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Title: Dorohedoro volume 6
Author: Q Hayashida
Publisher: Viz Media
Volume: Volume 6 (ongoing), $12.99
Vintage: 2002 by Shogakukan, April 2012 by Viz Media
Genre: Action, cyberpunk, fantasy

Seeing En on the cover of this latest volume brought hope that we would be getting a bit more insight into this character and what drives him. Up until now all we knew was that he is a feared sorcerer and doesn’t mind turning his victims into mushrooms. His origin is finally told via a captured Nikaido watching a video of his life story. During the movie it also seems as if there may be a connection between his past and our lizard headed buddy Caiman. This set up to the origin may seem a little weird, but in Dorohedoro it totally works.

Caiman also gets some face time as he’s still looking for the answers to where his friends are, and for the meaning behind his nightmares. He also needs to find out who is responsible for his current lizard head. This investigation of this has been one of the most interesting plots in the last few volumes. Whether we’re being introduced to new characters or learning more about Caiman, it’s been one great reveal after another. Though it does seem to be taking quite a while, so I’m hoping the reveal will be worth it in the end.

This is one of those stories that is so weird that it’s great. Sorcerers, peg-legged cats, giant cockroaches, and denizens of a world where good and bad is a bit of a grey area. This is what’s in the pages of Dorohedoro, and it works perfectly. As each volume goes deeper into the story it becomes clear that Dorohedoro‘s strength is rooted in its uniqueness. There’s a pretty large ensemble cast here, and Hayashida juggles each one quite well during the course of the story. There’s also a fair amount of great artwork here, and it’s consistently better in this volume than in the previous one.

En has now become a more interesting character, and Caiman’s quest has become a lot more interesting. This is definitely a great book if you are looking for something totally different and just “out there.” Dorohedoro may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely worth checking out just to make sure.

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net

Review copy provided by Viz Media.