Dorohedoro

this is my first review so don't it is not gonna be a good
and spoilers for this manga i am gonna talk about the mostly the first part of the story you have been warned .
dorohedoro
is one of my favorite manga of all time for me.
story 9/10
it is a story about a man with a lizard head called kaiman him with his best friend nikaido and they try to find the asshole who did the magic on kaiman, and so they kill mages and a mage by the name of en is angry to find that alot of his mages to be killed and is trying to kill kaiman.
so the art is a 9/10
i enjoyed the art, it is a good style to show the story and is very dark themed and i love it for that.
characters 10/10
this manga can make all the characters lovable, it is a very strong point for the manga and is the reason why it is praised so much, like the antagonists aren't villains but people that are kinda messed up and feel real most of the time.
enjoyment 9/10
i highly recommend this manga to anyone who want to read a comedy horror, with alot of gore but still laugh at it.
over all 9/10
thanks for reading this review bye
i will try to make more in the future

I just finished reading this after binge reading it within the last few days after watching the first season of the anime.

All in all this manga is phenomenal. Unhinged. Bonkers. And I loved every second of it.

The art style was at first difficult getting used to, but its unique and creepy aesthetic adds to its overall chaotic style. The character design ranges from grotesque, to creepy, to hilarious, to attractive, to stoic. The design of the world(s) itself also abides to a range of beautiful to grimy and hellish. But presentation doesn't really matter if there is no substance behind it.

The story of Dorohedoro is... confusing. Until it isn't. The mystery of Kaiman's identity is a constant as the series progresses. But it goes places I had not even considered, and the scale of the conflict that is the result of this mystery goes way beyond any of the expectations I had. Granted I got frustrated with it at times as I had just wanted a fucking answer to the mystery after feeling so close to getting the answer, but I am sure that was a carrot on the string that was intentional by the author.

The characters are by far my favorite aspect of the story. Not a single character is wasted. The protagonists are their own personalities (some may have more than others), the antagonistic characters are actually very likable but not wasted as the conflict goes beyond them, and the side characters help flesh out the world and are not annoying or stupid. I personally love Johnson the most.

I cannot recall a manga experience I have had that had me actually laugh out loud as often as this one has while also making me wait on the edge of my seat to see what would happen after a cliffhanger in a certain chapter. Very glad I took the chance on it and dove all in. I highly recommend this manga :)

My first reaction to Dorohedoro is "What the f*ck, a woman wrote this?". It has to be one of the most strangest, creative, unique and awesome mangas I have read in my short life. It combines the gloominess of a normal seinen manga and has the traditional qualities of blood and gore, violence and sexual explicity.

To be honest I hated the artwork to start with. It was so strange and creepy to look at. But as you read on, you get absorbed into Hayashida's fictional world and in due time, you will feel the need to read more.

The story line is well made and it has an interesting plot which continually changes but never deterring the reader. It combines the proper elements of mystery, action, comedy and tragedy into one awesome power-packed package.

The characterization is unique as well seeing that these are not you're average characters. Each character has a story to tell and is almost lifelike. Even the ugly ones are beautiful in theor own way. They add flavour to the story and contributes to each event personally.

The artwork is especially unique and if you have a think for gloomy and Satanic artwork, you will definitely love it. It brings out the feeling in each scene and makes the world seem almost lifelike.

The enjoyment factor is at its maximum and the comedy factor is there as well, kinda enjoyable. The gore count is at a maximum though and the sexually explicit count is at a medium level thus creating a normal seinen manga. Its mostly for mature readers.

In short, Dorohedoro has that wonderful and violent seinen manga vibe and is truly a great read. 9/10.

(This review contains mild spoilers)
I'll keep it short and focus on the second half as I already spent my energy on the anime adaptation which follows the manga strictly.

Pros:
● Very good foreshadowing for the first half
● Amazing worldbuilding, future punk + magic, why not!
● Nice tiddies, I approve them.
● I really liked Nikaido's skill description, it puts alot of weight behind her actions.

