Dorohedoro

It's the fun you don't get everywhere.

Like a cold beer at the end of a long day, or the first bite of a pizza after a long while without eating. “God, I needed that”. A series that entertains, that makes me care for the cast without constant suffering. A world that doesn't shove its rules down my throat, floating, carefree in an interesting narrative that doesn't lose track of what matters. I've wanted such a series for a long time, even if it wasn't that easy getting into it.

A reptile, Caiman, searches for the mage that turned his head into a reptile, and ... erased his memories. That's just the protagonist. The world seemed a little too crazy, and I've been to other stories where they always vomit out information about themselves. It tires you, it batters you with information, and it gets to the good stuff way later on. None of that.

“Dorohedoro” lets you go inside its world. No hand-holding, no over-explanations. If there's need, some sentences, and that's it. The characters expertly explore the world, and do their thing. You learn how hard it is to die, to get a job, to fight, to survive, or to deal with a restaurant in this world. The magic slowly explains itself, and as you get more clues about how it all works, the mystery builds itself with enough questions to naturally attract me. I required answers, but I enjoyed the world, and the people living inside that world, all the same. Good people, bad people, I don't think that's how you categorize here. Dark slice of life isn't something I thought I'd encounter with as much gore, action, and insanity as here. Like a combination of “Beastars”, and “Chainsaw-Man”, it's about an insane world with out-of-this-world designs.

Now with the real sauce.

Came into this one only knowing how insane the storytelling can be, and to watch all of Mappa's stuff, specially when it's as controversial. Of course, it's the CG animation. Point of contention with all anime, the element that makes or breaks stories for so many people, and I'll come out and slightly agree, but mostly disagree with the criticisms. I don't agree with the consensus that CG animation belongs in the deepest corner of hell, I'm a defender. I'll always give a fair shot to every kind of anime, regardless of the CG quality. Complete honesty, 50/50 on this one.

Consider this: The world revolves around a reptile headed dude, with magical immunity, looking for a cure, and his best friend, an all powerful girl with kicks that can actually split you in half. The designs, the world, the ambience, and every location around it can only be described with “batshit insane” as the main adjective. It's a world like none other, refreshing in every sense, and the art style reflects the insanity better than anything else could. Instead of telling you how “gorgeous” the 2D segments were, I'm here to blame those for the inconsistency in “Dorohedoro”. I wished it ran the mile, and did everything in 3D. It needed to embrace that insanity, and truly focus on that vision entirely. I didn't like it, not because it wasn't on 2D, but because it tried too many times to be.

Art style aside, the other negative's the ending. Not bad, but incomplete. I expect seasons to have a complete package of a story, and it just feels like a cut-off point to go read the manga. Unfulfilling, inconclusive, with the promise of a next season. I'll probably hop into the manga, since the many inconsistencies with the development, art direction, and writing cut-off points don't seem that worth it when the story is complete, and with great, consistent art somewhere else.

7.4/10. It's a great anime that doesn't reach its full adaptation potential from the staff decisions. However, muscle girls for the win, holy molly.

MAPPA 2019: Dororo.
MAPPA 2020: Dorohedoro.

Seinen manga is one of the most difficult to adapt into anime, mostly because of his (not always) superior drawing and dense character creation and storytelling. Last years, we saw how Berserk post Golden Age arcs were butchered with some cheap product, but we also were blessed with a great Houseki no Kuni adaptation, exploiting 3D animation to the maximum level. Now, Mappa contributes to the medium giving us, again, another great adaptation of a seinen manga (1st was Inuyashiki) that stands out.

Dorohedoro is known as one of the most gore, bizarre and absurd mangas out there, but her author, mostly ... known as Hayashida Q, managed herself to create a unique universe and a dense environment that could drag you to hell (or in this case, Hole), instantly. Now, Mappa had a difficult task: to adapt the cold classic into a great anime, and for sure they were successful.

Story follows Kaiman, a man that was used as a test subject for magicians and now has the head of a great lizard, probably resembling a caiman. He and his fellow partner Nikaido hunt the magicians in Hole, trying to find the one that transformed Kaiman into a lizard.

The greatest thing about Dorohedoro is how simple the story looks, but how dense the universe really is, and how you can't simply understand, at first, how far you will be dragged; humans, magicians, demons. Among them, factions, friends, foes, Johnson... You can't really tell how Dorohedoro will surprise you in the next chapter, yet it still make it!

