History Anime / Dororo2019

* WouldHurtAChild: The army in "The Story of Banmon, Part 2" [[spoiler:slaughters the children Mio took in, and very nearly murder Dororo when trying to get to them assuming she's with the others. She's only saved by Hyakkimaru slicing off the arm of the soldier about to kill her.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:In the closing moments of the anime's final episode, the narrator states that the Warring States era is about to begin. Hyakkimaru, with his body fully restored and guilt-ridden by all the humans he killed, [[WalkTheEarth decides to travel Japan and forge his own destiny]], leaving Dororo to use her family's treasure to restore Daigo's kingdom. Just before the credits, we see a teenage Dororo running toward Hyakkimaru as he turns and smiles at her, implying that they've reunited in the near future.]]

** Dororo has [[spoiler:a map on her back: a map which flares to life whenever her skin is sufficiently warm, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything meant to be found by someone she can truly trust]]]]. When Biwamaru learns of it, he [[ShipperOnDeck congratulates]] the protagonists, relieved that they now have 'more options' in life.
** The Forehead Rub in "The Story of the Cape of Impermanence".
** Dororo regularly helps Hyakkimaru take care of himself in his newfound body and surrounding society, often acting like a nagging wife/mother to him and or on his behalf. They journey, struggle and bond closely together for months - Then, [[LoveAtFirstSight Oko]][[InLoveWithLove wa]] appears, and through a series of misunderstandings gets engaged to Hyakkimaru in a single day. This causes Dororo to [[GreenEyedMonster become indignant]], [[GreenEyedEpiphany as she had grown comfortable and used to being]] the one to 'handle' him.

** By the last arc of the anime Hyakkimaru is visibly more affectionate to Dororo and begins to prioritize her well being above most things. While parts of this new dynamic start [[MoralityChain holding him down]] he also provides for her to the best of his ability and bonds with her out of his own incentive.
** The first thing Hyakkimaru says when [[spoiler:he's finally able to see Dororo]] is that she's very beautiful, making her blush.
*** His definition of 'beautiful' is something that makes you feel good just by gazing at it.

** The developers put in plenty of symbolism to imply that [[spoiler:Hyakkimaru and Dororo will get married one day]] in openings, endings, and promotional material. One OP scene has them walk past the Meoto Iwa formation, also known as the "Married Couple" stones. The rocks at a glance also have [[spoiler:Dororo and Hyakkimaru's height gap]]. In the ED, the two of them form butterflies with their hands--another symbol of marriage and of finding one's soulmate-- while in the June 2019 copy of Animage, they're featured in a poster equipped with flowers. [[spoiler:Dororo in particular wears a bright red Camellia in her hair, the flower of perfect love.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Hyakkimaru defeats the possessed Tahomaru by breaking his morale instead of killing him. This causes Tahomaru to pull out the extra eyes the final demon gave him according to their pact. Hyakkimaru then defeats the demon and breaks the pact for good. Jukai and Nui guide Hyakkimaru to safety and watch over Tahomaru as the burning castle falls around them. A few days later, Hyakkimaru encounters Daigo within the Hall of Hell, intent on making another pact with the demons. Hyakkimaru spares his father's life and leaves him with a replica of the headless statue that Nui prayed to, now with a head attached to it, symbolising a new start. Hyakkimaru decides to venture out alone into Japan, leaving Dororo behind to retrieve her parent's fortune and rebuild Daigo's land. The very last shot of her running toward him, all grown up, indicates they'll meet again in the future.]]

* CrapsackWorld: Like the original manga, the series has a very unromantic, bleak interpretation of the Muromachi and Warring States periods. War ravages the land as samurai engage in petty power grabs, innocent people are caught in the crossfire, starvation and disease are common, and demons roam the land manipulating and murdering everyone.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: One of the midwives present at Hyakkimaru's birth utterly snapped at the sight of the "demon child" to the point where she, in the present day, gained a reputation as the local madwoman singing nightmarish lullabies to a bloodied rock wrapped up akin of a baby.

** Heavily downplayed with Daigo's deal with the demons. However horrendous it turned out, it has ultimately let his territory and people prosper, while Hyakkimaru's quest to regain his parts from the demons, however justified, will eventually send the land back into its ravaged, suffering state. Ultimately, though, this is simply Daigo's karma coming back to bite him - a man who gains power and prestige by secretly letting demons roam his land would lose it, sooner or later. The fact that many of the demons were terrorizing people outside of Daigo's kingdom also adds more justification for Hyakkimaru going after them. [[spoiler:By the story’s end more and more characters find themselves agreeing that Daigo’s deal caused just as many problems as it fixed.]]

