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ドロヘドロ [Dorohedoro] #6
ドロヘドロ 6
▼第31話／ロンリー・カイマン▼第32話／真夜中の怪人▼第33話／ナイトメア・ビフォー……▼第34話／まんじゅうコワイ▼第35話／ヤキイモ・ランデブー▼第36話／ザ・ボス●主な登場人物／カイマン（魔法で爬虫類の頭に変えられた男。かけられた魔法を解こうとしている）、ニカイドウ（食堂を経営するカイマンの友達。武術の心得もあるし、実は魔法使いでもある？）●あらすじ／ブルーナイトパーティーの会場にいるカイマンは、料理を出す魔法を使う福山とともに暇を持て余し中。その一方、煙の手に落ちたニカイドウが、悪魔すらも一目置く、伝説の“時を操る”魔法使いだということが発覚した！ 煙は彼女をパートナーにしようと、悪魔の元へ契約に行くが…（第31話）。●本巻の特徴／“ブルーナイト”で、無理やり煙のパートナーとさせられてしまったニカイドウ。ごくまれに魔法が重複してかかっていると、それ以上魔法が効かない体になることがあるということを付き止めた煙は、捕らえたカスカベ博士らを拷問にかけ、カイマンの手掛かりを探そうとする…。●その他の登場人物／藤田（相方・松村とホールに魔法の練習に来て、カイマンに襲われた）、煙（藤田の上司？ 部下がカイマンに殺さ
170 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2005
56 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Q. Hayashida
81 books604 followersQ Hayashida (林田球, Hayashida Kyu) is a manga author from Tokyo.
Hayashida studied oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts. She has discussed her childhood and artistic inspirations in interviews but maintains a high level of privacy about her personal life, to the point that her true name and face are unknown.
Hayashida's first major manga was Maken X Another (1999-2001), a comic book adaptation of a video game.
Her most famous work is the 23-volumes long Dorohedoro (2000-2018). It was originally serialised in the alternative manga magazine 'Monthly Ikki', but it was later moved to 'Hibana' when Ikki ceased publication, and finally transferred to 'Monthly Shōnen Sunday'. Dorohedoro has been partially adapted into an anime on Netflix in 2018.
Hayashida's most recent manga series Dai Dark began serialisation in 2019 in the pages of Monthly Shōnen Sunday.
Hayashida studied oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts. She has discussed her childhood and artistic inspirations in interviews but maintains a high level of privacy about her personal life, to the point that her true name and face are unknown.
Hayashida's first major manga was Maken X Another (1999-2001), a comic book adaptation of a video game.
Her most famous work is the 23-volumes long Dorohedoro (2000-2018). It was originally serialised in the alternative manga magazine 'Monthly Ikki', but it was later moved to 'Hibana' when Ikki ceased publication, and finally transferred to 'Monthly Shōnen Sunday'. Dorohedoro has been partially adapted into an anime on Netflix in 2018.
Hayashida's most recent manga series Dai Dark began serialisation in 2019 in the pages of Monthly Shōnen Sunday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
September 12, 2020
The art style continues to be the full-blown *chef's kiss* fantasy for me.
We got more backstory on En, and I love how eccentric he is with literally everything he has dealings with. Love the roping in of certain character, that I will not name due to spoilers, into En's clutches. That was a fun romp. Also, we were given some more appearances by Chota, and that will forever and always make me a happy camper.
So, yeah, it's a good ol' violent time!
We got more backstory on En, and I love how eccentric he is with literally everything he has dealings with. Love the roping in of certain character, that I will not name due to spoilers, into En's clutches. That was a fun romp. Also, we were given some more appearances by Chota, and that will forever and always make me a happy camper.
So, yeah, it's a good ol' violent time!
September 26, 2024
Hey, the plot actually started to come together in this volume. Problem is, I realized I don't really care about it or the many characters wandering around in it being goofy or evil in random turns. And this volume only gets me about a quarter of the way through the series.
I think I'm going to call it quits here.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Spell 31. Lonely Caiman -- Spell 32. Phantom of the Night -- Spell 33. The Nightmare Before -- Spell 34. Manju of Terror -- Spell 35. Sweet Potato Rendezvous -- Spell 36. The Boss -- Extra Evil
I think I'm going to call it quits here.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Spell 31. Lonely Caiman -- Spell 32. Phantom of the Night -- Spell 33. The Nightmare Before -- Spell 34. Manju of Terror -- Spell 35. Sweet Potato Rendezvous -- Spell 36. The Boss -- Extra Evil
August 12, 2021
Me está flipando esta serie, la verdad.
April 7, 2020
This is a review of volumes five and six.
Around the time when the previous volume ended, alligator head dude decided to venture further into the magicians’ world by himself to figure out who stole his memories and disfigured him. He doesn’t want to involve his beloved restaurant woman this time; after all, she has a broken down business to run. Alligator dude is bold and brave but lacks the ability to plan anything properly. Shortly after he wanders through the magicians’ world for a bit he finds himself, or more accurately realizes he is, broke and hungry. He steals meals for a while, but it’s clear that he can’t keep surviving like this when he doesn’t even have a clue how to find the magician who fucked him over. He casually witnesses a bunch of gang members harassing the staff of a local dingy restaurant, with general murderous intent. The owner of the restaurant is a massive beastman, but alone as he is, he will likely end up losing some of his staff. Alligator dude sees a chance to enact some further revenge towards magicians or just wants some action or whatever, and gets involved by killing the remaining gang members. The grateful beastman offers him a job as an all-purpose person. Alligator dude is glad to have found a reliable source of employment, although he quickly fucks things up for himself by eating some of the food intended for the customers. However, the beastman generally has enough with just beasthandling the protagonist for a bit whenever he does something he shouldn’t. The protagonist spends some indeterminate amount of time with this new group, not progressing in his quest at all, and comes to appreciate them enough although they are filthy magic users, which is cool I guess. We learn a bit more about the magicians’ world: every four years or so they celebrate a “Blue Night” in which each magician can find a partner for life, in an initially non-romantic sense. The local demon overlords are involved somehow. The protagonist, who is sitting in a park next to a nice coworker, sees the demons fly down from their house perched on the sky, and the coworker suggests they wave to them. A demon waves back.
