| Title | : | Dorohedoro T08 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 2302009185 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9782302009189 |
| Language | : | French |
| Format Type | : | Unknown Binding |
| Number of Pages | : | 162 |
| Publication | : | First published May 30, 2006 |
Dorohedoro T08 Reviews
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Beautifully brutal!
The fight scenes in this one were really cool, though that's basically a given with this series by this point. We also got more insight on a couple different side characters. Love that we're getting glimpses of the past. Plus En is up to some more oddball shenanigans again, and I always live for that. I'm incredibly intrigued by the various breadcrumbs being laid.
I also got a kick out if the extra chapter at the end. Who doesn't want a tiny gyoza fairy in their kitchen? So funny. -
highly imaginative and fun!
Dorohedoro is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s high action high stakes wildest ride. I love all the mashing plotlines. The action scenes are superb, the characters dynamics are heart-warming.
My favorite trope of antagonist is having their group of friends and caring relationship and it is shining here.
Also Noi and Shin shined here so much! I love this duo! -
Four and a half stars. This is a review of volumes 7 and 8.
We left our main protagonist alligator head fella as he had taken the decision to recklessly risk his life and rescue his beloved Nikaido, the restaurant woman who is also a powerful magician with time related powers. Given that alligator head dude had spent his recent years hunting down and slaughtering magicians because one of them disfigured him (and because the magic users that invade his hometown are known to ruin people’s lives in numerous, creative ways), he’s been resisting to accept that Nikaido belongs to that filthy race with toxic, mutations-inducing blood. However, he does love her, and there are few things in life nobler for a man, independently of what percentage of him is a reptile, than to go out in a blaze of murderous glory for the sake of the woman he’s latched on to. The boss and a coworker of the restaurant he works at will help the protagonist to infiltrate the mushroom guy’s compound, which is actually a walled town. The restaurant had received an invitation to present its food in that town so they might possibly end up setting up shop inside and catering the gang.
When that day comes, the protagonist decides to crossdress as a huge, muscular woman, hiding his conspicuous alligator head inside a big hamburger mask, which is thematic because the restaurant intends to present hamburgers. During this whole sequence it was entertaining to witness the protagonist interacting with his boss, who is a huge, irascible beastman, as if he were the boss’ wife, which mostly disturbs and irritates the guy. The protagonist can’t allow the locals to find out he’s the fabled alligator head person, for reasons related to sustaining his living state. When they arrive at the square where they were supposed to set up shop, they discover that the event is a competition and that they’ll face off against a former employee. She’s a young woman wearing a short skirt and who hides her face inside a taxidermied bat. Apparently she was in love with the boss, who couldn’t care less about her, and when she got too annoying he let her go. The protagonist was worried about how he could figure out where the mushroom guy kept Nikaido prisoner, but a coworker points out that a photograph of the girl appears in that day’s newspaper. She’s mentioned as a magician with a time related power, and as the mushroom fellow’s new partner. The protagonist is distraught. He considers that maybe she’s just moved on from her previous life, and that as a magic user she’s simply back home. Maybe by rescuing Nikaido he would actually be dragging her away from the new life she had chosen.
In any case, the food competition begins, and the bat woman’s food van draws the entire crowd. She’s standing on the roof, probably showing her panties to a good bunch of those standing in line. Turns out that mushroom guy and his main people have come as well to judge the food. All the men in the group are drawn to bat woman’s van as if enchanted, to the confusion and jealousy of the women. The protagonist’s boss realizes that bat woman is just pulling some kind of spell; a bit unbelievable that nobody else catches on, given that almost every person around is a magician. Around that time, alligator dude sees that Nikaido has come as well and is standing apathetically next to the mushroom fellow, with a submissive demeanour. As he hesitates whether to attempt to drag her away and in the process also screw over his coworkers, his boss encourages him to follow his dreams; he was a mostly useless worker anyway. Alligator dude takes an opportunity in which Nikaido had wandered away from the main group, and he frantically drags her away. She recognizes him but tells him that her place is beside the mushroom fellow. She wasn’t faking her submission: her mind has been manipulated into accepting her enslavement. Alligator dude realizes that she’s been bewitched and claims that he’ll free her from it even if it involves murdering the mushroom guy. After hearing those words, Nikaido switches to fight mode: the mushroom guy’s enemies are hers as well. He begins to beat him up while he, disturbed, wants to avoid hurting her in any way, but he ends up busting her nose in order to snap her out of it. However, even though she’s fully aware of who the protagonist is, and that he has been her reliable friend for years, she pursues him with murderous intent. Partially in shock, he sees himself in a reflection as someone else, or maybe the person he used to be before his memories got screwed, who might have been the unstoppable serial killer who had haunted the community of magicians. As he escapes from his friend, he falls through a floor to some satanic temple below and breaks his leg.
