Dorohedoro

Hole—a dark, decrepit, and disorderly district where the strong prey on the weak and death is an ordinary occurrence—is all but befitting of the name given to it. A realm separated from law and ethics, it is a testing ground to the magic users who dominate it. As a race occupying the highest rungs of their society, the magic users think of the denizens of Hole as no more than insects. Murdered, mutilated, and made experiments without a second thought, the powerless Hole dwellers litter the halls of Hole's hospital on a daily basis.

Possessing free access to and from the cesspool, and with little challenge to their authority, the magic users appear indomitable to most—aside for a few. Caiman, more reptile than man, is one such individual. He hunts them on a heedless quest for answers with only a trusted pair of bayonets and his immunity to magic. Cursed by his appearance and tormented by nightmares, magic users are his only clue to restoring his life to normal. With his biggest obstacle being his stomach, his female companion Nikaidou, who runs the restaurant Hungry Bug, is his greatest ally.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Caiman Main

Takagi, Wataru Japanese

Noi Main

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Nikaidou Main

Kondou, Reina Japanese

Shin Main

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Ebisu Main

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

En Main

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Fujita Main

Takanashi, Kengo Japanese

Johnson Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Kasukabe Supporting

Ichiki, Mitsuhiro Japanese

Risu Supporting

Soungdok Japanese

Bezerra, Wendel Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Sasaki, Reiko Producer

Noda, Fuko Producer

Reviews

Mar 15, 2025

Shinrindegozaru

Recommended

Story (Story & Fiction): 9/10 - A story that is far from clichés, original, and gripping. The main characters are well-written, with unique dynamics that keep the viewer engaged.

Character Development (Character Writing & Growth): 8/10 - The characters are not just stereotypes; even those on the wizard side have well-defined motivations and personalities. While the main cast is strong, some side characters could have been explored further.

Atmosphere (World Building & Immersion): 10/10 - The decayed, chaotic, and magic-infused world of Hole is masterfully crafted. Every detail contributes to the feeling of a living, breathing universe.

Image and Animation Quality (Visual Style & Animation): 8/10 - The ... unique, gritty, and dark art style perfectly complements the story’s tone. The world is filled with small details that make it feel rich and immersive.

Action and Fight Scene Quality: 8/10 - The fights are raw, fast-paced. While the battles are entertaining, they are not the "epic, over-the-top shonen style" but rather more grounded and fitting for the world’s tone.

Overall: 8.6 → 9/10

"Order in chaos, comedy in darkness and rot in enchantment." If you crave something different, unique and reflective anime, Dorohedoro is certainly a work worth viewing.

Dorohedoro offers a gritty, bloody but engaging story based in a grim world. Our hero, Caiman, is a fellow whose face has turned into that of a crocodile and whose only memory is that he was brought there by a sorcerer. He and his best buddy Nikaido go out looking for sorcerers in hopes of finding out who he used to be and who turned him into the crocodile-like being. But this so ostensibly straightforward tale becomes in short order rather complicated, bizarre and twist-filled.

The strongest aspect of Dorohedoro is the atmosphere. The series takes place in Hole, which is a corrupted and dangerous yet intriguing universe. The dynamic of power between man and sorcerer, the magic world of mystery and secrets, and how the two coexist capture you deeper and deeper with each installment.

The characters are far from clichés. The connection between Nikaido and Caiman is true and sincere, but the sorcerers who also serve as foes are somewhat flamboyant, charming and entertaining. In fact, they manage to lead you to question "are these individuals evil or are they living their own lives?" All the characters are extremely atmospheric and actually contribute to the story.

Dorohedoro is a great "love it or hate it" art style example. The paintings are filthy, detailed and unfiltered.The style is so perfectly balanced with the mood of the narrative.

The action scenes are tough, fast and breathtaking. But it would be wrong to think that Dorohedoro is just violence and action. There is a dash of black humor in it, and this gives the series a unique and enjoyable taste.

If you want to watch an anime that is out of the ordinary if you're in the mood for a detailed world and decent characters, and if you like dark but interesting stories, Dorohedoro might have a lot to offer. But you do need to start with the fact that the narrative doesn't proceed in a linear, conventional way.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 18, 2024

Winnah_Daniels

Mixed Feelings

Fun concept for an anime which started fast. I liked it at first and was very intrigued with this anime from the first gore-y fight.

The story sort of tailed off in the middle. Seems like they wanted to spend time with each character and explain how they were connected. There were some fun adventures (baseball episode was dope) and I like the gore + overall rudeness of the show. But I found myself losing interest. When things started to come together at the end, I got excited again. Ready for season 2

The characters saved this show for me. I wish we got more info ... on Nikkaido. Caiman was a lovable oaf on a mission. He played his part well. My favorite two characters were En’s fixers. Heart mask guy and big brolic woman. Their dynamic was interesting

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 30, 2024

Enigma2025

Not Recommended

I can't believe people are recommending this anime to Chainsaw Man fans, it's not even close lol. This is an absolute snoozefest. Incredibly beautiful environments, worlds and character design but incredibly average story. This anime tries to be mysterious and unpredictable and it does it well (in the beginning). But usually, you end up getting your questions answered by the end... well not in this one... It's just a bunch of random plot points stitched together. I have never read the manga, but it seems like anime skipped a lot of it. The characters spawn in random places and do random things with no explanation. ... It's like watching 1 minute of some anime and then skipping 1 minute of it and so on... So many things don't make sense. There is so many unanswered questions regarding power system/magic, the world/planet they live in, the mushrooms, the masks etc..

As for the characters, no one is really interesting except Nikaidou and Ebisu. The "bad guys" do have some fun interactions. Caiman who is supposed to be the MC is your average 60 IQ dense lienear dude who only cares about food. A 10 year old could have written a better character, there is no actual depth to his character except the main plot point that's supposed to carry the whole story (and it fails miserably).

Most of the reviews seem to put main focus on if CGI/OP/ED is good or bad. Who cares? The story is boring. The story is the most important thing. Hopefully whenever the second season airs, they actually focus on storytelling instead of eating gyoza in every episode and and spawning characters in random scenes doing the most random stuff and hoping the viewers will spend the next 1 hour googling why someone did something. No one ever travels anywhere and says what they will do next. In one scene you have a dude eating some shit food, few seconds later, he is in another dude's palace???? There is no actual timeline.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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