* {{Irony}}: In giving his sons over to the demons, Daigo unwittingly doomed his country in exchange for temporary prosperity [[spoiler:not because Hyakimaru would inevitably take his body back and break the pact, but because Hyakimaru would have been a great leader and brought true prosperity to the kingdom had he been raised like Tahoumaru was.]] Daigo's pact with the demons amounted to [[spoiler:giving up a long future of prosperity in exchange for ending a time of hardship that his kingdom was destined to overcome.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Daigo has this reaction]] in "Dororo and Hyakkimaru" when he realizes [[spoiler:that Hyakimaru was destined to be a great leader, and that in selling him to the demons he gave away his kingdom's future prosperity.]]

** Hyakkimaru's missing body parts really show in this adaptation. Not only is he now [[TheSpeechless incapable of speech]], his prosthetics give him an eerie doll-like appearance that he's not able to shake until he got his face back. Without psychic powers that the original had, he is more or less incapable of communicating properly with other people and even those who travel with him like Dororo and Biwa-Hoshi have trouble understanding him. Even after obtaining the body parts required for communication, he still struggles to get the point across due to his inexperience with them.

* OffModel: "The Story of the Scene from Hell" has built a reputation for its odd quality. If the strange art direction of the episode seems familiar, you'd be right in believing it was directed by Osamu Kobayashi (who also directed episodes 5, 6 and 12, and the first ending, which all had fewer overall animation issues). He's infamous to this day for directing episode 4 of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and it ''shows''. The highlight of the episode is Hyakkimaru following Sabame up a hill in the woods and it seems [[https://i.redd.it/ddtnr49tj4u21.gif like he's teleporting while running]]. In a more general sense, the episodes switching between Tezuka Pro and MAPPA can invoke this as well, as the latter has overall better quality than the former.

** The 2019 anime makes Tahomaru's right eye normal instead of always shut.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: "The Story of the Mercilessness" features what appears to be a Catholic nun offering her prayers to the Buddha rather than the Christian God. This isn't a failure in research, however. When Christianity was first introduced to Japan, [[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2002/03/31/general/in-the-beginning-was-confusion/#.XIsiWcBKiUk Jesuits mistakenly assumed that many Buddhist terms were direct equivalents of Christian ones]] and used them as such. One of these terms was ''hotoke'', which is the term the nun in the anime uses for "Buddha" (or for God, rather).

** "The Story of Saru" has Dororo and Saru's plan to defeat Nokosaregumo involve disguising Dororo as the next sacrificial bride. As we learn much later, Dororo is a girl.

* {{Seinen}}: Unlike its original counterpart, the darker storyline places it squarely into this demographic.

* LighterAndSofter: Despite having a more realistic artstyle there are many cases where the show tones down the violence and bleakness compared to the orginal anime. Multiple characters including [[AbusiveParents Kagemitsu]] [[BigBad Daigo]], [[CainAndAbel Tahomaru]], and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Midoro]] are given AdaptationalHeroism. In the first episode of the 1969 show the sludge monster is shown melting a man's face while Hyakkimaru slaughters several men who get in his way.

** Dororo meets a dog that looks suspiciously Tezuka-like in "The Story of Daigo", calling back to the dog he and Hyakkimaru traveled with in the 1969 anime.

