Perhaps not that well-known to Western movie viewers 'Dororo' is a fast-paced fun and colorfully-imaginative film with kinetic (though sometimes brutal) Samurai-action + Fantasy-mystical elements tossed-in this highly-entertaining whirlpool-mix.
The original concept behind the film 'Dororo' came from the hyper-brilliant creative-mind of Legendary Osamu Tezuka (who of course was the father of modern Japanese manga & anime first in the 1950's and early 1960's 'Astro-Boy' 'Kimba the white Lion' 'Princess Knight' et al) Tezuka's original manga & TV-anime 'Dororo' was also popular in the late-1960's telling the tale of 'Hyakkimaru' (little-monster) who must reclaim his individual genuine body-parts (e.g. his real eyes, ears, heart, etc.) stolen by 48 Demons (when he was first-born due to an unholy alliance-deal-pact his father-warlord Daigo Kagemitsu made with the 48 warrior-demons, to gain brutal-power used to wage endlessly-bloody battle on the hapless citizenry during the relentlessly brutal Sengoku Jidai 'Warring-States' period in Japan, circa1400-1600)
It was quite an endeavor for director Akihiko Shiota to attempt to film (and recreate thru CGI) Tezuka's army of bizarrely-colorful (though still quite terrifying, and in many cases eccentric) Demons! Of course Japanese films don't have the mega-million budgets to spend on state-of-art SFX, but I think you can honestly say that a number of the demonic-visions captured on screen (that often match Hyakkimaru 'blade-for-blade') were overall quite effective (and always hyper-imaginative =akin to some of the far-out fantasy creatures in 'Pan's Labyrinth')
'Hyakkimaru' has to fight (and kill) each of the warrior-Demons to regain-restore his authentic 'body' (and become fully human again) - fortunately, Hyakkimaru is nearly invincible due to the artificial-regenerating limbs and 'magic-healing' power endowed him by his mystical stepfather (and also thanks to that handy 'demon-killing' blade/sword permanently grafted to his Left arm)
But what adds immeasurable dramatics to this fantastic Story is that along the way Hyakkimaru meets (and in a sense 'teams-up') with a rough-and-tumble, disheveled (and quite belligerent) young thief who eventually takes on the namesake 'Dororo' (which in this film is explained to be another term for 'little-monster' or perhaps even 'little-monster-thief') - but as the film/Story also shows in flashback = 'Dororo' had no choice but to become a thief simply to survive after her parents had both been killed as a result of Daigo Kagemitsu's ruthlessly-bloodthirsty army-rampage, thru her beloved village.
I think actress Kou Shibasaki (who was also in cult-classic "Battle Royale" and even the American-version "47-Ronin" from a few years-back) is fantastically-feisty, indomitable and otherwise perfect as 'Dororo' (who will never back-down from a fight, or opportunity to pocket-pick) and Satoshi Tsumabuki is both other-Worldly-eerie in nature but also fiercely samurai-battle-ready as the outsider trying to reclaim his 'humanity' (both literally & figuratively!)
If you are looking for an imaginative, eccentric, fast-paced and highly-entertaining diversion (originally from the mind of creative-genius Osamu Tezuka) = this film is definitely for you! (And if you also can't get enough of Sengoku period Ronin rogue-samurai films + substantial-fantasy elements = be sure to locate this in the archive and Watch!)
The original concept behind the film 'Dororo' came from the hyper-brilliant creative-mind of Legendary Osamu Tezuka (who of course was the father of modern Japanese manga & anime first in the 1950's and early 1960's 'Astro-Boy' 'Kimba the white Lion' 'Princess Knight' et al) Tezuka's original manga & TV-anime 'Dororo' was also popular in the late-1960's telling the tale of 'Hyakkimaru' (little-monster) who must reclaim his individual genuine body-parts (e.g. his real eyes, ears, heart, etc.) stolen by 48 Demons (when he was first-born due to an unholy alliance-deal-pact his father-warlord Daigo Kagemitsu made with the 48 warrior-demons, to gain brutal-power used to wage endlessly-bloody battle on the hapless citizenry during the relentlessly brutal Sengoku Jidai 'Warring-States' period in Japan, circa1400-1600)
It was quite an endeavor for director Akihiko Shiota to attempt to film (and recreate thru CGI) Tezuka's army of bizarrely-colorful (though still quite terrifying, and in many cases eccentric) Demons! Of course Japanese films don't have the mega-million budgets to spend on state-of-art SFX, but I think you can honestly say that a number of the demonic-visions captured on screen (that often match Hyakkimaru 'blade-for-blade') were overall quite effective (and always hyper-imaginative =akin to some of the far-out fantasy creatures in 'Pan's Labyrinth')
'Hyakkimaru' has to fight (and kill) each of the warrior-Demons to regain-restore his authentic 'body' (and become fully human again) - fortunately, Hyakkimaru is nearly invincible due to the artificial-regenerating limbs and 'magic-healing' power endowed him by his mystical stepfather (and also thanks to that handy 'demon-killing' blade/sword permanently grafted to his Left arm)
But what adds immeasurable dramatics to this fantastic Story is that along the way Hyakkimaru meets (and in a sense 'teams-up') with a rough-and-tumble, disheveled (and quite belligerent) young thief who eventually takes on the namesake 'Dororo' (which in this film is explained to be another term for 'little-monster' or perhaps even 'little-monster-thief') - but as the film/Story also shows in flashback = 'Dororo' had no choice but to become a thief simply to survive after her parents had both been killed as a result of Daigo Kagemitsu's ruthlessly-bloodthirsty army-rampage, thru her beloved village.
I think actress Kou Shibasaki (who was also in cult-classic "Battle Royale" and even the American-version "47-Ronin" from a few years-back) is fantastically-feisty, indomitable and otherwise perfect as 'Dororo' (who will never back-down from a fight, or opportunity to pocket-pick) and Satoshi Tsumabuki is both other-Worldly-eerie in nature but also fiercely samurai-battle-ready as the outsider trying to reclaim his 'humanity' (both literally & figuratively!)
If you are looking for an imaginative, eccentric, fast-paced and highly-entertaining diversion (originally from the mind of creative-genius Osamu Tezuka) = this film is definitely for you! (And if you also can't get enough of Sengoku period Ronin rogue-samurai films + substantial-fantasy elements = be sure to locate this in the archive and Watch!)