Dorohedoro Season 2

Episode 9

In manga form, Dorohedoro is an assault on the senses, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. In anime form, the adaptation cannot quite replicate the same feeling, so it instead brings its own sensory dimensions to the story. This week's opening fight is a great example. Between the visual and sound direction, there's a tactile physicality to each bone-crushing blow. It delivers impact after impact laden with blood and guts aplenty. The Shin versus Dokuga slugfest in particular stands out, because no matter how many magic powers and knifes you throw into the fray, nothing beats two dudes punching the shit out of each other.

If only the anime didn't embrace its darkness so literally. While there are ways one could stage and choreograph a brawl without a light source, the adaptation's palette just turns muddled and nearly indiscernible when the lamp breaks. This spooky mood creates some tension as Natsuki stumbles upon the Cross-Eyes' boss—the horror genre is no stranger to darkness, after all. However, I think a little more fine-tuning would have gone a long way. An OLED screen helps, of course, but that shouldn't be required to parse the episode.

The “debut” of Kai, the boss, is this week's big plot development. There's neat symmetry and irony here: Kai kills En and transplants En's devil tumor into his own brain, which lets Kai use En's mushroom magic. More prudently, though, Kai himself ends up taking En's place both literally and figuratively in the sorcerers' world. There's a power vacuum, much like the one in En's hollowed-out skull, and Kai steps in to fill it. Meanwhile, riding their boss' coattails, the other Cross-Eyes take care of the day-to-day drudgery in the mansion, which in typical Dorohedoro style is full of dead bodies.

I can never get enough of this series' macabre sense of humor. In between cleaning up the viscera around the mansion, the Cross-Eye flunkies take a moment to revel in the luxury of a fully stocked supply closet. Dokuga almost tears up at the sight of toilet paper in the same episode where he reveals that Kai killed Risu in cold blood in order to harness his Curse magic. Dokuga kept this quiet due to a Machiavellian calculation that Kai's power as their leader is more important than his apparent bloodthirst. Also, Dokuga refuses to throw out En's annoying cuckoo clock because he knows it would be wasteful, and he's too familiar with poverty to take any part of this mansion for granted. Nearly every character in Dorohedoro contains these multitudes.

Q Hayashida loves to keep her audience on their toes, too. If you're trying to solve these mysteries or predict where the story will go next, you can't afford to be anything except hyper-vigilant. Haru's penchant for singing demonically abrasive death metal was a goofy punchline last week. This week, it's the plot point that drives Risu/Curse away from Kai after his “resurrection.” That's good foreshadowing and good follow-up thanks to its goofiness, not in spite of it. And I like how it might prompt paranoia in a certain kind of reader or viewer. They might notice that Johnson continues to follow Kasukabe around everywhere. Maybe that's because a giant talking cockroach makes every scene that much better. Maybe Hayashida has big plans for the big guy. Who knows? Either way, it means more Johnson, and that makes me happy.

Meanwhile, Aikawa hangs out, eats tasty grub, and runs into some old friends (and foes). His chill and friendly demeanor strikes a growing contrast against Kai's enigmatic ruthlessness, and we're left wondering what their connection is. At the very least, Aikawa appears oblivious to any part he might have played in Risu's murder, as he deliberately seeks out his old partner and leaps to his aid when he notices Risu's disheveled state. And it's difficult to picture Aikawa betraying Risu, given what we know of their bond. By all accounts, they were basically boyfriends. On the other hand, if there was a betrayal here, then that closeness might have fueled the magnitude of Curse's fury.

Speaking of close relationships, Shin and Noi are my OTP. They are hard-working, cold-blooded killers, and together, they make the cutest couple I've ever seen. Look at the way Noi's eye's soften into worry when Sho tells her about Shin. Look at how Shin turns as red as his mask when Noi pulls away from her smoke-filled CPR session. There's so much genuine tenderness there. Watching them pulverize and dismember their enemies together never fails to warm the cockles of my heart. And I'm so happy the anime doesn't shy away from Noi's physique. The adaptation uses traditional animation for her nude form, and you can see how much care the animators poured into every contour of her muscles. I love her. I need to be her. Noi is big time gender goals, and that is yet another reason why Q Hayashida one of my goats.

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