A stage play adaptation written and directed by Daisuke Nishida premiered on March 02, 2019.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: With the new artstyle, most characters get much more realistic and appealing designs.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Biwamaru and Tahomaru are introduced right off the bat in the first episode, signifying their upgrades to secondary and primary protagonists respectively.
* AdaptationalMundanity: All the demons and ghouls remain, but the anime chooses to excise the manga's [[AnachronismStew comedic anachronisms]] and some of Hyakkimaru's more [[SchizoTech out-there sci-fi abilities]], choosing instead play out as a more grounded {{historical|Fantasy}} LowFantasy.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In this version, [[spoiler:the soldiers have no qualms executing civilians near Banmon]], where they at least had the decency to question their boss's orders in the manga before carrying out the duty.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Hyakkimaru's missing body parts really show in this adaptation. Not only is he now [[TheSpeechless incapable of speech]], his prosthetics give him an eerie doll-like appearance that he's not able to shake until he got his face back. Without psychic powers that the original had, he is more or less incapable of communicating properly with other people and even those who travel with him like Dororo and Biwa-Hoshi have trouble understanding him. Even after obtaining the body parts required for communication, he still struggles to get the point across due to his inexperience with them.
** And when he finally ''does'' get his hearing and voice back, [[spoiler:he still can't speak, as he hadn't gone through language acquisition as a child]].
** Getting human parts does make Hyakkimaru more susceptible to human follies, i.e. [[spoiler:his very fleshy foot can be taken off just as easily as he got it.]]
** Also, taking back human parts he never had before means he has to take time to get used to them, which leaves him incredibly vulnerable. [[spoiler:For example, after getting back ears and sense of hearing, he has to wrap cloth around his ears for some time in order to block out all sort of sounds he is not familiar with, which ended up affecting his performance in battle against the demon bird and requiring Biwa-Hoshi to lend a helping hand.]]
** The more Hyakkimaru and Dororo journey and suffer together, the closer they become. However, that causes them to become crippled by the idea of [[PleaseDontLeaveMe separation]] and [[spoiler:by the end makes Dororo into Hyakkimaru's MoralityChain. They get better.]]
** In "The Story of Banmon, Part 2", Tahomaru makes an impassioned speech to Hyakkimaru about protecting his home and charges into battle against him, then gets [[CurbStompBattle quickly beaten down and has his face scarred]] as despite his training, Tahomaru was very sheltered and has little real combat experience while Hyakkimaru has been fighting and killing demons since childhood. Even in future fights between the two, Tahomaru only gains the upper hand when he has others backing him up.

* RealityEnsues:

* ArtShiftedSequel: This anime doesn't particularly follow Tezuka's style, instead using a more realistic look courtesy of ''Manga/LetterBee'''s Hiroyuki Asada.

* LighterAndSofter: Despite having a more realistic Artstyle there are many cases where the show tones down the violence and bleakness compared to the orginal Anime. Multiple characters including [[AbusiveParents Kagemitsu]] [[BigBad Daigo]], [[CainAndAbel Tahomaru]], and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Midoro]] are given AdaptationalHeroism. In the first episode of the 1969 show the sludge monster is shown melting a man's face while Hyakkimaru slaughters several men who get in his way.

!!The 2019 anime of ''Dororo'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* CooldownHug: [[spoiler:Dororo does this to Hyakkimaru in "The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 2" after Hyakkimaru slaughters the soldiers who killed Mio. And again in "The Story of Banmon, Part 2", when they cross paths with the lone survivor.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:The last demon in the deal was supposed to take Hyakkimaru's head, which would have killed him. Nui believes that the goddess she prays to gave up her own head to save Hyakkimaru's head, which allowed him to survive.]]

* AdaptationDistillation: Rather than forty eight demons, Hyakkimaru only has to fight twelve. Entire arcs of the manga find themselves condensed to their most essential elements so they can fit in.

''Dororo'' is a 2019 animated retelling of [[Creator/OsamuTezuka Osamu Tezuka's]] [[Manga/{{Dororo}} manga of the same name]]. It follows the basic premise of the original manga, but also takes some liberties in terms of [[DarkerAndEdgier atmosphere]], [[PragmaticAdaptation narrative flow]] and [[CanonForeigner additional side characters]]. The anime was produced by Creator/{{MAPPA}} and [[Creator/MushiProductions Tezuka Productions]], and airing between January and June 2019, with a total of 24 episodes. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wPl0zCDpSc here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuph-DDesSA here]] for its respective teaser and trailer.

