Dororo (2019) User Reviews

4 episodes in, Dororo is shaping up to be one of the best anime this decade

[popcar2 · 9/10 · 31 January 2019]

Dororo is a great anime about a child that was born with a terrible curse and his journey to defeat the demons that cursed him. It's a great mix between realism and old japanese folktale, and a great mix between action, drama, and mystery.

Everything this anime does is shockingly well. The animation is smooth, the writing is great, and most importantly the atmosphere is unparalleled. The world is immersive and deep, and while the main character himself can't speak a word it's incredible how much you're able to feel for him and everything he's going through. There's a constant sense of mystery in the air that keeps every episode fresh and with good pacing, and the demons themselves are very creative and make for great fights.

Overall, a pretty damn amazing anime that's a breath of fresh air from your run of the mill action anime thanks to avoiding every cliche that's plagued the last two decades, which is ironic considering the source material was made half a century ago.

Amazing self-contained story

[HardLight · 9/10 · 23 February 2020]

The story of Dororo was originally in a 1960s Manga, it had a more simplified design to it which was a massive rave then, but it was still a massively successful series that lasted 2 years, not staying too long and not wearing out its welcome. It was later adapted to an Anime of the same name in 1969, which was then remade into a Manga in 2018, that is still currently running(circa 2020) which this Anime is drawing from.

So what can I say about the remake of a remake that tells the tale of two very different people during the Waring States period of Japan?

This has to be one of the best Anime series I've seen in my lifetime!!! Studio MAPPA artfully takes myth, legend, history and fantasy, blending them together in a nearly perfect way that has had me floored from start to finish. The art style is gorgeous and gruesome in places, not pulling punches as so many would these days when depicting life during a war, it has traditional Japanese woodblock style art intermixed with detailed and flowing animation, outstanding Siubokuga (Japanese Ink Painting) scenes and stills that give looks on the characters, monsters and areas we explore each episode. Combine that with some classice anime Ultraviolence that gives proper context to it and pair that with religious symbolism throughout.

Add to this the delicately woven stories of the ambiguous central characters Hyakkimaru and Dororo and the detailed and sympathetic foils to the heroes in the wonderfully fleshed out list of side characters, the story of Dororo is one ANY Anime fan should watch and will love.

There's a reason why they remade this 50+ years later

[Greyrat2 · 8/10 · 4 September 2021]

A great journey about flawed human beings gaining things from Demons while trying to retain their humanity, taking place in the Sengoku Jidai era of Japan full of religious and political conflict.

Gonna be one of the best anime's in this decade.

[andersolstad · 10/10 · 6 February 2019]

This show contains everything you would want in an anime

A future classic

[DeBBss · 10/10 · 26 January 2021]

Anime like Dororo are so hard to come by. A 10/10 from beginning to end. The story contains samurai and demons, which is pretty common in the genre, but the execution of the story is what makes Dororo so good. The plot has so much depth to it, and it tells its story with great pacing. The main character, Hyakkimaru is so likable and empathetic, by far one of the easiest characters to cheer on for. And the art is dark and moody, which adds so much to the atmosphere. I can already tell that Dororo is going to become a classic, and it is for sure a 10/10 masterpiece.

A refreshing-sad yet encouraging take on samurai themed anime in decades

[angelicanaomi96 · 10/10 · 10 February 2019]

I've been always fascinated in samurai themed anime like the classical Rurouni Kenshin, and Dororo brings back those feelings but in a whole new level. It's heartwarming, filled with emotions and meaning highly intact in us as human being. Definitely one of the best anime though its par on 4 episodes until now

Such a wonderful job by animator A+

[xanaw · 10/10 · 21 March 2019]

Dororo is an anime revolving a born baby which was sacrificed by his father to demons in exchange of power and wealth. The story begins with this child (in his teens) meeting an orphan child and together they embark on a journey to search and eliminate demon ghouls with the scope of retrieving what was taken from this teen as an infant.

The animation is spectacular. It shows the animators dedication in portraying the manga artist story in a simplistic yet stunning way adaptable to these days.

Recommended A+

One of THE BEST ANIME of This Decade

[kbokyere · 10/10 · 13 February 2019]

Dororo leaves me speechless. I've been waiting years for an anime of this caliber to arrive. Everything about is is engaging, from the very real emotion to the smoothly animated combat. I've found myself in awe in how everything is perfectly executed.

I WANT MORE!

Just What I needed...

[kenway-56880 · 10/10 · 26 January 2019]

A remake of 1969... one of the Classics Anime... its A must watch for all anime fans

Starts good but fails to deliver a proper story

[MarcolinoPT · 6/10 · 14 November 2019]

Like other reviewers point out, the first half is well structured. The story is compelling, the characters feel related and the viewer will feel amused. The second half starts awkwardly and keeps it that way through out the remaining episodes. It gives fillers where you don't need, introduces characters that don't contribute to the story and it actually starts to feel boring. The last 4 episodes conclude, in a certain sense, the story but I feel too much went on a short time creating an unsatisfying ending. I would recommend to watch this series but with mild expectations

one of best anime

[hemnfaraidoon · 10/10 · 3 February 2019]

One of great anime in 2019 all anime fan must watch this one

Feudal Japanese body snatching deamons, and evil dads

[william-eugensson · 7/10 · 18 September 2020]

Entertainment value: 7

Visuals: 7 It is well animated but nothing special in anime terms.

