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What happened to Dororo and Hyakkimaru?

Sorry, but I need to rant about the anime Dororo on this side blog for a moment....excuse the unrelated wall of text but...

What happened to Dororo and Hyakkimaru?

My only real issue with an otherwise conclusive and satisfying finale to Dororo was, well Dororo and Hyakkimaru. Up until episode 22 I felt that despite everything Dororo and Hyakkimaru cared for each other first and foremost. They were content with having just each other if it really came down to that.

But I think when things fell apart was in episode 23. When Dororo was finally back in front of Hyakkimaru after he got his arms back and Hyakkimaru didn't even acknowledge she was there.

Did he not notice her? Maybe, but I doubt it. He noticed his mother, but why not Dororo? He didn't say anything to her.

I take Hyakkimaru hiding his arms behind his back when his mother spoke up as him thinking that she--as being a member of the family hell-bent on stealing his body--was going to steal them away. Hyakkimaru was extremely paranoid, after all. And he ran off after Tahomaru, once again, called him a demon a “curse upon their land”. But still...why didn't Hyakkimaru acknowledge Dororo? This was the beginning of a string of very odd choices the writers made during the last two episodes to shove Dororo and Hyakkimaru's relationship to the back burner for...some reason.

Clearly the plot was moving at a breakneck pace, that's fine. But I think the need to keep the plot moving made Hyakkimaru act OOC in this moment. What could have fixed this? Something simple, really, to have everyone react more in character, in fact.

When Nui and Dororo arrived at the scene of battle after Mutsu and Hyogo died, and Hyakkimaru gets his arms back, have Tahomaru run to his mother first instead of Hyakkimaru, wondering what she's doing out of the safety of the castle, he'd be extra motivated to protect her from Hyakkimaru after his two friends just died. And while Tahomaru is questioning Nui, have Dororo run up to Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru hugs Dororo and is glad she's okay, but he's clearly very unstable, talking fast and touching her face (with bloody hands nonetheless) telling her he has arms now and he won't let anything else harm her. Dororo doesn't know how to react to Hyakkimaru being this way, but she's clearly sad to see him so unhinged.

Then, have Tahomaru tell Hyakkimaru that he's a demon who has no place trying to protect Dororo as a child isn't safe with him. Nui tries to tell Tahomaru that he's wrong, and Tahomaru then, like in the episode, says "You still pity that thing?".

These words cut deep for Hyakkimaru and he runs off. Him running off HERE would make a lot more sense as he's acknowledged Dororo, and his initial motivations of wanting to protect her aren't ignored. And having Tahomaru tell him he's a demon and that Dororo isn't safe with him would make Hyakkimaru feel awful enough to run off without her and probably start to really look at his own actions.

But instead, the show just choose to have Hyakkimaru ignore Dororo being there, after all the people he just senselessly murdered trying to find her.

Okay...?

This should've been my first hint that they were going to sideline any emotional resonance Dororo and Hyakkimaru have in the rest of the show, but since these two had been the CORE of the show for so long, I thought the writers passing up a moment between Dororo and Hyakkimaru in episode 23 meant that they were simply saving it all for the final episode 24.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

[Continued under the cut...]

In the episode 24, titled "Dororo and Hyakkimaru", Dororo and Hyakkimaru interact once.

It is a very cute scene, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of underwhelming for the first time Hyakkimaru lays eyes on Dororo. We don't even get her from his POV. The opening credit's version of this scene was actually better than what we got in the actual show, ironically.

And that's it, that's the last we see of them together. Hyakkimaru and Dororo apparently at least spent some time talking to each other after they escaped Daigo's castle. But we don't get to see any of this, we just hear about it from Dororo telling Biwamaru (the priest), who, at this point, got more screen time with Dororo in this episode than Hyakkimaru did.

And then comes the biggest gripe I have. Which is how they choose to have Hyakkimaru leave Dororo without saying goodbye. How did the writers think that was a good idea based on the version of this story they've written?

