Genre: Medieval Japanese Fantasy

Rating: Unrated, but basically all ages

Price: 13.95 USD

I'll just say this up front, rating the English adaptations of Osaku Tezuka's work we have been getting the last two years from Vertical on the same scale as 90% of the manga released in English isn't quite fair. Either I should drop the ratings of most of the other titles I have reviewed here, or build a review amp that goes to 11 for Tezuka titles. (I'll resolve this issue at the end of this review.)

This is the first of a three-part series (Volume 2: June, Volume 3: August) and as much as I like the one voume tomes we have seen of Tezeka's works lately, the 900+ pages would be a little much, and actually the way the story is structured lends to a broken up volumes. The episodic nature feels more like Lone Wolf and Cub than Death Note, in that the main story arc is both carried and interrupted by some of the chapters.

Ambiguities between good and evil is a theme Tezuka likes to explore, but there is nothing ambiguious about the meanie that is the unborn Hyakkimaru's father. Just before his son's birth, Lord Daigo's pledges to give the 48 Devil Gods 48 parts from his unborn son's body in exchange for Japan's rule. Hyakkimaru is born, but with no limbs or features, he looks more like a skull-faced worm than a human (Tezuka's horror is subtle, but the concept is just as creepy as the presentation). In a scene plucked right from the Bible, the face-less baby is abandoned in a reedy river, and thankfully discovered by a kind doctor. This is where Hyakkimaru is transformed into the Devil-slicing hero in a chapter that is more fantastic than medically feasible.

Hyakkimaru soon hooks up with "Japan's greatest thief", a child named Dororo, in a frightening but fist-pumper of a chapter. From here the real adventure begins, as the two set out to recover Hyakkimaru's 48 stolen body parts by force.

More supernatural and fantasy-driven than some other Tezuka titles, it's nice to see there is not a time-period Tezuka doesn't feel comfortable in. The reason for this is that it is characters that ultimately carry a story. Not to say this opening volume of Dororo is lacking in story. The sudden appearances of the Devil Gods, which often show up in surprising and scary forms keep the reader's heart racing. 

So how do you rate a title like Dororo? I think it's only fair to put it in with Tezuka's body of work and see how high it floats. Dororo is an awesome first volume by any standards, but the stretches the reader is forced to accept as obvious can be a little distracting. The limits of  Hyakkimaru's abilities are not really seen here, The faults and missteps are mostly Dororo's, so I hope to see a little more inside Hyakkimaru as the story continues. 

But this is really nit-picking a volume that is already one of my favorites of 2008. Tezuka's timeless themes, original stories, and unique style mean that this is the cream of the manga crop, and they call him the Godfather of Manga for a reason.

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