Anime remakes are often scrutinized by critics, but Dororo is one of the most successful reboots.
Kodoani.com – Anime has changed dramatically since its boom and popularity in the late 1900s. Current adaptations are far from the black and white hand-drawn anime of the past. Reboots are also becoming more popular, as evidenced by recent adaptations of Fruits Basket and Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World.
However, remaking an old anime comes with its own set of difficulties because the nostalgia element comes into play. Studios must strike a balance between honoring the original work and exercising creative freedom to turn the story into something that pleases modern audiences. Dororo is a prime example of a remake that managed to achieve that with a combination of clever storytelling, stunning visuals, and a remastered ending.
Dororo’s 2019 Reboot Is A Smooth Combination Of Old And New
The story of Dororo deviates quite a bit from the original prototype. However, it does share the same core premise of a wandering ronin named Hyakkimaru who is on a journey to fight evil to get back his lost body parts. The guy along with Dororo, a child struggling to survive on the streets during the Sengoku period. The mangaka originally planned to focus the story around Dororo’s adventures during the Sengoku period, while Hyakkimaru’s story would be just one of the stories on the boy’s journey. Unfortunately, the manga was canceled so its epilogue was rushed to end at the end of Hyakkimaru’s story, thus changing the main character from Dororo to Hyakkimaru.
The 2019 reboot of the Dororo anime worked on the original concept but deftly shifted the focus of the story. Instead of revolving around Hyakkimaru’s battle with 48 demons, it shifts the focus to a combination of the main characters. In the remake, Hyakkimaru is unable to speak or hear when he first meets Dororo – a huge departure from the original where he was able to do both from the start. As such, the entire series feels like watching a child learn to navigate the world anew as he slowly regains his senses one by one. Dororo almost acted as a human teacher for Hyakkimaru as he gradually became more human with each lost body part he regained.
Instead of being portrayed as a strong warrior character, Hyakkimaru displays feelings of vulnerability and innocence. In one instance, he stuck his newly recovered foot into the fire. Like a child, he only knew that fire was hot when he experienced it for himself, having not experienced such sensations before.
Dororo’s Breathtaking Images And Perfect Fight Scenes 2019
The art style and animation in the 2019 Dororo remake, naturally, is very different from the 1969 version. The art style of the original version is more cartoonish and simple, reminiscent of the animation in the original version. that time period still has its roots in children’s cartoons. However, the reboot completely goes against that style and tweaks the characters and settings with simpler lines and colors to better suit modern tastes.
If there was one example of how beautifully executed the fight scenes were in 2019’s Dororo, it would be the scene where Hyakkimaru first felt real anger in Episode 6. When he returned to his temple. Mio and finding out all the children and Mio herself had been killed, Hyakkimaru flew into a rage.
What follows is an animated and beautifully choreographed shot of the protagonist flying around, slaughtering all the samurai indiscriminately. The animation of the reboot accurately captures the brutal yet devastating spectacle of this bloodbath. Combined with the deeper emotional buildup between Mio and Hyakkimaru leading up to this event, it results in an epic but tragic performance of the latter two’s emotional outbursts.
Dororo has proven to be one of the best-done anime remakes in recent times. The changes Studio Mappa made to the plot, character design, and animation style have proven successful in delivering a modern and complex story that still takes its roots from the 1968 manga. great if the anime community can see more remakes like this in the future.
Theo: Kodoani.com
