By Osamu Tezuka
Vertical, Inc., 300 pp.

Having read many other Tezuka titles, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dororo has a completely different atmosphere and cadence than works like Phoenix, Buddha, Apollo’s Song, or MW. Dororo is not the philosophical and psychological drama that the aforementioned titles are—it is an action filled shonen title with depth and maturity uncommon for the genre, despite Tezuka’s tendency to break the fourth wall with humor.

The best example is the first story, which features Hyakkimaru’s conflict with a devious and homicidal nine-tailed fox demon. Rather than terrorize the townsfolk or kill passers-by as other demons do, the fox demon exploits the worst in human nature to turn a town against itself in a bloody civil war. As the fighting intensifies, Dororo teams up with a homeless lad separated for years from his parents by the brutal war. With Dororo’s help, the child manages to make it back to his home, only to find his parents long dead. Before Dororo’s eyes the child and countless other civilians are lined up and executed for their innocent acts. Dororo himself is only saved from certain death by the timely arrival of Hyakkimaru. Later in the episode, Hyakkimaru is forced to kill his own brother, who was kept ignorant of Hyakkimaru’s existence because their corrupt father. Ultimately, Hyakkimaru slays the demon, and thus freed the villagers are happily reunited with one another.

What I find so fascinating about this episode is how neatly Tezuka fits in an incredibly disturbing and deep series of events into a still entertaining adventure. Much like Dr. Seuss’ Better Butter Battle Book, the townsfolk of Dororo are divided by nothing but a triviality (in Seuss what side the bread is buttered on, in Dororo geographic location). What makes the fox demon so much more terrifying, powerful and unstoppable in this episode of Dororo is its relative lack of direct strength. Indeed, when the foxes attack Hyakkimaru directly at the beginning of the episode, they are largely ineffective. What makes the demon so terrifying is how it grabs hold of the worst in human nature and uses it to tear family and friends apart from one another. The fox persists by manipulating the military and the townsfolk with fear. Indeed, the orphaned child explained to Dororo that “They [the fox and co.] control the townspeople as they like. When it looks like the war is coming to an end they put a spell on the town to prolong it…” The fox’s power is not physical (they are but carrion feeders) but hypnotic. By bringing out the worst in the townsfolk, the foxes can sustain themselves on their corpses indefinitely.

Ultimately, this episode is emblematic of the deep humanism that permeates Dororo. Don’t let Dororo’s kid-friendly sheen confuse you: this is one of Tezuka’s most poignant and disturbing works to make it stateside. There is a reason this series has been made into dramas, adapted into the popular Playstation 2 game There Will Be Blood, and is still a popular manga to this day in Japan. I recommend this volume for everyone, Tezuka fans or no; young and old alike.

All three volumes of Dororo are available now.