Sometimes, good series are easy to blog. Sometimes, mediocre series are easy to blog. And sometimes, good series are really hard to blog. Dororon is a good series, but damn, it’s hard to blog.
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| Why are Yuki-onnas so damn cute? |
I love this show. For my money and with apologies to Yondemasu Azazel-san, it’s definitely the funniest show of a relatively comedy-deprived Spring season. But it’s so damn hard to explain it, which makes it a blogger’s nightmare. Honestly, for all that it sounds like a cop-out on my part, this is a show that you really just need to watch.
Of course it’s not going to be for everyone. The parodies can be ridiculously obscure. It’s incredibly filthy. Not just nudity and sex jokes filthy, but Ishihara nightmare-inducing filthy. 12 year old/demon yuri filthy. Fisting filthy. Worldwide orgasm filthy. If you have a taboo, Dororon will find it, stamp it to bits, and kill it. But if you don’t take your taboos too seriously, you’ll laugh your ass off while it’s happening.
Go Nagai, creator of this concept, is understandably renowned as a bizarre comic genius, a legend for pushing boundaries who faced parental outrage in his day. But I don’t think even Go-sensei imagined that his original manga or the 1973 series based on it could reach these heights of depravity. This is unlike that show is almost every way. For starters, Brains Base have done a great job with the look of the series. The animation is crisp and fluid, the backgrounds wildly imaginative, the colors vibrant. The music is sensational – the OP by anime stalwarts Endo Masaaki and Moon Riders is the best of the year. Their ED is wonderful as well – get the full versions and give them a listen if you can. In true 70’s fashion, the show is full of insert songs playing over bizarre and silly battle scenes. That’s the great thing about Dororon – though it’s a complete update, it does remain true to the spirit of its era. Many of the parodies are from this period, though we do get some more modern stuff too.  |
| Cold…finger… |
The voice talent is mostly old-time industry stalwarts, too, and they’ve obviously having a wonderful time with this craziness. And how could they not? It’s just random insanity full of endless opportunities for showing off their skills. And in spite of all of the above, it really does feature great characters that you care about. Enma-kun is a little brat with a filthy mind, but he’s somehow loveable too. And he really does love his Yuki-onna, the panties-free Princess Yukiko. Kappeiru probably ends the series in a tie with Harumi for indignity (just based on episode 10) and then there’s Grandpa Chappeau with his box of hat porn. And then there’s poor Harumi herself, who suffers as much humiliation as any 12 year-old girl in anime. She’s a perfect victim for all this with her manic indignation at all she suffers. And the supporting cast – his wife Grandma Chappeau with the American Japanese accent (same seiyuu as Grandpa), Enpi-chan, forever naked and questing for a sexy and fun world. Mark Angel, the Goblin Kings, Great King Enma, God… The list goes on and on.
I’m afraid that’s the best I can do. In closing, I leave you with some final words of wisdom from this thoughtful, perceptive series: “Who’s got the death grip on my sack?”
lkaze
June 30, 2011 at 7:37 amI'm actually waiting for the uncensored version to come before i start watching it!!
Anonymous
June 30, 2011 at 1:14 pmActually, the 1973 anime is not based on the 1973 manga. They ran together at the same time, so there's no way for Go Nagai to know what Toei would do with his concept, and there was no way for Toei to know how the story of the manga would turn out. That's how all Go Nagai collaborations with Toei worked out. Having partly read the manga, i'd say it's just as deprived, and even better, there are no censors! Yukiko hime is completely naked.
admin
June 30, 2011 at 4:04 pmNot aware of the timing of the '73 versions – thanks for the clarification.
lkaze
June 30, 2011 at 11:02 pm–> anonymous, do you recommend watching it?