Dororo (2007)

A female warrior who was raised as a man joins a young samurai's quest to recover 48 of his body parts from 48 demons and to avenge her parents death.

Director:

Akihiko Shiota

Writers:

Osamu Tezuka (comic), Masa Nakamura (screenplay),

Stars:

Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kô Shibasaki, Kiichi Nakai

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Satoshi Tsumabuki	...	Hyakkimaru
Kô Shibasaki	...	Dororo
Kiichi Nakai	...	Kagemitsu Daigo
Yoshio Harada	...	Jukai
Eita	...	Tahomaru
Mieko Harada	...	Yuri
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Bipa
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kumiko Asô	...	Ojiya
Satoshi Hakuzen
Gekidan Hitori	...	Scoundrel
Ryûki Kitaoka
Taigi Kobayashi
Kenji Oka
Tetta Sugimoto	...	Sabame
Anna Tsuchiya	...	Lady Sabame

Storyline

In the year 3048, the wounded Lord Kagemitsu Daigo proposes a deal to rule the whole world to forty-eight demons in their sealed temple. In return, the demons ask forty-eight parts of the body of his unborn son. When the mutilated baby is born, his mother puts him in a basket in the river flow to save his life. The baby survives and becomes the demon slayer Hyakkimaru that slash demons to retrieve his body parts. During his journey, he meets the female thief Dororo, who was raised as a boy after the death of her parents by the evil Lord Daigo, in a small town and she befriends Hyakkimaru and joins him in his quest seeking revenge against the Daigo's clan.

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Plot Keywords:

based on comic | based on comic book | one word title | decapitation | first of series | 

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Taglines:

48 body parts taken by demons, 48 fights to win them back.

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 March 2007 (Hong Kong)

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The, Dentsu, Hokkaido Broadcasting Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some of the demons Hyakkimaru fights are based on traditional Japanese creatures. The spider demon is a Jorogumo and the winged male demon is a Daitengu. The other demons are unique creations to the Dororo brand or just labeled as various generic Oni.

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Quotes

Dororo: [Having listened to two peasants tell the story of how and why they came to abandon their child at a temple, which has since burned down, killing many children including their own] So that's how it was... Enough of your crap! I was born in a battleground. My whole village was burned. But still my dad and my mom fought back! Until they collapsed, spent... they never gave up. YOU know the truth about the horrible fate that awaits an abandoned child! A starving kid, collapsed by the road, clinging ...
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User Reviews

Good for what it is, but...

Dororo is a great genre film. It's an adventure movie kind of akin to a live action 'Ninja Scroll'. In fact, by keeping a simple, straightforward plot (boy's father pledges a number of his unborn son's body parts to demons in exchange for power - years later the boy is a man, and back for revenge) it elevates itself head-and-shoulders above most films of it's kind, as well as the manga and anime equivalents, which tend toward overly complicated and downright convoluted, soap opera-ish plots.

On the other hand, it falls prey to many of the problems of those genres - perpetuating the trend. Problems that include science defying scenes (a little in a fantasy film is O.K., but it gets to a point where... well, suspension of disbelief becomes impossible... no one, let alone an infant is going to survive even a minute without a heart) of which ludicrously over-the-top wire work is just one small part.

To be fair, action movies have been getting dumber, and with more "gimme-a-break" moments worldwide (any British action film starring Jason Statham, or recent Hollywood efforts such as 'Wanted'), still, it leaves one asking do we really need another film in this vein? Movies like Dororo', and 'Hero', are a far cry from the believable samurai pictures of a master like Kurusawa and Mizoguchi.

Still, it's pacing is far better than most, resisting the temptation to have non-stop fight scenes, and a dash of restrained humor thrown in for good measure. And it's fun to catch all the little homages to other films - everything from 'Edward Scissorhands' to 'A Fistful of Dollars'.

If you love the genre, you will love 'Dororo'. If you even like the genre, you will probably really like 'Dororo'. If you don't, it's definitely not going to convert you, and despite it's superiority within the genre, is unlikely to impress you favorably.