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Plot

Dororo is set during the Sengoku period, and the primary characters are Hyakkimaru, a young warrior who fights and eliminates any demons who stand in his way, and his traveling companion Dororo, a young petty thief who joins him on his quest. Hyakkimaru's name literally translates to "little monster," and he was so titled because his father (a nobleman) made a bargain with 48 demons when he was born, asking him to take whatever they wanted in exchange for a rich region with no crop problems.
His demands were met, and as a pledge, the 48 demons each took a piece of his son's body. He was abandoned on his father's instructions and trained by Dr. Honma as a samurai, and in his chase of the demons, he regained a missing body part each time he killed one.

Characters

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Hyakkimaru is an excellent protagonist, whose previously required laconicism gradually dissolves, revealing him to be very human, devastated, strong, and weak at the same time. But, let us not forget that this anime is named after the youngster who will follow our wandering samurai on his journey.

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Dororo is a well-crafted lateral character who was born as Hyakkimaru's perfect counterpart: happy, sunny, and talkative, he serves as a conduit between the young warrior and the human (he will speak in Hyakkimaru's place many times) and the sensory world (acting as his guide as a blind man as he regains his senses). The two's friendship will deepen, and they will become important sidekicks to one another. He'll be the conscience that Hyakkimaru lacks right now. Dororo will thus become a kind of talking cricket for Hyakkimaru, without which he would be compelled to act solely on instinct.

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Pros

• A metaphor of life: This anime can be thought of as a large container for a collection of metaphors. Hyakkimaru's voyage is a metaphor for the unique journey that each of us takes throughout our lives. Who, after all, does not battle their inner demons in order to gain personal growth, maturity, and improvement? And, just as we strive, and suffer, in reaching our personal goals, Hyakkimaru will have to suffer in order to get the missing bodily part, or sense, with each fight. Our friend, however, will have a difficult time even if the goal is attained. For example, for the first time, touching and experiencing his own body will be difficult, and taking his own body, "piece" by "piece," will be agonizing.
  Isn't that what happens in everyone's life when they eventually get over a stumbling block? It is not always possible to get immediate gratification.
  While watching, I couldn't help but draw parallels between Hyakkimaru's story and Pinocchio's (the main character of the children's novel by Carlo Collodi). It's the latter, a fairy tale brimming with all kinds of symbols and analogies. And there are other parallels in the story's continuance, both in terms of characters (doesn't the caring orthopedist who takes up Hyakkimaru match our carpenter Master Geppetto?) and events. Most notably, the two protagonists' major goal is to give up their artifactual, "mechanical" bodies (one made of prostheses, the other of wood) in order to reclaim a human body and spirit.

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• The topics Dororo confronts us with a very difficult dilemma to solve: to sacrifice oneself to save others or to sacrifice everything and everyone to achieve one's own justice.
  As a result, the protagonist becomes an anti-hero who rejects the sacrifice of the individual in favor of the protection of the many (an ethically incorrect but practically correct ideology), reclaiming what is properly his in every way. The characters are authentic and true, and they are wonderful precisely because they are imperfect.
  They shed more and more of their personal armor as they progress, making room for the sentimental component and becoming more "human."

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• The soundtrack: The soundtrack, in particular, deserves appreciation for being brilliantly descriptive and successfully highlighting the various situations, enhancing in the viewer sensations of emotion (I confess that I was moved numerous times), tension, and anguish. In terms of musicality, content, and editing, I found the start and finish to be quite lovely. They're impossible not to listen to again with each new episode.

Cons

• Direction and animation: On the other hand, the series makes significant mistakes in terms of direction and animation: the former is very ordinary and unremarkable; in fact, it does not lend itself to innovation and is nearly never memorable.
  Unfortunately, the animation is one of the series' main flaws: it initially appears to be pretty good throughout its runtime, only to decline at moments, until one particular episode (about halfway through the series) where it plummets to the bottom, turning out to be truly awful. Personally, I'm baffled as to how such an episode could be produced (this suggests serious production issues).

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Conclusion

Overall a good anime, with great topics and some defects in the animation. I recommend you give it a chance.

Rating

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8.0/10.0

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