Dororo
どろろ
- Action
- Adventure
- Fantasy
- Historical
- Mythology
- Samurai
- Episodes
- 24
- Duration
- 24 min per ep
- Aired
- Jan 7, 2019 to Jun 24, 2019
- Status
- Finished Airing
Synopsis
Samurai lord Daigo Kagemitsu watches his domain wither and, desperate to secure prosperity, turns his back on Buddha to bargain with twelve demons. The land flourishes—but the payment comes due when his firstborn arrives missing limbs, facial features, senses, and even skin, yet somehow clinging to life.
Cast into a river and left to vanish, the child is rescued by a medicine man who outfits him with prosthetics that double as weapons. As he grows, he hunts the very demons tied to his father’s pact; with each one he defeats, a stolen part of his body returns. After years of solitary wandering, he crosses paths with Dororo, a streetwise orphan, and together they travel a harsh, demon-haunted Japan, fighting to survive and reclaim what was taken.
Otaku Consensus
Dororo (2019) is widely praised as a confident modern revival of Osamu Tezuka’s classic, pairing MAPPA and Tezuka Productions’ punchy action with a bleak, morally thorny historical fantasy that keeps its character work front and center. Fans and critics consistently highlight the bond between Hyakkimaru and Dororo, the show’s atmosphere, and its willingness to sit in uncomfortable questions about war, parenthood, and what a “body” is worth. The most common knock is pacing: a noticeable mid-series stretch is often cited as less gripping, with some viewers calling the show overhyped despite its strong highs.
Why You Should Watch
Dororo is dark fantasy with teeth: a road-story through a war-scarred, demon-haunted Japan where every victory has a cost and every moral choice leaves a bruise. What makes it special isn’t just the swordplay—it’s the way the series treats its core themes (revenge, disability, curses, and estranged family) as lived experience rather than “cool lore,” letting character growth emerge from survival and consequence. If you like historical grit mixed with mythology, you’ll appreciate how it balances intimate, human moments against brutal action and spiritual horror. Come for the demons and samurai aesthetics; stay for the uneasy questions about prosperity, sacrifice, and what it means to reclaim yourself.
Key Characters
- DDororo(VA: Suzuki, Rio)
A streetwise orphan whose sharp instincts and stubborn warmth cut through the series’ bleakness, turning a dangerous journey into something resembling family.
- HHyakkimaru(VA: Suzuki, Hiroki)
A lone demon-hunter outfitted with weaponized prosthetics, driven by a quiet, visceral need to reclaim what was stolen from him and define his own humanity.
What Makes It Stand Out
- 1
A morally conflicting core premise that constantly pits personal restoration against wider suffering, giving the revenge setup real thematic weight rather than simple catharsis.
- 2
A vivid historical-mythological atmosphere—samurai-era hardship, rural travel, and youkai-inflected horror—used to make the world feel hostile, lived-in, and spiritually dangerous.
- 3
Character-forward storytelling that earns attachment in a single cour: the evolving partnership between Dororo and Hyakkimaru is the emotional engine that makes the violence matter.
- 4
Action that emphasizes clarity and impact over noise, with prosthetic-weapon combat and swordplay staged to feel brutal and urgent rather than ornamental.
- 5
A structure built around encounters on the road (demons, curses, and war’s fallout), which keeps the journey episodic while steadily tightening the story’s personal stakes.
Fun Facts & Trivia
- Fun fact 1
- Dororo (2019) is a modern adaptation of a classic work by Osamu Tezuka, one of anime and manga’s most influential original creators.
- Fun fact 2
- The series is a studio collaboration between MAPPA and Tezuka Productions—an apt pairing for a prestige remake that blends contemporary production muscle with Tezuka’s legacy.
- Fun fact 3
- It aired for 24 episodes from January 7, 2019 to June 24, 2019 and is complete (Finished Airing).
- Fun fact 4
- On MyAnimeList it holds an 8.26/10 score from 693,899 votes, ranking at #357 and reaching #107 in popularity—numbers that reflect both strong reception and broad visibility.
- Fun fact 5
- On AniList it sits at 81/100 with 14,068 favourites, underscoring its staying power among viewers who connected with its darker fantasy tone.
Studios
- MAPPA
- Tezuka Productions