This show is not only about gore, decrepit looks, but is also a great comedy that stands out as one of the most bizarre in manga history. The virgin Konosuba, the chad Dorohedoro!

Art is great. Again, Mappa mixed 3D animation in characters with 2D landscapes and created the atmosphere for sure Q was trying to draw in her manga.

Music is really good, too. The opening greets you with an absurdly good song about Gyozas and sound effects are great. The voices are cool and every character suits perfectly. Wataru Takagi is great as Kaiman (even if I can only hear OI JOSUKE), and Reina Kondou has done such a great job as Nikaidou; hope she gets more roles in the near future.

If the story and visuals are the heart of this show, characters are for sure the brain. Complex pasts, cool personalities, great designs and human behavior! Kaiman looks like a thug, a badass motherfucker, but in reality he is such a normal guy, always joking and eating Nikaido's food. He is cheerful and dumb when normal, but if you anger him, you'll remember him.

Nikaido is the other half of the main couple that stands out. She is the owner of a restaurant in Hole and the one that found Kaiman after he lost his head. Again, killing magicians made her no assassin and didn't darken her personality.

In Dorohedoro, you have a good amount of "evil" characters as well. The main gang is formed by Noi, Shin, Fujita, Ebisu and the boss, En. They have distinct personalities and more than evil they work as antagonists but not as enemies. They have their personal stories and are interesting and funny.

I enjoyed Dorohedoro really much, to the point that I think it stole the winter season totally, not having a show that could match its uniqueness.

So, watch Dorohedoro and then read the manga (or wait for a second season), you won't be disappointed.

Don't be put off by it CGI or weird look

I watched the show on a whim and was blown away by just how much it had to offer despite it unique setting and general bizarreness at times I never felt confused or lost at any point of the show>

i would recommend the anime to people looking for a cool well done story with unique visuals a unique setting and a Top tier cast of Characters especially one of the antagonist En he is one of my favorite antagonist of all time nay one of my favorite characters of all times

From the second it started it was wierd and I knew I was in for something kinda different. Its grimy, trippy and fun, violent and sorta light hearted. The way the characters look is a little unsettling yet they all maintain a relatable personality. It's a very stylish anime, with the architecture and decor of this world being very detailed. The mushrooms are a stand out. I think the cgi works very well, adding visual dimension to a very dimensional world. I also cant help but gush a bit at the fact this anime includes 2 buff women that arent overly sexualized. Plot wise it ... takes a good second to grasp what's happening and what the motivations of all these characters are, but once you do you're IN IT. (Took me till half way through). I'm left with so many questions that I want answered and after each episode in the latter half of the season you get a little bit of information that intrigues you and makes you excited thinking about all the places this could go and how its gonna tie in later etc. Anyways I cant wait for the next season, I had a blast with this.

Oh and that opening though❤

I'm honestly lost for words. The amount of sheer passion and effort that was put in by the people who made this anime possible is incredible. Its everything you could ask for. I loved this anime so much that I wanted to write my first review on MAL for this anime. I'm going to try my best to write a simple yet thoughtful review.

Story:
The story is so interesting and unique. It's so unpredictable and mysterious. It keeps you guessing on what could happen next and wanting more. Then it slowly connects the dots for you and unravels itself to you in a very interesting way. ... The story manages to have a nice balance of dark, goofy, and wholesome at the same time.

Art: I was a bit uncertain if the art style would work or look good when I heard it had CGI. But to my surprised, the CGI models worked really well and looked good. The background art is very unique. From the dark/gritty industrial Hole; to the colorful fantasy land the world of sorcerers. All of it is gorgeous.

Sound: The sound design is good. The anime has a wide range of soundtracks that work so well. The soundtracks bring so much life and joy to the dark and cool industrial setting which is genius because it kind of reflects on the colorful characters.

Characters: Every character is interesting, amusing, and unique in their own way. There's not a single character that you can not like. Every character is loveable. It's amazing how they manage to make you root for every character in the anime no matter which side they are on.

Enjoyment: This anime has cool, exciting, and gruesome action scenes. They are pretty solid. The tone/mood keeps changing to keep the anime interesting instead of sticking to one. It has its dark, goofy, wholesome, and exciting moments.

Overall, You can really tell just how much passion went into this anime. It's such an amazing anime. Its everything you could ask for. It has an unpredictable story, solid action scenes, beautiful background art, very interesting, amusing, and unique characters. A wide range of soundtracks that work so well.

