Dororo, Volume 2 »

Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. He originally intended to become a doctor and earned his degree before turning to what was then a medium for children. His many early masterpieces include the series known in the U.S. as Astro Boy. With his sweeping vision, deftly interwined plots, feel for the workings of power, and indefatigable commitment to human dignity, Tezuka elevated manga to an art form. The later Tezuka, who authored Buddha, often had in mind the mature readership that manga gained in the sixties and that had only grown ever since. The Kurosawa of Japanese pop culture, Osamu Tezuka is a twentieth century classic.

Dororo is Tezuka's classic thriller manga featuring a youth who has been robbed of 48 body parts by devils, and his epic struggle against a host of demons to get them back.

Daigo Kagemitsu, who works for a samurai general in Japan's Warring States period, promises to offer body parts of his unborn baby to 48 devils in exchange for complete domination of the country. Knowing the child to be deficient, Kagemitsu orders the newborn thrown into the river.

The baby survives. Callling himself Hyakkimaru, ge searches the world for the 48 demons. Each time he eliminates one, he retrieves one of his missing parts. Hyakkimaru meets a boy thief named Dororo, and together they travel the countryside, confronting mosters and ghosts again and again. This the second in a 3 - volume series.

Tezuka's manga and animated films had a tremendous impact on the shaping of the psychology of Japan's postwar youth. His work changed the concept of Japanese comics, transforming it into an art form and incorporating a variety of new styles in creating "story comics."

Publishers Weekly

The late master manga storyteller Tezuka (Astro Boy; Phoenix) returns with the next volume of his 1967-1968 horror/samurai epic, and the dire doings escalate to horrifying levels as young swordsman Hyakkimaru continues his quest to reclaim his stolen body parts from a gaggle of demons, accompanied by the self-described "world's greatest thief," the diminutive Dororo. This time their wanderings bring them into carnage-laden conflict with fearful villagers, carnivorous fox spirits, opposing actions in a border war, a face-stealing evil Buddha statue, unrestful child ghosts and a nobleman whose loving marriage to a moth demon brings about shocking tragedy. Along this journey of despair, vengeance and the darkest of magic, Hyakkimaru encounters long-lost members of his family-with devastating results-while secrets from Dororo's past are revealed in the presence of a monk who persuades Hyakkimaru that an aspect of his thieving companion may offer a hint to his mission in life once he completes his odyssey of righteous killing. As per the previous volume, this is compelling stuff and notable among Tezuka's works for being almost relentlessly downbeat, gruesome and genuinely creepy, all elements somehow enhanced by the artist's appealing animation-influenced visual style. (June)

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