While all this was happening, the bat woman’s enchantment runs out and everybody realizes that her food is pretty average. Noi, the gigantic henchwoman of the mushroom guy, approaches the protagonist’s boss’ stand and ends up happily munching on around ten hamburgers. After the mushroom guy tastes the goods, he awards them the licence to operate in his town. I wonder if the protagonist will end up going back to these people, given that he already parted ways and that he’s gotten into a significant mess.
Going back to the protagonist’s predicament: he’s hiding in the shadows as Nikaido wanders around apathetically trying to end his life. Suddenly someone knifes the woman along her back, wounding her badly. One of the least appreciated henchmen of the mushroom guy happened to have visited the underground temple to pray to Satan, and he witnessed the awful woman who had taken his rightful place as the mushroom guy’s partner get her just desserts. However, Nikaido’s demon friend intercedes and notices that the enslavement contract that had been pushed into the woman’s body had conveniently gotten loose thanks to the open wound in her back. For a short time she regains her own will, but just getting close to her owner again will magically restore the contract inside her, so she needs to get away. She finds the alligator dude sitting around. As she approaches him with friendly intent, he grabs her arms and shoves her head inside his mouth. He had, as well as the audience, suspected that this woman could have been the one who transformed him into an alligator head dude and also stolen his memories, but the gang member inside the guy’s magical mouth denies it. The demon cures both protagonists, opens a magic door to a far away town and urges them to escape before the mushroom guy comes. He then proceeds to transform the henchman into Nikaido in order for him to take the woman’s place beside the mushroom guy, at least until the deception inevitably gets revealed. The henchman initially hates it, but once the mushroom guy starts treating him like the wanted female partner that Nikaido is, he loves it and can’t get his/her hands off the boss. The henchman had clearly been interested in the partnership position for reasons not entirely related to power. I mean that he wanted to be the boss’ gay lover, as in sexually.
Alligator dude finds himself cast away in a dilapidated town, next to the woman who had lied to him all this time and who had just attempted to kill him. He can’t stay angry at her for long, though. She opens up about how she ended up in The Hole to begin with. She isn’t that powerful of a magician, but her type, time bending stuff, is extremely rare. She accidentally hurt or killed a friend, so she pledged never to use her powers again. She fled to The Hole to become a regular human being if possible. There she rescued the recently transmogrified alligator dude out of the kindness of her heart, and they became friends almost immediately. Despite the alligator dude having spent his entire new life genociding anyone with magic flowing through their veins, they agree to be friends forever, no matter what terrible stuff each discovers about the other. This is an additional set up for a future confrontation in which the audience and Nikaido fully learn that alligator dude used to be a fabled serial killer of magicians even in his former life, and likely the leader of the revolutionary gang of non-magic users that live in that dimension. I don’t know how having another gang member in his mouth fits into the picture, but this series makes you embrace bizarre and confusing developments, so I guess it’s all fine.
