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.

This is one of the kind work that you probably should check out because there's nothing quite like it. It is a comedy, a tragedy, slice of life, horror, sports and bunch of other genres mixed in, with a rather complex overarching story and fairly large cast of characters. Art style is quite uncommon too, and in the age of simplified visuals, child-like or teen-like characters, the visuals are different - while this is certainly manga style, it heavily uses black, it is a bit messy, and on realistic side. It resembles works of Nihei Tsutomu (Blame!, Ningyo no Kuni, Sidonia no Kishi) due to its focus on more realistic visuals and "fuzzy" sketch-like but highly detailed drawings. Another thing that stands out is its rather bizzare world which is slowly unfolding for the reader.

Overall I felt that the story could, in places, have more impact and I felt like anime adaptation presented it in a bit better way, but uniqueness of the setting, black humar, different art style, and complex story along with likable and believable characters balanced that out. So I can say that I enjoyed this one.

It should be mentioned that this manga contains violence, gore, dismemberment and nudity, but mostly there's a lot of horror gore and black humor, which may not be to everybody's liking.

I recommend to check it out if you have the opportunity.

7/10 Story, 7/10 art, 8/10 character, 7/10 enjoyment, 8/10 overall (due to it being very unique).

Dorohedoro is one of the best manga I have ever read. The writer managed to depict a deep, dark plot and an unlimited imagination.


Story 9/10


To begin with, we find that the story is simple, as it talks about kaiman man with a lizard face. Having amnesia and he is searching for the magician how did this for him. Simple, yes!!. But this is only the beginning, and you will not understand the depth and strength of the story events until Volume 7, so here the mystery will reveal. And You will find yourself fascinated by the greatness of the story.

Art 9/10


Dorohedoro have an iconic art style. The art shows the darkness and creepiness of the story. Also, it’s unique and clear!!. The background drawing photographed the manga world. Everything was perfect. I can’t even describe how beautiful the drawing was!.


Character 10/10

One of the strongest points of the manga is the character. Every single one has a unique character you will never know who’s best for you. The relationship between the main and side character is fabulous. You will remember every single character and you will feel attached to them!.

Enjoyment and overall 10/10

I repeat, this is one of the best manga I have ever read. it’s a dark fantasy manga, but also there is a dark comedy. This means you will laugh and be afraid at the same time! >> This happened to me:) overall you may take a while to get into it and feel comfortable with its unusual style. But trust me it worth to read.

Dorohedoro is unlike any manga that blends gore and comedy together in a splendid way.

Story: 7

The manga series is unique to say the least. Dorohedoro has astounding world building, which is significant to the plot. The biggest issue I had with the story is the pacing in the second half of the manga. I felt that the pacing was too slow until the very end when the pacing shifts to being too fast. the mystery, in my opinion, is the best part of the story

Art 9

Dorohedoro has exceptional art. By merely using images, the author was able to convey significant information regarding the characters and the story.

Characters 8:

The characters are very likeable, and their isn't really any characters that I dislike, and that is saying something since there is a large cast of characters. Nonetheless, there was no unique character that stood above the rest.

Enjoyment 7:

The manga series is pretty enjoyable to read. Although, During the second half of the series, I felt that I was forcing myself complete the series. That was due to the pacing issues I mentioned, and the constant switch of focus between characters that I cared less about.

Overall 7:

Lastly, the series is unique and is worthy of reading. There are a few pacing issues, but the mystery is what keeps the pacing to not truely affect the series.

for the first 20 chapters you might not even understand whats going on with this world , but props for the writer for keeping it like this because when everything starts to become more clear it amazes !

you follow a guy with a lizard head ... not joking ! he is a human being with a lizard head trying to understand whats going on , youll follow the story through some amazing characters and more amazing mystery that is hidden to a far later part of the series .

i cant guarantee youll enjoy this because it is very confusing to follow and youll probably get lost trying to figure it out but i like puzzles and this was 100% my jam !

This manga is kinda insane but in a good way. It's like Mad Max if there was magic and parallel worlds.

The main character's story is fairly engaging, and I enjoy the mystery aspect. They kinda did something really cheap with it early on, but other than that, discovering Kaiman's identity is genuinely interesting.

The characters in the manga are fine, but I don't feel like too many of them stand out as very well written. Not that they're bad, but a lot of them are pretty shallow. For instance, I see a lot of people loving the cross-eye elites, but none of them really have that complex of a character, nor do they really develop throughout the story. The major way that the characters are interesting is through their interactions with others. The different perspectives of the varying groups and how they mesh is really intriguing. One of my personal favourites is Risu, who kinda feels like he doesn't fit in with a lot of the groups and has almost an outside perspective wherever he goes.

