The story of Tahoumaru

With episode 10, we finally have an episode which follows the potential rival or ally of Hyakkimaru, Tahoumaru. I say potential rival or ally because as of this point I’m still not sure which side Tahoumaru is going to fall on in the battle between Hyakkimaru and Daigo.

Will Tahoumaru side with his father, the lord, and fight against Hyakkimaru? Probably at first. But, what about later on when he learns that Hyakkimaru is his brother who was sacrificed so that Daigo’s land could flourish? Will he still side with his father, or will he join Hyakkimaru in his fight?

The fact that this isn’t yet clear is something I like about Tahoumaru. He’s a fairly straightforward character in that he wants to prove himself to his father, and yet there’s a lot of complexity about him beneath the surface. I could argue for him siding with either Hyakkimaru or Daigo, and that makes him immensely interesting.

However, one thing I’m fairly confident of is that if Tahoumaru dies during this series, he will do so while on the side of Hyakkimaru. If he stays on Daigo’s side until Daigo’s defeat, then I think Tahoumaru will simply become the next lord of his father’s land, but won’t rule it in the same way his father did.

But, if he, at any point, swaps to Hyakkimaru’s side, then I see his chance of death increasing dramatically. This doesn’t mean I’m 100% certain he’ll die if he sides with Hyakkimaru, but I could definitely see him sacrificing himself for his brother if need be.

At the very least, I’m fairly confident that Tahoumaru won’t be killed by Hyakkimaru. Either Hyakkimaru will recognize that he and Tahoumaru are similar, or perhaps Dororo will intervene and stop Hyakkimaru from killing his own brother. Either way, I don’t think Hyakkimaru’s character will be stained by fratricide.

Daigo’s Demons

But, I’m getting ahead of myself, because at this point in time neither Hyakkimaru nor Tahoumaru knows they have a brother. Hyakkimaru doesn’t realize that Tahoumaru even exists, and Tahoumaru only knows about the existence of someone his father is searching for, but has no information beyond that.

Daigo, on the other hand, is now certain of Hyakkimaru’s survival after being abandoned as a newborn. While he certainly had his suspicions after the demon statues were cracking one-by-one, these suspicions have now been confirmed thanks to a ritual which showed Hyakkimaru to him.

However, even after confirming the existence of his firstborn son, he still refuses to tell Tahoumaru about him. The reason for this secrecy seems to be that Daigo wishes to quietly sweep his past transgressions under the rug (or tatami).

If it’s discovered that Daigo has another son, then things could get messy very quickly. First of all, this may mess with Tahoumaru’s succession to his father’s position because he may no longer be considered the heir apparent.

But, what’s far more damaging for Daigo is that his secret deal with the demons could come to light.

If it’s simply revealed that Daigo abandoned his firstborn son due to extreme physical deformities, he would likely be forgiven. But, if anyone learns that the reason for his son’s deformities, and Daigo’s prowess on the battlefield, was due to him making a pact with demons, he would be vilified.

The Monster Crab

And, speaking of demons, there’s one featured in this episode. Or, at least there’s a monster. Since we didn’t witness Hyakkimaru regaining a lost part of his body after the eventual defeat of the monster crab, we can’t really confirm whether or not it was a fully fledged demon.

This monster crab lurks at the bottom of a large lake and creates a giant whirlpool to suck in unsuspecting boats and their crews. Because of this, the locals have complained to officials serving under Daigo, but none of them take the reports seriously.

That is, until Tahoumaru hears these reports. It’s not entirely clear whether or not Tahoumaru believes the story of the monster crab when he first hears them, but what is clear is that he sees this as an opportunity to make a name for himself, and maybe help his subjects at the same time.

I think Tahoumaru’s desire to be a good lord to his subjects is genuine, but I’d be lying if I said I think that’s his main reason for going after the monster crab. As far as he’s concerned, if there does turn out to be a monster, and he defeats it, then his father will have no choice but to acknowledge him.

However, it’s funny to think about how tale of defeating the monster crab would go over with his father if it did turn out to be one of the 12 demons. Tahoumaru would assume his father would be proud, but Daigo would be furious that his son defeated one of the demons he made a contract with.

The Hero Tahoumaru

In his first attempt to defeat the monster crab, Tahoumaru devises a “foolproof” plan. He and his men will go out onto the lake in boats which are tied to the shore. This way, when the monster creates a whirlpool, their boats will be secured in place.