Cons:
● After first half, plot feels patched up, made on the go.
● The idea for the creation of the final boss is a bit too cliche, embodiment of feelings strikes... yet again...
● Final arc dragged for too long and it ended with an anticlimactic boss fight. Ass-pull Gyoza Wand had to be summoned! Someone dropped the ball seriously..
● Second half (aka final arc) was too action heavy till very end, I think overall character development suffered there a bit. There was just not enough room for feelings, it remained intense for dozens of chapters.
● Kaiman's past took alot more episodes than present Kaiman's development. When Nikaido behaves affectionate towards him, it just looks unreasonable because Nikaido literally spent more time with many other characters.
● Epilogue wasn't satisfying enough. It was one solid slice of life chapter but since the cast is too large alot remained unanswered.. Some side characters feel unfinished/unpolished despite their common appearence Dokuka, Tetsujo, Kasukabe, Kawajiri. I feel like they all had to say a couple more lines...
● The author teased the romance between Kaiman & Nikaido, Shin & Noi, Haru & Haze, Ebisu & Fuji many times but never developed it. I know forming couples is common trope, therefore authors are avoiding it these days but after many crucial events how do they even maintain their "friendzoneship" ? Honestly at some point they just behave like robots..This one is maybe too personal but my eyes searched for some more sparkles!

Overall, I am blown away by Dorohedoro. After anime ended with cliffhanger, I dipped all the 190 chapters, 18 years of work in 3 or 4 days. No regrets! It was a unique experience for me because I have never read a "gory" manga written by a female author before. It didnt leave a strong and dramatic aftertaste. Story is gory and a bit silly after all... I couldn't help myself but notice the drastic improvement in artwork after volume 3, and it got even better gradually. Problems here & there but I got hooked up in the end..

[MINOR SPOILERS]
I give this manga a rating of 6.5. I read it in about a week, give or take a couple of days. I'll make this short and sweet: While it does have a really intriguing premise and fun, fleshed-out characters with a little depth, don't expect anything other than a mediocre ending. This is a very safe, by-the-books manga. There will come a point in the story where you will say to yourself "Oh, so that's probably how it's going to end" and you will more than likely be correct. Very predictable. That's not to say that everything isn't tied up nicely. It's neatly wrapped up and the author even puts a little ribbon on top, metaphorically speaking. Very light-hearted so if you were looking for something with grit, other than the art style and all of the killing, don't expect much grit other than that.

All in all, it was an enjoyable experience. For the most part, that is. You know what they say, it's about the journey not the destination.

Story:
The premise of Dorohedoro is very simplistic and weird, but it's nothing like that. Q Hayashida (the author) has crafted nothing short of but a convoluted tale filled with phenomenonal world building, horror, gut-busting dark comedy, some action and an absolutely perfect long form mystery storytelling. Dorohedoro is also a very raw and gritty manga, there's tons of body horror and also lots of nudity. What I admire about  Dorohedoro is that nudity isn't used to sexualise the female cast. Majority of seinen manga use nudity as a way to sexualise the female characters, but in Dorohedoro seeing the female cast being nude is just like a natural event and is in no way sexual, this is something I truly appreciate of Q Hayashida.

Art:
Dorohedoro's raw and gritty atmosphere is elevated even further with Hayashida's art. Her style is rough, sketchy, gritty but definitely matches the atmosphere of Dorohedoro, it also perfectly conveys the theme of it. Each panel is jam packed with minor details and debrises, like mushrooms, hobos, broken signboards, litters on the ground, etc, etc. These minor touches really brings the world to life and makes it feel real. The characters also look fucking good. I especially love Nikaido's design, she has a blonde hair with blue eyes, wears dark baggy clothes which strikes a direct contrast to her Chinese design and also wears combat boots with gloves. Hayashida also does a wonderful job at the horror scenes. Picture this, thousands of mushrooms bursting out of your innards and growing till they rip you to pieces. Yes, Dorohedoro is filled to the brim with these kinds gory scenes and they are drawn sooooo grotesquely, which I absolutely love.

