I was once again rewatching the 2007 Dororo live action movie, which is such an underrated adaptation that I love dearly despite its horrible CGI and truly meme-worthy writing.
And one thing I especially love about the adaptation is how Hyakkimaru and Dororo deal with each other’s insecurities.
In this one, Hyakkimaru carries three different names throughout the story- people call him Hyakkimaru, which is the name of the cursed sword he carries, Dororo- in this version another regional word for human-looking monsters, and Tahomaru, as his mother gave his brother the same name in an attempt to cope with the traumatic loss of her first child.
Obviously, Hyakkimaru connects to none of those names and refuses to make connections to other people after Jukai’s death, being regularly chased away and whispered about in ghost stories. Until Dororo happens to cross his path- we never learn her real name (and she does seem to identify as a woman despite acting as a man), and as the greatest thief of all time it is only fitting she steal a name too.
Hyakkimaru is not allowed to call himself Dororo, no matter how internalised his self perception as something closer to a monster has become as a good thief never hands back their loot. And the name Hyakkimaru only takes on meaning through Dororo’s continued usage of it.
It starts as a gag, but the way these names develop throughout the story is genuinely heartwarming.
Secondly, both Dororo and Hyakkimaru are older in this one, Hyakkimaru being 20 years old and Dororo at least in her middle teens. And while Dororo grew up as a boy she is self conscious about her own behaviour and mannerisms at times. She knows that women are expected to act a certain way if they want to keep their place in society. And while that never mattered before, as Dororo too has had no attachments since the death of her parents and most strangers regard her as a boy anyways, suddenly realizing that she would actually hate to lose her current companion makes that previously disregarded insecurity raise its head.
And it’s nice to see Hyakkimaru never falter in his choice to stick to her despite other options, despite being continuously the butt of her jokes, despite all the kicks and punches he takes from her.
I think these two aspects, Hyakkimaru’s sense of identity and Dororo’s perspective on gender identity and presentation, are things that vary greatly between different adaptations. So far I have loved seeing each adaptation put its own spin on these aspects of the story. And while this movie probably sticks to its source material the closest of all the adaptations I’ve seen, I think it still is worthy of discussion as these aspects truly became core pillars of the characters’ dynamic.