Soundtrack: 5 Not that memorable, did like tve demon soundsin the hall of hell

Plot: 8 The plot and story is interesting, even though there are som major plot holes. Why is the blind priest following them? Fate? Why would the deamons make the bargain in the first place? How can Hyakkimaru move his prostetic limbs? ...and many more.

World building and depth: 6 Feudal Japan, with demons. I would like the demons better explained, motives etc. What are gods?

Characters and dialog: 7 Obviously this story is focused on dororo and Hyakkimaru, there is an interesting bond built up between them.

Total: 7

Good but overrated

[sadak7599 · 5/10 · 16 September 2019]

I began to watch this show because is my favorite theme in anime: historical-fantastic (I am a huge fan of Mushishi). The story is original and the first 8-10 episodes are very good in both production quality and storytelling, and, overall, they achieve a really captivating atmosphere. But, inexplicably, the quality suddenly drops in the second half of episodes. The animation, which was very good in the first episodes, became lousy and amateurish, the storytelling was irregular, and the overall story stales. There are utterly bad episodes in every aspects (animation, script, story, but specially animation), as the one with the demon-moths and caterpillars or the one with sharks. Why, guys? maybe changes in the production team, fund cuts, tight deadlines, or simply the writers and animators get tired?

A really good show at the beginning, ruined in the second half and culminating in an unsatisfactory ending.

Awesome anime great start to 2019

[jonwake-22302 · 10/10 · 15 January 2019]

Can't believe this is a 50 year old anime... But man this anime is so good loved the first episode great start to 2019

So awesome

[stefanandrei-43893 · 10/10 · 19 January 2019]

Such a cool story.... I can't believe it based on a old anime from 1969....So interesting....I love it so much... I will start to watch the 1969 series

Incredible, unique story

[carlasnewton · 10/10 · 10 April 2019]

You really grow to love Hyakkimaru (the protagonist), even though his only spoken 3 words in 10 episodes. His journey is one of the best I've seen throughout hundreds of episodes of anime. The story is just so good. I wish there were more. This anime is definitely a hit in my books.

Just a damn good anime

[sapasa-11474 · 10/10 · 23 May 2020]

Anime is such a hit and miss with these recycled shounen plots and reincarnated angsty protagonists, ear bleeding cry babies and forced comic relief but once in a while, we get a gem. Dororo is that gem.

Set in Muromachi times of war and strife, the anime explores some pretty dark and complex themes of land, prosperity, sacrifice, war and its victims.

Despite the name, Hyakkimaru is the protagonist. His trips slaying demons evolve into a mission to regain everything that he discovers was brutally taken away from him as an infant.

The character development for Hyakkimaru goes beyond his physical skill and prowess. We watch as he learns how to do the most basic of things like eat fish, smile and say names to comprehension of his broken identity and moral contemplations involving the value of his parts against his family who wronged him and those who currently thrive upon his sufferings.

We also get to enjoy some nice fight scenes, basic politics, family tension and a lot of cute light hearted banter and antics from Dororo to balance it all out.

There's more but basically it's a damn good anime.

An Masterpiece from Tezuka Osamu

[lp_joker_rocker · 10/10 · 14 March 2019]

Honestly I'm a fan of Tezuka Osamu creation. I watch the anime like Astro Boy in my childhood time, playing the PS2 games "Blood Will Tell" which I never forgot the story in it, watch the Live Action "Dororo" in 2007 with the hope Tezuka Osamu and teams can make the sequel because the story end in pursuing others 24 demons (im so terribly curious the ending), and last he brings the remake anime from 1960-an into our time with great story to tell about and outstanding graphics. Keep bringing the masterpieces sensei.

Drops the ball 2nd Half. Unsatisfying ending

[joelnova93 · 6/10 · 22 August 2019]

The first 12 episodes of Dororo are spectacular, but at the start of Episode 13, reality starts to kick in as the quality starts to go down, and you wonder how they are going to manage fitting in another 12 episodes in to resolve the conflict that was already so close to ending in the first half.

The 2nd half of the Anime does this poorly, as it feels less of a fluid arc and more of an episodic "monster-of-the-week" sort of affair, as the side adventures feel more like filler. All of it nearly became unbearable at Episode 16, when the show LITERALLY JUMPS THE SHARK. I almost skipped straight to the last two episodes, but Episode 17 was a change of pace and allowed me to finish the anime.

With all the down time Dororo and Hyakkimaru had in the show, it was really disappointing for the show's ending to feel rushed and uncharacteristic. It even ends with the closing outro theme instead of an extended epilogue. The story itself has such a great premise and it's no wonder it's been adapted so many times, but please save yourself and move along from this one.