I'll start out by saying that this show completely subverted my expectations. Going into the first scene, we're shown a big lizardman shoving people in his mouth and after he gets their answer, dicing them up. I ain't gonna lie, chief, that was pretty cool.

Through the first episode, I thought this was just going to be a show with a straightforward plot with some likable characters. But boy here we go again. This turned out to be so much more than I had initially thought. Each character is given so many layers that build them up and subsequently get clouded over as we learn ... more about the bigger world and how it runs.

By first appearance, this you may think this show is just another horror-action one that gets you in with all the scary and gory things. But there's another aspect to this show which is why I ended up really liking it: and that is MYSTERY. You don't know what the hell is going on and how all these events came to pass, and when a problem is solved so many more things come with it and lead to more questions. Like, honestly I went into his just thinking the primary mystery about why Caiman has a lizard head would be solved by the end of the show, but the plot developed so many more interesting aspects that make the show into something completely new and original.

So overall, do give it a watch because this show is so much more than it seems on the surface.

Trying to write a review to explain why this work is just so engaging is rather difficult as much of its charm lies in its visual styles perfectly matched by its eclectic cast of oddballs. Trying to categorize this title under a genre is not easy too. MangaUpdates tagged it with a Biopunk, but it too has the elements of Gothic in its ambience and design. It is violent and dark, but at the same time cheery and energetic as it swings nicely on that precarious line of black comedy. And then there’s the trippy elements that goes in several parts of the series. For ... the most part, the story is pretty straightforward, but as the plot progress there are certainly quite a fair bit of mind screw going on – the macabre art style definitely helped in enhancing the effects.

Really, the only way I can succinctly describe Dorohedoro in one sentence would probably be that it is akin to what it would be like if Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino collaborated to produce an anime.

It’s not the best description I’ve got, but I think the analogy fits pretty well. In the sorcerers’ world each sorcerer are obliged to wear a personalized mask to mark their identity. Throw in the fact that you have manifestations of curses, devils and death god flying around and the place is like a much more macabre mash of Halloween Town and Beetlejuice. And then you have En’s family and his estate. En’s family being clad in suits make it look like the mafia taking part in a Halloween party. The whole imagery is bizarre, but it is also freakishly cool. To round it all up, Dorohedoro is set in a world where gratuitous amount of stylized violence is the norm and thus gruesome deaths are treated with general nonchalance by the cast of eccentric characters. Characters will happily have inane conversations in between slaughtering enemies in grisly manners as though they are right out of a Tarantino film.

With such a unique art style, it was thus initially pretty worrying to hear of an anime adaptation being made. How will the staff attempt to adapt Hayashida Q’s gritty and surreal setting for the anime? Thankfully, it turns out the fears are unfounded. The anime did well not just in capturing the essence of the manga’s style but by also injecting their own flair into the series. You can tell they’ve put a lot of effort into the background from how lavishly detailed they are, ranging from the dirty, gritty slums in the Hole, to the intricate Gothic architecture in the sorcerers’ world and psychedelic colors during the carnival. The background bear reminiscences to that of works like Akira - a quick look at the credits confirms that the art director for Dorohedoro is none other than Shinji Kimura who has indeed worked on Akira.

Now, admittedly I do have some mild complaints about the CG usage, particularly with bits like Caima’s head in the early episodes where it made him look like some kind of a plastic toy. Thankfully however, the CG usage improved in latter episodes and the usual 2D animation is used for key moments in the later parts.

Of course, simply having great visuals is not enough for me to consider this as my favorite anime of the season. The characters too need to actually be interesting. Since this is after all a rather Gothic story with some rather grim setting, it should come to no surprise that trying to categorize them into “villains” and “heroes” is rather pointless. Heck, considering that the different groups get their own share of characterization and screen time, it is also not easy to distinguish between some of them as “protagonists” or “antagonists”. In other words, despite the large cast, the core characters remain interesting while the other supporting characters too get their fair share of spotlight. The result is that even though the characters are supposed to be opposing against each other, I can’t help but root for some of them all the same.

