|
Dororo is a thriller
manga featuring a boy who has been robbed of 48 body parts by
demons. The story depicts his travels to destroy the demons and
win back his body parts to become whole.
Daigo Kagemitsu, who works for
a Samurai general in Japan's Warring States period, promises to
offer body parts of his unborn baby to 48 demons in exchange for
complete domination of the country. When the baby boy is born,
Daigo has him thrown into a river, expecting the boy to die. A
kind sage, however, finds him and adopts him. The sage fits out
his poor son with prosthetics.
Time goes by and the baby grows
into a boy who calls himself Hyakkimaru. Every time Hyakkimaru
eliminates a demon, he retrieves one of his body parts. Hyakkimaru
rescues a boy thief named Dororo from a band of men whom the young
boy tried to rob. Together they travel the countryside in search
of the demons who possess Hyakkimaru's parts. Throughout their
travels, they face a host of monsters and ghosts.
Click
here to read a free preview.
Osamu Tezuka was
born on November 3, 1928, in Osaka. He grew up in an open-minded
family exposed to manga and Walt Disney. As a boy he also had
a love for insects; as a grown-up he would incorporate the ideogram
for "insect" into his pen name. Having developed an
intense understanding of the preciousness of life from his wartime
experience, Osamu Tezuka aimed to become a physician and later
earned his degree, but ultimately chose the profession he loved
best: manga artist and animated film writer.
Tezuka's manga and animated films
had a tremendous impact on the shaping of the psychology of Japan's
postwar youth. His work changed the concept of the Japanese cartoon,
transforming it into an art form and incorporating a variety of
new styles in creating the "story cartoon." Osamu Tezuka
lived out his entire life tirelessly pursuing his efforts, passing
away at the age of 60 on February 8, 1989.
In all, Tezuka produced more than
150,000 pages of graphic storytelling before his death.
PRAISE
FOR DORORO
“It's
the pioneer of the manga tradition wading neck deep into the mire
of freakish swordsmen, ghouls and historical messiness: Kurosawa
and Leone meets Romero... Dororo stands as a classic
that showcases Osamu Tezuka's unique approach to manga and to
the world.”
—Ain't It Cool News
“Platinum
Award. Tezuka blends high-adventure plotting with deep
and thoughtful themes in his inimitable style... It seems a shame
it's only all been in Japanese until now.”
—Advanced Media Network
“Sleek
in design and swift in pacing, the story's blend of mayhem and
laffs and depression creates a uniquely chaotic world… The
monster designs are excellent, ranging from detailed etchings
to gargantuan masses of doomy scribbles.”
—Jog-The Blog
“Simply
put, Vertical’s English translation of Osamu Tezuka’s
late '60s swords-and-goblins saga is a work of such genius that
one must term it not only inspired but also inspiring—it's
a reminder of why one reads manga in the first place. Exquisitely
rendered and mind-bogglingly creative.”
—Firefox News
“By
far Tezuka’s edgiest work at that point in his career, this
series is riveting and, frankly, creepy as hell, with Tezuka’s
signature ‘cute’ style offering a welcome counterpoint
to the visceral horrors depicted.
Highly recommended.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The
premise and Tezuka's eerie renditions of larval Hyakkimaru and
the monsters that come after him is unusually effective and chilling.”
—The Onion A.V. Club
|