While this certainly works at the beginning, and Tahoumaru is able to severely wound the monster, it seems to be smarter than he expected. The monster begins attacking the boats from beneath, using its massive claws to pierce holes in the bottoms of the boats.

Luckily for Tahoumaru and his men, the monster doesn’t cut their safety ropes, and so they’re able to retreat by pulling themselves back to shore. However, Tahoumaru can’t let this embarrassment stand, and so he devises another plan of attack.

This time, his plan is to bring the monster into his domain (the land) instead of going after it in its domain (the water). But, how is he supposed to lure this monster out of the lake and onto dry land? With the power of engineering, that’s how.

After noticing that the land is dotted with small, connected lakes, Tahoumaru instructs his men to build dams between three of them which form a chain. There’s the large lake which is home to the monster, the middle lake which is going to be the battlefield, and the final lake which is downhill from the first two.

The first dam between the large and middle lakes is left open so the monster can chase a decoy boat through and into the middle lake. This dam is then sealed off and the second dam connecting the middle and final lakes is opened. This causes all the water to rush out of the middle lake and down into the final lake.

Now that the middle lake has been drained, the monster crab is stuck on a dry lake bed, unable to hide from Tahoumaru and his men. When the battle is almost over, the monster is able to break through the first dam and refill the middle lake. However, Hyakkimaru appears just in time to slay the beast and save the day.

Conclusion

The end of this episode when Hyakkimaru appears to kill the monster crab is the first time in the series the two brothers have seen one another. As previously mentioned, they don’t yet know who each other are, but from this point on it’s decided that their fates are connected.

My guess is that within the next episode or two, Tahoumaru will learn that the man he saw kill the monster crab is the same one his father is searching for. This will then cause Tahoumaru to set off in search of Hyakkimaru, with plans to either kill or capture him.

So, what did you think of this week’s episode of Dororo? I really enjoyed it, specifically because we finally got to see an entire episode from Tahoumaru’s perspective. My guess is that the next episode will cover the same period of events, but this time from Hyakkimaru’s perspective.

If you enjoyed this review, then be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. And, if you’re not following me already, go give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a supporter of this blog and the benefits that come with it, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The story of the mercilessness

This week’s episode of Dororo is yet another one which almost entirely takes place in the form of a flashback. And, for those of you who may not be aware for whatever reason, this means the episode is primarily in shades of grey and brown, with the exception of blood which is bright red.

However, this week blood wasn’t the only thing which had color in the flashback portions of the episode. The Manjushage flowers which were depicted multiple times throughout the episode and represented Dororo’s parents were also bright crimson.

Dororo hates the Manjushage because they remind him of his parents. But, contrary to what we, and the nun taking care of him after he gets sick, initially assume, this isn’t because he hates his parents as well. Instead, he hates the Manjushage because they remind him of losing his parents.

The flashback which covers most of the episode is Dororo recounting the story of losing his parents when he was younger and how the Manjushage were so influential to him during this time. We also learn why Dororo acts the way he does, and how his view of the world was formed.

Interestingly, we even meet a character from Dororo’s past who may return later on in the series as an antagonist for him to overcome, just like how Hyakkimaru needs to defeat his own father. However, something tells me Dororo won’t defeat his enemy through combat, but rather through the use of his wits.

So, let’s take a look at Dororo’s origin story and see just how he came to be the rambunctious child we know today.

Hibukuro’s Brigands

Dororo’s parents were Hibukuro and Ojiya. They were originally farmers, but later formed a band of brigands after their town was destroyed and their friends and family were killed by samurai. It’s never explicitly stated, but these samurai were probably serving under Lord Daigo.

But, unlike other brigand groups, Hibukuro’s band doesn’t harm or rob civilians. Instead, this ragtag group of former farmers solely attack the samurai, who they see as the dogs of the lord and enemies of the people.

It’s in this kind of environment that Dororo grew up, and from a very young age he wanted to be like his father; a proud warrior who fights against the bad guys. But, his mother wouldn’t let him go into battle with his father, which is probably for the best considering he seemed to be around five at the time.

However, one day the battle came to Dororo when the samurai launched a counterattack on the brigand camp. It was then that Dororo first saw the reality of war. While he previously talked about what his father did as “beating up bad guys,” he now saw that war was nothing but death for both sides.