Indeed, much of the charm of the series comes from how the various characters bounce off with each other. This is best demonstrated in how members of the En Family interact with each other. En, the big boss himself, for instance, is portrayed as ruthless when dealing with his enemies, but at the same time, we’re shown his whimsical and vain side such as his penchant for grandeur, obsession with mushroom, but more importantly we also get to see him being a pretty chill boss who genuinely get along well with his underlings. Then there’s Shin and Noi, who have a great chemistry going on as partners, and it’s always a delight watching their rapport as they just want to enjoy some food in between missions. And of course, let’s not forget the friendship between Caiman and Nikaido as they are on their trail to uncovering Caima’s identity. In a way, one of the things I like about Dorohedoro is also what made me took a liking to Narita Ryougo’s works in the first place: the inclusion of multiple viewpoints and what is at first glance a very chaotic story, but which has a pretty focused narrative as you progress; as nicely summed up one of the characters in Baccano!, “Depending on who you place in the same situation, the characteristics of said incident change kaleidoscopically. In other words, there is one incident. However, there are as many stories explaining it as there are people involved in it.” — Gustav St. Germain (aka that guy voiced by Norio Wakamoto).

Next, the other just as crucial element that played a role in making this series such a standout is none other than the audio choices. This series could might as well act as a concept album to promote (K)NoW_NAME’s music. As with the art, anime really nailed the tone of the series with the soundtracks and the theme songs in particular are a just so damn catchy and as whimsical as the series itself. Finally, there’s the choice of VAs: from Kobayashi Yuu as the boisterous Noi, to Takagi Wataru as Caiman, to Hosoya Yoshimasa as Shin and of course Horiuchi Kenyuu as En, they all perfectly captured the personality of their roles.

What we have learned from this anime:
1. It has been a pretty faithful adaptation and the studio did a wonderful job in elevating it by giving the anime their own touch.
2. The music is very addictive to listen to.
3. It is an absolute blast of a series and you should check out the manga as well.

All these and more, in the sprawling chaos that is... Dorohedoro!

The only way I knew how to explain this anime to my friends in only a few words was, that wholesome horror anime.

Is that kinda redundant? Yes, I believe so. Is it any less true? Absolutely not.

I LOVE a good horror anime but they are a dime a dozen, but this one blew my socks off. Its in a gritty, unforgiving world with a cast of characters that have learned to balance the insanity with a nice dose of humor.

A powerful mafia family is made from the ashes of enslavement, a duo of friends maintain their friendship despite their many ... differences, and a 13 year old girl who the flesh of her face torn off wears a Shark suit and dances.

Its weird, gritty, funny, and dark. And you most likely wont know wtf is happening until half way through the series unless youve read the manga.

But give it a shot anyway if just for the 7ft tall Amazon woman who could break you and half and youd thank her for it.

<3

Whoever made the story is a unique author. This kind of story is so weird in a great way. The comedy stuff in this was so better done even in a serious situation. This anime deserves more love and people should give it a try even if you are a hater of CGI animation. I know and I had a feeling that the adaptation of this manga would be CGI by looking at the art of beauty and gore with so much details. Well for me this will be Anime of the season for me if Pet anime will have a decent ending. This deserves ... season 2 as soon as possible. This is Masterpiece which will be remembered forever.


Story-10:
The story is still not completed and its half explained. Its fine for me personally. From beginning to half end was a fantastic ride throughout story. We need more stories like this which can even amaze the boring guy. I will not write anything spoil even hidden you guys go and watch it. I bet you will love it more by watching it yourself.

Art-10:
The CGI is done in this anime way better than Berserk one. Honestly I had no problem throughout the series because of the animation. It didn't had flaws or any kind of non-detailed material. It was action packed series which I think was great by Mappa Studio. Props to the staff members and the director too for this anime.

Sound-8:
I hated the opening and ending songs for this anime but the quality was amazing. The voice acting was pretty cool and the expressions were also matched with the voices. These kinds of shows are always unique ones but people forget to look at the big picture and come to conclusions fast.

Character-10:
While writing this I can't stop laughing no matter how much scary these charcters look in this anime are childish as hell. The most creative are the characters of the anime which make the story a better thing.

Enjoyment-10:
I can't say no to this. This was the best ride of enjoyment thank you Mappa and its staff also the author of the story.

if you guys have free time although you guys are in lockdown watch the anime its hidden gem of the season with Pet too also give Pet a shot if its cup of tea for you. Have a nice day and good rest. Be safe and stay healthy.

In short a really fun anime with amusing likable characters with a morbid and dark story with great world building with such detailed and beautiful backgrounds, hats off to studio they really poured a lot effort and it is visible. and the best part is suspense which makes you always sit at the edge of your seat.
Every episode harboring a new curse and what's next is DOROHEDORO.