Characters:
If for anything Dorohedoro is a must read for its characters. If you love a large cast of well developed eccentric goofy characters, Dorohedoro's your shit and if you love  strong female characters who can take care of themselves without a man, then Dorohedoro's gotcha covered. The female casts of Dorohedoro are literally one of my favs. Noi is probably the THICCest character that I've seen, she has healing magic but that doesn't mean she's weak, I mean she literally karate chops a dude in half with her fucking hands. Nikaido is my most favourite among the female cast though, she's kind caring, good at making gyōzas and I'd literally love to have her as a partner. Ohh and she also decapitates a dude with her bare hands. Ebisu, is weird and kind off like the comic relief character of the series and is also capable of turning to a freaking T-Rex. The male cast are also fantastic and justbas badass as the female cast. Kaiman is literally a dude with a Cayman for a head and chops up magic users using to pairs of daggers. Shin is a magic user who uses a hammer and smashes Hole's peoples just for the fun of it. Fujita, well is Fujita. En, is the strongest magic user in existence, who uses mushroom magic, who is also very caring for his familia and would literally annihilate anyone who harms them. There's more characters but I doubt I'll be able to explain everyone's quirks and traits.


Enjoyment:
Dorohedoro is nothing short of but a masterpiece and is definitely one of my favourites of all time, if not my most favourite manga. It's got a fantastic plot filled with dark humour, gore, nudity, mystery and occasionally some action. The artsyle is absolutely gorgeous (in its own way) and portrays the underlying tone and theme of the manga. The cast are eccentric and quirky, with both strong male and female leads and are enjoyable to watch. I highly recommend this manga to everyone who loves seinen or just wants a fun read

Settings directly from post-apocalyptic series. World filled with anomalies of every sort. Characters who are the combination of futuristic cyberpunk and magical fantasy adventure. Artwork by the assistant of BLAME, relying on nothing but new ideas that are weirder than the last one. Story centering around the daily lives of our wide and colorful cast, yet the whole thing is essentially an action comedy. No one could have ever asked for Dorohedoro because it's simply too original and specific to be an answer to a need.


There are several reasons to like this series,

-Significant amount of the original ideas offer new perspective on things. For example, stuff like "curse" or "disease" is not necessary a similar concept as we understand them IRL, but they can vary from living persons to inanimate objects. It plays with words and wits.
-The series stays loyal to its own world and uniqueness to the bitter end. It abandons so many norms and "in the box" ideas, introducing its own take on practically every concept it deals with.
-Our cast is memorable to say the least. From their personalities and character design to badassery and taste in food, heavy amount of detail exist in characteristics an character-centric narrative. Liking the characters can end up carrying the entire series during its worst parts because it is just that strong.
-The art work manages to capture the atmosphere of the world in an impressive manner, making Dorohedoro immersive and pretty to look at. Mostly weird, but also pretty.
-The combination of different genres creates a narrative that can offer enormous appeal to those readers who are tired of seeing the same old stuff.


The are also several reasons to dislike it,

-Some of the weirdness seems to exist just for the sake of it.
-It masks most of the common things and cliche events seem unique by simply using its extraordinary settings and cast, but it never quite seems to live to its full potential. For example, there is always a convenient magic power that can solve the current problem and lead the story to preferred direction.
-Significant amount of the dialogue and text boxes contain something that could be considered irrelevant filler-text. This makes the reading experience suffer in smoothness and in generally, some of the most boring parts are skip-worthy.
-"All of this and more in the most chaotic limbo that is Dorohedoro." The manga is repetitive and it knows it, but doesn't really do anything to counter its repetitiveness. Quality differences exist and are obvious.


Enjoyment,

The first 50 chapters were a pleasure to me. I could say the same about events around 70 chapter mark and 100 chapter mark. The remaining parts made me change my mind more than once. Dorohedoro was supposed to end first time already over 5 years ago, but it was extended over the next years. Some of it feels forced and rises the question was this length truly necessary for the work? Spoiler: It wasn't. It could have been both: more entertaining to read and more meaningful by simply being shorter. This series is worth of reading for everyone who considers themselves a fan of manga, but I really wouldn't call it an obligatory read.

