way that makes you gradually realise what is going on with Hyakkimaru and Dororo.

The supporting cast is varied. Like I said earlier, it varies between one episode characters and recurring characters that appear in multiple episodes. They are rather clear cut and defined rather well. Some act as motivators for Hyakkimaru and Dororo, while others act as assh**es that act as impedance to Hyakkimaru and Dororo’s progress. Some you will forget probably about 2-3 episodes after the episode they appear in, but some do leave a lasting mark on our characters and considering the tone of the show, some of these characters get a rough time, making you sympathise with them. Mio is a great example of this, acting as a pivitol point in Hyakkimaru’s character growth.

My favourite supporting character though is definitely Tahoumaru, Lord Daigo’s son and brother to Hyakkimaru. His own character arc is rather interesting due to him having a sense of conflict within him. He doesn’t want to fight his own, long lost brother, but he has a duty and seeing the land crumbling before him, he does what he must for the better of the land. He has his own reasons as to why he must kill Hyakkumaru in order to him to protect the people he must care about and to please Daigo. He acts as a great foe for Hyakkimaru to fight and a reminder that both sides of the argument have reasons for fighting each other. There is no clear cut villain. Just people doing what they believe is best and Tahomaru is indeed a great example of this.

Animation: 8.5/10

This is where I think the remake aspect of this show has benefited the most. The art style looks more appropriate to reflect the dark tone of the show while the character designs still pay homage to the original designs but with a more modern look to it. It fits better with some of the content you will be seeing in this show. While I do think a little bit more polish to the character designs could have been useful. Their movements and expressions are endearing enough to make me like them. The fight scenes are well choreographed and shot well; considering the variety of daemons that Hyakkimaru was fighting in this series. This was a good job to make each fight slightly more distinct than the last fight. Human and human sword fighting was also enjoyable to watch with a quick pace to it and plenty of movement to go along with it, especially with all the acrobatics that Hyakkimaru can do. Seriously, whatever MAPPA touches turns to Gold at this point of time.

Sound: 10/10

The music is appropriate for this series. A heavy use of flutes and banjos is used to help immerse in what kind of time period this anime is based in. The banjos especially are used very well to help signify when danger is coming and sends a chill down your spine. The show also sounds good with the correct use of sound effects to add to a scene and having little to no music when we get sword on sword action just makes me appreciate the sound effects used in these scenes. The show overall sounds good and helps get immersed in a scene.

The openings help carry on that sentiment. "Kaen" by Ziyoou-vachi is the first opening was one of the contributors as to why the Winter Season's openings were so good. It sounded unique and captivating that you had to listen to and the visuals were beautiful, with also some homages to the shows original art style thrown in there. Seriously, why were there so many good openings that season? The second opening, "Dororo" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, took its time but it eventually grew on me as I listened to it more. As the name suggests it likes to focus on the relationship that Hyakimmaru and Dororo have built and the animation, while not as captivating as the first opening, was still good to look at and the song was also enjoyable with a nice fast but somewhat sweet sound to it.

The endings continued to highlight the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, but in a much more calmer tone. Both are visually striking for the kind of art style they use in each of their openings that help give this sense of beauty to them, whether visually, vocally or how the combination of the two is used.

Conclusion

Dororo 2019 feels like this was necessary thing to do. A remake of a classic manga and anime but given a more modern look to match the tone of the show. From what I've seen from the original compared to the remake, I would say it worked. But the animation isn’t just the only great thing about this show. The characters and the moment to moment scenes in the story help make Dororo an enjoyable anime to watch. A very good show that can keep the viewer hook but can also make the viewer think about the actions of our characters and who is in the right. The show is an enjoyment to watch and if you are into anything related to mythical Japan, then this is something to check out.

My Personal Enjoyment: 8/10

Overall score: 8.6/10 Recommendation: Watch it