Dorohedoro: Volume 16 manga review

Manga
Dorohedoro: Volume 16 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
August 19, 2015 - 21:55

Viz Media
Writer(s): Q Hayashida, AltJapan Co., Ltd. (Hiroko Yoda + Matt Alt)
Penciller(s): Q Hayashida
Letterer(s): James Gaubatz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7795-1
$12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, 216pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: M (Mature)

Dorohedoro Volume 16 cover image

Rated “M” for “Mature”

In a world of strange magic, The Hole is a dismal city neighborhood. It is home both to “Magic Users” (Sorcerers) and to people who lack the ability to wield magic. The Sorcerers abduct people to use in their awful black arts experiments. Nikaido is a young woman who hunts and kills sorcerers. Her partner is Caiman, a mutant who has a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. He chomps down on the heads of sorcerers, hoping to discover the one that transformed him. However, this couple has drawn the attention of En, the head Sorcerer and main crime boss. who wants them dead.

As Dorohedoro, Vol. 16 (Chapters 94 to 101) opens, Nikaido and Riso travel back in time to see how Caiman/Aikawa lost his head. Nikaido is shocked to learn that Aikawa was connected to the gang known as the Cross-Eyes. Then, Nikaido undergoes a startling transformation.

Back in the present, Fujito has an excellent adventure spying on the Cross-Eyes, who now occupy En's mansion. His method of camouflage causes him no end of trouble, however. Meanwhile, the remnants of En's family try to revive the sorcerer.

[This volume includes bonus manga.]

THE LOWDOWN: I had not noticed that I had not read the Dorohedoro manga in some time – apparently something like two years! My how time flies in The Hole.

Dorohedoro Volume 16 (the first I had read since Vol. 11) is more of the same – creator Q Hayashida delivering violent and gruesome graphics that are also quite beautiful. I did not have trouble picking up the series after missing five volumes. It seems that my grasp of the cast, setting, and plot has improved to the point that the series has somehow found a permanent place in my imagination.

Dorohedoro still looks like someone put the contents of Heavy Metal and Zap Comix together into a blender and created a nightmare pesto of crazy black and white comics. This unique, dark visual feast deserves a place in all manga readers' imaginations.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers who want the darkest dark fantasy and the weirdest weird horror will find it in the IKKI Comix/VIZ Signature title, Dorohedoro.

Rating: A/10