Hello and welcome to show number two for me of the new season! Dororo is an interesting one, based on a 1960’s manga, with this being its second adaptation. This week we meet another demon, learn our leads name and that not all spirits are bad. Let’s dive in!
Visually, Dororo is sort of a mixed bag for me. One on hand, I love the older style it has going for it, and much of the lack of detail allows the animators to have some fun. On the other hand though, the feet are blobs, and everything is a green/brown. I also noticed some rather static scenes that, compared to the first episode, left me wanting. Overall though I think Dororo is good. We know from the first episode that when it wants to, it can look gorgeous. It’s just that this week was rather subdued, as our first intro to what the day to day for the series will be. With that done, now I can get to the actual meat of the episode.
For the episode itself, it was a rather standard monster of the week, but it did establish some interesting aspects of the world. Dororo also did a good job of dropping hints about what was happening to. From Dororo the kid mentioning the lack of rice fields, to the suspicious nature of the townsfolk. Dororo also did well setting up blind priest from the first episode, introducing him as a possible tag-along character. I thought his personality was well established, though I do wish he had changed physically a bit since we last saw him with Hyakkimaru was just born. It’s as if none of the characters alive at that time have really aged at all, and that does hurt the setting a bit. Still, good details on Dororo’s part.
The actual setup for the chief being evil and the spirit being good though were rather obvious. Everything about her design the moment she was introduced just oozed evil. From the sharp eyes to the fake smile. I did enjoy her demon form though, and the anglerfish sort of setup. Reel em in with the pretty lady, kill em with the sharp teeth. That said, I wasn’t expecting the townsfolk to actually know she was a demon. I figured they were being tricked or mind controlled or something. That they were actually complicit in it, knew what she was from the start? That surprised me, and also demonstrated that these demons are integrated into the world. They actually exist and it’s not just our lead who can fight and see them. It sets up the possibilities for others to join the hunt in the future.
Another aspect of Dororo I enjoyed was the dichotomy of good and evil spirits. It established that not all of the otherworldly beings we meet will be evil. I like this because if this sort of grey line can be applied to spirits, Hyakkimaru’s central enemy, then we can expect similar treatment towards human opponents. Makes me wonder if all of the demons Hyakkimaru will have to kill are evil or not. Could be an interesting moral quandary for him. Getting his organs back or killing something that isn’t threatening him. I doubt that will happen though, because based on the “Hall of Hell” getup, the statues all seem to be pretty evil. Suppose we will have to wait and see, but suffice to say, Dororo is doing a great job so far.
Now onto some theories and issues I had with the episode. During the fight it appears that our lead doesn’t feel any pain. Getting stabbed through the shoulder and he doesn’t even react. As if his nerves are deadened. To me this is confirmed at the end when he gets nerves back for defeating the demon. Least, I think that’s what he got back. The sudden sensation of actually feeling things no doubt was a shock to the system. This leads to an interesting issue for Hyakkimaru, as over the course of the series it seems he is going to get weaker. Losing the blades in his legs and arms, possibly losing his special sight if he gets his eyes back. He just lost his seeming invincibility to pain, which will make just operating day to day more difficult for him. Its an interesting conundrum.
The last issue I have with this episode of Dororo is the narrator completely ruining the narrative highpoint at the end of the episode. Midway through the narrator reveals Hyakkimaru’s name to us, saying “Hyakkimaru’s sees X”. This completely undermines the ending emotional payoff of him writing his own name out in the dirt. Of telling us of his own free will, that he himself knew he had a name at all. I don’t think it was necessary either, as we didn’t need to know his name at the time. Just show us from his point of view what he sees. Instead Dororo ruined its own punchline less then 10 minutes into the episode. It makes me a bit worried for future scenes with this narrator, as ruining such an important plotline means they didn’t think it through all the way.
All in all, a good if mixed 2nd episode. Nowhere near as good as Mob Psycho that’s for sure, but Mob is also unique among anime. I am still hopeful though as everything necessary for an actual arc should be established now. The animation and art still worries me in places, as does some of the narrative decisions. But overall I think Dororo is promising.
What do you think though? Am I being negative with no good reason, or is Dororo’s second episode a step down for you to? Let me know below and I will see you next week!
Fair criticisms and episode 2 is definitely not as good as episode 1 but that’s too be expected. This anime will be a slow burn and i think at the end we’ll judge it by how predictable the ending will be. If its a straightforward kill demons, become human and defeat evil father then it will probably be a good but not great anime.
I agree. Since the Manga got canceled though, and had to rush the ending, I suspect we will get an anime original ending. Could be great! Could be terrible. I do agree though that Dororo is going to be defined by how it wraps itself up.
As a 2 cour series, we have to be in for the long haul.
In my opinion, Ep 2 was the least memorable, I agree that the narrator had already told us the main lead’s name, so it made revealing his name in the sand, more like a side note. I was waiting to see if Dororo will pocket the money he found/told to take it as compensation? I found your blog as I was confused what part of his body ‘returned to him’? It look like it’s his nervous system; the system detects environmental changes that impact the body.
My theory is that the Anime team are recreating a new story with parts that follow the comic and others with their own creative take, so we wouldn’t know how it ends. I find it exciting! Love this series so far.