Review of Dororo

Dororo is a great anime that explores various themes such as personal growth, redemption and the search for identity, as Hyakkimaru regains his body, overcomes his inner demons and finds his place in the world. A great epic, that despite some flaws that keep it from reaching the category of "masterpiece", will stick with you in the end thanks to its approach to various important themes, great chemistry between the two main characters and a good narration. So let's analyze what makes Dororo good. Plot: 8/10 - The story follows Hyakkimaru, a boy who had 48 parts of his body stolen from him at birth becauseof his father, Daigo, a man who, in order to gain power and save his kingdom that was on the verge of its end, rejected Buddha and made a pact with demons. Hyakkimaru survives thanks to the meeting with Jukai who gives him prosthetics and teaches him how to fight. Hyakkimaru then begins his journey in search of the parts of himself that were stolen from him. But on this journey he will be forced to get his hands dirty with blood several times and the further he advances, the more he seems to be losing his humanity. Almost immediately in the narrative he is joined by Dororo, a young orphan, who will immediately manage to bond with him, even though Hyakkimaru can neither see nor hear. A beautiful story, well told and that manages to involve you thanks to the various, important themes it deals with.

Characters: 9/10 - The anime's strongest point. Hyakkimaru and Dororo are two excellent protagonists. Their chemistry is fantastic and the two balance each other perfectly. Hyakkimaru carries with him a constant sense of desperation, he is silent for most of the show and even when he regains the ability of speaking, he is rather taciturn which sets him apart from the majority of the protagonists of this genre of anime. Furthermore he is the one fighting. Instead Dororo is more chatty and carefree even though he is also very dark with which I found some similarities with the one of Naruto, and often serves as a comic line of the series. Comic line that never forces the joke and that makes you laugh naturally. Just seeing a child so, apparently, happy in such a sad context manages to transmit joy. Even the secondary characters are very good. Mio, despite appearing for only two episodes, leaves a big mark in the hearts of the viewers. I, often, found in some characters the common theme of having "The strength to live". One of Hyakkimaru's biggest qualities that I have, for example, also seen in Mio or in Dororo's mother. Mio has the strength to live despite being forced to prostitute herself to go and protect her dream, that is, to be able to cultivate rice fields together with the children she takes care of. I also liked Jukai and his remorse for saving Hyakkimaru without giving him a heart and then sending him out there, in a world now adrift. I also liked Tahomaru. There is nothing better than a villain who has valid reasons to oppose the protagonist, in this case protecting his people from the threat that is Hyakkimaru.

Animation: 7/10 - The animation was good too. It really drops in quality for a few episodes but never reaches the "bad" category. The fight scenes, especially towards the end, were all great. The world that surrounds our protagonists is well detailed and you can fully immerse yourself in each scenario. The character design is excellent and I loved some visual choices such as, for example, having all the flashbacks in black and white with the exception of the color red that remains red which reminded me a lot of the girl with the red coat in Schindler's List.

Soundtrack: 7/10 - Good, very good in some cases but nothing stuck with me. The second opening theme of the anime that you hear after the twelfth episode was also pretty bad. There were some nice choices, especially during the fight scenes, but, like I said, nothing stuck with me. Nice in the moment but I won't listen to them outside of the anime.

Overall Enjoyment: 8/10 - I'm not a huge MAPPA fan but, here, I got to give the devil his due and say they did a great job of adapting the anime to the modern day and making it so beautiful. The first 12 episodes were pretty much all perfect with the peak of the show being reached in the 5th, 6th and 12th episodes. The series drops in quality afterwards with a few episodes being quite boring. However the last 5 episodes were all wonderful, especially the 23rd. Furthermore, the series finale leaves room for a sequel although the ending with got is a proper and valid ending to the show. The pacing of the show was great too. The episodes flown by and the show only drags a bit around the episodes 14-15-16. The two main characters are two of the most likeable that I've ever seen, especially Dororo. The story and animation are very good as well. Excellent, highly recommended to everyone.