Dororo (2007)

Director:

Akihiko Shiota

Writers:

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

Release Date:

15 March 2007 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic | One Word Title | Martial Arts | Based On Comic Book | First Of Series

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Satoshi Tsumabuki	...	Hyakkimaru
Kou Shibasaki	...	Dororo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kumiko Asô
Eita	...	Tahomaru
Hitori Gekidan
Satoshi Hakuzen
Mieko Harada	...	Yuri
Yoshio Harada	...	Jukai
Taigi Kobayashi
Kiichi Nakai	...	Kagemitsu Daigo
Kenji Oka
Anna Tsuchiya

Runtime:

Hong Kong:139 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA | Australia:MA (2008) | Netherlands:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The

Quotes:

Dororo: At least tell me your name! If you don't I'll call you something weird and shout it out.
Hyakkimaru: If you ask, tell me yours first.
Dororo: A thief has no name. A name could get you arrested. Any thief with a name is just third-rate.
Hyakkimaru: So we're the same. I have no fixed name. Drifter, Hyakkimura, Dororo.
Dororo: "Dororo?"... Sounds perfect for a professional thief like me. All right, it's mine! So I'm Dororo, you're Hyakkimura.

The Demon Slayer and the Female Thief

In the year 3048, the wounded Lord Kagemitsu Daigo (Kiichi Nakai) 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 (Satoshi Tsumabuki) that slash demons to retrieve his body parts. During his journey, he meets the female thief Dororo (Kou Shibasaki), 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.

I saw the trailer of "Dororo" and I found it very promising. It is a good fantasy, based on a historic moment of Japan, with reasonable special effects and developed in a slow pace. The story could be a little shorter; Satoshi Tsumabuki and Kou Shibasaki show a great chemistry; but the character Dororo is silly and annoying in many moments. Nevertheless it is an entertaining movie and I will certainly watch the possible sequel, since it still has twenty-four demons to be slashed. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Dororo"