Brilliant anime remake!

[Irishchatter · 9/10 · 24 June 2019]

I never heard of the original anime, the manga or even the film but honestly, I think this version is better. It was such a blast watching this every week, it's one of the best historical anime series out there folks, you just gotta check this out!!!!!

A captivating story that could have been better

[TVpotatoCat · 7/10 · 20 August 2019]

This anime isn't perfect, but it was entertaining enough for me to keep watching it and to be curios enough to see how it ends. It definitely has good parts but also a few bad once.

The good once: The characters are deep and interesting. The human stories that are presented felt real, and so are the interactions between the characters. There is a strong feeling of wanting to know what will happen to the characters, how they will evolve, will they reach their goals. Also the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo was very sweet.

The bad once: The fundamental of this whole series is illogical. This series is trying to sell that a person who has prosthetic arms and legs made out of wood will be able to walk, run, and jump like a completely normal person. It's trying to sell that a person without a spine can move normally, and have a prosthetic spine put instead of the real one. That a person with prosthetic arms can use the prosthetic fingers. Now, if it was somehow explained, like in "Full metal alchemist", it would have been completely okay. But it was not, and it seemed like it was simply expected from the viewer to accept that this is how reality works. It was completely stupid and didn't stop bothering me the whole time I watched the series.

Had high hopes but was disappointed

[itharmgh · 4/10 · 19 November 2023]

This show unfortunately is overrated.

Don't get me wrong, the plot was interesting at the beginning. I really loved it. It's just that I was disappointed by everything else.

The animation was good at the first 10 episodes or so nothing too crazy but it was enough to let you enjoy the anime. But after that the quality seemed to drop, like there was this scene where hiyakimaru was running in a forest and I kid you not it was SO BAD I had to rewatch it to make sure I wasn't imagining.

The fight scenes were not exciting honestly. It had this same pattern which was being repeated over and over which basically was hiyakimaru looking for a monster, finding it and killing it after every other two episodes. It got so boring I was counting the episodes left so that I could get over this show.

The plot holes were too many as well, why did Dororos parents hide the fact the dororo is a girl?who is the old guy who seemed to always bump into the two leads? He mentioned that he was a samurai as well at the last episode but we never got to really know his story. What happened to the rice miyo gave hiyakimaru ? What was the motive of the demons in the first place ?

The ending was bad as well, like we never got to know what happened regarding the war, how was dororo exactly planning to build a new country, WILL THEY EVER MEET AGAIN ? Why did he leave without saying goodbye in the first place. Will hiyakimaru ever know that dororo was in fact a girl?

Disappointing. I REALLY had high hopes for this one.

The best anime of 2019

[shadik_ · 10/10 · 17 February 2019]

Nothing will stand in this animes way. This is different from the live movie but way more detailed and more story and back story. OMG Um, it's the same but it's refreshed and it's new and it's special and i can't get enough. I'm so thankful i have something of this caliber in 2019.

Great

[randy-26556 · 9/10 · 10 November 2019]

The story is great and interesting. The animation is excellent

A superb series

[dennisdmcdonald · 9/10 · 19 March 2019]

First, some words to describe this anime TV series:

-Sad -Emotional -Exciting -Mature -Terrifying -Grotesque -Artistic -Rainy

Consider that last word "Rainy." In many of this multi-episode series rainfall is frequent and casts a somber pall over the events that run through this medieval Japanese tale.

The lives, deaths, and redemptions of a handful of wandering characters play out against a background of demonic curses, warring factions of samurai armies, and poverty. One main character, a hideously disfigured young man - Hyakkimaru - who is cursed by demons at birth as a result of his father's bargaining away his life, grows up blind and wandering. He seeks redemption and revenge against those demons and the truth of his birth. He is befriended by a young thief - Dororo - who sees through his physical deformities and then accompanies him on his wanderings.

Each episode is a self-contained morality tale. Recurring struggles between good and evil are never clear cut. This is not a feel-good series but one where stress and conflict are constant. Suffering is palpable with little joy being expressed.

And yet... It's beautiful and ultimately humanely serious. For every bloody and nasty action scene or every tragic event there is also growth. People struggle. They also change. Chief among them is the young warrior Hyakkimaru as he tries desperately to claw his way back to normal humanity despite his deformities and tragic a lack of memory.

The animation is impressive. Hand drawn backgrounds replete with trees, forests, mountains, and rice paddies add gorgeous detail even when rendered in muted colors. Realistic character animation of richly costumed main characters contrasts sharply with the young thief who is surprisingly rendered in a "cartoony" style reminiscent of the original Manga author, Osamu Tezuka. Somehow the contrast of character styles works and helps to emphasize the almost classic appearance of the series' rural medieval Japanese setting.

Be prepared for an animated adventure that is simultaneously violent, hopeful, at times tragic, and ultimately beautiful.