The rest of the characters are focused on everything that involves this “Blue Night”. The mushroom guy, who seems to be the most powerful magician around, intends to find a fabled magician who controls time and make him his partner, forcefully if necessary; it seems that the ritual for partnership can turn an unwilling partner into an obedient goon for life, so many of the local magicians attempt to kidnap and immobilize each other until the ritual is completed. We get further development for the main gang members, particularly the lovely couple of heart-shaped mask hitman and disturbingly sexy behemoth lady, who is a hitwoman in her case. In the process of figuring out if a magician with the ability to manipulate time exists, mushroom guy receives a clue: a sample of bottled magic analized from the shop whose owner was murdered seemed to have time related properties. They get photos from the murderer, and it’s the restaurant woman (whose lovely name is Nikaido) from back when she had ventured into her former world to help her sort of boyfriend. I don’t quite recall why she left a bottled sample of her magic there, or why she murdered the shop owner, but in any case the mushroom guy wants to forcefully drag her into a partnership contract, so he creates a sort of voodoo doll of her that will affect her in the other dimension.
In a memorable scene, Nikaido was tending to her packed business back home when a huge mushroom grows on her back. It detaches leaving her with huge wounds, and the mushroom turns into a sort of golem that the mushroom guy can control remotely. It attacks Nikaido. Some of her friends, who had recently declared that they were fine with her being a magic user, defend her, and one of them gets killed. Nikaido goes to retrieve her demon-created custom mask that apparently gives her additional powers. She defeats the golem. However, it was a trap: mushroom fellow opens a door under them to his mansion, where he immobilizes Nikaido and imprisons her friends. Some time after we witness the partnership ritual: the demons open a flesh door in the involved people’s chests and leave inside a signed contract with magical properties, that eventually will melt into their bodies. If they agreed to the partnership, their personalities won’t change, but if they were dragged forcefully, they will become obedient. One of the demons was a personal friend of Nikaido from back when she was a child, and isn’t happy about her having been enslaved by the mushroom fellow. The forceful partnership is apparently a success, or at least we see a seemingly obedient Nikaido by the mushroom guy’s side. She might be faking, though.
Pictured: mushroom fellow’s gang
As the protagonist and his coworkers were delivering the last meal to a prisoner on death row, the prisoner turns out to be a member of the gang that the protagonist is hunting down to figure out who transmogrified his damn head. Boldly he shoves the prisoner’s head into his mouth. The guy inside the alligator dude’s magical mouth says that the prisoner isn’t the culprit, but more importantly, the prisoner recognizes and names the guy inside the protagonist’s mouth. It’s a former gang member and pal of his who they believed had died. The protagonist is shocked, because he had been hunting that person as if he had caused his disgrace. In any case, the prisoner is forcefully dragged to Hell in spectacular fashion. A demon who was present, and who happens to be Nikaido’s childhood pal, knows that alligator dude is her sort of boyfriend. He tells the alligator person that Nikaido is imprisoned in the mushroom guy’s mansion, and to go rescue her. If the protagonist lives for anything it’s to be near this woman and eat the food she fattens him up with (can't blame him: she's sweet, attractive and a good cook. Couldn't ask for more), so he decides to assault this mansion with little to no preparation. However, his boss and coworkers have taken a liking to this wild alligator dude. They offer some help.
As the protagonist’s alter ego regains his life in the magicians’ world, we learn that he was indeed a goon of a sort of gang/revolutionary group of people without enough magic powers, in a world where magic powers determine your place in society. All he remembers before he died is that another unknown gang member murdered him. It’s kind of a let down that the alligator guy used to be a random gang member in his previous life, but it will be interesting to see how they interact when they eventually meet.
In almost any other story, even the main henchpersons of the mushroom guy would have been made almost generic, but the author of this series turns them into fully fleshed out, and even sympathetic characters. One of them, who wears a heart-shaped mask backwards, was born in The Hole. His mother was a magic user, his father wasn’t. His mother died of non-magic related reasons. Back then The Hole used to have a militia that made sure that any magic users that got discovered ended up properly murdered. When they find out that this future henchman (let’s call him Shin, because it’s his name) is a magic user, not only they pursue him, but also murder his father. When Shin finds out he grabs a nearby hammer and massacres through the militia. Even as a grown up, many years later, he still uses a hammer as his main weapon; a personal statement I guess. Before he left for the magicians’ world permanently, he sneaked into the hospital that alligator dude would end up working at. Shin had cut off his own arms so magic would flow properly from his main arteries. When the doctor and a researcher find him, Shin is convinced that they’ll snitch to the remaining militia, so he’s ready to murder them, but the employees actually help him and attach his arms back to his stumps, I don’t recall why. Confused by his temporary lack of need to keep murdering, Shin leaves peacefully for the magicians’ world with rotting arms stitched to his stumps, abandoning behind a legend that the Hole’s residents would tell for years to come.
Pictured: Shin after cutting off his own arms (how did he cut off the second one?)
We also learn how he met his partner in crime and romantic interest Noi, a beautiful, very tall, enormously buff, cheerfully murderous woman. As a teenager (a regular, non-very tall, non-buff at all teenager, which was weird to look at) she was eating at a restaurant when Shin, broke and homeless, skipped the bill. Noi pursued this tramp for reasons. Shin suggests they settle this in a magical duel, but Noi approaches him, heals his rotting arms and tells him that her magic involves curing people and not murdering them (in the future she’ll use her tremendously buff, disturbingly erotic body for murdering related activities). Shin takes the opportunity to hammer this teenager on the back of her head, but before he leaves he thanks her and tells her she’ll pay her back properly some day. They meet again some time later. Noi was training to become a demon, because that’s something that apparently can happen. She was ordered not to use her magic for a year. As that year was ending, she meets Shin again and they enjoy some nice time together. Shin realizes that this previously masked healing person is an attractive female, so she has that going for her. But the “Blue Night” festival is happening, and Noi is known as a very talented magician who will become a demon unless snatched first. Some opportunistic magicians attempt to kidnap her. Shin won’t have any of it, so he murders them, but in the last second one of them shoots some sort of magic beam at the girl. Shin gets in between, and the blast rips him almost apart. As he lays dying in her arms, the guy, calm and smiling, tells her that he has just paid her back for healing him. Noi, moved, realizes that she’ll have to give up her training and her opportunity to become a powerful demon in order to heal this person, and she does. Which works out well for her, given that they end up becoming partners (thanks to the interference of the mushroom guy, who also loves a happy ending), and they clearly want to abuse each other’s body, as in sexually.