The only thing which disappoints is its 12 ep length... I mean why not 24. I hope next season comes early

A perfect 9/10 from my side.

Watch it for Ebisu, Johnson the cockroach and of course Kikurage. Who doesn't ... like Kikurage?

I created an account just to give it 10 stars. Incredibly unique and impossible to get over. Been on a hunt to find anything similar for weeks but nothing compares :(
I believe it isn’t about choosing sides, as the world itself is flawed BUT THE CHARACTERS ARE SO LOVABLE. FROM THEIR DESIGN DOWN TO THEIR SMALLEST TRAITS. Cannot simply choose a favorite... (nikaido is badass Ngl)
It made me laugh out loud so many times seeing how detached the characters are from the bloody bits lol, it’s so disgusting sometimes that it is downright hilarious.
I can’t wait for season two, please feed us, thank you!!!!

story:10
The story flows smoothly as each episode continues from one to the next with changes whether minor or huge each episode is never the same. Though each episode not the same is directed towards one goal which is to find whoever made Kaiman a half-human half crocodile. the story is very wild but is also very straight forward with many moving parts but could be understood by a basic human being.

Art:8
The art of Dorehedoro is that of CGI. The use of CGI in anime is synonymous with that of negativity but is used well in this show for the most part but sometimes is used ... wrongly. For the most part, the background of Dorehedoro is fantastic and awe looking. The background has a dumpster dirty look to it which only enhances the setting of hole while in other cases when they travel to magician world it becomes more cleaner and detailed looks better as a result. On the other hand, as expected the action scenes is much worse in CGI. the actions look stiff and slow as a result. In other words, if Dorehedoro is not moving it looks awe-inspiring but in animation or action scenes its stiff and ugly looking.

Sound:8
Though the songs of Dorehedoro are good the synth-rock of Dorehedoro does not resonate with me because I am not a big fan of Rock as a genre. That said the songs in Dorehedoro are a banger. they succeed in making me hype especially the op of Dorehedoro which is probably something I would personally listen to outside of the anime

Character:9
the main characters of Dorehedoro are not developed like most anime but are the Goku type characters. Though they stay the same they are just fun to be with and affect the world around them and change other people such as the villains. Talking about the villains they are the most realistic antagonist of any show, second to hxh spiders. they have their hobbies and likings and are not plagued with sad backstories or mustache-twirling villains.

Enjoyment:9
I like the show and its fun to watch the episodes transition smoothly and the characters are fun to watch especially when the story gets moving and hits you hard.

Overall:8

this is not the best show but its pretty good as it is

Really liked it. Honestly if you have prejudice when it comes to CGI I'm telling you this is one of the best animes with it you'll see. The story is great and quite easy to grasp if you ask me. The character design is also in my opinion really great. Not much to say, but I really reccomend it, especially if you're into fantasy/steampunk. I've rewatched it three times as of now I think, which for me means that it is absolutely great and does not deserve a grade of lower then nine. I greatly recommend it but i've not read the manga so it ... may be a different experience If you have read it before watching but I still would classify as one of the best animes I've ever watched. Also it's really easy to access since (in my country) it is on Netflix. Have fun! :)

At the time of writing this review, there hasn’t been confirmation that Dorohedoro is going to be renewed for a second season, which is dependent on the success of the first season. This series deserves a continuation, and it’s disheartening that I feel this series is heavily slept upon by the community by certain circumstances. Dorohedoro has the potential to be one of the top anime of 2020, and I hope I will persuade you guys to give this series a try. Before reviewing Dorohedoro, let’s take a quick detour of setting the stage of what the series is about.
In a nutshell, Dorohedoro feels like ... if J.K Rowling, (the writer of the Harry Potter franchise) has written a massive magic lore, that expands to the heights of Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings while smoking weed with Happy Tree Friends’ grotesque gore in her tv on. These amalgamation of ideas and aspects, resulted in Dorohedoro having a very unique handling of world building and unique storytelling that makes the audience scratching their heads (in a good way) Now the positives.

