Anime Review: Dorohedoro
Life is pretty miserable in The Hole. If you’re a normal human, you could be attacked at any time by a sorcerer trying to practice their magic. Multiple people are walking around scarred or deformed for life Yes, the effects of magic are reversed it the sorcerer dies, but they’ve got magic and you don’t, so what are the odds of that? Meanwhile, in the sorcerers’ world, low-level and powerless sorcerers are bullied by more powerful ones, while high-powered sorcerers have to worry about being enslaved by each other or by a large group of the less powerful.
Caiman and Nikaido have recently been making the Hole a bit more dangerous for sorcerers, killing them whenever they catch one or two alone. Caiman does it because his head’s been turned into a lizard’s, giving him amnesia (and a surprise inside his mouth), and if he eventually kills the right sorcerer, he’ll be cured. Diner owner Nikaido has her own reasons, but right now it’s because she’s Caiman’s friend.
One of the pair of sorcerers they’re currently fighting, Fujita, is pushed back through a magical door into the sorcerer’s world by his dying companion. Fujita swears vengeance, which would normally be laughable as he’s very weak with Smoke magic, but he happens to be a flunky for Mr. En, who is incredibly powerful and basically runs the local city.
This creates a conflict between Caiman and his quirky friends and aquaintances, and the just as quirky En “Family.” There’s more than just one mystery, but as secrets get revealed, it’s not so certain anyone will survive to get to the bottom of them.
This first season Netflix-sponsored urban fantasy anime is based on a seinen (young men’s) manga by Hayashida Q. It’s only adapting a fraction of the storyline, so almost everything is unresolved at the end of the season finale.
Despite the gritty setting, there’s a lot of comedy to be seen; it’s very dark comedy, but if you like that sort of thing, this show is hilarious. I’ve seen complaints that the animation is a little too clean, not as grotty as the early manga.
Mind you, this is not one of those stories where anyone is a good person. Our protagonist is a multiple murderer who’s tolerated because his victims are hated by his society. (One of the En Family has prejudice against mixed-heritage people to the point of extermination as part of their backstory.) Other characters are mob bosses, hitmen and actual devils. Even the nicest-seeming people either have done horrific things in their past or have condoned someone else doing them.
In addition to gory violence, there’s torture, slavery, mutilation and nudity (this last made doll-style for the anime.) Oh, and baseball!
Recommended to fans of dark humor and action who can put up with a long wait for the next season.
