This review was written as I completed the show, so the plot and themes are all fresh in my mind. Hopefully this will make my first review one that is coherent and properly gives credit to this great anime while remaining SPOILER FREE!
I want to preface this review by saying that this anime is a testament to how far anime as a medium has come. Dororo 2019 is a remake to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the original anime that released at the tail end of the 1960s. The original Dororo was written by Osamu Tezuka, who is arguably the most influential person in the development of all anime AND manga. I’ll stop talking about the story’s history now because people reading this review didn’t come to see me act out a pseudo-intellectual persona, so let’s focus on the show itself.
Story – 9/10
While this show isn’t flawless, it does a great job utilizing its source material to tell a story with a much more serious tone. I did check out and complete the manga right before the show wrapped up, and there are some things I appreciate more in this adaptation. Compared to the manga, this adaptation has a lot more character involvement and certain plot points make more logical sense. The manga focuses heavily on Hyakkimaru’s perspective, while this adaptation delves into Hyakkimaru’s views as well as the viewpoints of the “bad” characters. This provides more insight into the moral dilemmas present in the show, giving them more context and showcasing the plot points as more than “black and white” conflicts.
Art – 7/10
Taking a show that is this old and retelling it with modern animation/different art styles can sometimes be a risk (looking at you Disney live action remakes). That being said, this show does relatively well over its two cour tenure, but I couldn’t help but feel that there were some hiccups and slumps between the beginning and the end. The first six episodes are strong; art and animation are great along with emotionally impactful plot points. The middle episodes kind or felt like hit or miss depending on the demon interaction in each episode. The low point is by far episode 15, as there are some questionable animations and a few off-model shots that had no reason being put in the final cut. The art has gotten better, and the final episodes have had a great number of satisfactory action shots and interesting visuals. Don’t expect the wheel to be reinvented with this show’s art but also don’t expect the worst. It has overall good art and animation, but at times it is lacking.
Sound – 8/10
The first OP and ED in my opinion are better and do a better job at referencing the source material; I do also feel that the songs in these two are better. Not to say that the second OP and ED are bad, but definitely less memorable. Background ambience and musical score are satisfying, and the VA cast is mixed with both new and old talent. The more established voice actors have played roles in big name shows such as Naruto and Mob Psycho 100. Overall a good sound design with a great mix of voice talent that all excel at their respective roles.
Character – 9/10
As I said before, the manga doesn’t really go into depth with that many characters. Dororo 2019 does a great job fleshing out secondary characters more. I do appreciate how certain roles have had more influence over the story as well. Doing this has given the adaptation an identity of its own while still staying true to the manga. Certain characters that were one-note in the manga have become far more interesting by being included in more story sequences than the manga.
Overall – 8.5/10
Winter 2019 was a stacked season with shows such as Mob Psycho II, Promised Neverland, and Kaguya-Sama Love is War. Despite the extra season to I really enjoyed this show, as well as the other three shows previously mentioned along with a handful of other winter shows; this show just felt like it dropped steadily then tried to pick up again. It ended on a high note, but the middle brought the show down for me slightly. I’d compare my enjoyment regarding the show to an upside down bell curve; very interested at the beginning with a steady drop-off that bottoms of at episode 15 which then rises to be very entertaining within the last couple episodes.
I would highly recommend anyone that is slightly interested or thinks that they would find this show enjoyable to check this anime out.
If you don’t want to invest the hours into watching the show, I’d highly recommend reading the original manga instead. At only 19 chapters, it can be read in about a few hours and is overall an interesting read with its old art style.