1). World building
This is the first positives that I want to highlight, because it is truly the star of the show for me. With the aforementioned vast lore of the manga l, the series impressively remained faithful to the source material and how it approaches making an interesting, and dark fantasy world. Unlike any other fantasy world of having excessive exposition to flesh out the world, Dorohedoro does not hold the viewers’ hands on what the hell is going on. Instead treats us smartly and feeding us with bits and pieces of lore throughout each episodes, and trusts the viewers to piece together on how the world works. This is why I mentioned that the viewers will scratch their heads from time to time (I certainly did), but this type of world building is certainly refreshing and makes the world of Dorohedoro alive and it’s own beast. Certainly the world is miss fire, if the characters are not interesting and compelling, however the series does not disappoint.

2). Characters
As the world of Dorohedoro being a war between the sorcerers and humans, the characters complement the setting and each have their own conflicts and arcs. Almost all the characters are well-written, that I don’t have anyone that I feel is a bad character. The two protagonists that we mainly follow are Kaiman and Nikaidou, both are very entertaining, and to watch their relationship grow and solve the mysteries of Kaiman’s head.
Even characters that us as viewers at first glance, thought that is a one-off character, that is only there to serve the story, subverts our expectations and became mainstays and personal favorites of the fandom, is really impressive. The quote on quote “villains,” which are: En, Shin, Noi, Ebisu, and Fujita are one of the most memorable and lovable characters that I have watched for a while. They are not even villains to be honest, they are just sorcerers that directly conflict the mc. The series flushes out each and everyone’s backstories, leaving no one behind. Why do they do what they do, their motivations for being this way, and making us genuinely care about them. Personally, I love these characters more than the mc, due to how well and memorable these characters interact. How does Johnson, a giant cockroach that is artificially controlled who was only one line, make me care and laugh, is impressive.

3).Fast Pacing/Themes
Now this part is weird to put into the positives of a series, but let me explain. Due to the nature of this series being confusing and heavily focused on fleshing out the world, the characters, and the story all in a span of 12 episodes, each episodes feel like a breeze on how the pacing is so fast because it has too much to explore. These are one of the things that people may notice as a negative, because it contributes to the confusing and information overload of the viewers. However I argue that this is directly intentional of the themes and overall style of the series. It wants to make the viewers feel the randomness, and confusion, and openly acknowledges it.
Few examples that highlights the randomness of the series, in each ending of the episode, there are some what call backs to information on the episode like “Kaiman is great at playing cards,” and so on. Some are relevant to the story, and some are just for giggles and laughs.
Another is the multiple EDs, scattered throughout the series. There are multiple songs that are very fun and banger of a songs. My personal favorite is D.D.D.D. an homage to the classic FPS Doom. Does this make sense narratively? Does En play Doom? I guess not, but it fits well with the random and confusing nature of the series as a whole.

4). The Soundtrack
Speaking of songs and osts, the songs are highlights. There isn’t a song that feels weak. It is very punk rock inspired, and are also vastly different tone wise. This is somehow a negative because the score has no cohesion to it, unlike Beastars it has cohesion to the score, but again I argue it’s due to the random theme that Dorohedoro has.


Unfortunately, there are flaws to the series that brings this back. And I elaborate I am not a professional writer or animator in the anime industry, I am just one weeb’s opinion that loves the medium. I respect every person working to make this show for us to enjoy. I only give criticisms because I want anime to be the best as it possibly can. Now, going back.

1). The Animation
Getting CGI to look this good is an accomplishment in its own right, however just like Beastars, the fight scenes feel clunky at best. That are very obvious.

2). Prioritizing the mc
This is sort of a nitpick and does not affect the series as a whole, but because of how lovable the villains are in this series, It felt like the spotlight of the mc had been stolen in a good portion of the run time. Which is a double-edged sword to the quality of character development of the author.


Other than that, this is genuinely a great anime that I hope gets renewed to have a second season.

It's rare these days I can find an anime where I genuinely have no idea what is going to happen, this is one. Seriously , this story really does it own thing and then some. It diverts your expectations, throws them in a blender, drinks them, then throws them up unapologetically.


The characters are so much fun and really well written. The plot itself is also fantastic, but just the characters alone are good enough to carry this story. There is an episode which diverts from the plot completely almost and it's still just as fun if not more than when the plot is rolling. Oh ... and when the plot gets rolling the pacing of this show is also very well done. So much happens in such a short time span. The manga is longer than anime so the story does not conclude where the anime leaves off.

The one thing that really holds this show back is the animation. It's not great, it's passable 3D. While it isn't terrible by any means it does not do the story the justice it deserves.

This was such a nice refreshing show to watch and hopefully get better animation for a 2nd season.

