Left for dead as a baby after having his body parts traded off to a consortium of demons by his father, Hyakkimaru is saved by a wandering physician who provides him with an elaborate system of prosthetics and trains him in the ways of the sword. 16 years later he sets off on a journey to kill the demons responsible for his state, picking up the young thief Dororo as a traveling companion along the way.
A graphic, partly episodic action-drama set sometime during Japan’s classical era. It’s a retelling of the 1969 series Dororo to Hyakkimaru.
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Recently finished the 1969 Dororo to Hyakkimaru, and loved it so much that I felt leery about starting this. Just finished episode 7, featuring Ohagi the spider-woman, and still can’t believe how much I’m enjoying every bit of this 2019 version too. Years ago, my architectural history professor predicted that the architecture of the future would focus on designing and building harmonious extensions to existing structures. In a similar spirit, the new Dororo expands on and deepens the friends’ story without detracting at all from the original. The creators made their achievement look easy and feel natural, even inevitable, like… Read more »
I. Some might say that Dororo 2019 is dark. II. Others might say that Hyakkimaru’s story symbolizes the mental and spiritual battles fought by the adult personality-disordered in their quest to acquire the birthright of wholeness which was denied to them by Narcissistic-Personality-Disordered (NPD) primary caregiver(s) who abandoned them emotionally, if not physically, for selfish reasons. When Hyakkimaru’s yuppie pop, Daigo Kagemitsu, first approaches the demon statues with his career goals, he introduces himself with an executive summary of his résumé. What an asshole. For him, no amount of power and control can ever be enough. No different from twenty-first… Read more »
Abrupt drop in drawing quality partway through episode 15, similar to what happened in episode 7 (or thereabouts) of Samurai Seven. Not only that but, suddenly, everybody and his mother, including Daigo Kagemitsu (that dick), is laying a guilt-trip on Hyakkimaru about how selfish he is to want luxuries like a spinal cord, sight, and hands. Can’t he continue to do without them, when they will come at the price of famine for the documentably greedy, selfish, cowardly, and conniving villagers? Villagers who, in at least one case, to save themselves, murdered a nun and captured and fed living orphans… Read more »
I’m only on episode 15 and am so pissed-off at the sudden, gratuitous, “Golden-Kamuy” twist that I might drop Dororo. The creators in charge of the second half mix Dr. Pepper and Coke. I can tell. * * * Some time ago, I came across a quotation that said words to the effect that, “civilization, our better self, survives”. It gave me hope. And then I watched Dororo, which depicts prosperous families in Daigo Kagemitsu’s domain enjoying manju, fairs, plays, and other treats and entertainment. At the expense of Hyakkimaru’s existence as an abomination. As I’ve said before, Hyakkimaru is… Read more »