As I stood in the library looking at the graphic novel section, I realized that I had never read any Osamu Tezuka manga. So I grabbed the book sitting in front of me, Dororo. It’s not one of Tezuka’s better known stories (although it did win an Eisner award in 2009 (for an English translation). I dug in and started reading and enjoying the book and feeling a bit silly for not checking out Tezuka previously. Let’s check it out.

Daigo Kagemitsu wants to rule the world. So he sells off 48 pieces of his son’s body to demons in exchange for ruling the world. He then forces the mother to put the boy out on a raft to die. However, the boy was rescued by Dr. Honma, who gave him prosthetic parts. He trained and became the world’s best ronin, earning the name Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru then makes it his life’s mission to wander around to defeat the demons. For each demon he defeats, he gets one a part of his body back. Early in the book he finds a young thief named Dororo, a young one who claims to be the world’s best thief. Dororo wants to get Hyakkimaru’s sword, so he follows Hyakkimaru around. The casual relationship

That’s the main plot of the book. But it’s not about the plot, it’s about the relationship between Dororo and Hyakkimaru. They have a complicated relationship where they seem to hate each other, but stay together because they don’t have anyone else.

Dororo comic page

The art is pure stylized Tezuka. Hyakkimaru has his stylized hair and the background, while sparse at times is very effective. Hyakkimaru fighting style is a whirlwind of action. Tezuka uses the hair to help distinguish our characters and the trademark big eyes express the emotions.

Overall the book is entertaining. But I was somewhat surprised that the story doesn’t end with a definitive conclusion. Hyakkimaru walks off having defeated his father, but not having defeated all 48 demons. As I mentioned above, the plot is decent, but the story is really the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. This is why Dororo is the name of the book, even though Hyakkimaru is the main protagonist. I enjoyed the book  and look forward to reading more by Osamu Tezuka. Recommended.