Manga Review: Dorohedoro, Volume 1

Sorcerers and their victims live in the crude world of "The Hole".  What once used to be a beautiful, successful collaboration of towns is now a dumpy, blood-stained pile of dysfunctional, unsafe living spaces.  Caiman was a victim of a Sorcerer's powerful spell, one that transformed his face into a lizard's head.  Now he spends his days hanging out with Nikaido (a human who has yet to be a Sorcerer's guinea pig) killin' Sorcerers, and looking for the one that "transformed" his life along with erasing his past.

Overall

I really didn't know what to expect from Dorohedoro  On the back it said; "A blood-spattered battle between diabolical sorcerers and the monsters they created," but that is not the case.  Really, it's only Caiman who is going after the Sorcerers.  And it's not really "blood-spattered," instead, it's more just a generally dingy setting.  Then, not all of the Sorcerers were "diabolical."  But none of this is bad.  Actually, if Dorohedoro was like it said, then I don't think it would have been any good.  

All the Sorcerers have to wear masks, which are really cool.  One guy has a heart as his mask.  It is made from an unknown material, but it looks like a real human heart.  Then, there's a skull mask, and a planet (I think it's Saturn).  I like how the masks are a part of each person.  It is like their real face.  When you get to see the face under the mask, at times I was like, "Wait? Who's that, oh...it's him..."  It was rather humorous.

Dorohedoro was a pleasant surprise.  It had a really interesting plot, the characters were great, and it was easy to follow.  I also enjoyed the grittiness of the setting.  There was a language problem.  Really, how important is it that a character says, "F***".  It was completely unnecessary.  Besides that, it was amazing.

Overall, with the language and the intense savageness of it, I will not suggest Dorohedoro to someone under 16 at all. But those 16 and over, might really enjoy this series, especially if you like horror.  I'm excited to see what volume 2 will offer!

ComicsOnline gives Dorohedoro, Volume 1, 4 out of 5 "Not the one" Sorcerers.

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