We learn a lot about the gang of people who have cross tattoos over their eyes. As a fellowship of people lacking in magic power, magic users tend to hunt them down. They have split into three distinct houses: those who genuinely want to offer an alternative, solid life for those who won’t ever fit in in a world made for magic users, those who prefer to kidnap magic users and use them as cattle to extract their valuable magic essence, bottle it and sell it on the black market, and those who simply use the whole façade as a front for general criminal activities. As alligator dude and Nikaido search for local clues about this gang, one of whose members inhabits the alligator dude’s magical mouth, a greenhorn from the gang spots them and leads them to her boss. Her boss happens to be a lowly drug dealer who is just trying to establish himself as a local criminal. Alligator dude witnesses him abusing the greenhorn, who is a young woman on top of it, and he beats the boss up, who ends up dead. The greenhorn recognizes in the alligator dude an alpha worthy of the gang’s legend (them being tough, non-magic powered people who are swift with knives) and pledges herself to him despite his preference to be left alone. In any case she helps the protagonists travel further to another town to meet the gang members of a more promising branch.
My favorite sequence of the eighth volume involves alligator dude’s and Nikaido’s regular human pals from The Hole, who had gotten imprisoned when the mushroom fellow opened a door to his dimension. Freed by Shin and Noi, memorable henchpersons of the mushroom dude, they hang out at Shin’s place and eat his food. They are told that they will be sent back home soon, but the doctor reveals to his friends that he used to be married to a local magic user, and wants to visit her. When Shin and Noi are called for some official work at one of their boss’ strip clubs (I don’t recall what was so urgent to interrupt them during their meal), the doctor drags his pals to a dangerous nearby forest where his wife used to have a home. Inside they find a bunch of hanging and in general mutilated corpses; the wife is nowhere to be found, and the cabin has been taken over by one of the branches of the cross-eyed gang. This branch delights in finding out ways to temporarily rid magic users of their powers to kill them, sell their essence and then desecrate their bodies. These gang members look like raiders from “Fallout”. They attack the doctor and his pals, who flee for their lives inside the house.
When Shin and Noi come back to his apartment (Noi hangs out with him at home constantly; are we ever going to get some proper, disturbing sexual scene?), they realize that the doctor abused their mercy and hospitality to leave on a dangerous trip. Shin fears they are going to get killed but is annoyed that they took that risk, so he doesn’t want to go after them. Noi loves danger and wants to pulverize whatever flesh there is to pulverize, so she readily leaves after them. When she reaches the cabin, some of the gang members face her knowing very well who she is. As they attack her, she doesn’t even bother to defend herself; she is built like a bunker and can quickly regenerate any wound, so she’s used to taking any pain. However, the gang members have learned that if they knife specific areas of magic users’ bodies, they cannot use their magic for a while. They overpower her, render her unconscious and kidnap her. Shin had come as well, worried for his beloved, and faces overconfident gang members that brag about having defeated Noi. Shin fights against these shitheads, but their learned tricks end up injuring him almost fatally. The doctor helps him stagger towards the cabin. Meanwhile, Noi wakes up chained. She remains mostly cheerful, and more interested in trying to learn more about this gang and their unknown boss, as her own boss is trying to take them down, until one of the gang members shows her Shin’s heart-shaped mask and brags about having killed him. Noi loses it. She breaks her chains and pulverizes her captors.
Pictured: Noi noi-ing around
However, as she was approaching a wax figure those bastards were worshipping, and whose face should reveal the identity of their fabled leader, a gang member who had swallowed a gigantism related magic essence begins to turn into a titan and chomps on Noi’s head. Shin just happened to arrive and witness this, so he frees her from the titan’s teeth. Somehow the cabin burns down and they don’t get to see the gang boss’ face. The doctor does end up casually meeting his former wife: she had studied to become a demon and in the end they accepted her into their ranks. He speaks for a while with his old woman, now physically turned into a demon, and is generally glad that this whole risking their lives stuff wasn’t a waste. Nothing new at this point, but I love the violence and gore on display: slicing through people’s heads, scratching their eyes, ripping off their arms, pushing a fist through their chests, headbutting someone so hard that their brains fly off the back of their skulls. Almost arousing.
Cured from their wounds and back at Shin’s place, they all revert to their previous moods, even though Shin and Noi had come the closest so far to losing their lives all due to the doctor’s reckless decision. The henchpersons enjoy doling out pain and receiving it, so I guess it’s all good.
Pictured: the cutest couple of mass murderers (also, obligatory "a man loves his woman every day of the month")
[continues for a bit on the comments.] -
Absolutely fantastic.
