Category: Dorohedoro

We came tantalizingly close to understanding the truth of Caiman’s identity in this episode, but in the end, Dorohedoro’s tendency to complicate itself prevailed. Not that I’m complaining – this was a strong ending, assuming that a second season will emerge some day to continue the story. It resolved some mysteries and created much bigger ones, and convincingly reconciled two friends after brutally pitting them against each other. The latter of those accomplishments was important, as without Caiman and Nikaido’s pinky promise towards the end, this finale would have felt overstuffed with flashbacks, dreams, and clues. Nevertheless, I enjoyed all of those hints at the show’s bigger picture, and I’m going to spend the bulk of this post unpacking them, since I can use tomorrow’s series review to discuss everything else.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 12 [Pinky Promise]” →

This episode wasted no time in picking up where the previous one left off, and right away we were hit over the head with a connection I should have made last time. The brawl at the town gate positioned Shin against Kasukabe, the doctor who saved his life during his time in Hole. You’d think that a former patient ripping off his savior’s arm with a hammer would leave a bigger impression, but sometimes Dorohedoro is in too big a hurry to emphasize those sorts of crossed paths. Not this week, though, as Shin’s easygoing nature triumphed over his bloodthirst, and we got a rare moment of cooperation between him and the gang from Hole (including Thirteen, who must be regretting his involvement by this point). For all of this show’s violence and grotesquerie, the scenes where even mafia cleaners and occultic professors manage to find common ground are among the best moments on offer.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 11 [See You at the Food Stall]” →

Dorohedoro’s rampage continued this week, with sorcerous abductions, fungal transformations, and severed body parts aplenty. I managed to watch this episode twice before writing the post you’re reading now, so both its violence and its central mystery have had extra time to sink in. That mystery, of course, is the identity of the man inside Caiman, who was recognized as “Risu” by a fellow Cross-eye this week (just before his untimely death). After episode 9, I was convinced that the Caiman/Risu connection was less direct than that, but now we have evidence supporting the shared identity theory. There are other possibilities, of course – mistaken identity on the Cross-eye’s part, a fragment of Risu’s consciousness inhabiting someone else’s body – but I won’t dwell too intently on them. This show moves quickly enough that there’s always something new to consider (and in my case, to write about), so let’s get to it.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 10 [Manju Terror]” →

This episode was mildly confusing to me. Some of you might be surprised to read that, but it’s my belief that Dorohedoro should be presenting itself in a measured, straightforward manner. These weekly assaults of new plot points and ideas are great, but their greatness is sometimes in spite of that rapid clip. Take this episode, for example. Yaku and Baku have cool powers, and it’s appropriate that Shin and Noi get truly threatening antagonists. But what about our cleaner duo makes Yaku and Baku want them as partners, specifically? Even if the show provided that bit of info (and I don’t believe it did), it wasn’t sufficiently clear. And how about Noi’s stunted growth during her devil training? The last phase was only supposed to last one year, but Shin appeared to age much more than a year during that time. Even Risu’s recovery after getting blasted with smoke, while it makes perfect sense, doesn’t gel in the moment because the show’s focus shifts to Noi. I know Dorohedoro is on a journey to a particular stopping point in the manga, but damn, can’t it hold my hand for two minutes before moving to the next checkpoint?

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 09 [Ah, Flower Smoke]” →

After last week’s grand slam, I was prepared for a more ordinary episode this time around. That’s pretty much what we received (by Dorohedoro’s standards, anyway), but the breakneck tempo that I complained of in mid-February returned here, forcing me to flex my neurons just to keep up with the story. Every major character barring Nikaido crossed a major speedbump in this episode, and they didn’t bother to hit the brakes first. Even without getting into the nitty gritty of the editing or direction, you can look at the four chapter titles placed throughout the episode’s run to see how many stories it was juggling. Since I’m such a big fan of Dorohedoro’s characters and setting, I wish the show would decrease its average scene count, and use the extra time to lengthen each of the ones that remain. There is an advantage to high-speed presentation, though – it creates hesitation in the mind of the viewer, which mirrors the confusion that Caiman must have experienced in the sorcerer’s realm this week.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 08 [Welcome to Blue Night Land]” →

This is my new frontrunner for Best Episode of the Season. I had heard rumors about Dorohedoro’s legendary baseball chapters, but this thing surpassed my vague expectations by several miles. What’s most impressive about it is the huge number of genres and moods it cycles through, despite featuring one of the craziest sporting matches in anime history during its second act. Hell, the baseball game itself was a pitch perfect mix of action, comedy, drama, horror, and even a dash of romance. I usually take notes while watching episodes I plan to blog, but for this one? Not a chance. The whole thing ought to be experienced, rather than analyzed, but I’ll try my best to put out something decent. Hit the jump if you want to read my thoughts instead of just re-watching the episode, for some reason.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 07 [All Star Dream Game]” →

This was the worst possible point at which to write a Dorohedoro double post. Not only did I start a new job last week, but the show started unloading all its groceries in a single trip beginning with episode 5. I can just picture director Yuuichiro Hayashi with fourteen sets of plastic handles digging into his palms, carrying too many bags of source material at once in the name of efficiency. Not being a manga reader, I don’t know which part of the story he’s trying to reach before this cour ends, but I sure hope it’s worth this frantic pace.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 05/06 [Caiman in Wonderland/The First Smoke]” →

Dorohedoro is making it really hard to construct these posts around particular themes. The show is so inventive, and covers such a wide range of topics every week, that it’s hard to know how to structure my discussion without the copout of chronological order. I shouldn’t have blown the food connection last week, because there was an actual recipe for roast duck in this one. Granted, the duck turned into a doppelganger after being basted with Shin’s smoke and veal stock, but assuming the transformation was simply cosmetic, the doll was composed largely of duck meat. I’m surprised Ebisu didn’t start chowing down after Shin punched a hole through its chest and the juices began to leak from its gaping wound.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 04 [Roast Duck with Sorcerer Sauce]” →

When this show’s OP dropped, featuring Nikaido preparing the meat for her famous gyoza, the catchphrase “Dorohedoro is a cooking anime” started to make the rounds. It probably existed even before that, when the manga was the only available version of the story. I get the humor behind the phrase – the show is so ambitious, so violent, and so unpredictable that referring to it as a cooking series is a fine bit of irony. But upon further reflection, Dorohedoro is as much about food as it is about anything else. How many meals have we seen the characters eat in just three episodes? Caiman and Nikaido’s relationship is built on food, and the cleaner duo of Shin and Noi relate to each other best when they’re eating. Sitting down and sharing a meal is the one real-life practice that made its way into the potpourri of madness that is Dorohedoro, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. When Shin talks about his past with Noi over lunch, or Caiman helps Nikaido buy that meat grinder she’s been eyeing, we’re reminded of how closely they resemble ordinary people. If Dorohedoro is a three course meal, the humanity of its cast is the main dish.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 03 [Night of the Dead]” →