But, just because he now knows what it is that his father really does doesn’t mean he thinks any less of him. While Dororo may not like the fact that people are killing each other, he also seems to understand that there’s a reason his father and his comrades are willing to risk their lives.

Unfortunately not all of Hibukuro’s comrades are willing to continuously risk their lives, and he’s betrayed by his close friend, Itachi. Itachi thinks that they should join the lord’s side and become samurai themselves now that they’ve made names for themselves, but Hibukuro refuses.

The Samurai

Before one of their attacks on the samurai, Itachi seems to have gone ahead and struck a deal with the lord and his men. In return for a position as a samurai, he’s sold out his fellow brigands. Interestingly though, Hibukuro is only injured, not killed, which may imply his safety was part of the deal Itachi struck as well.

But, now that Hibukuro has been injured and all of his men have been taken by the lord’s forces, he and his family have nowhere left to go. Thus begins the next portion of Dororo’s life in which he travels from town to town with his mother and father in search of food and shelter.

It’s at this point that his hatred of the Manjushage flowers is solidified, because upon asking why their petals are red, his father responds that they soak up the blood of those killed in battle. And, not long after, his father becomes one such casualty.

Hibukuro’s time runs out when he’s found by a samurai who recognizes him from a previous raid he lead. As is typically the case, the fact that this samurai was spared during that time has now spelled doom for the one who chose to show mercy.

After Hibukuro’s death, Dororo and Ojiya continue to wander between towns to survive. But, one day they stop at a temple to receive rations from the local samurai and discover that the traitor, Itachi, is among them. While Dororo wants to fight him, his mother convinces him not to, likely out of fear that Itachi won’t show mercy.

Since Itachi now works for the lord who I can only assume is Daigo, I’m expecting him to show up again later on in the series when Dororo and Hyakkimaru finally clash with Daigo’s army. It’ll be interesting to see just how the relationship between Dororo and Itachi will end.

Will Itachi be killed by Hyakkimaru? Will Dororo use his brains to trick Itachi into being killed somehow? Or, maybe Itachi will sacrifice himself to save Dororo out of remorse for betraying Hibukuro.

In the end, Ojiya dies from starvation due to feeding Dororo instead of herself. She dies lying in a field of Manjushage flowers, and from this point on Dororo was alone.

Gender Reveal Party

You may have noticed that ever since my first Dororo episode review I’ve been referring to Dororo with male pronouns. Well, it was revealed this week that Dororo isn’t a little boy, but actually a little girl. So from here on out I’ll be referring to her as such.

However, while this reveal may feel major at first glance, it doesn’t really change anything. Even Hyakkimaru doesn’t seem to care if Dororo is a boy or girl, so why did Dororo go so far to hide the fact that she was actually a girl?

Part of the reason may have been due to the fact that men would have had more freedom and opportunities at the time. From traveling around with her mother after the death of her father, Dororo likely learned that women don’t have the same opportunities that men do.

Back in episode 6, The story of the Moriko Song, part 2, Dororo mentions that no matter how tough things got the one job her mother wouldn’t take was prostitution. This shows that Dororo has a fairly good understanding of what kind of life a woman without a husband can realistically lead.

But, the reason for Dororo hiding her gender aside, I also want to briefly discuss the potential significance of this reveal. As I mentioned, the fact that Dororo is actually a girl instead of a boy doesn’t change anything as far as the story is concerned, so what might this be trying to tell us?

Perhaps the moral behind Dororo’s gender reveal is that it doesn’t matter whether someone is a boy or girl, they can still achieve the same things. Despite being a girl, Dororo has still lived her life as a boy, which shows that gender roles can be crossed.

Conclusion

At the very end of the episode we also see a scene of Daigo learning of Hyakkimaru’s survival. He doesn’t yet know for a fact that the swordsman with prosthetic arms is his firstborn son who he assumed was dead, but it’s clear that he suspects this is the case.

But, what may be even more important is that his other son, Tahoumaru, overhears this information. He doesn’t yet know that Hyakkimaru is his brother, but since he heard there’s a lone swordsman who’s causing issues for his father, I’m guessing Tahoumaru will go in search of Hyakkimaru to fight him and prove his strength to his father.

But, what do you think is going to happen? And, what did you think of this week’s episode and Dororo’s true gender reveal? Let me know down in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date on all the latest content.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

The story of Saru

This week’s episode of Dororo introduces yet another single-episode character, Saru. Saru is a boy who lives alone in the mountains and wears the pelt of a wolf. For an unknown reason, he was forced to live like this after his parents died when he was younger.

