Dororo to Hyakkimaru

To aid his conquest of Japan, the ruthless lord Daigo Kagemitsu offers to sacrifice his soon-to-be-born son to 48 demons. The demons accept, and the next day, the child is born with several missing limbs and is ruthlessly cast down a river.

Fifteen years later, a stubborn young boy named Dororo struggles to survive against hunger and oppressive samurai on the streets of an impoverished and war-torn village. After angering a group of thugs, Dororo is attacked by them, but a mysterious man interrupts them, claiming to hear spirits nearby. Sure enough, a monster emerges from the river, and the man then removes his prosthetic arms, revealing blades hidden underneath, with which he slays the monster before leaving.

That night, as the man walks through the forest, Dororo approaches him and declares that he will accompany him. From this, the man, Hyakkimaru, reveals that many of his body parts were stolen by demons and that though he sought a peaceful life, he couldn't escape their relentless onslaught. Despite the tale, Dororo still insists on tagging along. And thus, Hyakkimaru travels through Japan with his new companion and a puppy named Nota, facing the brutality of both hell and mankind.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hyakkimaru Main

Nozawa, Nachi Japanese

Dororo Main

Matsushima, Minori Japanese

Mio Supporting

Mutou, Reiko Japanese

Biwamaru Supporting

Takiguchi, Junpei Japanese

Tahoumaru Supporting

Nakamura, Shuusei Japanese

Jukai Supporting

Nuinokata Supporting

Kitahama, Haruko Japanese

Midoro Supporting

Kagemitsu, Daigo Supporting

Naya, Gorou Japanese

Sukeroku Supporting

Miwa, Katsue Japanese

Sugii, Gisaburou Director

Tashiro, Atsumi Sound Director

Tomino, Yoshiyuki Episode Director, Storyboard

Dezaki, Osamu Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Jun 6, 2021

halimede

Recommended

Wow. Despite being an anime from the 60s, Dororo to Hyakkimaru does not disappoint. The story itself is super interesting, and tugs at the heart in a tragic way. Even though the story definitely has its comedic and cute points (the dog omg), it really shows the traumas of war and poverty and the lengths people go to just to survive. I think the funny thing is this story really should be called "Hyakkimaru to Dororo" because the story's main protagonist is hands down Hyakkimaru, while Dororo is a sidekick (with a twist. I was NOT expecting that at the end. Very cool to throw ... that in there).
Really great to watch! I haven't watched the modern version yet, but I'm starting with this one and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 19, 2018

Neimaj

Recommended

*SPOILER WARNING*


Daigo Kagemitsu is a man who desires power. Political power, to be exact. One night, he decides to sacrifice forty-eight of his unborn child's body parts to forty-eight demons to gain more power within Japan. When the child was born, it only had a head and a torso. The baby, soon after it was born, became an orphan. One day, a doctor named, Juko, found the baby and decided to take care of it. He named it, Hyakkimaru. As Hyakkimaru got older, Juko had to create prosthetic body parts for him, and that's when Hyakkimaru noticed that monsters were around him on ... a constant basis. He was being haunted by the forty-eight demons, and was told personally that if he wanted his original body parts back, he must slay all of the forty-eight demons. Whenever he defeats a demon, one of his body parts is returned to him. Hyakkimaru, while on his journey, saves a young boy by the name of, Dororo. Dororo is a orphan just like Hyakkimaru, and after being saved by him, he admires Hyakkimaru and chooses to follow him on this dangerous journey.
Dororo to Hyakkimaru is a pretty good show. The only major flaw that I noticed while watching was with some of Hyakkimaru's body parts. I mentioned earlier that when a demon is slain, Hyakkimaru gains a body part. Halfway into the show, Hyakkimaru is given a voice. He says, "Dororo, I can finally speak!" Up until that point in the storyline, Hyakkimaru was a mute, yet he speaks for the entire show. Dororo responds with, "But you've been speaking this entire time." Hyakkimaru explains to Dororo that he hears everything he says in his mind or some bullshit like that. Same thing goes for his eyes and ears; he was incapable of seeing and hearing from the very beginning, yet he interacts with other characters within the show, and slays demons ಠ_ಠ. Hyakkimaru is practically a Japanese Hellen Keller! That flaw aside, the show is good.
I can see a lot of people turning away from this show, because of how it looks and it's age. Personally, I'm not bothered with how the show looks. I'm not that ignorant to the point where I would avoid a show just because of the way it looks. The story is good, the music is catchy, especially "Dororo no uta," and the two main characters are cool. Dororo is a little annoying and gets Hyakkimaru in trouble sometimes, but he has his good moments. I'll give this show a 7.3/10, the last episode is probably the best episode.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Nov 29, 2022

DigiCat

Mixed Feelings

The original Dororo anime
I initially picked this up to see how it compared to it's remake, and though it is interesting to see the styles of different times telling one story and how anime has evolved over the years, i can't help but feel a vail of disappointment on the route the original adaptation decided to take with it's storytelling

The show went from a very slow start, dragging out each mission into double episodes, then rushed thru one of the most emotional and integral parts of the story, then went back to more side missions, this time changing the formula to slaying demons every episode ... instead of every 2, all culminating in an extreamly rushed ending squished into a single episode

Thing is, the disappointment doesn't come from the story, which has quite a few differences from it's 2019 counterpart, not being good, but rather the opposite, the story is good and has lots of potential, the emotional scenes can make you shed tears, but these moments are rushed by in less than half an episode while exessive screentime is being given to a loop of an axe cutting down a tree

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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	Poll: Dororo to Hyakkimaru Episode 26 Discussion Fronzel - May 20, 2016	14 replies	by johneaston »» Feb 1, 10:24 AM
	Poll: Dororo to Hyakkimaru Episode 15 Discussion Lorezhno - Oct 3, 2017	4 replies	by johneaston »» Jan 29, 8:33 PM
	Poll: Dororo to Hyakkimaru Episode 14 Discussion Lorezhno - Oct 2, 2017	6 replies	by johneaston »» Jan 27, 4:36 PM
	Poll: Dororo to Hyakkimaru Episode 13 Discussion Lorezhno - Oct 2, 2017	5 replies	by johneaston »» Jan 25, 6:20 PM
	Poll: Dororo to Hyakkimaru Episode 11 Discussion Fronzel - Jan 1, 2015	7 replies	by johneaston »» Jan 19, 6:47 PM