I'm slowly working on my reviews for these volumes, but uni has been keeping me mighty busy.
In short, the Cross-Eyes play a huge role in these and I think I have a new favourite character.
All of this is still... in the most chaotic of shambles.
That is DOROHEDORO.
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No me puedo creer que ya voy por el tomo ocho. Se me está pasando rapidísimo. Cuando me quiera dar cuenta se ha terminado.
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The crosseyes are an interesting gang and rival to the magic users, and I'm intrigued the more we find out about them. Th KaimanxRisu connection is still puzzling, but I'm having my theories.
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Of course that would be both Ebisu's and Fujita's dreams lololol
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I keep enjoying this series more as it progresses, maybe because I'm getting attached to the characters, or maybe because the author is improving as she goes. At this point I just think it is fun, with a good balance between weird, funny, and violent. I love the obsession with food, especially gyoza, but also pies and mushrooms. The entire mushroom trip sequence was fantastic where each character's experience was altered based on their internal desires. The gyoza boy sequence was strangely humorous, especially as characters just blithely continued on with toothpicks or whatever sticking out of their faces. Hayashida has really created a fascinating world that stands on its own.
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Dorohedoro is always fun, I found this volume a bit slow, but I think we are working towards some exciting new misteries and much fun.
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I love that we're finally getting some answers! Very hyped.
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Un tomo frenético que introduce personajes y prepara el escenario. Excelente.
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( 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.
[RE-READ] SEPTEMBER 2021
TW: Strong language, blood & gore, graphic violence, body horror, kidnapping, abuse, accidental murder, murder cover-up, substance ( black powder/ questionable mushroom ), nudity
Rating: 5 stars
Spoilers ahead!
Prof Kasukabe managed to escape the house through the window on the first floor. The cross-eyes member continues to pursue him. He meets up with Shin. The cross-eyes gang seems to know a lot about En's family & also magical anatomy. The cross-eyes tries to outsmart Shin's magic by climbing the trees to get some distance. Shin is losing blood and energy. Although he's too weak to use his magic, he still wants to save Prof Kasukabe. Shin was stabbed and couldn't conjure any smoke because his weak point was hit. I'm not surprised that Prof Kasukabe already knows about this. It seems like Prof Kasukabe is not the only one who has been studying sorcerers.
Shin, still badly injured, stood on his feet once more. This time, he attacked the cross-eyes with his hammer. He managed to defeat him. He accidentally vomited on the guy but it helps! Hahahaha.The power this man holds is just incredible. All hail Shin!
Prof noticed that the cross-eyes has gotten a lot of surgeries done. Probably because he couldn't conjure any smoke.
When Shin removed a glass shard from Prof's head, he blacked out for a while. We see a younger version of him meeting a lady named Kasukabe or 'Haru' in the rain. He wonders if Haru is really gone.
Now... this is where it all gets interesting.
we see Noi chained up to a chair and two of the cross-eyes members offering food to an altar of their Boss. The face wasn't revealed, however. They kidnapped Noi in hopes to use her parts for smoke & take advantage of her healing abilities. Apparently, their actual Boss has gone missing.
So the boss is responsible for
1) the operation ( is this the surgery that was mentioned by Prof Kasukabe earlier? and in the previous volume, when Caiman blacked out and having nightmares, was the person 'injured' actually a cross-eyes member getting surgery? When the mysterious individual said that everything is going according to plan, they really meant the surgery was successful?
2) the production of illegal black powder
Noi woke up and upon learning about Shin's death, she was able to free herself from the chain and fight the bastards. One of the cross-eyes members is seen growing twice in size like a balloon.
Back at Berith, apparently, Dokuga has been lying to Risu. He actually knows who killed him. They received a paper aeroplane, sent by a mysterious person in the previous volume (now known as Kenjin) from Hydra Forest.
Back in the forest, the cross-eyes member continues to grow. Noi noticed the statue. Before she was able to remove the veil to see its face, something blew up.
Dr Vaux and Thirteen got out of the cabinet and attempts to escape the house. We see Prof Kasukabe and Shin trying to find Noi. Shin grows weaker and weaker.