The townspeople who live nearby chased him out of his house and up into the mountains, so we can assume that perhaps his parents weren’t liked by the townspeople either. However, one woman from the town took a liking to Saru and occasionally traveled into the mountains to take care of the boy.

Since he didn’t have a name, the woman indirectly named him Saru (monkey) because of the way he looks. Maybe it was his appearance that drove the townspeople into hating him?

But, after a demon cloud appears one day, the woman who Saru calls his older sister is going to be sacrificed to appease it. While the woman accepts her fate as her duty to protect the rest of the town, and Saru, Saru doesn’t think she should have to die so everyone else can live.

And, thus he begins his attacks on the procession to the sacrificial altar in an attempt to save his older sister. However, although he’s using a bow, none of his arrows seem to land anywhere near his mark. Is he merely bad with a bow, or does he not really want to kill anyone despite what they’re doing to his older sister?

It’s during one of these attacks that Dororo and Hyakkimaru run into them, and Dororo is able to help Saru free the woman without hurting anyone. But, the freeing of the sacrifice only enrages the demon further.

Nokosaregumo

Nokosaregumo is the name the villagers have come up with for the demon cloud. What makes this cloud unique is that it rains down ash and can appear even on cloudless days. It then descends upon the town and devours the inhabitants.

But, there is one way to save the town from the demon cloud which has been done for generations. This is to sacrifice a woman as a bride to the demon, thus appeasing it. Although the woman is called a bride and dressed up as one, this is essentially a human sacrifice since the women is simply eaten in place of the other villagers.

Later on in the episode we learn that the demon actually takes the form of a giant, flying centipede with a demon head on each end. The dark cloud which surrounds it is merely a miasma of sort generated by the demon to conceal itself.

This also means that the ash rain which can be seen falling from the cloud is actually the skin of the centipede being shed. Therefore, whenever it rains ash, that means the demon centipede is molting and growing larger, probably in response to eating people.

After the woman was saved from being sacrificed to the demon, it goes on a rampage and devours some nearby townspeople. At this point you would think the demon would disappear because it ate some people, but as it turns out, the fact that it was deceived in the first place angered the monster and so it wants revenge.

Hyakkimaru’s Sight

Now that the demon is sticking around above the town because the sacrifice was rescued, Hyakkimaru and Dororo have an opportunity to defeat it once and for all. The only issue is that Hyakkimaru can’t see the beast due to the cloud of miasma surrounding it.

As we know, Hyakkimaru is able to tell demons and monster apart from everything else because they glow red in his “spirit vision,” but in this particular case that vision is a detriment. You see, the cloud of miasma also appears red to Hyakkimaru, and so when he’s inside it to fight the demon, his vision is all red.

Up until this point, Hyakkimaru has solely relied on this “spirit vision” to fight his enemies, and generally move around in the world, so this is the first time in his life that it’s failed him. This then prompts Dororo, Hyakkimaru, and Saru to fall back, regroup, and come up with a new strategy.

But, before moving on to the plan Dororo eventually comes up with, let’s briefly go over the various body parts Hyakkimaru has restored so far. He’s reclaimed his right leg twice, his face, his ears, and his voice/vocal cords.

Notably, he’s still missing his actual sight, and so I assumed this would be the sense he regains after defeating this demon since his “spirit vision” has failed him for the first time. However, he actually regains his nose and sense of smell, which was hinted at in the very beginning of the episode by Dororo commenting on how the mountain pass smelled of sulfur.

It’ll be interesting to see just what sort of trial Hyakkimaru has to overcome to regain his sight, because I really thought this was the perfect story for it. Just like how the Moriko Song arc was perfect for Hyakkimaru just regaining his hearing and how he then regained his voice.

Dororo’s Plan

Back to the plot, Dororo and Saru decide that since Hyakkimaru can’t fight the demon within the cloud of miasma, they need to lure it out of the cloud somehow so Hyakkimaru can “see” it. However, this didn’t seem like a good plan to me at first, because I assumed the miasma cloud always surrounded the monster.

As it turns out, this isn’t the case, and the monster can leave the cloud if it so chooses; it just never chooses to do that. But, the plan for luring the beast out of the cloud is to use Dororo as bait by dressing him up as a sacrificial bride, and then having him run away, leading the demon into the sunlight.

