S5E3 - Tezuka Osamu’s DORORO Review: The 1969 Original Mushi Pro Anime

Our Grand Tour now takes us back to the first decade of anime, and to the work of the ‘God of Manga’ himself, the one and only Tezuka Osamu! The creator of series like Mighty Atom, Black Jack, and Princess Knight, Tezuka’s Mushi Productions pioneered TV anime as we know it today, and Dororo is one of the towering achievements of their 1960s output. Based on the unfinished manga by Tezuka, and directed by the great Sugii Gizaburō, Dororo is a singular samurai drama about a wandering swordsman, Hyakkimaru, who battles demons to restore the 48 missing parts of his body sacrificed by his warlord father. Along the way, he meets a young thief named Dororo, and their many adventures make for some of the earliest manga and anime to directly engage with adult themes and imagery. Like the manga, Dororo on TV had some production shake-ups, essentially changing directions halfway through when Sugii departed the series amidst disagreements with Tezuka, but make no mistake: this is one anime you do not want to miss.

Enjoy, and come back next week as we leap 50 years ahead to 2019 to talk about MAPPA’s recent re-interpretation of Dororo!

Time Chart:

Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:15

Intro to Tezuka Osamu: 0:01:15 – 0:55:24

Eyecatch Break: 0:55:24 – 0:56:09

Dororo History & Review: 0:56:09 – 3:32:24

End Theme: 3:32:24 – 3:33:54

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