The Comics Reporter has a great review by David Welsh of Osamu Tezuka’s unfinished manga Dororo, which was just re-released over here by Vertical with a well-designed cover. I picked up the first volume (of three) a few weeks ago, and like Welsh, I found the book very haunting and affecting despite its flaws. There is something about the two main protagonists that is more profound than the usual manga archetypes they seem to follow. Perhaps its that their tragedies are far more realistic than the metaphysical gobbledygook propelling them. They are victims of other people’s greed and pride, as well as the constant quest for power that surrounds them and coats their environment in blood.
And maybe, I liked it because, like my own views, I have no faith in the human race at large, but occasionally a few people come out of the mire and make me glad to be alive. There is pessimism and yet hope in the struggle.
Dororo can come off like just another 12-year old boy fantasy, but I think once a reader puts down the book, they’ll find themselves thinking about it the next day. And that pulls it above the rest.

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