Pictured: fan art of Noi. Strangely hard to get good shots from the manga itself.
There are plenty of other great moments as it has been the norm for this series. One that comes to mind is the mushroom guy finding out that one of his staff members had been killed, presumably being pushed from a window of his mansion. He hates the fact that one of his people got killed while in his mansion no less, so he orders an investigation. Later on he gets told that he himself was the murderer: he had gotten so drunk and angry because Nikaido, whom he had forcefully made his partner, wasn’t cooperating with him, that he pushed this guy off a window and then forgot about it. He feels terrible, but turns out that he had murdered the guy because he had realized that it was a paparazzi in disguise and not a staff member. That mushroom guy is so important that the local papers want any scoop on who ended up becoming his partner. The photographers must be suicidal, given that mushroom guy has been known to turn entire towns into fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi.
I read the rest of volume six on the way home from work, which is unfortunate because as I write these words I’m beyond exhausted. It not only makes writing these words far more difficult, but even makes it hard to remember what the hell happened. The three remaining living friends of Nikaido that had gotten captured along with her had endured torture for days. Unfortunately for the mushroom guy, one of the friends’ head had turned into a mushroom, rendering him unable to speak, and the second friend was a two meter tall cockroach named Jonson. The sane, relatively normal friend was the extraordinarily emotionless and analytic doctor from the hospital our alligator dude worked at, and he barely cares as he accumulates wounds. Eventually they escape, and in the process of trying to leave the huge mansion they run into Shin and Noi, mostly unstoppable bodyguards. The doctor attempts to defend himself, but Shin rips off his shooting arm. However, as he was asking the doctor how he preferred to die, he realized that he had just dismembered the fellow who had sheltered him back when he fled The Hole. Shin cheers up, he asks Noi to cure their wounds, and I guess they all had a nice old time afterwards.
A bird-headed henchman of the mushroom fellow, who despises Nikaido for having taken his place as the rightful partner of the boss, forces her to watch an unfinished autobiographical movie that the mushroom guy wrote, directed and starred in. He tells his story, of which we could believe little: the first memory he has as a toddler is of having turned his parents into mushrooms accidentally due to his chaotic, oddly mushroom-centered powers. Instead of getting rescued, he got kidnapped by a gang of enslavers who kept him and many other magic users chained only to keep extracting their magic essence and sell it in the black market. Around nine years later, somehow the mushroom guy escaped (I’ve already blanked out on that regard). As he learns how powerful he is, he goes back to the factory and turns every bastard into mushrooms and liberates the captives, who join him in his crusade to rid the world of similar vermin. His personal mafia began that day. We learn that around five years before the main events of this plot, they faced their worst threat yet: a serial killer managed to decapitate around 80 of their members. After they locate the guy, the mushroom guy sends Noi and Shin to destroy him, but even they fail. The mushroom guy takes matters into his own hands, but to be sure he goes way overboard, turning most of the living beings in that town into mushrooms. He couldn’t even confirm the serial killer’s death: he only remembers his decapitated body leaving through a dimensional door. Given that the serial killer’s eyes carry the same mark as our protagonist alligator head’s eyes, to complicate things further, the protagonist might actually be the next iteration of that nemesis.
In any case, this series is awesome, my brain barely works, and I need a vacation or a fucking coma.
Around the time when the previous volume ended, alligator head dude decided to venture further into the magicians’ world by himself to figure out who stole his memories and disfigured him. He doesn’t want to involve his beloved restaurant woman this time; after all, she has a broken down business to run. Alligator dude is bold and brave but lacks the ability to plan anything properly. Shortly after he wanders through the magicians’ world for a bit he finds himself, or more accurately realizes he is, broke and hungry. He steals meals for a while, but it’s clear that he can’t keep surviving like this when he doesn’t even have a clue how to find the magician who fucked him over. He casually witnesses a bunch of gang members harassing the staff of a local dingy restaurant, with general murderous intent. The owner of the restaurant is a massive beastman, but alone as he is, he will likely end up losing some of his staff. Alligator dude sees a chance to enact some further revenge towards magicians or just wants some action or whatever, and gets involved by killing the remaining gang members. The grateful beastman offers him a job as an all-purpose person. Alligator dude is glad to have found a reliable source of employment, although he quickly fucks things up for himself by eating some of the food intended for the customers. However, the beastman generally has enough with just beasthandling the protagonist for a bit whenever he does something he shouldn’t. The protagonist spends some indeterminate amount of time with this new group, not progressing in his quest at all, and comes to appreciate them enough although they are filthy magic users, which is cool I guess. We learn a bit more about the magicians’ world: every four years or so they celebrate a “Blue Night” in which each magician can find a partner for life, in an initially non-romantic sense. The local demon overlords are involved somehow. The protagonist, who is sitting in a park next to a nice coworker, sees the demons fly down from their house perched on the sky, and the coworker suggests they wave to them. A demon waves back.
The rest of the characters are focused on everything that involves this “Blue Night”. The mushroom guy, who seems to be the most powerful magician around, intends to find a fabled magician who controls time and make him his partner, forcefully if necessary; it seems that the ritual for partnership can turn an unwilling partner into an obedient goon for life, so many of the local magicians attempt to kidnap and immobilize each other until the ritual is completed. We get further development for the main gang members, particularly the lovely couple of heart-shaped mask hitman and disturbingly sexy behemoth lady, who is a hitwoman in her case. In the process of figuring out if a magician with the ability to manipulate time exists, mushroom guy receives a clue: a sample of bottled magic analized from the shop whose owner was murdered seemed to have time related properties. They get photos from the murderer, and it’s the restaurant woman (whose lovely name is Nikaido) from back when she had ventured into her former world to help her sort of boyfriend. I don’t quite recall why she left a bottled sample of her magic there, or why she murdered the shop owner, but in any case the mushroom guy wants to forcefully drag her into a partnership contract, so he creates a sort of voodoo doll of her that will affect her in the other dimension.
