In terms of plot, Dororo and Hyakkimaru promises to be schematic: the invincible warrior fights the demons, and then on his way he meets an unbearable kid. In addition, it was first released in 1967. Is the manga still defending itself despite the passage of time?
A lonely hero …
Feudal Japan, the ongoing war in the background – this is the reality of the heroes of the manga Dororo and Hyakkimaru. The first is the gloomy warrior. We meet him when he comes across a group of bandits who want to rob him. It seems to be the beginning of many, but after a while it happens differently, because the protagonist is not a samurai. Instead of fighting enemies with a katana, he removes his arms with his teeth. As it turns out, these are unusual prostheses with killer blades hidden behind them. Hyakkimaru is a real killing machine and basically – in principle – resembles a medieval cyborg. It is not known how his amazing body works and who in feudal Japan would be able to create something so strange, terrifying and at the same time wonderful. All this makes Hyakkimaru a fascinating and mysterious figure. Anyway, the blades hidden in the arms are just the tip of the iceberg,
He meets a thief and a monk …
After the aforementioned short skirmish, Osamu Tezuka presents the second title character, Dororo – a boy who, due to military actions, even robs the soldiers themselves. He calls himself the king of thieves, but in fact, you can quickly find out that he is average in this profession. Nevertheless, despite his unbearable nature, he manages to establish a relationship with the silent, gloomy Hyakkimaru. The two are soon joined by a monk with a lute, quite often chuckling to himself. Unfortunately, the heroes are a bit clichéd. Dororo is a stray who does not know much, causes trouble for everyone and often provokes various funny situations. Hyakkimaru prefers to act alone, pushes others away, is closed and focused on his task. After all, you can like them. Hyakkimaru seems particularly fascinating,
and together they will face the demons …
So what is this all about? There are demons around the world. Interestingly, these are immaterial beings and only when they find a potential victim, or some useful items, are they able to reveal themselves. Hyakkimaru’s goal is to eliminate these monsters. And in general, this is roughly the storyline. Unfortunately, it’s not very revealing, at least not yet. In my opinion, this character story is missing, something else that could attract you for longer. Only Hyakkimaru’s past is intriguing. Nevertheless, the comic is a pleasure to read. The fights are spectacular and the demons can be scary: the grotesque Golden Priest does not seem to be dangerous, but the oblong shape of the head, the bell that distracts the silence of the night… these elements make the reader feel uneasy at the sight of him. I’m curious,
in bloody skirmishes.
The graphics have been refreshed and I have to admit that it looks great. Demons look great. The combat scenes are also of a high standard. Unfortunately, in some frames the background has not been refined and this may be offensive. As for the edition, the cover is extremely poor. It only shows the title on a pink background. Fortunately, a dust jacket with intriguing graphics has been added. Considering this is a remake and the original version of the manga was released in 1967, I think it would be nice to include some afterword at the end of the comic. Besides Dororo and Hyakkimaruis an example of a manga with a lot of potential. The piece has its age and over the past few decades many works have been created that have similar plot assumptions, so the story seems to follow certain well-trodden paths. Nevertheless, it may turn out in the next volumes that Osamu Tezuka had an original vision and thus this story will be remembered for a longer time. Even if it did not happen, Dororo and Hyakkimaru will remain a pleasant story for me. I recommend checking what Japan is like full of demons.