!! ''Dororo (2019)'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* AdaptationDistillation: Rather than 48 demons, Hyakkimaru only has to fight 12. Likewise, сharacters such as Oyone (replaced with Okowa) are cut out of the story entirely, and entire arcs of the manga find themselves condensed to their most essential elements so they can fit in.
** An interesting example is Saburota, who occupies the same niche in the story as [[BreakoutCharacter Tahomaru]]. Their screen time is therefore inversely proportional to each other.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Hyakkimaru, while not bad-looking to begin with, is a {{Bishonen}}. Tahomaru is one as well when compared to his original manga counterpart.
** With the new artstyle, most characters got much more realistic and appealing designs.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Biwa-hoshi and Tahomaru are introduced right off the bat in the first episode, signifying their upgrades to secondary and primary protagonists respectively.
* AdaptationalMundanity: All the demons and ghouls remain, but the anime chooses to excise the manga's [[AnachronismStew comedic anachronisms]] and some of Hyakkimaru's more [[SchizoTech out-there sci-fi abilities]], choosing instead play out as a more grounded [[HistoricalFantasy Historical]] LowFantasy.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
** It’s easily overlooked considering he is otherwise still an apathetic and sexist egoist, but Daigo doesn't deliberately sacrifice his son for the deal; he merely says he'll give the demons anything, resulting in them targeting the newest addition to his family. His reasoning is not much changed however: he says he can't bear being the forgotten lord of a struggling region.
** Dororo himself's lightened up a bit, even staying with Hyakkimaru out of curiosity rather than trying to take his sword. Also, he is far more level-headed and worldly than his original manga-self with most of BrattyHalfPint tendencies removed.
** Although we don't see much of Tahomaru in the original manga, he's shown ordering the execution of civilians and wants to kill Hyakkimaru just for annoying him. In the anime, the execution is omitted, Tahomaru is shown to care deeply for the wellbeing of his people, and [[spoiler:he only decides to kill Hyakkimaru after his father convinces him that doing so would ensure the continued survival and prosperity of his land.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: In this version, [[spoiler:the soldiers have no qualms killing Mio and her kids]], where they at least had the decency to question their boss's orders in the manga before carrying out the duty.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Episode 9 features what appears to be a Catholic nun offering her prayers to the Buddha rather than the Christian God. This isn't a failure in research, however. When Christianity was first introduced to Japan, [[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2002/03/31/general/in-the-beginning-was-confusion/#.XIsiWcBKiUk Jesuits mistakenly assumed that many Buddhist terms were direct equivalents of Christian ones]] and used them as such. One of these terms was ''hotoke'', which is the term the nun in the anime uses for "Buddha" (or for God, rather).

* BattleAmongstTheFlames: [[spoiler:In Episode 23, Tahomaru battles Hyakkimaru in the family castle and it lights on fire as they fight, [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon transforming into a fiery blaze within minutes.]]]]

* BloodierAndGorier[=/=]DarkerAndEdgier: The bleak tone, graphic violence and visual style of the 2019 anime is comparable to works such as the ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' OVA ''Tsuiokuhen''. [[note]]Fittingly enough, the director of the 2019 anime is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuhiro_Furuhashi Kazuhiro Furuhashi]], who had directed the Ruroken OVA ''Tsuiokuhen''.[[/note]] Despite some calm moments between the carnage and character designs closely resembling Tezuka's, this is one of the darkest adaptations of any of his manga.

* BreatherEpisode: After [[spoiler:Mio's death and Hyakkimaru's RoaringRampageOfRevenge]], we're treated to an episode about a human and a monster falling in love, where no one dies and Hyakkimaru laughs his first laugh.
** Episode 19 is about Dororo and Hyakkimaru visiting a village where everyone speaks the opposite of what they think due to a prankster demon. It does have its serious moments, but scenes like Hyakkimaru accidentally agreeing to get married to the blacksmith's daughter and comedically clinging to a pillar while being dragged to the wedding add some much-needed levity before the dark and bloody final act.

* CooldownHug: [[spoiler: Dororo does this to Hyakkimaru in Episode 6 after Hyakkimaru slaughters the soldiers who killed Mio. And again in Episode 12, when they cross paths with the lone survivor.]]
** [[spoiler: Yet again in episode 20, when Hyakkimaru flies into a rage after not regaining his real arms.]]

* DiscardAndDraw: The demon that Hyakkimaru fights in episode 5 does this [[spoiler: as per the rules of the pact. Hyakkimaru was able to get his voice back but the demon was able to get Hyakkimaru's right foot. In episode 6 after Hyakkimaru kills the demon for good, he also gets his foot back.]]
* EvolvingCredits: The second half's ending sequence is presumably in Hyakkimaru's perspective, with the last image, a taller and slightly older looking Dororo, blurry but distinguishable. As of Episode 19, that final still image is completely visible.