In a memorable scene, Nikaido was tending to her packed business back home when a huge mushroom grows on her back. It detaches leaving her with huge wounds, and the mushroom turns into a sort of golem that the mushroom guy can control remotely. It attacks Nikaido. Some of her friends, who had recently declared that they were fine with her being a magic user, defend her, and one of them gets killed. Nikaido goes to retrieve her demon-created custom mask that apparently gives her additional powers. She defeats the golem. However, it was a trap: mushroom fellow opens a door under them to his mansion, where he immobilizes Nikaido and imprisons her friends. Some time after we witness the partnership ritual: the demons open a flesh door in the involved people’s chests and leave inside a signed contract with magical properties, that eventually will melt into their bodies. If they agreed to the partnership, their personalities won’t change, but if they were dragged forcefully, they will become obedient. One of the demons was a personal friend of Nikaido from back when she was a child, and isn’t happy about her having been enslaved by the mushroom fellow. The forceful partnership is apparently a success, or at least we see a seemingly obedient Nikaido by the mushroom guy’s side. She might be faking, though.
Pictured: mushroom fellow’s gang
As the protagonist and his coworkers were delivering the last meal to a prisoner on death row, the prisoner turns out to be a member of the gang that the protagonist is hunting down to figure out who transmogrified his damn head. Boldly he shoves the prisoner’s head into his mouth. The guy inside the alligator dude’s magical mouth says that the prisoner isn’t the culprit, but more importantly, the prisoner recognizes and names the guy inside the protagonist’s mouth. It’s a former gang member and pal of his who they believed had died. The protagonist is shocked, because he had been hunting that person as if he had caused his disgrace. In any case, the prisoner is forcefully dragged to Hell in spectacular fashion. A demon who was present, and who happens to be Nikaido’s childhood pal, knows that alligator dude is her sort of boyfriend. He tells the alligator person that Nikaido is imprisoned in the mushroom guy’s mansion, and to go rescue her. If the protagonist lives for anything it’s to be near this woman and eat the food she fattens him up with (can't blame him: she's sweet, attractive and a good cook. Couldn't ask for more), so he decides to assault this mansion with little to no preparation. However, his boss and coworkers have taken a liking to this wild alligator dude. They offer some help.
As the protagonist’s alter ego regains his life in the magicians’ world, we learn that he was indeed a goon of a sort of gang/revolutionary group of people without enough magic powers, in a world where magic powers determine your place in society. All he remembers before he died is that another unknown gang member murdered him. It’s kind of a let down that the alligator guy used to be a random gang member in his previous life, but it will be interesting to see how they interact when they eventually meet.
In almost any other story, even the main henchpersons of the mushroom guy would have been made almost generic, but the author of this series turns them into fully fleshed out, and even sympathetic characters. One of them, who wears a heart-shaped mask backwards, was born in The Hole. His mother was a magic user, his father wasn’t. His mother died of non-magic related reasons. Back then The Hole used to have a militia that made sure that any magic users that got discovered ended up properly murdered. When they find out that this future henchman (let’s call him Shin, because it’s his name) is a magic user, not only they pursue him, but also murder his father. When Shin finds out he grabs a nearby hammer and massacres through the militia. Even as a grown up, many years later, he still uses a hammer as his main weapon; a personal statement I guess. Before he left for the magicians’ world permanently, he sneaked into the hospital that alligator dude would end up working at. Shin had cut off his own arms so magic would flow properly from his main arteries. When the doctor and a researcher find him, Shin is convinced that they’ll snitch to the remaining militia, so he’s ready to murder them, but the employees actually help him and attach his arms back to his stumps, I don’t recall why. Confused by his temporary lack of need to keep murdering, Shin leaves peacefully for the magicians’ world with rotting arms stitched to his stumps, abandoning behind a legend that the Hole’s residents would tell for years to come.
Pictured: Shin after cutting off his own arms (how did he cut off the second one?)
We also learn how he met his partner in crime and romantic interest Noi, a beautiful, very tall, enormously buff, cheerfully murderous woman. As a teenager (a regular, non-very tall, non-buff at all teenager, which was weird to look at) she was eating at a restaurant when Shin, broke and homeless, skipped the bill. Noi pursued this tramp for reasons. Shin suggests they settle this in a magical duel, but Noi approaches him, heals his rotting arms and tells him that her magic involves curing people and not murdering them (in the future she’ll use her tremendously buff, disturbingly erotic body for murdering related activities). Shin takes the opportunity to hammer this teenager on the back of her head, but before he leaves he thanks her and tells her she’ll pay her back properly some day. They meet again some time later. Noi was training to become a demon, because that’s something that apparently can happen. She was ordered not to use her magic for a year. As that year was ending, she meets Shin again and they enjoy some nice time together. Shin realizes that this previously masked healing person is an attractive female, so she has that going for her. But the “Blue Night” festival is happening, and Noi is known as a very talented magician who will become a demon unless snatched first. Some opportunistic magicians attempt to kidnap her. Shin won’t have any of it, so he murders them, but in the last second one of them shoots some sort of magic beam at the girl. Shin gets in between, and the blast rips him almost apart. As he lays dying in her arms, the guy, calm and smiling, tells her that he has just paid her back for healing him. Noi, moved, realizes that she’ll have to give up her training and her opportunity to become a powerful demon in order to heal this person, and she does. Which works out well for her, given that they end up becoming partners (thanks to the interference of the mushroom guy, who also loves a happy ending), and they clearly want to abuse each other’s body, as in sexually.
Pictured: fan art of Noi. Strangely hard to get good shots from the manga itself.
There are plenty of other great moments as it has been the norm for this series. One that comes to mind is the mushroom guy finding out that one of his staff members had been killed, presumably being pushed from a window of his mansion. He hates the fact that one of his people got killed while in his mansion no less, so he orders an investigation. Later on he gets told that he himself was the murderer: he had gotten so drunk and angry because Nikaido, whom he had forcefully made his partner, wasn’t cooperating with him, that he pushed this guy off a window and then forgot about it. He feels terrible, but turns out that he had murdered the guy because he had realized that it was a paparazzi in disguise and not a staff member. That mushroom guy is so important that the local papers want any scoop on who ended up becoming his partner. The photographers must be suicidal, given that mushroom guy has been known to turn entire towns into fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi.
