Oh god, how can this season already be over? I feel like I’ve just gotten settled into the world of Caiman, En, and their various compatriots, and now the party’s about to end!? C’mon, at least let me stick around for one more feast, or festival, or something! Obviously this is the fate of all adaptations of continuing manga, but Dorohedoro has established its local schedule as so packed with festivities that I already feel like I’m missing out. Damn you Dorohedoro, how dare you be so entertaining.
Anyway, yes, we’ve arrived. It’s clear we’re still in the early phases of Dorohedoro’s overall narrative; En’s motivation has only just been revealed, and Caiman’s quest isn’t even close to a resolution. But this does at least feel like a reasonable resting point, as the tension of Nikaido’s sorceress nature has also served as one of Dorohedoro’s slow-burning narrative fuses, and it seems like it’s about to blow. Nikaido cares about Caiman, and at this moment, I could see that concern leading her to wound him deeply, in order to ensure he doesn’t return to the world of the sorcerers. But whatever happens, the one thing I’m certain of is that after this, I’m picking up the goddamn manga. Without further ado, let’s finish off the endearing, intriguing, and vividly realized Dorohedoro!
Episode 12
“Memories of School Days.” Oh god, are we going to open on an entirely unrelated flashback vignette? I mean, that’s an extremely Dorohedoro thing for the show to do, but fuck you, Dorohedoro
It seems like Q Hayashida really loves these leaping spreads, where a character bounds from one balcony across to another, as we watch from some distance below. In the manga, I’m sure these make for exciting two-page spreads; in animation, they unfortunately highlight the limitations of the show’s CG models as visual centerpieces
We’re now back at sorcery high school, where we run into Aikawa, who’s looking for Risu. I wasn’t expecting this particular puzzle piece, but I’ll take it
Risu is already working for the cross-eye gang, but Aikawa thinks they’re bad news. “I know what the cross-eyes are doing, and what’s in that bag, too”
Risu feels cornered because even after attending this school, he can’t produce a meaningful level of smoke. Those who cannot use magic are so reviled by this society that they must band together in groups like the cross-eyes – “scum like us can’t live any other way”
The way the cross-eyes are treated here makes me wonder if we’ll eventually be moving towards greater collaboration between the sorcerers’ underclass and the people of Hole. I could see the cross-eyes attempting some sort of mass transition event, that forces the people of Hole to be their foot soldiers in a war against the sorcerers
Risu says the cross-eyes have a research facility at Berith, and that the bloody content of his bag will be used there
“Aikawa always gets those headaches and disappears somewhere.” They’re clearly slow rolling the reveal of Aikawa’s face. Both his ever-present mask and this abrupt exit foster a vague sense of suspicion, meaning a dramatic reveal somewhere in the future will feel like a long-awaited payoff, rather than an abrupt turn. Making a narrative feel coherent and inevitable in a baseline emotional sense is in large part a result of emotional seeding like this – you attune the audience to a certain degree of suspicion, and when that suspicion is rewarded, they feel both personally vindicated and more attached to the narrative
Even sorcerers gotta ride the bus sometimes. We now flash to modern Risu, who’s investigating Berith to learn who killed him
“Boy Meets Girl = Battle!” Yes Dorohedoro, I know you’re very excited about this innovation. The cathedral behind Nikaido and Caiman is yet another visual marvel; I particularly appreciate the faded, uneven nature of the royal blue paint job, which really helps convey the age of this structure. Perfectly even color fills never look natural; if you want to create a convincingly weathered structure, you must illustrate how time has created imperfections in the work
When Caiman says he’s going to kill En, Nikaido attacks him. It seems clear enough she wants to disable him personally, rather than risk En outright killing him
Caiman’s “I’ve never thought of you as a woman” doesn’t really cut as an insult, considering the unspoken second half is “I’ve always thought of you as a friend”
“En’s enemies are my enemies.” A classic scenario, as each of them fight to save the other
Their fight extends into a ghoulish, cavernous temple, where a great statue falls, trapping Caiman’s legs
Jesus christ. This cut of a hand extending into a brain is so delicate and specific, you can practically feel the moistness of it. Caiman’s brief flashes of insight into his condition are consistently Dorohedoro’s most genuinely horrifying moments
