Review of Dororo

Spoiler-Free Review Rarely do I come across an anime worthy of binge watching, but Dororo is that anime. Sure, the show has beautiful animation and excellent characterization, but the story itself is gripping enough to keep you enthralled. Dororo toes the line between being an episodic anime with new "stories" each episode and having a large, overarching story. For example, another anime that does this in an almost identical way is Assassination Classroom. What makes Dororo exceptional, however, is that those stories don't feel like filler or fluff. They are interesting, emotional and important to Hyakkimaru's ultimate quest. They also allow the viewer to dive deeperinto Hyakkimaru's feelings and intentions and the struggle he has to face over whether or not to continue pursuing his goal at the cost of others.

Modern anime adaptations seem to really enjoy leaving open-ended questions for viewers to ponder once the anime has ended. Many of us hate this. Fortunately, Dororo does an excellent job of tying up all of its loose ends--this includes loose ends that I'd forgotten about until the finale. You won't walk away frustrated or disappointed.

I did not find the show predictable. You have a pretty good idea of where it is headed, sure, but later on that assumption is challenged and twisted and you're forced to acknowledge that what you thought would be fairly straightforward is a lot more complicated.

Overall, the only negative thing I can really say about Dororo is that it feels like it is rushing to tell a story in 24 episodes that could probably use a little bit more breathing room. Stretching this out for another season would have given the show more time to flesh out the answers viewers have been waiting for from the beginning.