TL;DR— Dorohedoro deserves more recognition for having its own originality and calibre: a peculiar 80s cyberpunk-ish Seinen, bloodthirsty typa gory, easy to binge-watch while having minuscule-to-none characteristic of falling into the ordinary & cliché.

I may be late to the party but I think Dorohedoro is so underappreciated! I recently got in an anime slump and this just brought me back to the anime world. It's weird, gritty, gory, and beautiful. Characters are amazing and funny, it has a fantastic and interesting world-building, and the mystery & paradox are always kept alive- making it harder not to watch the next episode right away. I love anime ... revolving in action that’ll make me feel dreaded and knackered but this one is just as grisly (in a good way!) except it doesn’t make me feel exhausted and it’s definitely one of the many things I loved about it. It IS easy to watch regardless of its carnage abode.

If you’re the type to usually stray away from anime that uses CGI but mind you: this was CGI done right; very well-executed. With its awesome premise, the art style will definitely get into you and the animations will not matter as much because you’d be focusing on creating your own theories.

I really loved this masterpiece and I'm about to check the manga out since Netflix really did a good one on this, hope you give it a try if you haven't yet!

To add: I think if you liked Devilman Crybaby it won’t be hard to get into DRHDR. Both gave me the same initial vibe. I liked DRHDR from the first episode, but I got hooked by its second ep. Definitely worth a watch.

Dorohedoro as quickly became one of my favorite animes. Everything from great characters, interesting story, good animation (yes it's cgi but that didn't bother me), amazing world building ect. theres not a single character i dont like, they all have something about them i really enjoy about them, on top of that they all interact very well. the world around dorohedoro is so original and it stands out as its own world this anime was able to take this massive world and explain it well mean while still progressing the plot with in 12 episodes thats impressive on top of that you ... have a pretty good understanding of each character and their goals. the animation can be a little weird at first but really started to grow on me i think it fits the anime very well to be honest, the show is suppose to be chaotic, weird, dark, and gorey the animation works very well with this so does the soundtrack. this is the kind of show that you cant just watch one episode soon as you know it youve finished the whole season . the style of this anime is so much different then any other anime its unique and i love that about it. the show also follows the manga pretty well its not as gorey but still has the same feel the manga does. this anime deserves lots more love than it gets

Dorohedoro is set in a post-apocalyptic world that consists of two dimensions: a dismal city called Hole that is home to humans and an alternate world that is home to Sorcerers who have the ability to create magic through manifesting "smoke" and are contracted with demons. Within Hole, a mysterious man with the head of a lizard named Caiman has no memory of who he is and a mysterious figure is within his stomach. Seeking aid from a young woman named Nikaido, the two hunt down Sorcerers who enter Hole to find the one who transformed his head and discover more about his lost past.

Dorohedoro ... offers up some pretty engaging exploration of its world and characters relating to the societies of both Hole and the world of Sorcerers within the series. There is clear conflict between the realms as Sorcerers often sneak into Hole to make its residents into guinea pigs to test their magic on and doctors exist to try repairing whatever abnormalities Sorcerers inflict onto humans with their magic. Conflict is also commonplace in the Sorcerer world as it runs on a hierarchical system based on the proficiency of the Sorcerer's magic and has caused internal conflict within the realm. There is also a good amount of exploration that goes into exploring how the Sorcerers are able to conjure up their magic and the ties they have to demons These elements help add some engaging layers to the conflicts that take place throughout Dorohedoro's run, as well as dabbling more into how the magic used by Sorcerers works specifically.

The characters for the series also make for more of the entertaining elements of Dorohedoro. In spite of the mentioned conflicts, the series carries a rather light-hearted and easygoing tone in depicting interactions between characters, even involving those within the different realms. There is a good deal of moral ambiguity with many of the characters seen throughout the series, as all have their good and bad traits that can make the audience care for them in spite of all the chaos they stir up and there is enough time to flesh out the backgrounds of a number of the major characters in Dorohedoro. The only shortcoming in this area is that Caiman's character is still largely a mystery and the conflict between factions is still largely unresolved. While the manga source material for the series is complete, it's unclear as of this review whether or not there will be more seasons to further explore the plot of Dorohedoro.

