The Tuesday night dilemma has evolved in a rather interesting way for me. I started out watching Dororo first as a kind of “save the best for last” thing with Mob Psycho 100. But eventually it got to the point where I kept it up because things were going so well, I didn’t want to risk jinxing it. Now… Well, now I don’t know what I feel about all that, but I know there’s no better series airing right now than Dororo. I hope it and Mob continue to duke it out all season, but my feelings about which way that battle is likely to go are definitely evolving.
As usual with this series, there’s a lot to unpack here, starting with the whole mechanics of what happened with Hyakkimaru’s body. As best I could tell he got his voice back when the bird youkai from the last episode died, even though it was Biwamaru that killed it (which is a useful precedent to file away). Or so I thought, but now I wonder because my assumption about the arijigoku (ant lion) not being one of “his” youkai was clearly wrong (more on that shortly). And on reflection, I don’t think we heard Hyakkimaru’s voice until he screamed when the arijigoku bit off his leg. Was the voice a compensation for the leg? Evidence suggests it was, but more on that shortly too.
Damn – so the first sound Hyakkimaru hears are the anguished cries of a grieving woman, and the first sounds he makes are screams of agony? Tezuka is a cold bastard, and there’s no mistaking the message repeatedly sent about the nature of Hyakkimaru’s cursed existence. Biwamaru makes this point to Dororo in no uncertain terms – Hyakkimaru may be calm when he hears Mio’s song, but if he is indeed a “beast trapped in a cave” as Dororo calls him, Dororo better hope he’s not a monster when he emerges. I’m convinced that’s the reason Biwamaru keeps hanging about – he’s there to take action if the worst happens.
And it pretty much does. I don’t think there’s a lot of suspense about where things are going with Mio and her charges – as with most tragedies, the ending is foretold and the drama lies in seeing how it comes about. As it turns out Mio sows the seeds of her undoing by her decision to ply her trade in both camps. Desperate she may be but it’s a naive decision, because in warfare it would come as no surprise that she be regarded as a potential spy when the truth comes out. And as we’ve already seen human life is a commodity traded very cheaply in this era of Japan’s history, especially the lives of the lost and destitute (of which there are never a shortage in times of war).
This is all pretty heartbreaking, make no mistake about it. All the more so because Dororo is the living, beating heart of the series. Watching Dororo grow up too soon for all the wrong reasons is one of the most gut-wrenching parts of this story. My favorite scene of the episode, in fact, is the conversation between Dororo and Mio when Dororo meets her on the temple steps when she’s off to work. Mio senses that Dororo knows, and offers no apologies, or condemnation if Dororo judges her. But Dororo confides that his mother did “every job except that one” to support them, and he respects her for that. But she’s dead, and Mio is alive – and he also respects Mio for making the choice to live. My God, that’s redemptive and unutterably tragic in the same moment. This is what evil does to good people – it forces them into choices where there are no good choices to make.
As this is happening Hyakkimaru – “armed” with the knowledge of prosthetics he learned from Jukai no doubt – fashions himself a crude wooden leg and stumbles off to finish his business with the arijigoku. Biwamaru has left, leaving Dororo to chase after Hyakkimaru on his own. He’s too late to stop him, but Hyakkimaru is not going to be stopped – he finishes off the demon in fierce fashion. As he does the rain that was finally falling on Daigo’s parched lands stops, and another one of the youkai statues breaks, proving it was one of Hyakkimaru’s targets. And on top of that, his leg grows back – which I guess means he can regain parts he’s already regained and lost, as long as he’s lost them to one of the demons given his stolen body parts.
As to what Dororo and Aniki find when they return to the temple, well, that speaks for itself. Neither Tezuka or Furuhashi are pulling any punches in this series – all of the brutality and savagery humans are capable of is on display in merciless fashion. And merciless is exactly what Hyakkimaru is with Daigo’s men, turning very much into the monster Biwamaru warned Dororo of. Only their (Chekov’s) leader escapes – minus his arm – and only because Dororo physically threw himself on Aniki to try and prevent him from fully giving in to the demon inside him. His first sounds having been his own screams, Hyakkimaru’s first word is an anguished “Mio” as he mourns the woman he’d already come to love. Having thrust the knife into our gut, Tezuka and Furuhashi give it a none-too-gentle twist…
There’s one other interesting matter to consider here, and it’s that of Hyakkimaru’s brother Tahoumaru. I could see things going either way with him – he seems to be both bright and sensitive, and he’s perceptive enough to realize that his parents are keeping secrets from him. And more painfully, that despite her ever-present kindness his mother has always withheld her love from him, reserving it for the one that was taken from her. Tahoumaru is going to be a key player in the denouement of this story, I feel certain, and how he reacts when he finds out the truth about his brother is going to tell a lot about how that impact will play out.
Miyu Fan
February 12, 2019 at 8:51 pmSo Enzo, have you believed that 2019 will be the year that anime is saved? Just joking lol.
My favourite scene in this episode was when Mio said she’s not ashamed of her job, and that resonated with me greatly. Only idiots would condemn her for what she did to survive and thankfully Dororo is mature enough to respect Mio for her choice. Honestly these two episodes were difficult for me to watch, seeing how war waged by men’s own self interest just to see women and children being victimised like this.
I also love it that Tahomaru now is being involved with the story, Dororo will be more exciting with him being active for sure.
Guardian Enzo
February 12, 2019 at 8:56 pmI loved Dororo in that moment. So much nobility in that tiny little body.
leongsh
February 12, 2019 at 8:58 pmMy initial feel from the first episode that I shared earlier at the start that this is probably of the same calibre as Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is playing out. The series raises the bar higher with this epsiode.