I read the rest of volume six on the way home from work, which is unfortunate because as I write these words I’m beyond exhausted. It not only makes writing these words far more difficult, but even makes it hard to remember what the hell happened. The three remaining living friends of Nikaido that had gotten captured along with her had endured torture for days. Unfortunately for the mushroom guy, one of the friends’ head had turned into a mushroom, rendering him unable to speak, and the second friend was a two meter tall cockroach named Jonson. The sane, relatively normal friend was the extraordinarily emotionless and analytic doctor from the hospital our alligator dude worked at, and he barely cares as he accumulates wounds. Eventually they escape, and in the process of trying to leave the huge mansion they run into Shin and Noi, mostly unstoppable bodyguards. The doctor attempts to defend himself, but Shin rips off his shooting arm. However, as he was asking the doctor how he preferred to die, he realized that he had just dismembered the fellow who had sheltered him back when he fled The Hole. Shin cheers up, he asks Noi to cure their wounds, and I guess they all had a nice old time afterwards.
A bird-headed henchman of the mushroom fellow, who despises Nikaido for having taken his place as the rightful partner of the boss, forces her to watch an unfinished autobiographical movie that the mushroom guy wrote, directed and starred in. He tells his story, of which we could believe little: the first memory he has as a toddler is of having turned his parents into mushrooms accidentally due to his chaotic, oddly mushroom-centered powers. Instead of getting rescued, he got kidnapped by a gang of enslavers who kept him and many other magic users chained only to keep extracting their magic essence and sell it in the black market. Around nine years later, somehow the mushroom guy escaped (I’ve already blanked out on that regard). As he learns how powerful he is, he goes back to the factory and turns every bastard into mushrooms and liberates the captives, who join him in his crusade to rid the world of similar vermin. His personal mafia began that day. We learn that around five years before the main events of this plot, they faced their worst threat yet: a serial killer managed to decapitate around 80 of their members. After they locate the guy, the mushroom guy sends Noi and Shin to destroy him, but even they fail. The mushroom guy takes matters into his own hands, but to be sure he goes way overboard, turning most of the living beings in that town into mushrooms. He couldn’t even confirm the serial killer’s death: he only remembers his decapitated body leaving through a dimensional door. Given that the serial killer’s eyes carry the same mark as our protagonist alligator head’s eyes, to complicate things further, the protagonist might actually be the next iteration of that nemesis.
In any case, this series is awesome, my brain barely works, and I need a vacation or a fucking coma.
August 24, 2020
DoroHeDoro got me hooked 💊💉🎣
December 18, 2024
Finally finished a book 😭😭😭😭 i watched the anime first before reading this and it’s finally new content I haven’t seen before!!! Very happy with this outcome 😏
March 4, 2022
Y yo que pensaba que me podía cansar. Estoy disfrutando esta saga muchísimo.
May 25, 2022
Art is top notch. It still has the perfect balance between comedy andd horror. Ebisu has my heart. More secrets srevealed about Nikaido. Also once again, I love the way characters get entangled and reintroduced to each. I have a lot of theories already for Kaiman's story and identity. Also, I want more Chota.
July 14, 2023
"I'm getting the sense that I was a pretty fucked up guy"
November 23, 2019
This was such a ride of a volume. It's the darkest volume yet but it has the best comedic scenes as well. The story holds a great balance between light and dark themes.
The art is ever gorgeous.
The plot is thickening and I'm hyped. Many characters from different "sides" are connected with each other in surprising way.
It was entertaining learning about En's backstory. He is not such a bad guy???
But what is happening to Nikaido is heart-breaking...
Dorohedoro is a gem and I am happy to be reading it.
The art is ever gorgeous.
The plot is thickening and I'm hyped. Many characters from different "sides" are connected with each other in surprising way.
It was entertaining learning about En's backstory. He is not such a bad guy???
But what is happening to Nikaido is heart-breaking...
Dorohedoro is a gem and I am happy to be reading it.
January 16, 2020
I've been slacking on my reviews since I've been more out of sorts than usual lately. I've really grown to dig Dorohedoro. The earlier volumes had a mystery that slowly built upon itself, not rushing to get anywhere. There have been a few hamfisted flashbacks along the way but it appears to be so that nothing feels like sudden. This may also only be an issue due to the number of volumes I've read in a short time. I have to also commend the art, the way the style varies for certain scenes really helps to set the tone for scenes. I'm eager to see where this story goes.
November 12, 2023
Several of our beloved characters suffer in this volume, yet the darkness is balanced out with comedy and fun. Despite being an extremely violent story revolving around two opposing sides, each character is enjoyable and each side seems justified.
After each volume I read Q Hayashida becomes more solidified as the master of world building. From the layout of the Black House, the visit to the prison, and the horrors in En’s dungeon, the world of Dorohedoro swallows up the reader as if we’re someone Caiman is questioning.
I really loved the story at the end, it was nice to be left with a good feeling after the main storyline left off in a bleak spot for Nikaido.
After each volume I read Q Hayashida becomes more solidified as the master of world building. From the layout of the Black House, the visit to the prison, and the horrors in En’s dungeon, the world of Dorohedoro swallows up the reader as if we’re someone Caiman is questioning.
I really loved the story at the end, it was nice to be left with a good feeling after the main storyline left off in a bleak spot for Nikaido.
June 26, 2024
Hooray Thirteen and Dr. Vaux are alive!!! 🤩🖤
I’m interested to see how Nikaido will find a way out of the contract bond that ties her to En…
Can she really control time? I don’t recall examples of her manipulating time… and if she could, why hadn’t she used it to stop Caiman from losing his head, unless she is directly involved with that?
There’s a lot up in the air as to what happened.
Did En behead the cross-eyed man Risu, who then was turned into a lizard creature by Ebisu?
What’s Nikaido’s backstory???
… also, boobs.
I’m interested to see how Nikaido will find a way out of the contract bond that ties her to En…
Can she really control time? I don’t recall examples of her manipulating time… and if she could, why hadn’t she used it to stop Caiman from losing his head, unless she is directly involved with that?
There’s a lot up in the air as to what happened.
Did En behead the cross-eyed man Risu, who then was turned into a lizard creature by Ebisu?
What’s Nikaido’s backstory???
