Review of Dororo

Mostly Spoiler-free review and discussion Dororo is a story about Bodily Autonomy as well as the question about the sacrifice of one for the needs of the many - it's also interesting in context of this being a japanese show. Is it right for few people to suffer so that many people can survive? Everyone has their own take on it and purely logically speaking, the needs of many people should be prioritized. However, most people would probably choose their own bodily autonomy instead of taking the sacrifice. No matter how demonic or humane Hyakkimaru may become, we always side with him. Hedoesn't need a reason for wanting his body back, even if it means the people of his father's land will suffer again. It's his, so he wants it back. I'm glad the show favored this side of the debate - you don't need a reason to want control over your own body. Bodily autonomy is a human right.

The cultural context in it - considering this is actually a story from the 60s by someone(a.k.a. "the father of manga"), who was 17 in 1945 - is also very interesting. Historically speaking, it was forbidden or shameful for japanese soldiers to run away or surrender (if you compare statistics of surrendered soldiers japanese vs. other nations). Families would rather commit suicide than be captured.
"...1942 Americans learned that Japanese servicemen regarded surrender as unthinkable. Virtually every Japanese unit fought near to annihilation—a record unparalleled in modern history. Voluntary surrenders were rare." (Source: nationalww2museum.org: There are no civilians in japan)
Ever heard of Kamikaze pilots? Those pilots that flew aircrafts full of bombs into their enemies naval personnel, essentially commiting suicide? A Suicide, or rather sacrifice of one person for the japanese military and population.

Knowing all this puts the shows message about how the needs of many people (on his father's land) do not outweigh Hyakkimarus needs (to have his body back), no matter how humane or evil one side is, into a surprisingly progressive perspective. It's against all established cultural norms of "your suffering will be for the greater good" - progressive for a nation that has a word for when you work so much, you die (Karoshi 過労死).

Should you watch this, tho?

The story is a monster-of-the-week travel format that offers a diverse range of sub-stories shining a light on the daily lives and problems of japanese villagers dealing with demons. The animation is some of the best I've seen from Studio MAPPA (tho the quality does tank at around 15 ep in - it picks up well again and delivers a good finale).

Someone in the comments of an episode said: "Its like watching a baby growing up, but with swords" At the end you feel like you've seen Hyakkimaru regain and loose his humanity over and over again. You feel like you've seen him suffer from his disability enough to justify wanting his body parts back, yet everytime he regains a sense, his first exposure to it is too overwhelming or sad. Dororo feels like a dark and gritty fairytale, a tale of tragedy.

It is definitely worth watching.