“Going to kill again? A companion? A friend?” Once again, the show stresses this concept of loyalty to a “partner” specifically. It’s an interesting distinction – it’s much more common to stress loyalty to a family, but Dorohedoro clearly doesn’t possess much reverence for family structures. En’s family is essentially drafted by virtue of their talent, and lots of them sort of hate each other. Instead, Dorohedoro consistently expresses that the bond between someone and their “partner” is the most precious and most powerful
A stranger appears, and stabs the heck out of Nikaido. So much is happening so quickly that it’s hard to avoid the sense we’ve just arrived at the end of the prologue
Only in Dorohedoro would a character having their back ripped open actually be a positive development, because it makes it easier to reach the contract stapled to their ribcage
Unfortunately, the only ways to permanently dispel the contract are having the demon who cast it recant it, killing En, or letting it expire during the next Blue Night, four years from now
On the other hand, actually reuniting with En will immediately renew her contract. The rules of this contract are getting a bit dramatically unwieldy, and I’m also still not sure why Nikaido specifically goes into a subservient daze, as opposed to all the other equal partners. Hayashida could easily just say that her subservience was written into the contract, but frankly, that seems less dramatically interesting than her actively arguing with En, but still being bound to him. Worldbuilding exists to facilitate narrative; whatever worldbuilding choice promotes the most compelling narrative, that’s the choice to make
Knowing that sure does make it hard to communicate in fandom sometimes. Fans will so frequently say “that doesn’t work because the worldbuilding doesn’t work that way,” but worldbuilding can work any way – none of it is actually real, and if your worldbuilding is getting in the way of your narrative, then you’ve wildly miscalculated your priorities
Fantastic montage of horror imagery as we flash through Caiman’s memories. This hallway shot on the route to some terrible demigod, this creature with its hand on the window, the tactile details of these bedside shots – Q Hayashida is fluent in the language of unease, and this production is doing a wonderful job of bringing her vision to life
“Something evil keeps growing inside me.” It seems that Caiman’s condition is directly linked to the cross eyes’ quest. Whatever is growing inside him is likely a part of their plan to defeat the sorcerers, and almost certainly a ploy of the man that En is chasing. The narrative pieces are slotting neatly into place, as the threat of the cross-eyes aligns Caiman and En’s trajectories
We also learn Caiman has no memories of his pre-transformed life. Given he’s always had the cross-eye tattoos himself, it seems fair enough to assume he was a member of the gang, while the bolder assumption would be to guess that he’s Aikawa himself
Nikaido even named him! As much as I understand that the narrative has to separate them to create tension, Nikaido and Caiman are so charming together that I’d be happy just watching them hang out
Nikaido recognizes Risu, helping Caiman catch up with the rest of the class
See, this is what we need. The doctor, Kasukabe, and Johnson all sharing some meat with Noi and Shin. Everyone in this show deserves to have a good time
Nikaido’s devil friend breezes past the probable nature of Nikaido’s “mystery attacker” – that he was the force inside Caiman, reaching out and taking control
Wonderful shot of Caiman and Nikaido at last at rest, in the dilapidated ruins of this subway system. A great sense of peace in the warm colors of this composition, and the closeness of our main pair within this much larger layout emphasizes their return to friendship
Nikaido lost a friend to her magic, and thus swore off using it altogether
Oh my god, blushing Caiman is so much. This big adorable idiot
And Done
How else could it possibly end? Of course this absurd, ambitious, and gleefully violent show would end on a celebration of its most core value: Caiman and Nikaido are just plain cute together. While this episode only offered a temporary resolution of Nikaido’s contract issue, it fulfilled a far more important purpose, by reaffirming the poignant friendship at the heart of all this insanity. A variety of worldbuilding dominoes were also slotted into place here, emphasizing once again the clear intentionality of Q Hayashida’s twists, even as the episode-by-episode narrative feels like total madness. But ultimately, though I’m sure Hayashida’s conclusion will be satisfying, I don’t even really care what the answer to this mystery is – I just want to spend more time in this wonderful world, sharing space with this delightful cast. You’ve won me over entirely, Dorohedoro. Manga, here I come!
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