For the other iterations of Dororo (the manga, the 1960's anime, the game) I can understand how Hyakkimaru would leave without saying goodbye. He's more cold-hearted and detached in those versions, and his relationship with Dororo was never as strong and emotionally attached as it was in the 2019 version. But 2019 Hyakkimaru? No, I can't buy that he wouldn't say something before leaving. So much was changed from the original manga, why did they choose to keep Hyakkimaru being such an inconsiderate jerk in the 11th hour when it's SO out of character? And it simply goes against the story they were setting up. That Dororo and Hyakkimaru need each other and want to stay together. Why change that?

Post episode 18 Dororo and Hyakkimaru needing each other and them staying together was the emotional core of every episode. Episode 19 (the comedy episode) was focused on Dororo feeling lonely and insecure at the thought of Hyakkimaru not needing her anymore, and even though Hyakkimaru was under that ghoul's control he was clearly upset at the thought of Dororo being mad at him. Just to name a few moments from that episode.

Do I even need to say how much episode 20 especially focused on it these two needing each other and wanting to stay together? What happened to Hyakkimaru wanting to hear more of Dororo's stories? I guess he doesn't want to anymore now that he has his eyes back...

Episode 21 had Hyakkimaru telling Dororo he's fine as long as he has her, expressing his want to be like her, and when he fell in the ditch with the horse it wasn't finishing his fight with Tahomaru he was most concerned about, it was Dororo, and that desperation continued into episode 22 he went on a murderous rampage to find her. And, of course, Dororo's speech at the end of episode 23. Of needing Hyakkimaru to be by her side after she figured out what she needs to do with the money.

So, again, I ask...WHY did the writers decide at the 11th hour to go back to the original ending which actively goes AGAINST these two anime-original interpretations of the characters and their relationship?

Why put so much emphasis on these two BOTH needing each other, liking to be by each other's side, and actively doing everything they can to keep it that way, when everyone writing this knew it was going to end with Dororo being abandoned by Hyakkimaru who couldn't even say goodbye to her?

I will eternally be baffled by this choice. I can't say it ruins the entire show, but it does make the Dororo and Hyakkimaru moments post episode 18 especially hard to watch. Because after episode 18 A LOT of emphasis was intentionally put on how much Hyakkimaru cares for and cherishes his relationship with Dororo...only to have him leave her behind without so much as a goodbye and have Dororo clearly have more faith that Hyakkimaru wouldn’t do that than the writers did.

And like if the writers really REALLY had to keep this ending for some reason (Maybe Tezuka Productions told them to honor the manga by keeping the ending as close to it as possible?) Then at least give these two a good send off. Give them one last emotional goodbye scene. Have Hyakkimaru give Dororo a forehead rub, a hug, THANK HER FOR ALL SHE'S DONE FOR HIM, perhaps saying that he'll come back for her (harkening back to when he said "I came for you" in episode 18), and, you know, have Hyakkimaru speak up for himself and tell Dororo that he really just needs some time to himself to sort out his morals and priorities rather than Biwamaru telling Dororo (and the audience) what Hyakkimaru must be thinking.

Listen, I love Dororo. It's an anime I got really attached to. But the thing I was attached to the most was the wonderfully written and well-developed relationship between Dororo and Hyakkimaru which was put at the forefront of the show, especially in the second half. And to see it sidelined so hard in the last two episode was baffling and depressing for me.

I know it's just an anime at the end of the day and my favorite episodes and moments between them are still there and always will be. And, yes, I know that it’s implied at the very ending that they meet up again years later, but still...they really did both Dororo and Hyakkimaru dirty with that out of character conclusion to their beautiful journey together.

So, my last question is this: Was the ending between these two written that way because the crew didn't have time for another scene between Dororo and Hyakkimaru? Or was it because they really thought the manga’s ending was a good way to end this anime-original version of the story?

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