The pair eventually found her and we see the now giant cross-eyes member attempting to kill Noi by eating her. Shin, though badly injured is still adamant about helping his partner. (THIS FRIENDSHIP GIVES ME LIFE) Prof found a jar containing Enlarging Magic powder (WTF).
Shin was able to free Noi.
Shin: Still breathing. Good girl.
Me: ASDFGHJKL
The number of times he (& Caiman ) has said 'good girl! I CAN'T OMG
Prof studies the altar with the wax doll. The building collapsed and they managed to escape. Before his demise, the giant cross-eyes member pleas for his boss to come back. Prof Kasukabe managed to see the face of the wax doll before it melted. He seems to know who the person is. He passes out.
We see Haru in devil form saving 'Haze' from the fire. Apparently, that used to be his name. He took her name after she left. The two talked briefly. Since she is now a devil, she is unable to return to Hole. She apologises for leaving him. Prof is just happy that she's alive. So cute! :')
Prof reunited with the gang and proceeded to help a badly injured Shin and Noi. He ponders about the wax doll once more. Then we see Caiman and Nikaido in another part of the sorcerer's realm planning to go to Berith to find Risu.
Asu gets interrogated by Chidaruma. He gets an earful for hiding her existence. He then gets punished. I remembered hating this part the first time I read it. Dorohedoro as a whole is brutal and gory but this scene tops them all. I respect Asu so much for his loyalty. As Chidaruma is a naturally born devil, I understand his nature. However, I hate his guts. He is just too freaking much.
As Caiman and Nikaido wander at the isolated station of Mastema (where Asu have sent them), they were surprised to find shops underground. Nikaido sensed that something is following them. It turns out to be a new member of the cross-eyes, Natsuki. She revealed that since En destroyed everything above ground during the 'Deathscroom' incident, the underground is now used as a hangout for people who can't use magic.
Natsuki helped the pair around the place to get food, clothes and weapons.
the cross-eyes give hope to people who can't use magic. like a friendship cult thing, yes?
She stumbled upon her employer, Maki. Since the cross-eyes boss has been missing for years (:O), they resort to selling fake black powder for money.
I can't believe I missed out on a subtle yet important clue. Caiman couldn't find clothes that fit him but then we see him wearing what seems to be Aikawa's get-up. AND IT FITS PERFECTLY. HOLY CRAP.
Caiman helped Natsuki from getting abused by Maki. He kills him with a blade. Natsuki mentioned that the cross-eyes are good with blades. HOLY CRAP, another clue?? Is Caiman a part of the cross-eyes group???? Natsuki convinces Caiman to let her come along. She wants to meet the boss.
We see Dokuga and Tetsujo visiting the house in Hydra Forest. (Dokuga looks adorable in his mask & wings. Why do they still look so innocent to me?) They learn that En's cleaners were there because they recognised Shin's car. They see the house in ruins and a dead giant Kenjin.
Natsuki brought Nikaido and Caiman back to her house. Caiman hesitated in bringing her to Berith with them but Nikaido signalled Caiman to take advantage of her. She knows the cross-eyes hideout in Berith anyway. Nikaido is cooking again after a long time.
While Nikaido cleans herself in the bathroom, Natsuki gave Caiman a bag of black powder. She told him to keep it a secret from Nikaido as she is not a member of the cross-eyes.
Back in Berith, the group waits for Dokuga and Tetsujo to come back with money earned by the cross-eyes at Hydra Forest. They were planning to use the money to pay their overdue rent. The landlord came to collect the payment. They decided to use Ushishimada to distract her (she is quite fond of him! she even offered to relieve them of their debts if he became her partner hahaha) However, they learn from the two that the hideout has been destroyed and the rest of the gang killed. All of the remaining black smoke and resources were all burned in the fire.
Although Risu is one of the cross-eyes, the rest of the gang seems suspicious of him. Dokuga even asked the gang to guard him while sleeping. He is definitely being treated like an outcast. Why though?
Risu wakes up to find a guest at the hideout. As everyone else seems distracted, he went to snoop around the house in hopes to find answers about the person who killed him. He got caught by Dokuga. Dokuga called Risu a thief and avoided answering his questions. The two began to fight. Meanwhile, Ushishimada decided to take one for the team and accepts the landlord's offer.
