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offservicebookrecs 's review for:
Dorohedoro, Vol. 1
by Q Hayashida
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Blood flows red as rivers and black as smoke in The Hole, as sorcerers face off with the monsters they've created. Caiman knows better than anyone the price of magic - waking one day with the head of a lizard, a shadow man in the back of his throat, and no memory of his life before, he spends his days hunting down sorcerers with his best friend, Nikaido, in search of answers. Though he is immune to magic, the curse remains, and he walks his discarded realm in search of the one who can set him free, dispatching the rest. When En, head of the Sorcerers, gets word of a lizard man and his companion slaughtering sorcerers in the streets, he sends his spores from the land of the sorcerers into The Hole to seek answers for himself.
Dorohedoro strikes a beautiful, grungy, discordant chord with me as a concept - it's gritty, dystopian, and gory while also being a compelling mystery, while also somehow being lively, funny, and almost slice-of-life-ish (if people wrote slice-of-life works about living in a grungy punk world full of death and magic). We get thrown into a world with different rules and customs (the funeral shoes? The egg? Everyone is wearing masks?) and it just kind of makes sense without needing a ton of exposition, which is fantastic. The art is incredible and the characters really come to life within the heavy and complicated line drawings. While we've gotten off to a slow start here as we explore the worlds of the sorcerers and The Hole, I know there will be a lot to come and I am already smitten with this series!
Dorohedoro strikes a beautiful, grungy, discordant chord with me as a concept - it's gritty, dystopian, and gory while also being a compelling mystery, while also somehow being lively, funny, and almost slice-of-life-ish (if people wrote slice-of-life works about living in a grungy punk world full of death and magic). We get thrown into a world with different rules and customs (the funeral shoes? The egg? Everyone is wearing masks?) and it just kind of makes sense without needing a ton of exposition, which is fantastic. The art is incredible and the characters really come to life within the heavy and complicated line drawings. While we've gotten off to a slow start here as we explore the worlds of the sorcerers and The Hole, I know there will be a lot to come and I am already smitten with this series!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
Also some brief nudity, but not in a sexual way