NOTE: Dorohedoro a series best to go in blind. I Believe the author intends you to know as little as possible.It's an 8/10 series. This is a spoiler free review.

Dorohedoro is set in a dystopian universe filled with magic and devils. It is unique and gritty-ly crafted. Its the story about an lizard man who has lost his memories with his bestest female friend Nikado. He puts a sorcerers head in his mouth and the man inside of the lizard man says "you are not the one" which results in the Man's death. Sorcerers themselves live in another world however. An alternate dimension if you will. They come over to where the MC is living called the HOLE. Which is where the non sorcerers live and they experiment on them. This is created very large amount of animosity between the Sorcerers and the Non sorcerers. I think the author wanted to make like a racial stand point where neither are right or wrong.... kind of.

Dorohedoro Now i love the setting i really do. Its very dark and gritty giving a very vague and sad outlook on the life. The author lets you know this is a fucked up world very early on. Monsters and death are right around the corner. Every day is a gift. So why not live it via smiling. Now in that sense I'm a bit confused on the world. Like the food for example is top quality type stuff. Majority of the food and the food quality remains the same in the Hole. Which is weird because everything else is run down and distraught. So why did the food make it out? No one knows.... Easily the biggest mystery in this entire fucking series. The Magician's world is more different. and is more early 1900's. There are 2 hierarchy's essentially. People who excel at magic (the rich), and people who don't (the poor). They are basically like people from the HOLE but born as sorcerer. This contrast is very interesting to watch and unfold. I can't exactly reveal more on the details.

Dorohedoro story is completed insane. It is everything with slowly filling in the gaps. This is a series that gives answers and we are meant to think of the questions. It is complicated as it is gritty and confusing. There is also small details that you really need to look at or you'll miss. A lot of questions are actually given in the art you just need to focus on it. As far as mystery reveal goes besides a couple they haven't actually made me jump or shocked. Neither did Dorohedoro actually. But that doesn't change the facts that the twist were very well written and thoroughly enjoyable. I just thought they could be better. I do believe the author left some questions open. Whether its on purpose or not i don't care it feels like lazy writing. I hate this think of your own answers BS. Its stupid and honestly pulls down the quality of the author. Make me seem like the author couldn't think of answer themselves so they left it to the audience. Though the main reveals aren't falling in this I do think the author left some questions open ended. I'd rather she forgot them than make up your own stuff.

Dorohedoro Characters are easily my favorite part of the series. They are all very charismatic especially En. who is like the main villain. I really loved his character. I would say he carried the series but thats implying that everyone else sucked but they were fantastic too. Caiman is a great MMC and i loved his whole unraveling. He was so enjoyable to watch and even his comedy was mostly on point. I didn't Like ebisu though. She was a horrible character. She was boring unfunny and fucking lazy. I actually wished she would disappear. It is sad that she is a big side character because she pulled this series down. Another thing i didn't like was Nikado but not because of her exactly. Its how the author used her for so much fan service. and honestly it was boring. When draw nudity you draw it at a certain angle. There is no real sense of style or eroticism when it comes to nudity. Meaning that when they were naked it wasn't that entertaining. Some scenes were nice but mostly they were just drawn randomly naked. This is an issue for other characters as well. Another thing is that Nikado isn't utilized well. She cooks for the MMC and despite being very strong constantly is the damsel in distress. Its honestly upsetting.

Dorohedoro art is an issue for me. I get that people like sketchy art but i don't. It is a sorry excuse of a talent less author trying to draw. I didn't hate the artstyle most of the time but the art is just not that great. Especially backgrounds. Sometimes though it looked like the author put some ink on some paper and sneezed. In berserk you can clearly see whats what in that dark gritty world but Dorohedoro you can't make heads or tails sometimes. Which is why i really liked the anime for that part. It was good because you can tell the fucking difference. Nonetheless the characters are drawn well so i guess its not completely bad. I've also been told calling the author talent less is a bit excessive. Alot of people saying this is incredibly pretentious so let me see if i can put it in an another way. I think she's wasting her talent by drawing it sketchy like. If thats the point i don't care. It pulls down the series. When you look at series like berserk you can see how gritty and dark it is without it looking like someone sneezed a blotch of black ink. I absolutely think the author has talent. But just cause the reason is to draw sketchy like doesn't mean its good.

