Another great volume!!!
I love all of the characters and the dark humour.
I'm so amazed by Q. Hayashida's world-building and character design.
I want more. :')
All of my Dorohedoro reviews are actually a summary of what I've read & some thoughts!
I have the memory of a goldfish.
[RE-READ] SEPTEMBER 2021
TW: Strong language, blood & gore, graphic violence, body horror & nudity
Rating: 5 stars
Spoilers ahead!
This is one of my favourite early volumes! Such a strong start and end. It was perfectly curated and executed. I think I enjoyed reading it more this time too.
We started off with the high-ranked sorcerers heading to a weird party. It's interesting that we are shown the different kinds of magic; rare and even useless ones.
They await the arrival of the sorcerer with the ability to reanimate corpses.
I would love to have the ability to revive a dead body. Just like Noi's magic, this will definitely be useful in the long run. En wanted to make the person his partner, which is understandable. A Cross-eyes member remembers Ebisu but why? He offered her a drink with a mysterious powder. Ebisu's magic got out of control.
Black powder is shown to be some kind of drug that has the capability to enhance a sorcerer's magic. Apparently, the low-ranks use them. It's not just frowned upon, it's also illegal.
The sorcerer with the rare magic turned out to be a black powder user and a fake. The revival of corpses was a dog's doing after all. En adopted the dog and we get to see a glimpse of his soft side. The dog was named 'Judas's Ear' (Of course, it's mushroom themed!). Ebisu's commentary is priceless.
Back at Hole, Caiman and Nikaido tried out more methods to find out about his identity but to no avail. They went to Dr Vaux's friend's house to deliver a dead body. It seems like the house is empty.
I didn't expect Caiman to be afraid of ghosts. It was so cute when he was clinging onto Nikaido. He even fainted! Why didn't they animate this part? Dr Kasukabe is introduced. Apparently, he has been doing some housekeeping while Nikaido and Caiman got lost in the maze.
He conducts research on sorcerers. I can't believe that he's over 60!! He's such a cutie.
The house turned into a maze because of the accumulation of sorcerer's smoke. It is also mentioned that the smoke can make you see illusions ( need to remember this for later! Shin also mentioned this is volume 2).
It has also been revealed that he successfully recreated a portal door; made from a few dead sorcerer's flesh and bones. (How intelligent is this man? I love him.) Nikaido and Caiman decided to check out the sorcerer's realm together. I find it cute that Caiman is always asking Nikaido whether she would fall in love with him or leave him when he gets his face back!!! Is he handsome or ugly? Let's find out.
Judas's Ear successfully revived the head of the mysterious man with the cross-eyes marks. When he woke up, Caiman faints. He assumed that he was drunk and just having dreams but it's clear that these two are connected. In what way though? The man's name is Risu.
(Side note: Imagine going to eat at a restaurant but the waiter can't stop talking about their infamous hell fire toilet. I just wanna eat, damn it! that scene is hilarious! )
We're slowly getting answers about the cross-eyes but who is this "Boss" of theirs?
Risu is awake and is being interrogated. He seems suspicious, smiling and laughing with no care in the world. Meanwhile, in another part of the realm, Nikaido's smoke has been revealed to be of the highest purity. She went to a smoke pawnshop to sell it for some money. She stole the money and destroy any evidence of her smoke and went to meet with a devil. She decided to summon the one that was called 'Asu.' Also, why is Ebisu's smoke at the pawnshop? Does she sell her smoke for money? Hmm. Is she related to the cross-eyes, somehow?
Nikaido tried finding answers about Caiman's identity from Asu. They seem like good friends. Apparently, Nikaido can get answers faster if she uses her magic but she refused to. Why?
Asu mentioned that Risu is currently at En's manor and conjured a portal for her to go there. He questions Nikaido's motive behind this. He assumed that it's because of love. She definitely loves him, Asu but as a 'good friend.' /wink/ Nikaido broke into En's mansion and tried to escape with Risu. En shrouded the whole room with smoke and turned everyone into mushrooms. Noi came to the rescue!! Risu managed to escape as the mechanical body that was custom made for him was filled with En's smoke. At the start of the volume, Noi mentioned that En is such a drama queen. Well, I understand why now. (En: /gets punched En: HOW DARE U HERES SOME MUSHROOM MAGIC TRY ME BIJ)
Noi gave him a good *bonk* to stop his magic and saved the gang.
Nikaido escaped and went back to Caiman but a mushroom grew on her body. She forced Caiman to cut it off. Poor baby.
The bonus chapter is so adorable! It centres around Ebisu. Shin and Noi exude cool parents vibes! :") I'm still convinced that Saha Zanko from Dai Dark are theirs. Aaa, I love this volume so much!