** Episode 8 has Dororo and Saru's plan to defeat Nokosaregumo involve disguising Dororo as the next sacrificial bride. As we learn much later, Dororo is a girl.

** Heavily downplayed with Daigo's deal with the demons. However horrendous it turned out, it has ultimately let his territory and people prosper, while Hyakkimaru's quest to regain his parts from the demons, however justified, will eventually send the land back into its ravaged, suffering state. Ultimately, though, this is simply Daigo's karma coming back to bite him - a man who gains power and prestige by secretly letting demons roam his land would lose it, sooner or later. The fact that many of the demons were terrorizing people outside of Daigo's kingdom also adds more justification for Hyakkimaru going after them. [[spoiler: By the story’s end more and more characters find themselves agreeing that Daigo’s deal caused just as many problems as it fixed.]]

*** Then there's the fact that in the final episode [[spoiler: Daigo]] has a HeelRealization upon figuring out that [[spoiler: Hyakkimaru was destined to end his kingdom's era of poverty and forming a pact with the demons ruined that.]]

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: [[spoiler: Itachi. He is initially a friend of Dororo’s father, but later betrays him. When he returns he is still a heel, but then becomes a face, then he goes back to being a heel, then he [[HeroicSacrifice dies as a face]] when he protects Dororo.]]
* {{Irony}}: In giving his sons over to the demons, Daigo unwittingly doomed his country in exchange for temporary prosperity [[spoiler: not because Hyakimaru would inevitably take his body back and break the pact, but because Hyakimaru would have been a great leader and brought true prosperity to the kingdom had he been raised like Tahoumaru was.]] Daigo's pact with the demons amounted to [[spoiler: giving up a long future of prosperity in exchange for ending a time of hardship that his kingdom was destined to overcome.]]
* KarmicThief: The bandits led by Hibukuro in episode 9 are a rare anime example of the noble thief archetype since they attack and kill samurai, whom they believe are the reasons for the suffering of their countrymen. Things get complicated when [[spoiler:[[NumberTwo right-hand man]] Itachi]] betrays Hibukuro and his wife Ojiya by joining forces with the samurai, justifying his actions by explaining that he'd rather be on the winning side and that Hibukuro should embrace the new era of the samurai. He even gives a younger Dororo some advice to leave behind their old ways and become a better person.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The series this time around reveals [[spoiler:Dororo being female]] a bit earlier than it normally would, as a nun casually tells Hyakkimaru the fact in episode 9 rather than Hyakkimaru finding out himself.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Daigo has this reaction]] in the final episode when he realizes [[spoiler: that Hyakimaru was destined to be a great leader, and that in selling him to the demons he gave away his kingdom's future prosperity.]]

** Dororo meets a dog that looks suspiciously Tezuka-like in episode 1, calling back to the dog he and Hyakkimaru traveled with in the 1969 anime.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: While Daigo's deal was horrible, it's a fact that his land has prospered as a result of the deal which leads to a recurring question if it's right for Hyakkimaru to suffer for the good of Daigo's people. Various characters wonder what's the right thing to do with Dororo flip flapping the most. [[spoiler:By episode 23 Nui realizes the sacrifice isn't worth it because their happiness wasn't the result of their own hard work and thus if something should threaten it, they can't protect it.]]
* OffModel: Episode 15 has built a reputation for its odd quality. If the strange art direction of the episode seems familiar, you'd be right in believing it was directed by Osamu Kobayashi (who also directed episodes 5, 6 and 12, and the first ending, which all had fewer overall animation issues). He's infamous to this day for directing episode 4 of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and it ''shows''. The highlight of the episode is Hyakkimaru following Sabame up a hill in the woods and it seems [[https://i.redd.it/ddtnr49tj4u21.gif like he's teleporting while running]]. In a more general sense, the episodes switching between Tezuka Pro and MAPPA can invoke this as well, as the latter has overall better quality than the former.

** The more Hyakkimaru and Dororo journey and suffer together, the closer they become. However, that causes them to become crippled by the idea of [[PleaseDontLeaveMe separation]] and [[spoiler: by the end makes Dororo into Hyakkimaru's MoralityChain. They get better.]]
** In episode 12, Tahomaru makes an impassioned speech to Hyakkimaru about protecting his home and charges into battle against him, then gets [[CurbStompBattle quickly beaten down and has his face scarred]] as despite his training, Tahomaru was very sheltered and has little real combat experience while Hyakkimaru has been fighting and killing demons since childhood. Even in future fights between the two, Tahomaru only gains the upper hand when he has others backing him up.
* ScrewDestiny: A dark example, in that Daigo's DealWithTheDevil [[spoiler: resulted in prosperity, but at the cost of the leader destined to bring his land prosperity for many more years.]]

