Dorohedoro
ART & DESIGN: 19 - The illustrations of the settings is a blend of modern architecture in Japan/East Asia and Hayashida Q's imagination of how the fantasy world would be when it comes to where the sorcerers reside in. They are no ordinary sorcerers; they are literal dark wizards & witches. How well Hayashida Q's designed their characters have completely won me over when it came to the aesthetics and how it all fits in. The gothic-satanic aspects of one world and how dark and gloomy the other is (though both cross) doesn't jiggle you up in the noggin but to me, I love it A LOT and leaves an imprint in my mind.
STORY: 17 - Who am I...? WHO AM I??? Maybe if I bite down on every sorcerer I come across, the man in my mouth will help me find out? But first, GYOZA!!! That was the daily routine of our protagonist and our lovely supporting protagonist, but when it escalates... Boy does it ramp up, taking a sweet and sour turn introducing us to more major players; giving us the insight of their lives and how it ties in with the main story, the focal point not shying away from Kaiman. Overall, without saying too much and not spoiling anything for newcomers to this manga, I love how it all concluded, it is worth the read, especially the mystery of how things work and how things came to be. My only issue would be Hayashida Q not explaining the origin of how humans came to existence as well as the hot shot devil, THE devil himself. The story is great, but I think Hayashida Q could have done an excellent job tying up the loose ends that he accumulated and left as the story concluded. Stated as 18 years (I read somewhere it was around 20 years as stated by the author themself) in the making, it could have been on similar level with Hunter x Hunter and One Piece, but I am uncertain of Hayashida Q's complications and well-being (like Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Hunter x Hunter as example).
WORLD BUILDING: 14 - From the human world to the world of the sorcerers and lastly the world where the devils reside, all are so very interesting BUT seems very limited because the human world feels so small and isolated. I always had this thought in the back of my mind whether we would see other places, hoping the human world would be similar to planet Earth but it was kept as it is for the sake of the story and for not over complicating things. With the powers some sorcerers and devils have, the possibility of expansiveness could work but as mentioned earlier, for the sake of not overly complicating the story they kept it contained. It is mentioned that the existence of Devils, Sorcerers, and Humans go back thousands upon thousands of years, so there could have been a much deeper, expanded world.
CHARACTERS: 18 - Every character is amazing in their own way; it all works, and doesn't feel 'extra', besides Ebisu *me screaming in a pringle can out of irritation*, but it is understandable- she is understandable, you will understand what I mean by that (poor girlie, but SHEESH). Each major player has big personalities, and it just properly links up. Kaiman, and his true self (plus some very interesting stuff I wish not to say because it is a major spoiler), my lord what a bad ass. Nikaido is such a babe, hoowee does she get things done and is such a good friend and partner to have. Their character development is like most mangas, but they play an extremely special role as the story progresses (; ... Shout out to En, the big bad boss of this whole run. I want to say so much more but I will trail off on to the tangent of pure spoilage...
PACE-RESOLUTION: 16 - As mentioned above, it ramps up and how it concludes makes sense. Sadly, I feel like it was rushed, I am not going to state that s/he had this many years to make it good (which it was, it was great!) because I'm uncertain about what happened, what they went through, and what they have- but if Hayashida Q were to revisit Dorohedoro, I don't mind him/her taking it nice and slow when it comes to thoroughly explaining the loose ends and properly converging everything together. I can be impatient when it comes to generic content, but I absolutely loved Dorohedoro and hope someday Hayashida Q revisits this and makes a prequel or sequel, answering the questions. Added bonus and I wouldn't say it is a spoiler but more like my theory; when you guys come across the chapter that states that devils, sorcerers, and humans have existed for thousands and thousands of years, the 3 special types of gold coins that a particular devil, THE devil himself crafted around that time, gives a subliminal piece of evidence that the major event that unfolds is thousands of years in the making, and MAY have happened more than once (thus the gold coins showing three different faces/being three different types). Kinda bridging it with the whole biblical tales of how maliciously mischievous the devil is but most importantly who 'God', may be, even though we see that THE devil plays a strong part in creation, and is technically the God of this manga while we are still wondering how humans came into existence (there may be a God, as typically mentioned in our reality, but never said in the manga).
Overall, I give it an 84 out of 100, a reaching 8.4/10. Feels sad man, I hope Hayashida Q makes a sequel that further explains the origins of certain things that I cannot say or else it will spoil.
"Now that is friendship... Sadly, non-existent in my life... What are friends? ???L('இ'﹏'இ')⅂???"
