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Review

by Grant Jones,

The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru

Volume 1

Synopsis:
The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru Volume 1
A ronin whose body is made up of prosthetic limbs containing deadly weapons travels Sengoku Era Japan slaying demons. He is joined by a young thief who hopes to one day take the swords he keeps in his arms. Along their journey they come face to face with terrifying monsters and witness the depths of human depravity.
Review:

“Just an empty sheath.”

It's one of the first lines spoken by our hero Hyakkimuaru. Accosted on the road by bandits, they demand the sword at his hip as payment to pass through. He informs them with a smirk that the sheath is empty – it's just for show. They attempt to jump him and find out that he is in fact well-armed, but not quite in the way they anticipated. Removing his forearms he reveals that he has large katana blades jutting out from his elbows that were hidden within his prosthetic limbs. A few gruesome slashes later and the bandits are corpses on the side of the road, leaving Hyakkimaru to continue wandering the lonely road ahead.

The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru is the latest retelling of this classic tale, with story and art by Satoshi Shiki of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall fame. The original Dororo was a manga from the late 1960s by none other than acclaimed mangaka Osamu Tezuka. It centers on the travels of the demon slayer Hyakkimaru and the young thief Dororo as they traverse Sengoku-era Japan battling monsters both human and supernatural. It has been adapted to an anime by Mushi Productions in 1969, and another anime adaption in 2019 by MAPPA. This review will cover the first volume of The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru, which was released in Japan in 2018 and just this summer in the U.S. by Seven Seas Entertainment. As a note, my primary experience with Dororo is the 2019 anime and some of the 1969 anime.

The plot is simple enough. It is broken up across five parts, with the first two being a meeting of our leads and initial setup for later adventures. The last three cover their first outing together meeting a demon-infested village.

Hyakkimaru is a wandering demon hunter, travelling Sengoku-era Japan and it is not a happy place. The land is ravaged by war and destitution, where life is short and encounters with newcomers shorter and more brutal. Dororo is a young thief doing anything to get by, stealing food to eat and goods to hawk. Our young thief gets caught stealing food from a samurai fort. They beat Dororo rather severely then trot off to do much worse. As they go to cross a bridge they run into Hyakkimaru who will not move aside. Before their standoff escalates any further, the demon Hyakkimaru has been chasing leaps into the river below and conjures a physical form by inhabiting all of the bodies floating in the river. This undulating mass of flesh, teeth, and eyes lashes out to slay the samurai holding Dororo. Hyakkimaru leaps into action and dispatches the creature with his arm blades. Dororo sees the magnificent blades and is determined to have them, so decides to tag along for future adventures as Hyakkimaru wanders from town to town slaying beasties – much to the ronin's chagrin. They also come across a blind biwa-playing monk who serves as a de facto third member in their travels.

The second story centers on a town beset by a demon – Kazekoro – who demands constant gold tributes. Their village elder Bandai is bed-ridden and helps guide the villagers on how to appease the demon and eke out a peaceful, if difficult, existence. However, once Hyakkimaru and Dororo arrive matters get more complicated. Bandai locks them up for being uncooperative, and while locked up they meet the former village elder who reveals that Bandai is in fact a demon herself. Our heroes confront and slay Bandai, while also revealing that the initial demon Kazekoro was in fact trying to help the villagers find their gold but Bandai was misleading them. However, in another shocking twist, Bandai's father is not heartbroken by Bandai's loss at all, and our heroes realize he only wanted his daughter Bandai out of the way so that he could once again take control and enrich himself. They are forced to defeat and tie up the old man when he becomes violent. During the fighting, Dororo is injured, and Hyakkimaru's eyes suddenly seem afflicted but none of the villagers will help. The villagers consider them freaks and state quite plainly that they were happier before they knew Bandai was a demon. Our heroes leave town as outcasts once more, but on their way out of town Hyakkimaru has a startling realization – he has never cared for anyone before now.

This sets up strong hook for the episodic, picaresque style of storytelling. Hyakkimaru and Dororo travel from town to town slaying demons and trying to survive, while confronting many of the world's depravities – most often perpetrated by very human antagonists. Additionally, while it is not explicitly stated in this volume, the situation with Hyakkimaru's eyes is related to his demon slaying. As he slays demons his body continues to react in interesting and unforeseeable ways, further adding not only mystery but a sense of progress even through the self-contained “monster of the week” village adventures.