And, well, the plan breaks down fairly quickly, with Dororo being cornered by the beast. Luckily for him, Hyakkimaru comes to the rescue even in the middle of the miasma cloud.

While Dororo and Saru were coming up with a plan to lure the demon out, Hyakkimaru was coming up with a plan to fight the demon in its own domain. His solution was to use Saru’s bow to shoot arrows at where the thought the demon was, and then listen for the sound of them making contact with it.

Dororo later ties himself to one of the monster’s heads so that Hyakkimaru can simply follow the sound of his voice to know where it’s at. I thought this was a much more interesting solution than simply luring the beast out into the open.

One of the things I love about this series is how we’re constantly being shown how Hyakkimaru uses the senses he has at his disposal to compensate for those he lacks.

Conclusion

So, what did you think about this week’s episode? While I enjoyed it overall, I do wish that more of the episodes were structured into mini arcs like the Moriko Song arc rather than this more episodic format.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. And, if you’re not already, go give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama. I tweet out every time a new post is uploaded, which may have come in handy today considering today’s upload is later than usual.

I’d also like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The story of the Jorogumo silk spider

Let’s start off today’s Dororo episode review with a bit of etymology, because I quite liked doing that last week. Today’s word is Jorōgumo (じょろうぐも), which is a kind of monster in Japanese folklore that can shapeshift between a spider and a human woman.

Because the word Jorōgumo already implies that it’s a spider monster of some sort, it seems to me that adding “silk spider” after it in the title may be a bit unnecessary. However, this may simply be an addition to the English title, and perhaps the Japanese title is simply, “The story of the Jorogumo.”

So, what exactly does this spider monster do in Dororo? It captures unsuspecting travelers in its web and then sucks out their life force to feed. However, what’s interesting about this particular monster is that it doesn’t actually kill its victims.

Instead, as we learn later on, by simply draining their life forces and then releasing them, this monster is able to have a sustainable food source. It’s also important to note that while their life force is being drained, the victims appear to be stuck in a good dream.

This is significant because if they knew they were attacked by a giant, spider monster, they would surely tell others, and the monster would be hunted down.

At the beginning of this episode, Dororo and Hyakkimaru comes across this monster while it’s feeding on a traveler. But, despite Hyakkimaru severely injuring it, the monster escapes and eventually makes its way into the nearby village when a passerby finds a woman (the monster) collapsed on the side of the road.

Kidnapper

Upon arriving in the village, Dororo and Hyakkimaru learn that a mysterious kidnapper has been making villagers disappear every night. To Dororo, this sounds like it could be the work of the spider monster, and since there’s a reward for the kidnapper’s capture, a good way to make money.

However, after staking out the village entrance for multiple nights in a row, the pair haven’t noticed any sign of the spider monster despite more reports of kidnappings. So, is the monster really the one behind these disappearances?

As it turns out, no. The kidnapper is none other than the man, Yajiro, who took in the monster in her human form. And, he’s not even really a kidnapper. It would be more apt to refer to him as a human smuggler who helps people escape the circumstances of their village.

This village is actually a mining village owned by a lord who works the villagers like slaves. Because of this, it’s not surprising that many villagers wish to flee and start new lives elsewhere. In fact, we even get a glimpse of how the other villagers view this supposed kidnapper.

They essentially see him as a Robin Hood-like person who protects the weak from their lord. And, not only do the villagers know there isn’t really a kidnapper, but so too do the guards who work for the lord and post the rewards for his capture in the village center.

Everyone around understands that these people are escaping, not being kidnapped, but the rewards continue to be posted for two reasons:

• Maybe someone will be swayed into snitching on the “kidnapper.”
• By labeling them as a “kidnapper,” the local government is refusing to admit that anyone would want to escape.

It’s important not to underestimate how important this second reason is. Controlling how your subjects think is an extremely powerful tool, and spreading misinformation is an effective way to do this. Even when everyone knows the “official” stance is a lie, the fact that the ruling party has an official stance on a matter is enough to keep most people in line.

Escape

So, as previously mentioned, the smuggler has brought the monster into his village and home unknowingly because she disguised herself as a human woman. And, although she originally planned to suck out his life force to sustain herself, she was struck by how he saw all life as equal, even humans and cockroaches.

Just as she doesn’t kill humans when she feeds off them, this man doesn’t kill creatures which would normally be seen as lower than him as well. Now, I get that this is supposed to be their connection to each other, but as I’ll get to in the next section, it doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny.

