Dororo Episode 6 Review: The Story of the Moriko Song Part 2

This may be a story about demons and lost limbs, but as Episode 6 of Dororo reminds us, sometimes the true monsters are closer than we think.

Plot

This is the first time the episode started with a small recap of past events. I had a feeling things were not going to end well the moment the recap started. Unless there was a Part 3 and Part 4 coming, things were going to end badly for someone. I didn’t expect Mio to be part of the tragedy, however. What a shame.

The episode laid the plot smoothly. We get to know more about Dororo, Mio, and the children. Kind and mother figure Mio declares to Dororo she’s not ashamed of what she does and Dororo reinforces her dignity with a story of his own. We learn that he used to travel a lot with his mother and that the only thing that she refused to do to earn money was to sell her body. However, according to Dororo, that was what got her killed. I expect more backstory in the following episodes. We had a slight foreshadowing there since the exact opposite brings death to Mio and the children. We also learned about Mio and the children’s humble dreams to have their own rice paddy. People always dream of what they lack. Too bad their dream didn’t come to be because of war.

Mio’s dual-camp duty brands her as a spy and samurai are sent to her house to burn it down and kill everyone there. Hyakkimaru goes berserk and kills (almost) everyone, blinded my sadness and rage. After the carnage, he holds Mio in his arms and spells his first word, her name.

Episode Highlights

Bare Bone: Hyakkimaru lost his foot in the last episode and it wasn’t a pleasant image in this one either. His bone was exposed and he was bleeding to death. Grandpa was too optimistic. ‘He won’t die from it.’ At least he got it back for killing the demon. I still wonder how that works.

Themes & Trivia

Deafblind: I often wonder how Hyakkimaru can understand other people since he has never heard the Japanese language and he was never taught to use it. Actually, Dororo might have something to do with it. Dororo put Hyakkimaru’s hands on his cheek and throat so he could feel something. Probably that something were his mouth movements and maybe the vibrations from his vocal chords. It is a variation of the Tadoma method that is used to teach oral communication. Famous deafblind Helen Keller was taught the Tadoma method along with tactile signing and Braille.

Comments

I am a sucker for drama plots. I honestly didn’t expect Mio to die and I thought she could be a romantic interest for Hyakkimaru. That she was, but it didn’t last for long. It was a shame that all those children had to die without their dream fulfilled. I know I am talking about fictional characters, but their story is more common than we think, even in 2019. Poverty and worldwide war are at an all-time low but there are still children who starve and would have loved a chance to find happiness at their own ‘rice paddy’. War and greed (in all their forms) steal rob human beings from their essential needs. Maybe we all need a Mio to remind us what our true role on this planet is: to be kind.