I personally found this to be a very engaging manga that was faithful to my understanding of the original while still feeling like it had its own distinct identity. The core setup is both a product of its time and quite timeless. The stoic warrior with young ward travelling a dangerous land trope is as effective in 2020 as it was in 1967, and the added element of Hyakkimaru's body undergoing a transformation after each demon is slain adds a thread of continuity that helps bind the tales together. Part gritty historical fiction, part terrifying monster hunt, part exploration of what it means to be human. The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru retains all of the elements that make the original so engrossing: the simple brutal tragedy of life in a time of war, with the found family dynamic of outcasts shunned from wider society. Textually and visually, Satoshi Shiki's vision of Japan is not unlike the corpses littered along the roadside – rottng, sun-bleached, and swarmed with buzzing flies. There is a pervasive sense of dread and loss to every panel. Dororo is as much post-apocalyptic work as it is period piece. That pervasive sense of physical and personal emptiness – “Just an empty sheath.” – seeps into every part of the manga.

The primary struggle of the definition of humanity is a big part of what makes this work effective for me. To my mind there's very much a transhumanist undercurrent to this journey. Hyakkimaru is fighting for his own humanity, slaying inhuman monsters in a cruel world that he never asked to be a part of. Which is the true self – the body he is struggling to (re)gain, or the weapon he has become? Dororo is a young kid in survival mode, caught between selfishness and selflessness – is that to protect themself, or is that their true self? Neither truly fit into “normal” society, but when “normal” society is a non-stop cavalcade of brutality where the truth is anathema to people who prefer comforting lies, is that anything they really want to “fit in” with? All these seeds were present in Tezuka's original work, and it's great to see them remixed again and again to great effect.

Satoshi Shiki's craft is on full display in this volume. The art itself is gorgeous, and strikes an interesting balance between old and new sensibilities. Osamu Tezuka's style and character designs have a very distinct look, and the original work(s) certainly struck an interesting tone with the more cartoonish characters engaged in rather horrific acts of violence. The 2019 anime adaptation went for a much more modern and realistic look, without little to no cartoonish elements in the line work or designs. Satoshi takes an interesting tack in The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru in that regard: while the main cast and majority of events are rendered in a style more akin to modern manga sensibilities, supporting cast members and one-off panels have an air of Tezuka's work. Every now and then a group of villagers will have a more doughy quality, or a moment of action will have that unmistakable Tezuka style. I think this blending of the modern and classic design work is a brilliant choice on Satoshi Shiki's part.

The line work for Hyakkimaru is particularly impressive. You get a real sense of the appreciation for this iconic character in how fully realized he is in each and every shot, from his wild long hair to the exacting detail of his blades down to the patterns on his garb. The way his frayed clothing seems to become more indistinct the further it is from his body gives him the aura of a spectral apparition, and he is both a haunted and haunting figure.

The actual layouts of the work are quite rigid for the most part. The panel work here is very rectangular, with very little shifting in perspective and the panels being given plenty of real estate on the page. This creates a rhythmic vibe to most of the work, which when combined with the plentiful use of wide shots over empty vistas evokes many of the same feelings as watching a classic chanbara or jidaigeki film.

Though in mentioning chanbara, I should point out that this is not exactly an action-heavy work. If you're looking for drawn-out conflicts with a lot of tactical minutia you're better served by other works. There certainly is action, but it is much like the aforementioned jidaigeki films: long, tense build-ups to brief moments of consequential violence. Most fights are a bit of monster nastiness, a close-up shot of Hyakkimaru leaping, then a few Kawajiri-esque blade slash effects and the fight is over. That is in keeping with the tone of the work – there is little heroism or excitement once it's time to settle things with the blade. All that's left is the butchery. That said, when the action kicks in a slight slant to the gutters or a gorgeous double-page splash suddenly jumps out at the reader, the restrained tone of the rest of the work makes these segments really pop. Ironically, the gore – while visceral at times – is somewhat more restrained than the 2019 anime (and is actually far more restrained in what it shows compared to the 1969 anime, at least for now).

Overall I think this is an excellent start to the series. The first volume of The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru is incredibly solid, and if it maintains this level of quality I think it could be one of the definitive takes on the series. I was not familiar with Satoshi Shiki's work before but this also has my interest piqued in checking out his other work. It was great revisiting Dororo through this slightly-altered lens, and I think it serves equally well as an introductory work for a newcomer. I highly recommend reading it and will be looking out for future releases.

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Grade:
Overall : A-
Story : B+
Art : A

+ Excellent art, moody atmosphere, strong emotional and thematic hook to start the series
As a remake it is largely a rehash of the existing narrative

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Production Info:
Story & Art: Satoshi Shiki
Original creator: Osamu Tezuka
Licensed by: Seven Seas

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Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru (manga)

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