Dororo, Volume 2

~by Osamu Tezuka
2009 Eisner Award Winner

Although I've read quite a few of the works by Osamu Tezuka that are available English, Dororo remains one of my personal favorites. Dororo is one of Tezuka's transitional manga, bridging between his earlier, brighter works and his later, more mature stories. Dororo strikes a great balance between its darker elements and its action-adventure leanings. I particularly enjoy Dororo's mix of historical fantasy and legend. The manga was originally serialized in Japan between 1967 and 1968. The English-language edition of Dororo was initially published as three individual volumes in 2008 by Vertical, winning an Eisner Award in 2009. That particular edition is now out of print, but fortunately Vertical re-released the series as a single-volume omnibus in 2012. It makes me very happy that the series is still readily available. I've read Dororo several times now and am glad that others will still have the opportunity to do the same.

Dororo, Volume 2 continues to follow companions Hyakkimaru and Dororo as they travel across Japan. Outcasts of society, they have no choice but to move from one place to another; they are repeatedly driven out of the villages that they happen across along their way. The two travelers don't have much, but at least they have each other. Although they might be reluctant to admit it, Hyakkimaru and Dororo make a good team as they face the trials and tribulations encountered on their journey across the war-torn country. Ultimately, Hyakkimaru wants to find happiness and a palace where he can live in peace, but his more immediate concern is to hunt and destroy the demons to which his body was sacrificed by his father. Little does he know that this goal will lead him back to the very family which abandoned him as a newborn, only to result in further tragedy.

Although Hyakkimaru and Dororo must repeatedly confront demons, it is often the humans they encounter who are the true monsters of the story. People can be very cruel to one another and war often brings out the worst. Some of the most horrifying acts committed in Dororo, Volume 2 have nothing to do with ghouls and demons and everything to do with individuals who lust for power and people's propensity towards violence. Some of the most benevolent characters in Dororo, Volume 2 are actually the inhuman creatures. Even the more kindly people simply can't bring themselves to accept Hyakkimaru, regardless of the fact that he is often the one who has saved them from the spirits and demons that plague them. Hyakkimaru has come to expect this from others, but the younger Dororo is still frustrated by the situation's inherent unfairness. Dororo is one of the very few people who is able to completely accept Hyakkimaru for who he is.

One of the things that I enjoy the most about Dororo is the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. Dororo is a bright kid and is surprisingly optimistic despite having a tragic past. Hyakkimaru, who has certainly seen his own fair share of tragedy, is significantly darker and more world-weary. Their personalities balance each other nicely; both Dororo and Hyakkimaru provide something that the other needs. The human companionship they share is important, especially when living in a world that has rejected them. The two outcasts, even though unrelated by blood, are close enough to be siblings. Hyakkimaru and Dororo have grown quite attached to each other. They have their fights and spats and there's plenty of good-natured teasing, but they truly seem to care for and look out for the other. Even after several rereads Dororo is still a series that I appreciate and enjoy immensely, especially for its lead characters.

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Dororo, Volume 1

~by Osamu Tezuka
2009 Eisner Award Winner

Dororo happens to be one of my favorite manga created by Osamu Tezuka, so it made sense to me to review it for February 2012's Manga Moveable Feast focusing on Tezuka and his work. Dororo was originally serialized in Japan in Shukan Shonen Sunday between 1967 and 1968. Vertical initially published the series in 2008 in three volumes, winning the 2009 Eisner Award for the best U.S. edition of international material from Japan. The individual volumes are now out of print, but Vertical's omnibus edition will be released in 2012. In 1969, a twenty-six episode anime series based on the manga was created with an ending that provides a little more closure than the original. Dororo was also the inspiration for the 2004 PlayStation 2 video game Blood Will Tell. A live-action film adaptation of Dororo was released in 2007 and was very well received in Japan.

Thirsting for power, Lord Daigo offers the body of his unborn child as a sacrifice to forty-eight demons in exchange for their aid in conquering the country. The child is born missing forty-eight body parts and is abandoned. Rescued and raised by a kindly doctor, Hyakkimaru must eventually set off on his own, hoping to find happiness and to regain his body. Pursued by demons and dead souls, he is shunned by others, leading a lonely existence until he saves the life of Dororo, a young thief who is similarly reviled. Dororo, like Hyakkimaru, is also hiding a tragic past, but is surprisingly resilient and stubborn. Although Hyakkimaru is initially reluctant, the two being traveling the war-torn countryside together. Moving from village to village and confronting monsters and demons along the way, the two have each other and not much else.

Tezuka's artwork in Dororo is wonderully cinematic and has excellent pacing. The battles and sword fights are varied and exciting; the demons and spirits Hyakkimaru must face are monstrous and terrifying. Although Tezuka's style is somewhat cartoonish, the art can actually be quite gruesome. Occasionally the action isn't entirely clear, but the overall effect is very engaging. Tezuka isn't afraid to use extended moments without dialogue as Hyakkimaru and Dororo wander through the country. More emphasis is given to backgrounds and landscapes than in some of Tezuka's earlier works, granting Dororo a solid sense of place. Tezuka draws visual cues and plot elements from samurai films and stories as well as from traditional Japanese folklore, legends, and tales. Mixing these elements together with his own ideas and thematic sensibilities, Dororo is a series that is uniquely Tezuka. The two downtrodden leads, carrying on with their lives under adverse and less than ideal circumstances, are very likeable and it is fascinating to watch their relationship develop.

If there is one thing that annoys me about the first volume of Dororo it's that early on several characters make comments about dump trucks, space aliens, cyborgs and such which really threw me out of the story and setting. In many ways, Dororo can be seen as a transitional series, a bridge between Tezuka's earlier and later works that expanded his audience and introduced darker themes and darker protagonists. Hyakkimaru, with his fancy prosthetics and gadgets, could be a feudal era Astro Boy but is even more closely related to and serves as a prototype for Tezuka's later character and fan favorite Black Jack. While this is certainly interesting, personally I love Hyakkimaru for being Hyakkimaru. He is a complex character; cynical and world-weary, he continues to fight on despite persecution from demons and humans alike. I have reread Dororo several times now and I still love the series as much as I did the fist time and maybe even more. Tezuka is a phenomenal storyteller.

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