Dorohedoro: Anime vs. Manga
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Story and art by q hayashida
They say the book is better, but that’s not always the case. However, this time I think it might be true for Dorohedoro.
Subpar Adaptations
Fans of anime and manga have had to put up with terrible, bizarre, or dissimilar adaptations for years, such as the 2016 Berserk adaptation. We didn’t get a faithful, well- received adaptation until Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition in 2022, after Kentaro Miura passed away. It took the death of the beloved author to get a stellar adaptation!
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa was also victim of a different adaptation. The 2003 version is wildly different from the manga, but that’s because the story wasn’t finished yet. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in 2009 was much better and faithful to the manga.
Even One Punch Man by ONE is different. The way the characters look is unlike their manga counterparts. I love the show, but the style of the characters wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.
What’s Up With the Colours?
anime produced by mappa
In the case of Dorohedoro, I watched the anime long before I read the manga. Normally I read the story first. Instead, I’d watched it at least three times before I started reading it. I enjoyed the anime! I thought it was awesome. I still do. But after reading the manga, I’ve started to look at it differently.
Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida is a dark, gritty, messed-up story about Caiman, a man disfigured by magic, trying to lift the curse placed on him. There’s a lot of themes and plot lines in the story, but in short, it’s brutal. Some of the panels in the manga were hard for me to read. But those same scenes in the anime almost made me laugh because of the animation style and lack of tone. The animation and use of bright colours honestly lessened the impact for me.
Don’t get me wrong, the anime can have pretty intense scenes, but I don’t feel like they have as much punch as they did in the manga. I think it was the decision to use a bright colour palette.
I would have been fine with a bright colour palette for the anime if they’d added more of the grittiness that the manga has. Keep the colours, but overlay them with texture, grime, and blood like in the manga. I’ve seen it done in other anime, such as Akira, Devilman Crybaby, and Bleach: TYBW. All three of those have brighter colours, but the texture and blood add a darker element to the scene.
That is Certainly an Interesting Face
en’s manga introduction
Another choice the anime made was the design of the characters. I know the art style changes across mediums and characters will look different, but I found they looked a bit too different.
For instance, the first time I really noticed the difference was in En, one of the main antagonists in the series. I love En’s character in both adaptations, but I found it a bit strange that the anime chose to make him look, shall we say, handsome? In the manga, the first time I saw him I recoiled. He looked like a creepy gremlin of a man that instantly put me on edge. In the anime, I thought “Wow, look at this goofy-looking mushroom farmer,” and went on with my day. There wasn’t as much bang to his introduction in the anime versus the manga.
It's Not All Bad, I Swear!
en’s anime introduction
One thing the anime did right is the humour. There are moments in the manga that made me chuckle and the anime made them even better, making me laugh aloud. The voice acting helped add to the emphasis of the moment.
A lot of the characters are goofy by nature across both mediums. Hearing them say the lines or jokes is a totally different experience from reading it. Audio helps with tone and inflection, which is lost when you read something.
Despite the differences and my critiques, both are incredibly good. They’re each worth the time, regardless of whether you think one is better. You lose something from each without the other.
But don’t take my word for it! Watch and/or read Dorohedoro and decide for yourself which one you like best!
Jessica Eyre lives with her family and three cats in Ottawa. She spends her time writing, drawing, reading, watching anime and movies, playing video games, and generally avoiding people. She prefers to spend her time cuddling with her cats while writing her next story or getting lost in another book. With ten years of writing as a hobby under her belt and being on the Dean’s List two semesters in a row in Professional Writing from Algonquin College, she has plenty of experience in the writing world. She’s no stranger to words. They’re her first love and greatest passion – aside from cats of course.
