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.