One other thing I should warn folks about Dorohedoro is that it's quite graphic in terms of violent content. Characters are shown to be slain or mutilated in various messy ways throughout the series in spite of the light-hearted and comical mood that the series often comes off with. While the more violent nature is a good fit for Dorohedoro given the gritty and chaotic world it explores, I would still not recommend any younger or more content-sensitive audiences look into this series.

In terms of presentation, Dorohedoro makes use of a 3DCG animation style in rendering its characters and settings. While implementations of this technology have been hit-and-miss in quality with TV anime over the past several years, the animation works quite well with Dorohedoro as character designs and scenery are nicely rendered and character movement is convincingly fluid throughout the show's run, most notably during action scenes and scenes depicting Sorcerers using their magic. The CG is quite noticeable if you pay attention to details with the rendering that may seem a little off and can take getting used to viewing for those not accustomed to it.

Overall, I was quite entertained with Dorohedoro throughout its 12-episode run as it offered a fun and gritty time exploring the chaotic and dark world offered up with the residents of Hole and the Sorcerer World. Those who've enjoyed gritty and mature action titles like Black Lagoon and Baccano! should give this series a shot if you've yet to see it.

To put it simply, Dorohedoro lacks common sense, it's insane, chaotic, and over the top, this gives it room for creativity and style, which it has a lot of.

The story is basically about two worlds, Hole, a place where humans live, and the magic world, a place where magic users live, and apparently there's conflict between the two.
In Hole they used to hunt magic users (like in the medieval era), and magic users used to experiment on humans, it seems like that's in the past, but honestly it's still hard for me to tell how much the relationship between the two sides have changed, the ... world building is kinda lacking in this aspect.

Aside from the stylish setting, the selling point of this show are the characters, we have Kaiman, a man with a lizard face and no memories of his past, apparently he turned that way by a magic user and is looking for him to turn himself back to normal, he goes around looking for magic users to bite their heads and have the man inside his mouth talk to them, he only says one thing though "you are not the one", supposedly until someday he finds "the one".
What's that? This doesn't make sense? Well get used to it.
Next we have Nikaido, she's Kaiman's close friend, she cooks for him and helps him look for magic users, she's also pretty strong.
These two are the main characters from Hole, there are a few other side characters as well, but instead let's talk about the rest of main characters from the magic world.

Despite seeming like antagonists at first (since they're Kaiman's enemies) this group of magic users get the treatment of main characters, the most interesting member is Shin, a magic user who has the ability to chop people up to pieces while keeping them alive (you'll see all kinds of crazy magic here).
There's also Noi, Shin's partner, a huge muscular woman who has the ability to heal wounds.
En, the boss of some organization of magic users, he has the ability to turn people into mushrooms.
Fujita and Ebisu, the weaklings of the group.

The show is made of CGI but looks really good, the pale colors and dirty look on the characters make them look like they're in 2D and fit with the steampunk setting, only when the characters start moving you can tell from their fluid movement that it's CGI, also the backgrounds look beautiful.

The music is fitting for the show's chaotic nature, especially the OP, however my favorite is the second ED, it's very funny.

That's all I have to say about this show, it's an action/comedy series that doesn't take itself seriously, although it does care enough to flesh out its characters.
Dorohedoro is not a masterpiece but it's a fun watch, especially if you're a fan of steampunk settings and stylish designs, also if you're having trouble understanding what's going on in early episodes, don't worry, just give it time.

Bloody, gory, and endlessly funny, Dorohedoro follows Caiman, a man with a Lizard head who is trying to find the sorcerer who made him what he is. He is able to embark on this journey with his friend, Nikaido, who also has a bit of a past. The world of Dorohedoro is strange and we're made to understand that there are humans and sorcerers with the latter acting as oppressors to the former. The humans are forced to live in a dingy city simply known as 'Hole' where they lead a miserable existence and are at the mercy of the sorcerers. While there is no ... clear 'good guy,' every character on the show is understandable. They're fun to watch and are well fleshed out. Also, the relationship between Nikaido and Caiman is a joy to behold while even the villainous En (antagonist) is also really relatable while the Hitman team of Shin and Noi is also really fun to root for. The mystery of Caiman's origins is peeled back little by little and while we don't have all the answers at the end, it was still a thrilling ride. Dorohedoro is funny, smart, most importantly, weird... Very, very weird. The animation was gritty, the color palettes dull, and the tone decidedly grim. I feel the anime ended pretty flatly which was a bummer, but at the end of the day it was a very enjoyable watch. I'll recommend, but with the caveat that this is not for the squeamish.