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Reviewed by Park Cooper MangaLife staffer James Hanrahan recently reviewed volume 1 of Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo, so I was slightly prepared for getting volume 2. But, honestly, I didn’t need too much preparation—Dororo is a little kid who fancies himself a great thief—but while he’s not bad, the real action hero here is his guardian, Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru is a powerful swordsman who wanders the land. Apparently, Hyakkimaru was born without a lot of his body parts, so his father put him in a wooden tub and sent him down the river. His adoptive father found him, and new body parts were made for him—out of evil spirits—with a few surprises, like his nose that’s filled with gunpowder if he ever needs a grenade. So Hyakkimaru goes around defeating evil spirits, and every time he kills one of the right ones, a real body part grows in, like a nose (suddenly he has an actual sense of smell!) or a left leg. Of course, the more he does this, the more it matters if he gets cut there, but hey, the rest of us have to worry about that, so he’s not doing any worse than leveling the playing field, and while ridding mankind of some bothersome evil spirits, to boot. Of course, not only do evil spirits like to mess with mankind, but so does mankind itself. The book is full of the aftermath of terrible wars and battlefields. On top of that, Dororo himself gets into a lot of trouble, and needs a lot of looking after. On top of that, in this volume, Hyakkimaru happens across the turf of his real family, his no-good biological Dad and Hyakkimaru’s got-all-his-body-parts brother, who’s also quite the jerk. Of course, Hyakkimaru doesn’t realize this until they’re all on an inevitable crash-course of death and destruction. All this plus ghosts, evil spirits, poison, crazy people, fickle villagers, nine-tailed foxes, lots of human tragedy, and certain other monsters. This story is just what my wife Barbara might like... if she can get past the art, because I’m sorry, this is more than just the genius brain of the man who wrote Black Jack, Buddha, Astroboy... it’s also the ART of the man who did Astroboy. Having just finished reading all 8 volumes of Vertical, Inc.’s Buddha, I am now a graduate of the Osamu Tezuka School of Ignoring Cute Art In Favor Of A Great Story, but Barb’s a freshman at that school. It’s not that Dororo, especially the kid himself, doesn’t have some cute moments—in fact they’re downright hilarious... “According to reliable sources,” shouts Dororo to the villagers, after having explained the recent evil goings-on nearby, “the one who got to the bottom of this matter is a young boy by the name of Dororo... The villagers ruled to give this boy Dororo a thousand sweets and a hundred coins as a token of their appreciation!” Heh heh. Nice try, Dororo. But most of the story is hair-raising chills and blood-curdling thrills, and Tezuka’s artstyle is really gonna challenge some American readers. If you’re already, like me, a graduate of the Osamu Tezuka School of Ignoring Cute Art In Favor Of A Great Story, or if you’re willing to enroll, I highly suggest you try Dororo, whether you can get your hands on volume 1 or 2. I give this an A. P.S. They made a movie of it. Go google DORORO and FILM. I don't mean animated, either. I mean LIVE ACTION. It looks FANTASTIC. Cannot WAIT until it gets over HERE. --P Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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