… also, boobs.
January 31, 2021
Review to come
August 12, 2021
Ebisu telling Chota information will cost him and then calling it dirty money will never not be funny. Also loved Nikaido's face right before she kicked the magic victims' asses lol.
There's still so many volumes but I feel like we're getting closer to knowing more about Caiman!! Exciting!
There's still so many volumes but I feel like we're getting closer to knowing more about Caiman!! Exciting!
November 30, 2021
Por fin está tomando ritmo
January 16, 2023
Sto adorando tutto ❤️ una serie originale e appassionante, con personaggi strabilianti 😁
August 22, 2024
7.5/10
November 30, 2024
Dorohedoro z tomu na tom trzyma poziom, nadal jest mega pokręcony świat w ktory coraz głębiej wchodzimy, totalnie odjechani bohaterowie, a fabuła co i rusz dorzuca nam kolejne kawałki układanki.
April 7, 2025
Way more backstory in this, and more layers to the mystery.
August 26, 2020
Seguimos casi igual que el anime
Read
November 7, 2024z jakiegos powodu nie ma do wyboru polskiej edycji
October 11, 2021
Literally one of the best manga eva
September 16, 2021
( I am currently re-reading the series, my review will be edited later! I enjoyed all of the volumes though! :D)
All of my Dorohedoro reviews are actually a summary of what I've read & some thoughts!
I have the memory of a goldfish.
Spoilers ahead!
[RE-READ] SEPTEMBER 2021
TW: Strong language, blood & gore, graphic violence, body horror, nudity, non-consensual partnership, kidnapping, death by hanging, forced labour
Rating: 5 stars
Nikaido and the gang are now trapped inside En's mansion.
Meanwhile, Fujita stopped waiting for his potential partner and helped Noi in locating Shin's whereabouts. Noi brought along Shin's dog called 'Gura-Gura'. They found a meat pie on the ground ( one of the kidnappers from the previous volume got turned into a pie by Fukuyama). Ebisu proceeds to eat the pie, ignoring Fujita's advice. Noi found Shin inside a body bag.
Fujita confessed to faking one of the requests to save face.
Then Ebisu revealed that she was the one who sent a request sheet to partner up with Fujita. Although Ebisu is often in her own world, she is just so freaking adorable.
We see a few devils arrive at En's mansion. One of them is called Chidaruma. He seems to be En's devil friend. (I love how the devils have a different speech bubble & font for their narration) The devils surrounded Nikaido and gave her their business cards. Nikaido's magic is now confirmed and set in stone. She is indeed the sorcerer with the ability to control time.
With no time to spare, En brought Nikaido to the floating house / the black house to sign a partnership contract. The Black House is where high-ranking sorcerers meet with devils to sign their contracts. As everyone purified their bodies, Ebisu is nowhere to be found. Apparently, the pie that she consumed earlier has given her a stomachache (omg, she's literally eating a person. Is this considered cannabilism? ) Nikaido is tied up and looks grim. Asu can only see her from afar.
The contract signing scene is so disturbing. The sorcerer's chest gets opened up like a door and flesh is taken out of their bodies. Yikes. The flesh gets signed by respective partners ( Shin signed Noi's and vice versa) and the contracts are then returned and the partnership is done. I feel bad for Nikaido. It's sad how En monopolies high-ranked sorcerers. No wonder she left the realm and stayed at Hole.
Blue Night ended. Fujita and Ebisu didn't become official partners.
Spell 32, Phantom of the night is a filler scene. It was not animated. Despite being a filler, we get to learn more about Chota. Chota has a knack for puzzle solving. There has been a murder at En's mansion and En asked him to investigate it. Apparently, the murderer was En himself. Someone had broken into his mansion and disguised as one of his staff. It is a reporter who is trying to get the scoop on En's new partner. ( He has been secretive about it and even sent his cleaners to kill most of the reporters' wtf)
In another part of the mansion, we see Prof Kasukabe and the gang locked up. They received bad treatment and were abused. Nikaido is also kept in prison until the contract fuses with her body. Prof Kasukabe tries to find ways to get them all out.
In another part of the sorcerer's realm,
Caiman has a nightmare. He seems to know where he is but couldn't recall the place. We see an unknown body and also a phone ringing. Nobody answered. The corpse earlier seems to be alive. Caiman wakes up. As he suffers from insomnia, he ponders about his identity. He shares his problems with Tanba. Tanba decided to help him and mentioned that he knows someone with cross-eyes. I love Tanba's dynamics with Caiman so much.
The mangaka took us back to the past. We get to learn more about Risu's former partner, Aikawa. He shares Caiman's physique & characteristics: Using knives in combat, loves food.
Risu and Aikawa are both students at the South Zagan school of sorcery. Risu seems to be working/ doing errands for the cross-eyes gang. They were killed by Aikawa. He refused to let him hang out with them. We don't know his reasons except for the fact that he knows about the cross-eyes dealing with illegal black powder.
Risu revealed that unlike Aikawa, who can use a little magic, he can't even make a puff of smoke. It's only possible to make a living as a low-ranked sorcerer by working with them. He mentions how the cross-eyes boss is trying to give them freedom. Aikawa is opposed to this belief. He got a migraine and disappeared. Aikawa's identity & face remains hidden.
We then see Risu going to Berith via a bus as he thinks about his past and Aikawa. Berith seems to be where the Headquarters of the cross-eyes are.
Tanba brought Caiman and Fukuyama to meet a cross-eyes member in prison. We learn about the prison system in the realm. The prison's under the jurisdiction of the devils.
The cross-eyes member's last wish is to eat Tanba's pies. He is on death row and is getting executed that day.
Caiman chomped on the sorcerer and apparently, he recognises the man inside of him a.k.a Risu. He also seems to know about Risu's death. He asked if Caiman was sent by their boss. He has the Boss's face tattooed on his hands. It's sad that he wasn't able to eat the pies. He was immediately executed. (This scene is disturbing AAAA!) Caiman managed to get a hold of the prisoner's hands, thanks to Asu. In the anime, he was holding onto the prisoner's legs and never got to see the tattoo.
Asu decided to tell Caiman about Nikaido's kidnapping and whereabouts. Even as a devil, he can't do much to help her and have to resort to Caiman.
