Dorohedoro
Dorohedoro is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Q Hayashida. It tells the story of the amnesiac reptilian-headed Caiman working together with his friend Nikaido to recover his memories and survive in a strange and violent world.
The series was formerly serialized in Shogakukan's seinen magazine Monthly Ikki since 2000, but after its cessation in 2014 the series was moved to Hibana in 2015. However, after the cessation of Hibana in August 2017, the series was transferred to Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine in November 2017 and finished in September 2018.
The series was licensed for an English-language release by Viz Media in 2009, which began distributing the manga digitally when it launched SigIKKI, the now-former online English version of Ikki magazine.
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by MAPPA was broadcast from January to March 2020 in Japan on Tokyo MX. It was followed by a worldwide Netflix release in late May 2020.
Synopsis
Setting
Dorohedoro story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting, split in two separate dimensions; the Hole, a dismal cityscape where humans reside; and the Sorcerers' world, home of sorcerers. Despite appearing similar, humans and sorcerers are two distinct species, the former evolving naturally, while the latter was created by a primordial devil named Chidaruma. Sorcerers are capable of entering the Hole by summoning magical doors.Sorcerers have specialized organs in their body allowing them to produce "smoke", which is the source of their unique magical powers. Some sorcerers have incredibly weak powers while others may be capable of far greater feats such as resurrecting the dead or controlling time; these powers are incredibly rare and highly prized. The amount of smoke a sorcerer is capable of producing also factors into a sorcerer's abilities, and many sorcerers work to improve their smoke output through surgery, or more commonly, the illicit use of black powder, which is distributed by a gang of low-level sorcerers called the Cross-Eyes. Smoke can also be bought and sold. The hierarchy of the sorcerers' world is structured around these differences in ability: powerful sorcerers, such as “The En Family”, enjoy a life of luxury; while weak sorcerers, who produce such low amounts of smoke they may be unable to use magic at all, live in destitution. Powerful sorcerers may undergo a metamorphosis into a 'devil' — an immortal being with incredible power, following a rigorous training regime. Devils are deeply respected by sorcerer-kind and also manage the affairs of a third realm, Hell, where they work with Chidaruma to torture the souls of dead sorcerers.
Sorcerers regularly visit the Hole in order to practice their magic on human victims, leading to huge numbers of disfigured survivors. Hospitals have been set up to deal with the ever-growing numbers of magic victims, but humans can do little to repel sorcerers. To make matters worse, the residual magic smoke in the air mixes with the Hole's toxic rain, causing the dead to periodically rise from the grave and attack the living. The residents of the Hole call this annual event “Living Dead Day” and work with local priests to kill zombies for prizes.
Plot
The plot centers on a man named Caiman and his search for his real identity after a transformation by a sorcerer left him with a reptile's head and no memory of his former life. Along with his friend Nikaido, he violently assaults sorcerers in the Hole, with the aim of taking their heads into his mouth, where a strange face will appear and confirm whether the sorcerer he has bitten onto was the one responsible for his transformation or not. Somehow, Caiman is immune to magical effects and as a result is extremely dangerous to sorcerers.The news of a lizard-headed magician-killer immune to magic attracts the attention of En, a powerful sorcerer and head of a syndicate known as “The En Family”, who sends his cleaners to kill Caiman. En himself is currently attempting to scrub out a gang of low-level sorcerers known as the Cross-Eyes, after an encounter with their legendary boss almost cost him his life years ago.
As the residents of the Hole, the En family and the Cross-Eyes gang, along with many others, collide with one another, the mystery of Caiman's identity begins to unravel, reigniting ancient grudges and threatening to forever change both the Hole and the sorcerers' world.
Characters
;Caiman;Nikaidō
;En
;Shin Noi
;Fujita
;Ebisu
;Professor Kasukabe
;Jonson
;Vaux
;13
;Kikurage
;Turkey
;Chōta
;Matsumura
;Aitake / Maitake
;Tanba
;Risu
;Asu / Kawajiri
;Fukuyama
;Insect Sorcerer
;Melting Sorcerer
;Life-Giving Sorcerer
;Chidaruma
Media
Manga
Dorohedoro began in Shogakukan's Monthly Ikki in 2000, but the magazine ceased publication in 2014 and was moved to Hibana in 2015. However, after the cessation of Hibana in August 2017, the series was moved to Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine on November 11, 2017. The manga finished in September 2018 with its 167th chapter. Shogakukan has compiled the individual chapters into 23 tankōbon volumes as of November 2018. A 14-page special chapter was published 17 months after the series' finale in the March issue of Monthly Shōnen Sunday on February 12, 2020.Viz Media began distributing the manga digitally in 2009 when it launched its SigIKKI site, the former online English version of Monthly Ikki, and the first graphic novel volume of Dorohedoro was released on March 16, 2010. It was translated by the localization company AltJapan Co., Ltd., who has continued to translate all subsequent releases.
Volume list
Anime
An anime television series adaptation of Dorohedoro was announced in the December 2018 issue of Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine released on November 12, 2018. The series is produced by MAPPA and directed by Yuichiro Hayashi, with Hiroshi Seko in charge of series composition, Tomohiro Kishi designing the characters, and NoW_NAME composing the music. It premiered from January 12 to March 29, 2020 on Tokyo MX. The opening theme "Welcome to Chaos" and the series' ending themes "Who am I ?", "Night SURFING", "D.D.D.D.", "Strange Meat Pie", "SECONDs FLY" and "404", are performed by NoW_NAME. It ran for 12 episodes, and six OVA episodes were bundled with the series' second Blu-ray release.Dorohedoro was released on May 28, 2020 on Netflix outside of Japan.