Yajiro then names the woman Ohagi after she says she doesn’t have a name, and Ohagi resigns herself to not feeding on humans while living in the village. But, she doesn’t actually get sustenance from human food despite thinking it tastes good, which means she only weakens as the days pass.

Eventually Yajiro decides to help Ohagi escape from the village so that she can seek medical attention in another town (this one doesn’t have a doctor). It’s during this escape that the pair run into Dororo and Hyakkimaru, who then try to defeat the monster, still thinking that she’s behind the kidnappings.

This is also when we learn that not only was the reward for catching the kidnapper a trap to get someone from the village to snitch, but the reward was never going to be paid out anyway. It’s likely that whoever snitched on Yajiro would be sentenced along with him as a co-conspirator.

Finally, in order to protect herself, and Yajiro, from the village guards and Hyakkimaru, Ohagi reveals her true nature and form. But, despite learning that she really is a monster, Yajiro still believes that Ohagi thinks life is precious just like he does.

The “Good” Ghoul

So, now it’s time to take a look at the discrepancies in this week’s episode. Let’s start with the one that basically invalidates the entire plot of the episode, the fact that Ohagi and Yajiro don’t share the same values when it comes to all life being equal.

Exhibit A: Yajiro spares the life of a cockroach while Ohagi kills a fly.

This may seem trivial, but it’s a key distinction between the two. In both cases the insects were attracted to Ohagi’s bowl of rice (or similar food), and yet each insect meets a very different fate. If Ohagi really thought all life was equal and precious, she wouldn’t have killed the fly.

Exhibit B: Ohagi only leaves humans alive because it’s more convenient for her.

Humans are her food source, and killing them outright would mean decreasing her potential supply of meals. She basically treats humans like domesticated animals, not like equals. If the killing of the fly didn’t invalidate her claim that all life is equally precious, this certainly does.

But, while Ohagi may not have really grown out of seeing humans or other life forms as beneath her, she has gained an amount of respect for them, or at least for Yajiro specifically. In the end, the pair are able to escape from the village after Hyakkimaru stands down.

Interestingly, although she’s a ghoul (not a demon), we see that the color of her soul shifts at the end from red to yellow. My assumption is that this signifies a change in her heart and shows that she’s not a threat any longer, despite not being of this world.

Also, the fact that she’s considered a ghoul and not a demon is important because if she were a demon, Hyakkimaru would have had to kill her to regain a part of himself.

Conclusion

So what did you think of this week’s episode of Dororo? I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it was as good as the previous episode. I’d rather have mini arcs that build up to the main conclusion than these standalone episodes which don’t even have a real effect on the plot.

If you enjoyed this review or found it helpful, then click the like button ❤ down below. Also, give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any upcoming posts or potential schedule changes. You can even tweet at me and I’ll probably respond.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how to become a supporter and what benefits you’ll receive, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The story of the Moriko Song, part 2

So, let me start off today by saying that my predictions regarding Mio and the conclusion of this episode from last week were wrong. In case you missed it, I assumed that Mio was going to be the female lead of the series and predicted that Hyakkimaru was going to have to save her after she gets captured while working.

The good news is that Hyakkimaru didn’t have to rescue Mio after she was captured while working. As for the bad news, we’ll get to that in one of the later sections of today’s episode review.

But, before I get into the events of this week’s episode and my thoughts on it, let’s first go over some terminology. The title of this arc is “The story of the Moriko Song,” so just what is a Moriko song?

Moriko (森子) essentially means “child of the forest.” So, a Moriko song is the song of said child of the forest. As for who the child of the forest is in regards to Dororo, it could either be Mio specifically, or her and all her children.

My guess is that Mio and her children are collectively considered to be the children of the forest since they were all driven to live together in the forest due to the war. And the song? Well, that’s simply the song which the child(ren) of the forest sing, i.e. the song Mio sings when she’s upset.

Now that we’ve gotten our Japanese lesson for today out of the way, it’s time to actually get into the episode at hand.

Mio’s Work

As we learned last week, Mio is a prostitute who works for the nearby army in order to provide for her children. And, as I mentioned last week, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise for anyone when it was finally revealed at the end of the episode.