Back at En's mansion, Prof Kasukabe is able to escape with the gang, thanks to Johnson's cockroach friend. Unfortunately, it was too late for them to save Nikaido. Her contract with En has solidified. Chidaruma grows suspicious of Asu as Nikaido's original mask was made by him. En asked Chidaruma to make a different mask for his partner. He then formally introduced her to everyone. Nikaido looks sad and lonely. Fujita still has beef with Nikaido as she was responsible for Matsumura's death. En told him to forgive her and focus on the lizard man instead.
He is still adamant about avenging Matsumura's death. Cutie pie Ebisu gives him a hug.
They spot Prof Kasukabe stealing food from the vendor for the gang to eat. (THIS MAN IS AMAZING) Ebisu tried to help but since she doesn't have much smoke, she turned into a useless worm-looking creature. Shin and Noi came to the rescue.
As Shin was about to kill Prof Kasukabe, he suddenly remembers him as the doctor from the Hole.
Shin refused to kill him (and turned a blind eye on the rest of the gang) because he had saved his life.
Chota is still bitter about Nikaido being En's partner. He played pranks on her and decided to share a movie about En. (Yep. Everything seems to be in there like his birth, how he was kidnapped by someone to produce smoke at an illegal factory, how his syndicate or 'family' was formed and more!) Apparently, En has a life-long hatred towards the cross-eyes as they have killed a significant number of his family. Shin and Noi were sent on a mission to kill the person responsible for their deaths. En had a bad feeling so he ventured out to Mastema.
Although Shin and Noi is a powerful duo, the mysterious person with the cross-eyes is still able to defeat them. They mentioned to En later that they sensed something different with this individual. En, enraged, asked Shin to take Noi back to the mansion with his magic broom. He let out his smoke with all his might and the entire city of Mastema was surrounded by mushrooms. This came to be known as the 'Deathshroom incident". Thinking that the man has turned into a mushroom gave him a sense of relief until a headless body escaped through a sorcerer's portal. The reason why he has been looking for someone with Nikaido's ability is to go back in time to see if the cross-eyes person has truly died.
Cross-eyes? Headless body? Does it ring a bell? /gasp
The bonus chapter for this one revealed how Nikaido got her restaurant. It has been passed down by her former employer, Shun Long.
All of my Dorohedoro reviews are actually a summary of what I've read & some thoughts!
I have the memory of a goldfish.
Spoilers ahead!
[RE-READ] SEPTEMBER 2021
TW: Strong language, blood & gore, graphic violence, body horror, nudity, non-consensual partnership, kidnapping, death by hanging, forced labour
Rating: 5 stars
Nikaido and the gang are now trapped inside En's mansion.
Meanwhile, Fujita stopped waiting for his potential partner and helped Noi in locating Shin's whereabouts. Noi brought along Shin's dog called 'Gura-Gura'. They found a meat pie on the ground ( one of the kidnappers from the previous volume got turned into a pie by Fukuyama). Ebisu proceeds to eat the pie, ignoring Fujita's advice. Noi found Shin inside a body bag.
Fujita confessed to faking one of the requests to save face.
Then Ebisu revealed that she was the one who sent a request sheet to partner up with Fujita. Although Ebisu is often in her own world, she is just so freaking adorable.
We see a few devils arrive at En's mansion. One of them is called Chidaruma. He seems to be En's devil friend. (I love how the devils have a different speech bubble & font for their narration) The devils surrounded Nikaido and gave her their business cards. Nikaido's magic is now confirmed and set in stone. She is indeed the sorcerer with the ability to control time.
With no time to spare, En brought Nikaido to the floating house / the black house to sign a partnership contract. The Black House is where high-ranking sorcerers meet with devils to sign their contracts. As everyone purified their bodies, Ebisu is nowhere to be found. Apparently, the pie that she consumed earlier has given her a stomachache (omg, she's literally eating a person. Is this considered cannabilism? ) Nikaido is tied up and looks grim. Asu can only see her from afar.
The contract signing scene is so disturbing. The sorcerer's chest gets opened up like a door and flesh is taken out of their bodies. Yikes. The flesh gets signed by respective partners ( Shin signed Noi's and vice versa) and the contracts are then returned and the partnership is done. I feel bad for Nikaido. It's sad how En monopolies high-ranked sorcerers. No wonder she left the realm and stayed at Hole.
Blue Night ended. Fujita and Ebisu didn't become official partners.
Spell 32, Phantom of the night is a filler scene. It was not animated. Despite being a filler, we get to learn more about Chota. Chota has a knack for puzzle solving. There has been a murder at En's mansion and En asked him to investigate it. Apparently, the murderer was En himself. Someone had broken into his mansion and disguised as one of his staff. It is a reporter who is trying to get the scoop on En's new partner. ( He has been secretive about it and even sent his cleaners to kill most of the reporters' wtf)
In another part of the mansion, we see Prof Kasukabe and the gang locked up. They received bad treatment and were abused. Nikaido is also kept in prison until the contract fuses with her body. Prof Kasukabe tries to find ways to get them all out.
In another part of the sorcerer's realm,
Caiman has a nightmare. He seems to know where he is but couldn't recall the place. We see an unknown body and also a phone ringing. Nobody answered. The corpse earlier seems to be alive. Caiman wakes up. As he suffers from insomnia, he ponders about his identity. He shares his problems with Tanba. Tanba decided to help him and mentioned that he knows someone with cross-eyes. I love Tanba's dynamics with Caiman so much.
The mangaka took us back to the past. We get to learn more about Risu's former partner, Aikawa. He shares Caiman's physique & characteristics: Using knives in combat, loves food.
Risu and Aikawa are both students at the South Zagan school of sorcery. Risu seems to be working/ doing errands for the cross-eyes gang. They were killed by Aikawa. He refused to let him hang out with them. We don't know his reasons except for the fact that he knows about the cross-eyes dealing with illegal black powder.
Risu revealed that unlike Aikawa, who can use a little magic, he can't even make a puff of smoke. It's only possible to make a living as a low-ranked sorcerer by working with them. He mentions how the cross-eyes boss is trying to give them freedom. Aikawa is opposed to this belief. He got a migraine and disappeared. Aikawa's identity & face remains hidden.
