Dororo (2019)

It was a twist to me at least…

Its not technically supposed to be a twist in the traditional sense, but in the sense that you want it not to happen, but when you finally see it, the depression hits you like a ton of bricks at the fact you were right.

I guess the real twist is that it pointed hints that were so obvious that you think its just playing with you, when in reality it is what it seems.

That honestly makes it all the more sad, really.

The kicker for me was Mio's clear misery at it.

Ep 6, and wow that took a turn for the depressing. I did figure she would last longer, even if she was dead from the moment she appeared in the opening.

Goddammit. Why do Mios always have to die in this kind of story?

…There seems to be a recurring pattern of Hyakki losing something every time he gets something back…

And in large part due to his impatience in getting more back/killing the monsters that that took from him to begin with.

So Hyakki got back his leg that was bitten off from the bug demon who I thought was dead so the demon must have traded Hyakki's leg for his voice. Killing the demon then gave him back both of his parts.

Also I'm surprised Daigo misses his son. So it cements that while it was his choice to abandon the baby, he still didn't actually want to do it & misses him like any father would.

Though damn Tahomaru really must feel like shit knowing both of his parents look beyond him.

Edited by slimcoder on Feb 12th 2019 at 12:08:42 PM

It does handily explain why Tahomaru tries so hard to emulate his dad and be the perfect son. He's competing against the brother he never knew. And he's still unable to gain his parents' full attention.

Blood Will Tell also makes Daigo more sympathetic than in the original manga. He's still ruthless at first, but the moment he realizes Hyakki is his son he becomes less so. Tahomaru is also initially hostile to Hyakki and even fights him, but the moment he finds out Hyakki is his older brother he stops fighting him and ultimately joins forces with him. Though it still ends in tears.

And no, Mio doesn't fare much better in the game either. She gets impaled and eaten by a Fiend, becoming a sacrifice for the powerful Mountain Fiend's revival. And it only happened because she pushed Hyakki out of the way of the Fiend's arm.

Edited by M84 on Feb 12th 2019 at 3:26:26 AM

One thing that struck me at work, the samurai that killed Mio and the kids didn't just kill a group of innocents (and get Hyakimaru on their ass), they also wasted a good opportunity to gather a bit of intel on their opponents. If Mio had been a spy they could have interogated her for info on the enemy, what those guys know or think they know about their own army. And whether or not she was a spy or not, she could have spied on the enemy instead, with the kids being hostages for her loyalty. But that would have required thinking and planning, which is hard, so they just murdered everyone...

I guess that Mio's party is over

Laughter helps me deal with the pain

Edited by Uninstall on Feb 12th 2019 at 6:27:32 AM

…You did not.

Episode 7! A more heartwarming story this time, which was probably needed after last week. So even Hyakki can distinguish even between different type of "evil spirits", huh…

I loved the last scene. Everyone learned something.

"The only difference between a monster and a human, is "intention"."

I really liked this episode...

Especially the philosophy of "All life is equal", may it be a insect or a human being.

We are not worth more than cockroaches and cockroaches aren't worth more than us.

Reminds me of another saying similar to this.

"Nobody deserves to live and nobody deserves to die."

It's just the cycle of life, nothing more, nothing less.

Even between monsters and mankind.

Yes, he actually laughed! Well, more like snickered, but in this series that's almost groundbreaking.

I've been rereading the manga, and something that I found interesting is that in the manga, Mio does say that she isn't pure because she goes to the soldiers' barracks at night to to get food for the kids. However, the manga portrays this as her bringing a begging bowl into the barracks, and then being pelted by rocks, rotten fruit, and other garbage.

I know Tezuka isn't adverse to depicting sex in his manga, so the manga portraying her venture into the barracks in that way surprised me a little.

On the subject of Mio, I think that the decision to have Hyakkimaru not using any lost senses until he gets it back made the moment where he goes completely apeshit and starts slaughtering the samurai that killed Mio and the kids all the more powerful.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Feb 25th 2019 at 12:01:04 PM

Episode 8 was… pretty straightforward and not all that eventful. Even Hyakki's "reward" is rather small this time. I guess a two-cour series is gonna have simpler episodes like this too… Although it also shows that Hyakki got completely used to hearing and can use that sense to fight now. He's even starting to use his voice (a little).

Interesting. As horrible as it is, I think the anime's version is more… realistic. In a sad way.

Amused by the bit where Dororo dresses up as a bride.

Yeah... as much as fiction doesn't really need any more depictions of rape, it does seem more realistic. Especially given how the anime has been running with the message of "holy shit, guys, the Sengoku period was awful for literally everyone".

Aaaand we're back to tragic again. Well, Dororo's dad was quite the badass wasn't he? And must have been voiced by Kenta Miyake, since he sounded just like All Might.

Aah, Sengoku, such a nice era to live in…

So yeah, Dororo's a she, huh… at least physically?

Well, for once it's a good thing that Hyakki's blind since that means he probably couldn't care less.

PS: I'm absolutely sure I saw the scene of the mom feeding soup to her child with her bare hands in another series, and it wasn't '69 Dororo… Maybe that other series' scene was a homage to this one…

I was surprised by the Cannibalism myself.

Very effective use of a shocking scene.

And the brother is pretty cool too. A good fighter, person and heir, who just wants to find out why his parents seem to always think of someone else these days. Sucks that Tahomaru and his Onii-chan will end up in conflict with each other at some, probably.

It might be my favorite episode so far… I'm glad Tahoumaru has a genuinely good heart. Makes the inevitable conflict that much more compelling. Especially since slaying the demons undoes the "blessing" on their land.

But boy, you're naïve if you think your dad turned this (literally) godforsaken land into a paradise just through his charisma…

By the way it doesn't seem like Hyakki got any new body part back, this time around…?

Edited by Lyendith on Mar 11th 2019 at 11:43:29 AM

Yeah, it's definitely more compelling than the old anime where Tahomaru is a spoiled, vicious prick

Tahomaru was alright in the Blood Will Tell game too. He starts out a militaristic prick like his dad, but he almost immediately lightens up after the double whammy of finding out about the Fiends' existence and learning that Hyakkimaru is his older brother.