The art is great, although it's sometimes so cluttered that I can't really tell what's going on in a panel. You kinda get used to it after a while though.

This is perhaps the most original, trippiest, creepiest, and imaginative thing I've ever read.

The world is very well thought-out. It is primarily divided into the Hole, a place populated by humans, and the Magic Users' world, populated by human-looking beings with extraordinar[ily weird] abilities. These abilities range from your standard healers, to devastating mushroom attacks, and everything in between. The humans and the magic users don't like each other.

The plot is a lot harder to describe. I mean, saying "well it's about an amnesiac guy with a lizard head named Kaiman who wants his real face back so he's biting people faces so that the guy inside his mouth can identify the person who may have did this to him" doesn't really cut it. There's A LOT more to it than that, but you have no idea what's going on until volume 7+, when it gets much darker and the real story of Kaiman's memories and identity starts coming together.

That's okay, though, because the series is very entertaining throughout with its hyperviolence and dark humor, and you really do need such a long introduction to get used to this world and its, err, "colorful" cast of characters. That's not to say that the first few volumes are irrelevant for plot progression. Pieces of the plot are sprinkled everywhere but you might not realize it at first. To fully appreciate this it's best to go back once you know all that you will later on, which makes for a lot of re-read value!

/Where else can you find the phrase "The Boss is no longer a pie!!"? XD

I read dorohedoro and fell in love with every little intricacy, quirks and detail of it world it quickly became one of my favorites I loved the fact despite how bizarre the show can be at time's it all makes sense and I was never confused once and if I didn't know something I had absolute confidence I will find out later in the manga the art was so gritty and detailed and worked well with the story the mystery was built up perfectly and ended with a satisfying conclusion something not many manga's can pull off as most manga with a mystery as its hook or central piece builds up a intriguing mystery and fail to stick the landing with the ending also I can count the number of times I have loved an entire cast of character with no exception One of the antagonist en is forever one of my favourite antagonist of all time everything form his backstory the way he treats his underlings his fears his aspirations his pride his personality his charisma are just so Awesome and loveable my only complaint would be with the ending as I thought it really could have used and epilogue with a cast of characters this fleshed out to give all of them a proper conclusion the ending could have been a little better too it kinda felt as if the manga was cut 95% to completion and the author decided that she cramp the last 5% on the last 4 chapters

The first Manga i ever read was Dorohedoro and i'm grateful that it was. The excitement of waiting for a book to be released and checking them out at my library 4 books at a time, the anxiety of having to return them and not be able to go back and admire the art and worrying that i was reading them too fast. I never want to forget the amazing experience that Dorohedoro was. It introduced me to a new idea of what manga is and what it can be, that the most complicated of stories can still be simple and heart warming even in a swarm of guts and gore.

Regardless of who i show this manga to, the first thing they are captured by is the art, rough lines and sketchy characters, detailed settings and apocalyptic-grunge clothing with nikes. The world of Dorohedoro draws you in visually first before enchanting you with a plot constantly leaving you wanting more and romance that will have you ripping your hair out in anticipation (and always will (: ) humor that builds and eventually requires the 23 volumes of knowledge to really get, never ending action, information and plot twists. And of course, everyone's favorite- little gyoza fairy

Dorohedoro NEVER had me wanting to drop or put this on-hold, in fact I'd have to pace myself as to not read too much. Q Hayashida really created an entire world like you've never seen it and does a spectacular job at being able to create a diverse cast of unique people and animals. each story is choreographed perfectly with the personalities of each character. It accomplishes what a lot of manga doesn't care as much to touch on- architecture and the nuances of the world and environment.

I'm not the best at conveying why i enjoy things objectively but if anything I urge you to read a story that will always give you enjoyment!

Dorohedoro is a well-designed, atmospheric manga with a specific style and sense of humour that carries the series through its story. The author Q Hayashida illustrates her personality so well in the pages of the texts by using juxtapositions of grim and depressing settings and subject matters with deadpan deliveries, sarcasm, goofiness, and silliness.

