Cemi-chan

Quite a few episodes have come out since my initial first impressions of the anime, Dororo. Now that I am all caught up, having watched episodes 4-8, I have quite a bit more on my mind to say about this great anime. The anime keeps up the trend of its great storytelling, character development, and character driven storytelling as shown in the first three episodes which is great to witness. As the story continues to unfold, my interest in the show and the thought of what happens next continues to grow as well. Seeing Hyakkimaru change and regain several parts of his body between the episodes is so amazing to me. 

To go into more depth as to why this is so interesting to me is because you see in front of you how he adjusts and how he has to change in order to make use of his new limbs and senses as in the past he never had to worry about these things. You see how he adjusts to having to feel pain after regaining his leg, learning to hear after regaining his ears, regaining the sense of smell, as well as regaining the ability to be able to talk. As these senses begin coming back to him, you also see a personality and feelings begin to develop as well. However, it’s not only him regaining his senses that develop his personality, but also his interactions with others whether it be the one by him always which is Dororo, the old blind man, or the girl he liked to listen to that he lost, they all play a part in developing Hyakkimaru as well as many others. 

Hyakkimaru isn’t the only one getting plenty of development however, after all the show is called Dororo. Over the episodes you also see Dororo develop as a character through his interactions as well. Mainly his interactions with Hyakkimaru and the effect he has on him. Dororo is a key point in shaping and guiding Hyakkimaru as to not have him come out as a mindless monster but instead a respectable human. 

This was heavily evident in episode 6 when Hyakkimaru loses someone he actually cares about and goes on a killing spree against those who took away the one he held close and those around her. It was Dororo that stopped him and brought him back to reality and accept loss. I honestly love the dynamic between these two characters because they have such great chemistry even though only one really talks. 

DORORO (2019) Sengoku Jidai (Age of Warring States) AU 

!!Historical AU!!

AU where Nui and Jukai also made Tahomaru escape the castle and survive, becoming a ronin. 

Dororo, because of Hibukuro’s money, saved the village and Daigo’s lands, transforming them (also thanks to her charisma, wit, tenacity and her strong business acumen) into a a small independent, thriving and productive commercial domain - I like to think that only 13 y.o, Dororo was elected (unanimously) head of the village, thus becoming the youngest to hold this office in the whole region. At 21 she is a rich and influential business lady, famous even in Edo. 

For me, adultDororo is a Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke, 1997) with less make up and more foul-mouthed. (Don’t get me wrong: I very much appreciated Mappa’s choice to make teenDororo more feminine and similar to her mother, Ojiya, but I find that style doesn’t fully fit her).