Dokuga outsmarts Risu. He blinds his eyes with his poisonous saliva. Dokuga's goal is not to kill him as he mentioned that killing Risu is too dangerous. Risu attempts to fight back.
As the landlord was about to leave with Ushi, she was struck down by one of Risu's stakes.
She died and Ushishimada is embarrassed by the bittersweet farewell.
On a bus to Berith, Caiman remembers South Zagan School of Sorcery.
Back at En's mansion, he prepares mushroom-shaped sushi with his special sauce. He serves this to Nikaido (Chota), Fujita and Ebisu. Four of them arrived in En's dream. The sushi they ate are made with a new type of mushroom that En grew in his garden. He calls it a Dream Machine and the three are his test subjects. When someone eats it, they fall into a deep sleep. It's a mushroom that lets people realise their own dreams. Those who eat it together all enter the same dream world. Wow, I gotta say... En's magic is fantastic. Asu's magic wears off in the dream and Chota got his original body back. En asks Nikaido why she looks like Chota. En told her to go back to normal and that Chota's presence is making him sick. This enraged Chota, obviously. (Poor Chota!)
Fujita's dream is to become big and muscular. He wants to avenge Matsumura & be respected by the family. We see Caiman and Nikaido being killed by him with his magic.
Meanwhile, Ebisu's dream is to have a larger chest. LOL CLASSIC EBISU. Not surprised.
We see Nikaido (Chota) sulking and running away from En. As she (he) should.
While sitting alone, Ebisu sees a clone of herself in normal clothes as the darkness descends.
Ebisu seems to be getting her memories back. She arrived at her old house and found a mask in her bedroom. We also get a glimpse of her parents. Ebisu seems to miss them. Was she abandoned?
Fujita dreams of becoming someone like En. However, he is quickly thrown out by the family and deemed useless.
The mushroom does not only make the consumer realise their dreams but it also shares their ultimate fears/nightmares. En's nightmare seems to be not getting enough moisture and drying out?? HAHAHHAHA. As En learns the flaw of the "Dream Machine", they woke up.
In another part of En's mansion (Shin's room), Prof Kasukabe daydreams about an unknown person who claims that they've become a sorcerer. He shares with the group about the wax doll that he saw at the house. He asked Shin who the cross-eyes are to which he replied "our enemies." Prof remembers the doll's face from the past. He decides to go back to Hole.
Back in Berith, we see Risu tied up. Apparently, he knows who killed him and why (is it the Cross Eyes Boss?).
We were taken back to Risu's past when he started joining the Cross Eyes.
It is revealed that the Boss sends out the members to kill elite sorcerers to make himself a sorcerer (I think through surgery mentioned earlier in the volume). If the experiment is successful, he plans to help out the rest of the members. The production of black powder gave hope to the cross-eyes and that became their main source of income. However, the black powder doesn't work on Risu. Hmm. Is it because Risu is not actually a low-level sorcerer? Risu enrolled in magic school in hopes to produce smoke. He mainly kept to himself. Aikawa is shown to be the opposite of Risu. He is loud and cocky. He was the first to notice the disappearance & abuse of some students at the school. He investigates.
The teacher mentions about rare magic called 'The Curse'. Not a lot is known about it, though. Risu made a remark that the cross-eyes would want to find someone like that ( to take advantage of!!! ).
One day, Risu was summoned by one of the teachers. He wants to make a deal with him. As Risu is unable to produce any smoke, he won't be able to graduate. However, he can pay him 5000n for a 'study aid' in the form of a magic bracelet. No way in hell that works.
Knowing that it was a scam, Risu proceeded to injure him with one of his many stakes.
Aikawa, who grew suspicious of the teachers in school helped Risu. Before the teacher got to use his vanishing magic, he sliced his arms into pieces. They concealed the murder by sending off the body to be used by the Cross-Eyes boss. This saved them from getting expelled. Risu revealed to Aikawa that he has a temper. The two became friends.