Dorohedoro Doesn't really have romance though i find that genuinely odd. there is loads of hints and potential doing and wanting to do one another wonder why the author never looked for more.

Dorohedoro TLDR I loved it i did but there are just too many issues for me to not knock down 2 points. Also there are open ended question which might annoy some people but overall i think this is a great read that everyone should experience. Especially people who love darkness and violence.

The ending was a miss. Perhaps I wanted the manga to take its self more seriously, however the ending felt too jokey, and left too many things unsolved that it gave off the vibe Q-Hayashida had wanted to drop this series and move on to other work besides this one- which was truly a punch in the face. Having built up such an interesting world, cast, and mechanics within the manga to essentially blue ball the reader with a half assed ending that had good ideas and concepts that weren't fleshed out to the full extent hurt pretty bad.

All in all I think I just really wanted to see what ended up of the cross-eyes and Dokuga, I was very disappointed in what Caiman's magic had turned out to be, and would have liked to see the Demon tyrants of the magic world overturned or at least be shown their place. 7.666 Plessys out of 10

DM me thoughts if you are reading this

(This review is free from other spoilers than a bit of the very first chapter)

Dorohedoro is a manga unlike anything else. It's something you get only once in a genre, or in this case, once in a medium. It's the same as say Death Grips is to rap/hip hop music or Philip K. Dick was to sci fi. It's something breaking all the stupid rules, crossing all boundaries. It's a rare and unique experience. A thrilling and grim world, born from the imagination of Q Hayashida.

So what makes Dorohedoro so special? By looking at the art, it may seem like it's going to be similar to many other art manga, like Nihei's Blame!. But the raw art style isn't all in Dorohedoro. The world, it's something else. It's quite hard, even impossible to categorize Dorohedoro or any of Q Hayashida's works into a genre. I myself call it cybermagic, since he takes large influences from cyberpunk works like Akira and Nihei's mangas as well as dark fantasy and horror like Berserk or even Lovecraft's stories. It's extremely hard to create almost completely unique and original world and style, but Q Hayashida has managed to do that more than well.

The art perfectly fits the world and story. It's rough and vivid. Q Hayashida uses strong yet detailed lines that bring life to the post-apocalyptic and surreal world. The story is very raw and violent, in a perfect symbiosis with the art style. I don't think there is about any story that is as literally in-your-face as Dorohedoro (maybe with the exceptionof Berserk). It starts right from the violence and gore. You see our lizard-headed protagonist Kaiman eat a weird masked guy. He doesn't do it just for fun or hunger, but because he must find someone. That guy is not the right one. Kaiman let's that masked guy go, but he and his partner Nikaido need to fight and kill them. Those guys were not humans, but sorcerers, from the Sorcerer's world (I like to call it the Sorcerer's home, even if it's not the official translation).

The world of Dorohedoro is two-pieced. One is the Hole, a gloomy and dystopian city where humans reside. The other is the Sorcerer's home, a somewhat similar, but much more lively and surreal place. The only way to traverse between those two worlds is through magical doors that only sorcerers can place. The winding, complex and puzzling Dorohedoro covers both worlds in a way nobody else than Q Hayashida could.
Since this review is spoiler-less, I can't really talk much about the characters or the story. Not even much of the world itself. But what I can tell, is that Kaiman is on a deeply personal crusade to find out what he really is. But he won't be let alone on that journey, as Nikaido and many others will support the seemingly desperate search for a mysterious character. Kaiman's character may remind some of Guts from Berserk, but I bet there isn't a single dark hero/anti-hero in modern animanga that hasn't been influenced by him.

The magic system in Dorohedoro is very unique and cool too. I can't tell much else other than that it kind of works through the masks that the sorcerers wear. If you want to start this manga, be sure to have an open mind, since it's probably very different from anything you've ever experienced. Close your seat belts and hold tight to your seats as you will dive deep into the grim and overwhelming world of Dorohedoro, a masterpiece of manga.