** On a story building level, after episode 9 it appears as if the writers have gently divided the anime into two parts: The part where [[spoiler: [[DeathByOriginStory Mio]] acts as the primary female character for the story]] and the part where [[spoiler: [[SamusIsAGirl Dororo]] does]], distributing ample shipping along the way.

** Dororo has [[spoiler: a map on her back: a map which flares to life whenever her skin is sufficiently warm, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything meant to be found by someone she can truly trust]]]]. When Biwamaru learns of it, he [[ShipperOnDeck congratulates]] the protagonists, relieved that they now have 'more options' in life.
** [[SignatureScene The Forehead Rub]] in episode 18.

** After agonizing over his inability to help Dororo due to the constraints of his prosthetics, [[spoiler: Hyakkimaru casually helps and holds her with his real arms.]]
** [[spoiler: In the end, it's implied that after Hyakkimaru regains his humanity and learns responsibility, he will come back to Dororo's side to stay.]]
** The developers put in plenty of symbolism to imply that [[spoiler: Hyakkimaru and Dororo will get married one day]] in openings, endings, and promotional material. One OP scene has them walk past the Meoto Iwa formation, also known as the "Married Couple" stones. The rocks at a glance also have [[spoiler: Dororo and Hyakkimaru's height gap]]. In the ED, the two of them form butterflies with their hands--another symbol of marriage and of finding one's soulmate-- while in the June 2019 copy of Animage, they're featured in a poster equipped with flowers. [[spoiler: Dororo in particular wears a bright red Camellia in her hair, the flower of perfect love.]]

** [[spoiler: Tahomaru]] becomes this for [[spoiler: Asura when he ceases fighting with Hyakkimaru and then forcibly [[EyeScream returns his brother's eyes]].]]

* SuddenlySpeaking: Hyakkimaru lacks a voice until the end of episode 5. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, him regaining it isn't pleasant to see. Hyakkimaru is writhing and screaming in pain because the demon he fought bit off his real leg.]]
* SuicidalSadisticChoice: [[spoiler: The samurai Tanosuke]] refused his lord's order to kill a man, and was told to either kill him or suicide.
* ThirdEye: In episode 22, there's a creepy sequence where [[spoiler:Tahomaru acquires Hyakkimaru's eyes alongside his own remaining one. The eye takes up the place of the additional scar that Hyakkimaru gave him in the previous episode.]]

* WhamShot: Episode 22, which has [[spoiler:Tahomaru revealed to have ''both'' of Hyakkimaru's eyes in addition to his remaining eye, while Hyogo and Mutsu each have one of Hyakkimaru's arms.]]

** Episode 3 is devoted to showing the audience how Hyakkimaru got his prosthetics and his childhood development, along with explaining Jukai's involvement in his life.
** Episode 9 tells us about Dororo's parents and how they died.

* WholePlotReference: The anime adds an overarching MythArc heavily based on the short story ''"Literature/TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas"'', with Hyakkimaru taking place of the forsaken child.

* SuddenlyVoiced: Hyakkimaru lacks a voice until the end of episode 5. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, him regaining it isn't pleasant to see. Hyakkimaru is writhing and screaming in pain because the demon he fought bit off his real leg.]]

* AdaptationExpansion: At the expense of cutting out less important parts, the anime greatly expands and details every aspect that does make it in. We see much more development and backstory for Jukai and Mio, and many excellent anime-only characters, like Hyogo and Mutsu.

** This is the reason why the series practically oozes with well written and dynamically growing characters. The mundane and naturalistic approach towards worldbuilding and sizeable timeline lets us see everyone grow, not only emotionally, but also physically and morally, while every one-off character down to the smallest extras has a visible background, circumstances and goals in life they strive to accomplish.

** The more Hyakkimaru and Dororo journey and suffer together, the closer they become. However, that causes them to become crippled by the idea of [[PleaseDonntLeaveMe separation]] and [[spoiler: by the end makes Dororo into Hyakkimaru's MoralityChain. They get better.]]