The current Risu still wonders where Aikawa is. We see the cross-eyes gang entering the room.
Upon arriving at Zagan, we see Caiman running to where the school was.
Unfortunately, it is now abandoned. This shocked him.
The bonus chapter is on The Gyoza Fairy which is so adorable and sassy. :') The person who passed down the shop to Nikaido went to Hole to visit her with his devil friend but the shop was closed. It was raining so this was probably the time when Nikaido decided to stay in bed back in Volume 1. Sorcerers hate the rain, after all. -
The main focus of this volume is the current state of the Cross-Eyes, but there's a lot more going on here in the margins. Specifically, we get glimpses into the pasts of several supporting characters, by way of an unexpected (and bittersweet) reunion, and one of the most effective dream sequences I've seen in awhile.
With a cast of characters as large and varied as we have in Dorohedoro (and with so many seeming equally important), it would be easy for some of them to be forgotten, or for the narrative to be spread too thin. The fact that so far, this hasn't happened, is a testament to how well Q. Hayashida has written this series. Heck, even the lack of a clear antagonist isn't really a detriment here, because the characters themselves, their individual goals, and the situations in which they find themselves are so interesting. This kind of lack of a clear conflict would be the kiss of death in a lesser series, but here, I'm just enjoying the time spent with Caiman, Nikaido, Professor Kasukabe, En, Shin, Noi, and even Risu--a character I really didn't like at first. The idea that there's no good or evil, but just shades of grey is a common trope, but I've rarely seen it executed as well as it is in Dorohedoro. -
Each volume is as good as the previous one, and I love how we are learning many elements of the background and the plot at a well rythmed pace.
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In a world of strange magic, The Hole is a dismal city neighbourhood. It is the home of both people who do not have the ability to wield magic and of Sorcerers (or “Magic Users”) who abduct people to use in their awful black arts experiments.
A young woman named Nikaido hunts and kills sorcerers. Her partner is Caiman, a male mutant with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. Caiman chomps down on the head of each sorcerer the duo finds, hoping to discover the one that transformed him. However, this couple has drawn the attention of En, the head Sorcerer and main crime boss. En wants them dead.
Professor Kasukabe was visiting his estranged wife’s cottage. En’s killers, Shin and Noi, followed him. They found themselves in serious trouble with the home’s new occupants. As Dorohedoro, Vol. 8 (Chapter 44 to 49) begins, Shin battles one of those tenants, a fight Shin’s opponent believes should be to the death. In addition to the fight, Shin must find his partner, Noi, who has found herself in the clutches of even stranger foes.
Our heroes, Nikaido and Caiman, enter the underground world of Mastema, where they meet Natsuki and her partner, Maki, sellers of bad black powder. Also, En feeds his minions mushrooms to help them enter “the dream world,” with unexpected results.
With its striking graphics and unsettling visual static images, Dorohedoro is an attention-grabber. The earlier volumes of the series reminded me of some of the work of the late French comics artist and creator, Moebius, and also of the Jamie Hewlett-drawn Tank Girl comics. Indeed, the works that influenced Dorohedoro creator Q Hayashida may certainly have affected her work on the series, at least early on.
By the time we arrive at the chapters that comprise Dorohedoro Volume 8, Q Hayashida has largely shaken off the flourishes of other artists’ work. The book looks like nothing else, and it is that uniqueness: in characters, plots, and graphic elements, that certainly yields matchless manga. Where once this material was challenging, however, Dorohedoro is now more invigorating, because behind what is different is what is basically good about comics. The off-beat in the comics medium becomes storytelling that captures the imagination, which Dorohedoro certainly does. -
This was another significant volume but on the slower side in terms of plot. Doctor Kasukabe got to see his wife Haru, but she became a devil and couldn't go back to The Hole. Haze seems to be okay with this because she's still alive. Asu, the devil helping Nikaido, is being tortured in Hell. Caiman and Nikaido end up doing lots of traveling and meeting Natsuki. They are trying to get to Berith but have to go to Zagan City, which strikes up feelings for Caiman.