We then see Risu going to Berith via a bus as he thinks about his past and Aikawa. Berith seems to be where the Headquarters of the cross-eyes are.
Tanba brought Caiman and Fukuyama to meet a cross-eyes member in prison. We learn about the prison system in the realm. The prison's under the jurisdiction of the devils.
The cross-eyes member's last wish is to eat Tanba's pies. He is on death row and is getting executed that day.
Caiman chomped on the sorcerer and apparently, he recognises the man inside of him a.k.a Risu. He also seems to know about Risu's death. He asked if Caiman was sent by their boss. He has the Boss's face tattooed on his hands. It's sad that he wasn't able to eat the pies. He was immediately executed. (This scene is disturbing AAAA!) Caiman managed to get a hold of the prisoner's hands, thanks to Asu. In the anime, he was holding onto the prisoner's legs and never got to see the tattoo.
Asu decided to tell Caiman about Nikaido's kidnapping and whereabouts. Even as a devil, he can't do much to help her and have to resort to Caiman.
Back at En's mansion, Prof Kasukabe is able to escape with the gang, thanks to Johnson's cockroach friend. Unfortunately, it was too late for them to save Nikaido. Her contract with En has solidified. Chidaruma grows suspicious of Asu as Nikaido's original mask was made by him. En asked Chidaruma to make a different mask for his partner. He then formally introduced her to everyone. Nikaido looks sad and lonely. Fujita still has beef with Nikaido as she was responsible for Matsumura's death. En told him to forgive her and focus on the lizard man instead.
He is still adamant about avenging Matsumura's death. Cutie pie Ebisu gives him a hug.
They spot Prof Kasukabe stealing food from the vendor for the gang to eat. (THIS MAN IS AMAZING) Ebisu tried to help but since she doesn't have much smoke, she turned into a useless worm-looking creature. Shin and Noi came to the rescue.
As Shin was about to kill Prof Kasukabe, he suddenly remembers him as the doctor from the Hole.
Shin refused to kill him (and turned a blind eye on the rest of the gang) because he had saved his life.
Chota is still bitter about Nikaido being En's partner. He played pranks on her and decided to share a movie about En. (Yep. Everything seems to be in there like his birth, how he was kidnapped by someone to produce smoke at an illegal factory, how his syndicate or 'family' was formed and more!) Apparently, En has a life-long hatred towards the cross-eyes as they have killed a significant number of his family. Shin and Noi were sent on a mission to kill the person responsible for their deaths. En had a bad feeling so he ventured out to Mastema.
Although Shin and Noi is a powerful duo, the mysterious person with the cross-eyes is still able to defeat them. They mentioned to En later that they sensed something different with this individual. En, enraged, asked Shin to take Noi back to the mansion with his magic broom. He let out his smoke with all his might and the entire city of Mastema was surrounded by mushrooms. This came to be known as the 'Deathshroom incident". Thinking that the man has turned into a mushroom gave him a sense of relief until a headless body escaped through a sorcerer's portal. The reason why he has been looking for someone with Nikaido's ability is to go back in time to see if the cross-eyes person has truly died.
Cross-eyes? Headless body? Does it ring a bell? /gasp
The bonus chapter for this one revealed how Nikaido got her restaurant. It has been passed down by her former employer, Shun Long.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2016
Finally picking this series back up again, after a sale Barnes & Noble had, and all I can say is...poor Nikaido. I don't want to spoil exactly what happens to her here, but she's my favorite character, so I was pretty sad, seeing some of these events play out.
As a whole though, Volume 6 of Dorohedoro covers a lot of ground. There are chapters devoted to pretty much all the major characters, and at times it can feel like a bit much to take in. Fujita & Ebisu finally see eye-to-eye, Professor Masukabe & Johnson try to survive in the sorcerers' world, Risu delves into his past, and we even find out just why En is so desperate to find a sorcerer that controls time. Like I said, a lot to process, in these 146 pages (not counting the bonus side-story at the end).
Don't try to rush through this volume, and it probably won't seem so overwhelming though. Another very solid installment in a very solid series.
As a whole though, Volume 6 of Dorohedoro covers a lot of ground. There are chapters devoted to pretty much all the major characters, and at times it can feel like a bit much to take in. Fujita & Ebisu finally see eye-to-eye, Professor Masukabe & Johnson try to survive in the sorcerers' world, Risu delves into his past, and we even find out just why En is so desperate to find a sorcerer that controls time. Like I said, a lot to process, in these 146 pages (not counting the bonus side-story at the end).
Don't try to rush through this volume, and it probably won't seem so overwhelming though. Another very solid installment in a very solid series.
July 4, 2017
This series has because much more solid as the story has built up, and the various characters have their backgrounds filled in. Q. Hayashida has a pleasingly bizarre imagination and her unique art style is well suited to the world she has created. With so many threads being traced at the same time, it can be a bit difficult to keep everything straight, but if I remind myself to slow down, and occasionally reread some pages, I can manage to keep up. There are some pretty great moments of gory violence and of course, the ever-present obsession with gyoza, meat pies, and other food.
September 23, 2019
all dorohedoro's are 5's. re-reading right now for the final volume which was just released. i will write up a full review when i have finished the 23rd volume.
my star system:
1 star - this book must be forgotten by god and man
2 star - i was not wild about this book
3 star - other people will enjoy this more than i, but i see the appeal/enjoyed it/probably had some fun
4 star - i love this book and wholeheartedly recommend it
5 star - i am an absolute freak and this book was written specifically for me, your mileage may vary
my star system:
1 star - this book must be forgotten by god and man
2 star - i was not wild about this book
3 star - other people will enjoy this more than i, but i see the appeal/enjoyed it/probably had some fun
4 star - i love this book and wholeheartedly recommend it
5 star - i am an absolute freak and this book was written specifically for me, your mileage may vary
November 7, 2019
There are so many interesting events happening in the story. The world building is developed one idea at a time and each one is fun and clever. The more I read this series the more I feel attached to this weird "family". And Ebisu ans Caiman are the most hilarious characters.
July 23, 2025
this series is just so phenomenal, i can't say it enough. we're learning so much about En's family. last volume we got to learning some of Shin and Noi's background and this volume we're learned about En's history. Ebisu remains my favorite, but i missed Caiman in this volume. but it's his series.
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