Manga Reviews (2010-2019): Dororo Complete Omnibus (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review)

For a considerably large omnibus and that is available for under $20, it’s a manga omnibus that I highly recommend! Great story, cool characters and another Tezuka Osamu manga series definitely worth reading!

MANGA TITLE: Dororo Complete Omnibus

MANGA CREATED: 1969

BY: Tezuka Osamu

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2012

From Tezuka Osamu, creator of “Astro Boy”, “Black Jack”, “Kimba the White Lion” and more, was his 1969 manga series “Dororo”.

With a total of four volumes created (first serialized in “Weekly Shonen Sunday”), despite not having a log publication life, 26 half-hour episodes were created and aired on television in 1969 and a live-action film was made in 2007.

And a new anime series adaptation by MAPPA and Tezuka Productions made its premiere in January 2019.

The “Dororo” manga series was collected into omnibus format and was released by Vertical Comics.

The series is set during the Sengoku Period and we see how daimyo Kagemitsu Daigo making a pact with 48 sealed demons in order to rule the land and increase his wealth.

The demons are willing to agree if he sacrifice something belongs to him and sure enough, Kagemitsu sacrifices his unborn son.

When his son was born, he is born without limbs, eyes, nose, ears, internal organs and the father wants to get rid of him. His wife wraps him up and puts him in a basket and sends him away in the river.

Fastforward to the present, a group of thieves surround a man with a sword. The man is able to kill everyone and we see him remove his arm to expose a sword inside his arm.

We watch as demons try to follow and kill him, but so far, the man known as Hyakkimaru is able to defend himself and defeat them.

As Hyakkimaru walks, he sees a group of men trying to capture a child. Hyakkimaru tells the men to be careful of a monster in the river but they laugh at him, not believing him and sure enough, the monster envelops the men and turning them to skeletons.

As for the child, his name is Dororo and Hyakkimaru saves him. As for Dororo, he is a thief and he wants nothing but the sword that Hyakkimaru has on his arm. And sure enough, since Dororo is determined to getting the sword, he makes himself Hyakkimaru’s sidekick.

As Dororo is attacked by another demon, Hyakkimaru saves him and then tells him his story after his eyes come out of his head. We learn that Hyakkimaru is actually blind, has fake ears and many fake body parts.

How is it possible that he is able to look human despite fake body parts? We learn long ago that a doctor found Hyakkimaru as a baby and how he had no body parts or anything. But the kind doctor welcomed him as his own baby, raised him and build body parts for him and Hyakkimaru grew to have great intuition.

But we learned how he has been followed by demons and because he didn’t want the doctor to get hurt, Hyakkimaru left home and now learning if he is able to kill each demon, a body part eventually comes back. And it’s been a mission for Hyakkimaru to visit villages, saving people, but also defeating the demons that reside in each area.

And while he does this, he is followed by the sidekick he doesn’t want, a young bratty thief named Dororo.

Overall, each chapter/story is captivating. Tezuka Osamu has managed to create a story with wonderful pacing and character dynamics, that I really enjoyed this series. It’s unfortunate that the manga series was canceled, so only four volumes were created. Tezuka had to create a finale that worked and while the ending was fine, one could only wonder what if Tezuka’s manga didn’t get canceled? What if he had more time?

I felt the “Dororo” had so much amazing potential and it’s so enjoyable to read that you can understand why a new anime adaptation and a live film adaptation was created.

And for a considerably large omnibus and that is available for under $20, it’s a manga omnibus that I highly recommend! Great story, cool characters and another Tezuka Osamu manga series definitely worth reading!

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