The title has already tipped my hand as to what I think of Dororo, but this year it has been, without question, the best show I've seen so far. The story of a father who sold the body of his newborn in order to save a dying nation, the child barely escapes his fate as the final demon fails to take the last of his body. Given artificial limbs and a name, Hyakkimaru is now on a quest to find the demons who took his body and defeat them in order to get it all back.
Dororo, the titular character is a young child who befriends Hyakkimaru after their life is saved by him. Upon saving Dororo, which was purely coincidental to why he was there, Dororo sees the carved mask covering Hyakkimaru face fall off and the skin regrows on him. Opting to follow Hyakkimaru around, it becomes obvious pretty quickly that the boy can't see, hear, speak, or anything of the sort leading Dororo to wonder how he can even fight.
This is where a potential flaw of the show comes up, depending on your own suspension of disbelief. He is able to 'see' ones life force as a sort of color and learned to distinguish small and edible signs of life such as plants and fish to eat from human life, and even demons and ghouls. Where things get a bit weird is how he is able to fight by bouncing of things he can't clearly see, such as the fractured structure of the bridge in the first fight. He can't feel anything, so there isn't too much of a sensible way this scene could play out. Paired with how quickly he sometimes adapts to acquiring a new piece of his body back, the show can test your willingness to buy into it. That said, I had little trouble since, a more realistic or sensible approach to the ideas would either leave the show impossible or pad it out to an absurdly long run. That said, I think the show really does go about this in the best way it could have and doesn't really leave me with any problems when trying to enjoy the show.
For the longest while, most of the show is shown from the perspective of the only character of the duo that can talk, Dororo. You learn a lot about their back story and motivations, Dororo being a pretty clever kid who, at times, can get a bit greedy and wanting pay for slaying ghouls and demons. This works well in the shows favor as it slowly builds up the view others have of Hyakkimaru, and very slowly starts to show you what kind of person he really is. It can't do this through words, as he can't speak, and his expressions are pretty limited due to his eyes being false as well. But you get a lot out of his reactions to things only he is able to see, such as the aura of demons and ghouls, and even how his actions change as he sees aura's change or new ones that confuse him. Backed up by just the right amount of narration in the beginning, Hyakkimaru becomes an extremely lively character despite never speaking for most of the shows run.
The growth of Hyakkimaru as a character really is the best part of the show. This is one of those characters who are in a constant state of having life just shit on him. Even as he gets his body back, often this causes things to go wrong or it happens at terrible times. For example, when he recovers his hearing the first things he hears are a rainstorm and people crying. Despite all that, Hyakkimaru is driven by an intense will to survive, but considering how much horrible things have happened to him there is a growing story of him turning into a monster (Metaphorically, it is anime so that's something that needs to be pointed out). This works well with the moral quandary of his quest, as he is essentially revoking the contract with the demons to protect and make the land of Diago prosperous. As he recovers his body, the blessings of the land fade and the people begin to suffer.
The conflict the show builds towards is Hyakkimaru trying to recover his body, and Diago trying to have his own son killed in order to save his lands. Throw in a mother living in depression over what happened to her son and a Brother who has to choose what to do, you almost don't have anyone in this show that is truly a bad person, just people fighting for what they feel is right and struggling with the consequences of their decisions.
The show also knows exactly how to hit you right in your emotions. Not even halfway through the show, I won't spoil the episode itself, I was hit with one of the most heartbreaking moments I have seen in an anime, and from that point forward you really do start to see the changes in Hyakkimaru begin. Even seeing him deal with getting his senses back, like how much he is thrown off in both fights and his general interactions with people, do wonders in getting you to care about not only his quest for his body, but worry for his overall mental well being.
We haven't even gotten to the actual fights, which are some of the best I have seen in anime for a long time. The fights are amazingly well animated, and many of them are clever in how Hyakkimaru has to overcome them. Without giving to many details, one fight all Hyakkimaru is capable of seeing is a solid cloud of Red because of the demons dark cloud envelopes the area, meaning for all practical purposes Hyakkimaru is completely blind to his foe, and is having to finally adjust to his sense of hearing in order to make it through the fight. A few tricks he was teaching himself to adjust come into play, though I'll again avoid spoiling it.
This isn't to say Dororo is perfect, there are a couple of issues that crop up. One of the more notable ones is how often they seem to be able to move forward because luck just kind of favors them. As much as I adore the traveling priest, the best of the side cast in the show, far too often he just kind of shows up to help out, and it starts to feel a bit too convenient after a while. It's true that whenever he is there he adds a lot to the plot and giving the Dororo, as well as the audience, just enough context to add an incredible amount to the narrative, but it doesn't stop many of his appearances from feeling a little too coincidental. Luck plays far too much into a story about a man's drive and determination for my liking, and it is one of the few aspects of the show that can take away from the overall enjoyment.
The other is the animation isn't that consistent outside of combat. It's common to see in anime these days, but it's clear that between fights and major scenes that there was some cost-cutting to the animation. More then a few times seeing characters simply move around seems a little awkward. It may never be at a time when it's going to distract from the more important bits of an episode, but it is noticeable all the same.
I know nothing about the original Manga or Anime of Dororo, but this adaptation is absolutely stunning and stands entirely on its own. From what I gather it's just another telling of the story, so that should be expected. There are very few flaws in it, and so much of what it does is amazing. It's really rare to find a show that, from beginning to end, is this good in so many ways. I cannot recommend this show enough, and once enough time has passed I am sure it's likely to end up as one of my favorite anime of all time.