Dorohedoro
a review by JULESWK
a review by JULESWK
Inside the alligator's mouth. Never better said than earlier 2020, when a "curious" play was released to say the least; and is that this series (which I admit to leave infirst instance) is a journey into madness, with a more bizarre bizarro world of subjects above and who spend their days volándose brains ... It As well as, after resigning myself and starting with the end of the year count, I have ended up giving myself to said madness and thanks to this, I have been able to enjoy something great and full of fun, and yes, I mean nothing more and nothing less than to the chaos called ...Dorohedoro.
Dorohedoro presents the story of Kaiman, a man cursed to carry a reptile head. That is why our green protagonist spends his days wandering the streets of the desolate city of Hole, his home, in order to hunt sorcerers, who use the city as a testing ground, cursing left and right at anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. But as I said, the thing is that Kaiman, accompanied by his friend (and personal chef expert in martial arts) Nikaido, goes, hunts and ... "bites" each sorcerer in order to find the one who cursed him and thus recover his memory, which by the way, he also lost next to his human head. And this would have no major inconvenience if it were not because, after gobbling a sorcerer and letting his partner escape, Kaiman and Nikaido will begin to be sought out by En-san, the head of the sorcerers and who will send his thugs Shin and Noi after the steps of the reptile and the girl.
Few seconds pass for the series to show us what the matter is about, because as soon as the thing goes, we already see our leading duo massacring "literally" a couple of novice wizards: a bite, a head inside Kaiman, a question, an unwanted answer and a dismembered body, all in less than 3 minutes ... Welcome to Dorohedoro.
And here is that the narrative axis on which we will focus is none other than violence, because although the background is the search for Kaiman and Nikaido, the truth is that the series is addictive due to that violent and uncontrolled madness that we shows, impregnating each episode with sequences full of blood, risque comments, flying viscera or flying heads, all accompanied by an omnipresent comedy that manages to get us several laughs, more for the absurdity of the situation, than because it is really funny . And this is enhanced by its characters, each one crazier than the last; from our protagonist and his comic way of being, killing here and there, while grieving for his lack of identity and past; Nikaido who serves as a companion and support for Kaiman, and who also takes on an important background with the passage of history, and even others such as Doc, or the little talkative "Johnson" who will contribute their comic vision to each situation, with everything and baseball game included.
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In spite of everything, Dorohedoro cannot say that it is a series for everyone, and it is precisely because of what its appearance means: from the dark of its settings, the bizarre and "feisty" in the character design, as well as the violence makes explicit in the series that, without being something never seen, it can be shocking to more than one with a dislike for viscera and blood. Likewise, and I think this is the reason why several of us left the series in the first instance, it is the marked difference with respect to the manga. However, I would like to defend this point and it is that, after all, adapting Dorohedoro as such was extremely difficult due to the obvious difference between ink and animation, which is why I believe that in this case, despite not being the same, yes manages to form its own identity as an Anime.
And yes, that means that the technical aspect in Dorohedoro works, and I must say it very well. But to understand this, again, say that its original source was already peculiar and bizarre, so adapting it was a challenge outside the standards. That is why MAPPA uses the (so hated) 3D CGI technique here , which I think is a success due to the amount of expressions in its characters that, otherwise, could have been like Kakegurui (for example). And speaking of character design, courtesy of Tomohiro KishiWe are facing a fairly loose and rough line, thus achieving the essence of the manga and giving the characters that hardness and untidy in their features (Kaiman is the most obvious change) but without that meaning few details. In the same way, the wardrobe of each one stands out, especially their various masks (omnipresent in the magical world) which present enough details and impact to identify each character, becoming a visual delight; the clothes also work and in the case of Shin o Noi, it accentuates the rawness of the work by being permanently covered in blood. Even the demons (few but present) are well designed, giving them that air of filth and evil. The scenarios on the other hand are just as effective and manage to recreate in an extraordinary way the world of Dorohedoro, that place that is Hole, full of decadence, flickering lights and buildings that seem about to collapse, with the feeling that every corner can be the end of your way. And even better are the backgrounds of the magical world, contradicting what has been seen until then and changing the shadows and the ruin of Hole for the colors and the more stylized and textured buildings, such as En-san's palace for example. An extraordinary world of dark fantasy.
The OST also works very well on Dorohedoro, making it one of its strongest points. And it is that we are before pieces full of genius and that will enter our ears like a small hammer jingling, and believe me, that will stay there for a long time. Pieces like the great "VICTIM" or the crazy "EL CORAZÓN" make us feel as if we were going directly to a toxic waste factory with the car stereo at full volume (excuse my crude example), a whole acid trip, the same happens with the funniest songs, case of the rhythmic "FUNNY FAMILY" that makes us dance to the smooth rhythm of the blood jumping everywhere.
Regarding his vocal pieces, I have to say that despite not liking him the first time, the OP has become one of my weaknesses of the year, entitled "Welcome to Chaos" by (K) NoW_NAME , it is a piece full of energy, with an implicit psychedelic that, without startling or taking control at any time, does manage to accelerate our ears along with its visual. And then there is the ED of the series ... Or rather the ED, because Dorohedoro has no less than 6 closing pieces, being: "Who am I?" (eps 1-2, 7) "Night SURFING" (eps 3-4) "DDDD" (eps 5-6) "Strange Meat Pie" (eps 8-9) "SECONDs FLY""404" all from the same band and each one more rhythmic than the previous one, as well as unique in terms of their visuals, managing to match the rhythm of the episode that precedes them; yes, my favorite is the first one with everything and its light flashing. This OST is quite a show, weird, yes, but a show all the same.
Dorohedoro is a series that can be summarized as "walking madness", with a story as bizarre as its characters and moments as spectacular as they are bloody, that leave little to the imagination and that, thanks to this, traps us in its dark universe from the first minute , making us want to see more and more and leaving us as crazy as the story itself. With an animation that despite (or thanks) to its 3D / 2D mix has a high level, a soundtrack that fits perfectly with the bizarre and some protagonists (and antagonists) that will make us laugh at every moment, Dorohedoro is simply one of those works that cannot be missed ... Even if we have to get into the mouth of the alligator.
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