Risu is still trying to find who killed him, which involves fighting Dokuga. We get more of Risu's backstory, how the Cross-Eyes came to be, and how Risu got mixed up with them. We learn a lot about the gang of people who have cross tattoos over their eyes. As a fellowship of people lacking magic power, magic users tend to hunt them down. They have split into three distinct houses: those who genuinely want to offer an alternative, solid life for those who won’t ever fit in in a world made for magic users, those who prefer to kidnap magic users and use them like cattle to extract their valuable magic essence, bottle it and sell it on the black market, and those who use the whole façade as a front for general criminal activities.
I sense there is social and political commentary within this reveal, but I lack the knowledge to understand specific themes that an author might be presenting within their work.
En takes Fujita, Ebisu, and Chota into a "dreamworld" through a new type of mushroom he grew in his garden. It allows them to realize their dreams and reveals their truest nightmares. We learn more about the psychology of the characters this way. Ebisu misses her family. Fujita feels like worthless trash and feels left behind. En's scared of becoming a mushroom.
Overall, this was a significant volume, and I need answers to everything about the series. -
So many entertaining moments yeeeeeeeeeeeeee
TW: violence, assault, gore, graphic violence, beheading, burning, abuse, sexual assault (implied), nudity
Okay, finally got to see Shin did some badass shit kick, fight, stabbing, slaying, murdering things. This dude is tough! He basically half dying but he still go for all kill and ma man rules at the end 😌😌. Noi is damn strong though I wished I can see her kicking butts more but she still 💅💅.
Kasukabe finally meet that someone! Its short but so sweet 🤧🤧. Caiman and Nikaido is getting somewhere and they crashed at the place of a rookie cross eyes, Natsuki but tbh I'm a little sus on her 🤨🤨. Also the moments in the shop is lowkey funny 😂.
The cross eyes group, yessss! I'm liking them ahahahhaha. They are so relatable bcus of how they struggle to pay rents and I felt bad for them a lot but they provide a bit of humor. Also, Dokuga. He is so cool, new favourite alert 🙂🙂🙂.
Then we got the mushroom induced shenanigans by En that's hilarious but at the same time sad ahahahhaa. Because of their dreams and nightmares collided, it kind of tells you that even in beautiful dreams, sense of reality always came crashing in 🥲.
All in all, great volume as ever so off to volume 9. -
I didn’t really find this volume as interesting as some of the previous ones. The highlight for me was the part where Shin and Professor Kasukabe rescue Noi from the cross eyes hideout. The fight was pretty cool but it’s getting really tiresome when certain characters are in situations where they are VERY VERY close to dying but somehow survive. Like, . Other than that I found it difficult to stay invested in the other subplots (Risu confronting Dokuga and the other crosseyes; Caiman and Nikaido running around; En’s dream machine thing....seemed a little filler-y and pointless). A part of me wants to know where Nikaido and Caiman’s journey ends but I’m really on the fence about continuing this series.
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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 -
Besides my wife Noi almost getting eaten alive and her boobs being unnecessarily out for majority of the time she was seen, this was another good read! Kasukabe gets to see his wife. En tricks Fujita, Ebisu, and Chota into eating magic mushrooms that take them into a lucid dream realm and we see what’s really on their minds. We get to see a lot of Risu and the people in his circle as well. I love the gyoza fairy so much!
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I'm finally past where the anime left off and I have to say it was just getting good! When are we getting Season 2 (and probably Season 3), Netflix?!
The conflict between the cross eyes and En's team is more involved than I thought. The Professor has some dark, complicated history that I am ready for. And what the hell is going on with Risu? I also love that Caiman and Risu are now independent players in this story. It makes Caiman's story even more interesting! -
The more you dive in this crazy fantastical world you notice how this manga is incredibly done we're getting closer and closer to know the true identity of Kaiman and his lost memory also the true nature of this gang "crosseyes "
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Weird manga, It’s quite gory and has lots of blood which is always a plus but this manga has horrible art and like no story 😅📖🔪👌💕💕
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Stepped up reading this series because Anime was fantastic.
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💣🧨💣🧨
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Not only is this series endlessly fun but I am loving the why Hayashida handles the central mysteries.
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4/5
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