Manga Or Anime When Watching Dorohedoro?
Q Hayashida
Quarantine has been tough for everyone as COVID-19 continues to linger on. With everyone stuck inside or under restrictions, it can be hard to find happiness from day to day. Thankfully, recently I’ve had a stellar anime and manga series to keep me occupied: Q Hayashida’s Dorohedoro.
Kaiman
Started a whopping twenty years ago as a manga in Monthly Shonen Sunday, Dorohedoro follows the story of Kaiman, a man without a memory and a reptilian head who lives in a place called The Hole – a place where people live in constant fear of Sorcerers. Every now and then, amateur magic users will enter the Hole to practice magic on unsuspecting victims, turning them into terrible inhuman things. This is what happened to Kaiman years ago, and he’s been searching for the Sorcerer who turned his head into a lizard’s ever since. Kaiman has made a friend in The Hole, a young woman by the name of Nikaido. She helps Kaiman hunt the Sorcerers that enter the city, and runs her own restaurant. Kaiman and Nikaido’s hunt for Sorcerers doesn’t go unnoticed, and soon two assassins, Shin and Noi, are dispatched by Head Sorcerer En to eliminate them. And so, Kaiman and Nikaido must find and kill the Sorcerer who put a spell on Kaiman, before the assassins get to them first! There’s a lot more to unpack about this series, but I’d rather not spoil it for you. As I was enjoying Dorohedoro, I got to wondering – what’s the best way to enjoy this series?
Dorohedoro: Artwork
I was initially drawn to the manga some years ago for its striking artwork and unique character designs. However, actually reading it proved difficult, since the manga went unlicensed for quite some time here in the United States. Thankfully, VIZ Media started localizing and publishing the series in 2010, and as of now the entirety of the manga is available to purchase and read legally. The art for Dorohedoro is striking, with tons of detail and hard lines, similar to Ed Roth’s Rat Fink. The world that the manga establishes feels alive thanks to these incredibly detailed environments that Hayashida has drawn. I personally believe Attack on Titan’s author Hajime Iseyama was heavily influenced by Dorohedoro, as they share a similar art style.
Dorohedoro is a mature story, with violence on display in sometimes gory and brutal detail used to great effect to demonstrate just how high the stakes are in this world. One drawback I will say the manga has (at least by way of the first volume) is that the action scenes aren’t always clear. Due to the heavily stylized artwork, it can sometimes be a bit confusing as to how characters are moving during fight scenes and exactly what is happening. Still, that doesn’t deter from the excellent story on display.
Dorohedoro - Best in Show - From Shonenzup
The anime is how I was personally and formally introduced to Dorohedoro, and it’s something fans have been clamoring for since the manga’s original publication. Now streaming on Netflix, the anime definitely has a softer edge than the manga. Some of the aforementioned gore has been censored or removed, and the characters also swear less. Depending on who you are, this could be either a pro or a con. Thanks to the nature of animation, the fight scenes are beautifully realized and there’s no confusion as to what’s going on like there can be in the manga. Although this does come with a caveat – much if not all of the anime is produced using CG. This is something that’s heavily stigmatized in anime, as computer animation often heavily clashes with the anime art style. CG Anime is largely looked down upon by fans of the medium, but recent standout series like Land of the Lustrous and BEASTARS have shown that the technology is catching up, and that a CG series can still look great. I’m happy to say that Dorohedoro is right up there with those two series as a standard for great CG anime. All of the characters look and move naturally, and all convey the same amount of emotion as a hand drawn character would. In essence, the show being a CG anime shouldn’t affect your enjoyment, at least in my opinion.
So, with all of that said, what do I believe is the best way to enjoy this series? Well, it’s difficult to say, but if I had to choose, I personally prefer the anime. Everything is laid out fluidly with the brilliant animation and you can really immerse yourself with the colors and voices of the characters. For Netflix’s part, the English dub is phenomenal, utilizing both new and experienced talent to perfectly encapsulate the characters. While it’s true the anime is more sanitized than the manga, I personally don’t see that as a bad thing (excessive gore has never sat well with me).
However, I would still not discount the manga. We’re getting a second season of Dorohedoro in 2021, however it won’t cover the rest of the manga assuming the anime continues at the pace it’s been going (40 chapters of manga per 12 episodes). Additionally, there are chunks of the story that weren’t adapted to anime form, with two entire chapters of the story being omitted from the first season. Some have said these extra chapters may be adapted into OVAs, but these have yet to make it stateside with a dub like the anime has. So even though the adaptation is an excellent one, you’re not getting the entirety of the Dorohedoro story just by watching the anime.
Ultimately, I leave the decision up to you; What way sounds better to enjoy Dorohedoro? How do you best enjoy Japanese media – the manga or the anime? Is there any anime you prefer to read rather than watch, or vice versa? Let me know with a comment down below! In any case, this is one debate that has lasted for decades, and one sure to continue on for years to come.
