Dororo (1969) Season 1 Review

Anime

TL;DR

Dororo (1969) Season 1

どろろ (Dororo)

Synopsis

Dororo, a young orphan thief, falls into the company of Hyakkimaru, a powerful demon-hunting rōnin. Before Hyakkimaru’s birth his father, a greedy feudal lord, made a pact with 48 demons and let them each take a piece of his unborn son’s body, in return for granting him great power. Hyakkimaru was born a barely human creature—without arms, legs, eyes, ears, a nose, or a mouth—and his father had him thrown in the river. He was rescued and raised by Dr. Honma, who made him artificial limbs and helped him learn to fight the demons—each time he defeats one he reclaims one piece of his body. Now he and Dororo travel together through the war-torn countryside.

Directed by

Gisaburō Sugii

Written by

Osamu Tezuka

Screenplay by

Mushi Pro Literary Section, Shuji Hirami, Taku Sugiyama, Tōru Sawaki, Yoshitake Suzuki

Music by

Isao Tomita

TV

26 episode(s)

Tones

Frustration, Goofiness, Sadness, Shock

Genres

Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery

Demographic

Boys (Shōnen)

Language

Japanese

Premiered

April 6, 1969

Run-time

650 minutes

Elements

Antihero, Child Lead, Coming-of-age, Dark Fantasy, Demon, Male Lead, Medieval, Occult, Overpowered MC, Revenge, Slow-pace, Swordplay, Teen Lead, Tragedy, Training, Violence, War

Rating

Fair

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Animation

Good

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Story

Fair

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Pros

Cons

Dialogs
Music
Slow-pace

Overview

During the late 1960s, manga featuring demons was popular among kids. Dororo was first serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday between August 27, 1967, and July 22, 1968, before being canceled. Parallel to the anime broadcast, the manga was then concluded in Akita Shoten’s Bōken’ō magazine.

The anime series bears the distinction of being the first entry in what is now known as the World Masterpiece Theater series.

Alternative title

– Dororo
– どろろ
– 도로로

TL;DR Review

Dororo (どろろ) is a Japanese manga series from the manga creator Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s. An anime television series based on the manga consists of 26 half-hour episodes that aired in 1969.

This series was broadcasted in black and white. Despite how long ago this was created, the animation is impressive and fluid. Of course, there were many shortcuts used to stretch the time like reusing the same scenes over and over or pausing between dialogs for longer than needed.

I timed one of the episodes. After repeating the same scene from the previous episode (2:10 minutes) the opening start and ended (3:55) then a second recap exposition, the anime didn’t start until the 5:33 minutes mark. I jokingly comment how this feel like Toei Animation is handling One Piece, but then realized Osamu Tezuka used to work for Toei Animation and started Mushi Productions as a rival company. Oh, the irony.

This being one of the earlier anime, subtlety was not yet something that was used for this medium. Characters will spell out their intentions upon meeting. For example, Dororo, the thief, broadcasts his intention to steal Hyakkimaru’s sword upon their meeting. I don’t think that’s how a thief operates, but maybe some veteran thieves can correct me.

I was also a little surprised by how violent this anime was. You see bandits being cuts and killed within the first episode. The action scenes are understandably basic, along with the dialogs and storytelling.

This is a decently enough anime to watch if you are a fan of the 2019 alternative version and are curious of 1969 era anime. I would skip this if you don’t fall under that premise as the series can be quite slow. Dororo contains graphic violence and suggestive themes/dialogs. Intended for young adults.

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Long ago, Youma, shape changing demons, took human form to live in disguise in human towns, feeding on them in secret.

A secret, nameless society has discovered a way of implanting Youma flesh into humans to create hybrids powerful enough to defeat the Youma. A hybrid’s standard abilities include faster healing, limited shape modification, the ability to detect Youma and other hybrids, and overall enhanced physical prowess allowing them to wield massive claymores, for which they are named: Claymores. For reasons not divulged, only women are selected to be Claymores. They are often chosen for implantation after being the sole survivors of a family attacked by a Youma; this ensures their loyalty and willingness to endure the painful hybridization process.

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