Review of Dororo

I expected more from this anime based off the average score it was receiving from MAL users. However, i must say i was a little disappointed. First off, i will say that my impression of this show might be based off the fact i was mainly watching it as something to watch while i was waiting for other anime i was following to finish up. This may have made my viewing experience biased a bit since i was trying to finish up the show so i could watch other shows. However, this doesn't mean that the show didn't fall short for me in various aspects. Iunderstand that the manga the anime is based off is fairly old. Thus, the story of the show contains elements that most people who are familiar with anime have already seen in other shows. This doesn't mean the show is cliche or uninteresting, but some of the familiar elements failed to grab me as somebody who wants a show that surprises me a bit more.

Although the background of the story is interesting, most of the anime seems to follow a monster of the week setup with the main character Hyakkimaru and his companion Dororo fighting various demons in order for Hyakkimaru to gain back his body parts.

Many of the episodes follow a similar setup: Hyakkimaru and Dororo come to a village or town and they hear about a demon. They find the demon and Hyakkimaru kills it and gains a body part back. Since Hyakkimaru lost most of his main organs and limbs at his birth, the body parts he gains back range from an arm, leg, skin, hearing, voice, etc.

While i can sympathize with Hyakkimaru and want him to gain his body back, the way he has to go about getting it back isn't particularly interesting. The demons in this anime don't seem particularly menacing or dangerous as Hyakkimaru is able to dispose of them fairly easily with a stab to the head or slicing off various limbs. It would have been more interesting if the demons had various abilities or could hold their own against Hyakkimaru more. This format gets tedious fairly quickly as none of the demons make a particular impression. I imagine the tediousness is even worse for the manga which has Hyakkimaru fighting 48 demons instead of just 12 to get all his body parts back. I get tired just thinking about that.

Speaking of Hyakkimaru, it doesn't quite make sense how he is able to hold his own against the demons so well. Throughout the show, we see these demons massacre several humans with ease, but a guy with no limbs can dispose of them easily. It isn't even established if he was able to gain secondary abilities as a result of his condition. In some ways, it seems that he is a demon or at least has special abilities, but it is never stated that he does. In fact, a priest character named Bimaru, although we don't find out his name until the final episode, has the ability to sense demons even though he is a regular human unlike Hyakkimaru.

On the subject of the demons, it is established in the first episode that 12 demons ate Hyakkimaru's body parts so that Daigo, Hyakkimaru's samurai lord father, could gain power and save his kingdom from drought, famine, etc. However, it isn't established if the twelve demons exist in the world or if the demons Hyakkimaru is fighting are the twelve demons. Also, it isn't established if the demons even have the type of power to bring about rain or make you able to win wars or whatever. Hyakkimaru's family, Daigo, his brother Tahomaru, and his mother Oku swear that the sacrifice of Hyakkimaru's body parts saved the kingdom from destruction. This is also why Daigo and Tahomaru take on a sort of antagonistic role against Hyakkimaru and Dororo since they believe the kingdom will fall if Hyakkimaru succeeds in his goals. However, we don't even know how the demons really helped the empire flourish.

The characters in the anime actually are pretty well developed. Every character seems to have some degree of logic and reason behind their actions and perspectives. In some ways, it actually resembles real life more than i would have expected with Daigo making ethically compromised choices with the justification he has to do it for his country. Tahomaru has similar perspectives as well. Oku, despite regretting what has been done to Hyakkimaru, even understands that the sacrifice of his body parts seems necessary for the country's survival.

The anime also seems fairly historically accurate too, despite the demons in the show. Villagers are mistreated and extorted due to the constant war between states. Samurai are often power-corrupted and commit various atrocities. Even the demon's themselves don't seem completely evil, some of them have various drives and logic behind their actions. I can appreciate how the anime's world seems developed and multifaceted for sure.

While i don't necessary enjoy the monster of the week format some episodes take, i do appreciate the episodes with Hyakkimaru's family drama and the episodes that take the opportunity to develop the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. While i can understand the rationale behind Hyakkimaru's family's various decisions, it eventually comes to the point that i start seeing them as incompetent and short-sighted in their pursuits. Thus, i can no longer invest in them as characters.

I like Dororo has a character, but she can get annoying at times. I understand she is a kid, but she tends to make poor decisions that cause Hyakkimaru to get involved in unnecessary conflict. Also, her voice gets annoying at times with her constantly saying of "BRO" when Hyakkimaru is in trouble. I will say Dororo isn't just an annoying kid. She has an interesting backstory and has major significance in developing Hyakkimaru as a person.

Hyakkimaru is the only character in the show i consistently care about. It is enjoyable to see him gradually develop as a person. He also has some great moments where he confronts his family and begins to understand how his actions can lead him down a wrong path despite his goal being understandable. Also, his fights with demons and other various characters are a major highlight of the anime.

Despite the characters being well developed, i don't find any of them, besides Hyakkimaru, particularly interesting or worth investing in.

While the world and characters of Dororo don't particularly hook you in, i was consistently hooked in by the anime's two openings: both of which are banging tracks. Opening one one is a type of ominous, sad tinged track, with a great chorus and opening two is a rocker written by Asian Kung Fu generation, there really isn't a better selling point here.

I think the average user score of 8 on MAL is too generous. This anime isn't particularly special in any regard. It contains elements most people are already familiar with, the characters aren't particularly interesting, there are various plot holes in the story, and almost no factors in the episodes really drew me in besides sparse moments in a handful of episodes. I expected way more than what i got.