The suffering that Hyakkimaru goes through is heart wrenching. All his life he has only known suffering. The moment in time that he found peace and comfort with Mio is so fleeting that you want more for him but yet so devastating when it is taken from him. It makes you want to scream at the sky and curse the gods for putting him through the wringer throughout his life so far.
The episode, at least, gave us an ephemeral amd dreamlike parting shot of Hyakkimaru and Dororo walking past the fields of golden rice to end the episode and partly assuage the brutal tragedy that just happened.
Hgfdsahjkl
February 12, 2019 at 9:21 pmAs much as I love dororo ,I honestly don’t see it even close to compate with mobpsycho
Did he regrow his leg back ?? If so it doesnt makes sense he lost it fair and square this time
Guardian Enzo
February 12, 2019 at 10:06 pmI believe the rule is that if the body part is taken by one of the 12 demons, he can regain it by killing that demon. That’s my take, anyway.
pi8you
February 13, 2019 at 2:41 pmI think it even goes a step further than that- the blessings that the demons granted appear to be tied to the body parts as well (the rain only came after the demon took back the leg, and ended as soon as it was killed). There’s no way we don’t see this come up again.
[goes back to lurking]
sonicsenryaku
February 12, 2019 at 10:58 pmWhile I’m with you on Mob Psycho being the better show, I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s not even close. While it’s easier for me to say that Mob Psycho is the show with more abject quality as a whole, there is a polished sense of narrative melancholy permeating dororo that 1. gives the show a genuine storytelling heft, enough for it to pull in its audience and overwhelm them from a sensory aspectand 2. The show being dyed in the tone and atmosphere of older anime is an absolute plus in my eyes, as I find any anime of yesteryear to be much better than the anime of today.
For me, Mob Psycho is the better series because its penchant emotional intelligence is communicated with such stylistic and meticulous flourish, and in those aspects, we have a series that is able to provide a broader scope of audience relatability that i would argue dororo doesn’t quite have; at least not in the same quantity. I find that dororo, while engaging with its brutal samurai backdrop and packing characters are likable, decently fleshed out and are easy to sympathize with (and even relate to on a certain level), does not pack that same level of relability as the writing in mob psycho. That and Mob Psycho is unmatched in terms of visual density this season. Again, im just taken back to comments I’ve made about the show being a mini-flcl in how its goal is to make almost every frame the perfect shot it can possibly make for the story it’s trying to tell. I find myself grinning from ear to ear just watching the show and thinking to myself: “gosh, they actually put all this detail into this shot,” or “wow, they didn’t have to go out of their way to make this shot look so cool and vibrant and yet they did.” I think people undersell (partly due to a lack of understanding) just how much work needs to go into visual pacing and cohesion; how much thought needs to go into making a shot perfect while having it expertly communicate the context or feeling you want it to have.
Mob psycho is a great amalgamation of technical talent and sagacious storytelling/writing. Part of the joy and awe of reading/watching mob psycho is realizing how purposeful the storytelling is from its construction to how its characters embody the themes being communicated by the narrative. You slowly start to realize how everything comes together; how ONE lays the seeds for certain character moments, unravels, chunk by chunk the emotional depth of the story he’s trying to tell, or plays with your expectations in eccentric but narratively rewarding ways; it’s just a great piece of fiction from every aspect. When i finished the manga, i put it in my list of favorite coming-of-age stories of all time. So far, the anime has been outdoing the manga (especially with this week’s ep) so who knows, maybe i might feel like ranking it even higher if and WHEN BONES actually hits us with a season 3 to complete the adaptation.
L0ken
February 12, 2019 at 10:50 pmI really liked the episode but the pacing on this episode felt really rushed. In the last episode, characters had more time to breathe. They didn’t just say a line or two then immediately move on to the next scene. Mio in particular seemed to be talking and moving on fast forward.
Maybe they should have cut out the scene with Tahomaru to give scenes the allowance for dramatic pause or dropped the ED/OP this one time. I didn’t feel that same sense of despair last episode when Hyakkimaru lost his leg and Dororo discovered Mio’s job compared to Mio’s Death and Hyakkimaru’s outraged despite it being arguably a much graver event.
I guess my only recurring problem with the show so far that it doesn’t transition between scenes very well,but otherwise I fricking love it,in my top 3 of the season with Mob and Kaguya.
Guardian Enzo
February 12, 2019 at 11:17 pmInteresting. I didn’t get any sense of things being rushed this week at all, but it’s all down to personal perceptions of course.
Also, loved the scene with Tahoumaru and definitely wouldn’t have wanted to see it chopped.
BigFire
February 13, 2019 at 1:50 amBelieve it or not, the episodes are actually greatly expanded from a single manga chapter before he even meet up with Dororo. The backstories of the war between the various factions are anime original.
water imp
February 13, 2019 at 8:23 amHyakkimaru only displayed the seeds of rage. Still, he was quick with Daigo’s men. Monstrous would be something more ruminative and stomach turning, like Achilles tying Hector’s body to rear of his chariot as it was dragged through the dust.
water imp
February 13, 2019 at 8:34 amAnd yeah, currently best show of the season.
Khalid
February 17, 2019 at 5:08 amDamn, Mio’s fate was obvious, but it was heart-wrenching to watch it unfold. I never felt so bad for a character in a long time. I wish I could hijack the story and take her and the kids away. It’s so ironic that she, as you said, sows the seeds of her undoing. They were killed due to mere suspicion, in other words, they died for nothing. Haykkimaru perceiving the rice seeds as gold was a great touch. It’s painful that he and Dororo have to move on after this tragedy. This anime gets better with every episode.