The characters in the manga are mostly powerful magic users who each have what is essentially a personalized super power (sometimes very arbitrary but always unexpected- such as turning people into meat pies) or they are weak and vulnerable victims to the violent world around them (such as all of the inhabitants of hole and magic users who can't produce much magic). All of the characters in the manga have personality and charm. This is the strongest aspect of Dorohedoro, and where Q Hayashida shines through the most. Kaiman, Nikaido, Shin, En, Noi, Ebisu, Fujita, Risu, the staff at the magic victims hospital, everyone is clever and has their own personality.

That is, unless they are needed for explaining what's happening in this crazy world, and this is where the story is lacking. Unfortunately, the logic of Dorohedoro is inconsistent at many times, and the explanations for the effectiveness of the magic being done to drive the plot along can be convoluted and hard to follow. This results in the manga drunkenly stumbling through the plot a bit, resulting in weird or awkward compromises (such as Risu and Aikawa's relationship) or anticlimactic conclusions (such as En's arc). Maybe it was because they were rushing to finish the series, but after about the half way point of the manga there was a shift to begin concluding to the finale and tying all the loose ends, which happens more or less but not in a very satisfying way.

Even so, I enjoyed the world that the author created and enjoyed reading it, I just wished I could have spent more time to explore each character's depth that was clearly visible from the start, something I think that got wasted on the main villain of the story, who had no depth or personality whatsoever.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

There are two types of absurd but well-told storytelling. You get anime such as Gurren Lagann or Redline where the interest is piqued because of its spectacle and over-the-top visuals and characters. Or you get anything made by Masaaki Yuasa where the presentation is wacky and strange but underneath the surface, there lies a lot of character analysis, social critique, and philosophy that a majority of his audience can find relatable.

Dorohedoro had the potential to be a well-thought out mystery containing dark humor and sick action. But unfortunately it built-up something so huge that the climax was below underwhelming. Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with the story being absurd and weird since it was not very aspiring to be something more or grand like what Masaaki Yuasa makes. But it brings upon so many subplots and crucial details in the middle that the audience will begin to lose track of coherence and what is even supposed to matter.

Story: There is only one word that can fully described the plot of Dorohedoro: CONVOLUTED! While the setting and premise I do say is quite fascinating, it takes a more mysterious turn in the middle and the amount of mysteries keep piling up and will leave you lost. The world of the humans and sorcerers was interesting and the history behind some of the past events does make you invested. But it will more depend on what you are looking for. If you don't care too much about the plot and just want to enjoy a silly story of sorcerers and humans murdering the shit out of one another, then don't let my criticisms stop you from checking it out. But if you are looking for (at the very least) some sense for the amount of plot points it tries to put together, then you are going to be disappointed. I stopped caring around the final 3rd of the series but was still curious enough to see it all the way through.

In short, vol. 1-4 = slow / vol. 5-13 = very interesting / vol. 14-23 = I'm lost.

Characters: If I'm completely honest, the story would not have had a huge impact on my distaste for this series had the characters held the story well. And for the first half of it, they did and they were pretty tremendous. Caiman and Nikaidou were very likeable characters and their friendship was very believable. My personal favorites were the villains: En, Shin, and Noi. They were hilarious and they give the audience a perfect reason to not take Dorohedoro all too seriously. When comparing the humans (and Caiman), En's family, and the Cross Eyes, En's family had the most consistent character state and their relationship expressed their truest characters best out of all of the main groups in the story.

Unfortunately, where things went wrong was that at the half way point, some crucial characters are not able to fulfill all of their potential and move away from the story (I will not spoil, just figure out why yourself). And some characters (Nikaidou and Ebisu), while still likeable (more in the first half than the second), change for very annoying reasons and the plot ruined them when I previously loved them.

There also isn't much character development. Some characters never needed it because they were great the way they were and were even fleshed out further into the plot. But I feel the only characters that change from beginning to end are Fujita and Risu. Everybody else either never changes and feels like their character is just being dragged by the complicated plot and not entirely being themselves or they go through realizations which have a minor impact on their final character change.

Art: It is different in a good way and it suits the atmosphere it is trying to present. It fits the gritty violence and over-the-top designs of the characters. While some of the backgrounds did lack a little too much detail for me, I'd say the art is the best part of the series.

Final Thoughts: In the beginning, this manga had practically everything to be something awesome. But with poor plot decisions, the story just drags and will leave you lost on what the point of really anything is. You can enjoy the absurd humor and the gritty action but nothing makes sense. If it was all absurd humor and gritty action, it would come across more consistent than when it builds up something so crucial for the overall story just to forget about what to do with it and make an underwhelming conclusion. It's still worth the check out if it really interests you.

I give Dorohedoro a not bad, but disappointing 5/10.