The great Hyakkimaru will rise up once more, to begin his epic quest anew.
Earlier today, the official Dororo anime website updated with a new trailer and key visual, as well as the main staffers and cast members attached to the project.
We break the details down below.
Trailer
The minute-long promo introduces the show’s main concept, as a narrator gives a dramatic reading of the major story beats. Character dialogue for the titular Dororo is interspersed between the readings, as footage cuts between high-impact action scenes.
Visual
The image features Hyakkimaru standing on a crimson cliff side, his yukata tattered and bloodied. His two prosthetic sword-arms are unsheathed as he stands, ready to lunge into action.
Staff
Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern Part 1, Mobile Suit Gundam UC) will direct the project at MAPPA and Tezuka Productions, with Satoshi Iwataki providing character designs. Yasuko Kobayashi (Attack on Titan, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) is in charge of series composition for the title.
Other confirmed crew members include:
- Music: Yoshihiro Ike
- Original creator: Osamu Tezuka
- Original Character Design: Hiroyuki Asada
The series is a co-production between by MAPPA and Tezuka Production, with Twin Engine serving as a general producer.
Cast
The confirmed voice cast includes:
- Hyakkimaru: Hiroki Suzuki
- Dororo: Rio Suzuki
- Biwamaru: Mutsumi Sasaki
- Narrator: Mugihito
Dororo airs in January 2019. Amazon holds the digital rights to the project, and will stream the show exclusively on their platform in Japan and abroad.
Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo manga began publication in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine in August 1967. The series ran through July 1968, and switched to Akita Shoten’s Bōken’ō magazine before concluding its run. Four compiled volumes were release for the title.
A 26-episode anime based on Dororo aired in the Spring 1969 broadcast season. The title was directed by Gisaburō Sugii (Lupin III: Secret Files, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie) at Mushi Productions. Discotek currently holds the rights to the title, and released it on Blu-Ray in North America. A live-action film by director Akihiko Shiota hit Japanese theaters in 2007.
Discotek describes the anime as:
Hyakkimaru is a tortured young man who lost 48 parts of his body when his own father offered him up to demons in exchange for power. Traveling the war-torn countryside of Sengoku era Japan, he quests to slay the demons and regain his humanity piece by piece.
On his journey he is accompanied by Dororo, an enigmatic young orphan and sneak-thief who has made it a personal goal to swipe Hyakkimaru’s swords.
Together the two will face horrific monsters and the even more horrific ravages of war!
Dororo was also adapted into a PlayStation 2 game by Sega, who released it in North America and Europe under the title Blood Will Tell.
“Dororo” Anime Gets New Visual & Trailer, Main Cast & Crew Also – Samantha Ferreira