This line of work wouldn’t have been uncommon given the time period and Mio’s particular circumstances, but her choice to begin working for both opposing armies would lead to her downfall. Being seen entering an enemy camp is bad for anyone, but especially for prostitutes, who were often viewed as untrustworthy to begin with.

Not only are there actual cases of wartime prostitutes being spies, which would have made soldiers paranoid, but it was also seen as a job for less than reputable women. That’s right, it’s our old friend, the double standard.

Male soldiers enjoyed having prostitutes around, and their wars often caused women to resort to this job after their livelihoods were destroyed. But, at the same time, these soldiers also thought that any respectable woman wouldn’t engage in that line of work, thus ignoring the fact that they drove these women into it to begin with.

So, with all this in mind, it was only a matter of time before Mio was suspected of being a spy for either side of the war.

But, we also see that although Mio clearly doesn’t like her job, she isn’t going to let that stop her from providing for herself and her children. And, although Dororo thinks she shouldn’t continue that line of work, he respects the lengths she goes to in order to survive.

Hyakkimaru’s Injury

Enough about Mio for now, let’s move onto the hero of our story, Hyakkimaru. As we know from last week’s episode, Hyakkimaru regained his voice, but lost his right leg in the process. My original question after this happened last week was, “will Hyakkimaru get his leg back?”

So, it’s time to answer that question. Yes, Hyakkimaru got his leg back after returning to the demon and defeating it once and for all. He also used a makeshift prosthesis when fighting the demon, which I expected would be the case.

However, a new question arose for me when watching this episode. Last week I kind of assumed that Hyakkimaru and Biwamaru defeated the demon which took Hyakkimaru’s leg. This is why I was unsure if Hyakkimaru could actually retrieve his leg.

The reason I assumed they had defeated the demon was because Hyakkimaru regained his voice. So, the new question is, “how did Hyakkimaru regain his voice from the demon without defeating it?”

My best guess is that each demon can only take one part of a person at a time. So, by taking Hyakkimaru’s right leg, it gave up his voice. If that’s not the case, then I have no idea why Hyakkimaru suddenly regained his voice. But, if you have an alternate theory, I’d love to read it in the comments.

As a side note, I’m amazed at how quickly Hyakkimaru has learned language. Sure, learning how to say Mio’s name after a few days isn’t particularly impressive, but he’s only been able to hear for like a week or two and yet he already understands what people are saying when they speak to him.

There’s also something to be said about learning disabilities for those who don’t have an actual language for the first 16 or so years of their life, but that’s a whole thing I’m not going to get into here because it would take too long.

Fire at the Temple

Ah, and now we get to the part of the review you’ve all been waiting for: the fire temple. I mean, the fire at the temple.

Once Hyakkimaru defeats the antlion demon and regains his leg, he and Dororo head back to the temple. But, before they get there, they see a plume of smoke rising into the sky from the temple.

Remember how I said Mio’s working for both sides of the war would be her downfall? Well, the time for that downfall is now. A group of scouts from the original army she worked for saw her enter the camp of the enemy army, and so when she returns to their camp, they capture her on suspicion of being a spy.

And, as is usually the case in these sorts of circumstances, a fair trial isn’t held. Instead, the soldiers go to the temple where she lives with her children, set it on fire, and then slaughter everyone in sight. By the time Hyakkimaru and Dororo arrive, the bodies of the children are strewn across the ground and Mio is barely alive.

Mio then dies, and Hyakkimaru goes on a rampage, killing all but one of the soldiers present. The only reason one is allowed to escape is because Dororo stops Hyakkimaru because he’s afraid he’ll turn into a monster if he allows his rage to dictate his actions.

I liked this scene. It subverted my expectations, works as a character growth point for Hyakkimaru, gives Hyakkimaru yet another reason to defeat his father, and frees up our main duo from being tied to a single location. Also I just like seeing sword fighting in anime so there’s that.

Conclusion

These past two episodes of Dororo were great. I still wouldn’t say the series as a whole is great, but it’s good. The buildup of the arc of the first episode and a half was compelling, and the climax, although short, was devastating. That said, it still didn’t really make me feel anything.

Although I watch a lot of shounen and action series, drama is really what I like most in anime, and there’s just something the Dororo anime is missing in the drama department. I can’t exactly place my finger on what’s missing, but when you compare it to some of my favorite series, it’s clear that Dororo just doesn’t stand up to the competition.

So, what did you think of this week’s episode of Dororo? Were you expecting this outcome? How did it make you feel? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.