Synopsis
En has summoned two top sorcerers to track down Caiman and Nikaido.
Story: After seeing the first 10 minutes, it made me think "Will this gonna be one of those anime where the first episode was so amazing, that the follow-up will be subpar?" Then came the second half, and my interest level went up from 35 to a hundred percent. The revelations (sorcerers' faces behind their masks and abilities) were so shocking, I suddenly can't wait to watch and review the next episode.
Characters
Two hardcore sorcerers were introduced in this episode -- Shin and Noi.
Shin's ability can slice the body of his victim to pieces and still keep that person alive. Noi, a cousin of En, can use healing magic (this wasn't shown yet, but En asked her to treat Ebisu's face).
When Noi removed her mask, I immediately thought a battle between her and Nikaido will be mind-blowing. Imagine the woman from
Kung Fu Hustle, make a copy of her, then let them fight.
Also in this episode, we've seen a compassionate side of Caiman. After a sorcerer thanked him for giving him eternal rest, he then felt uneasy. I got this feeling that sooner or later they will befriend a sorcerer ...or maybe not.
Writing / Storyboarding
With all the funny scenes this episode has, I realized this was a supernatural / dark-comedy anime.
The dinner scene had the best writing. There were a lot of things going on that keeps you interested. Like when En was giving orders to Shin and Noi, Ebisu was running around while holding a whole huge cake, and Fujita was trying to stop her. It was followed by two transformation magic specialists who tried to assassinate En, but our new characters were there to throw a knife and a fork (lol) to save their boss. Like I said, the second-half will keep your eyes glued to the screen.
Artwork / Animation
Kindly take a look and appreciate some of the background arts for this episode:
As I was mesmerized by the effort of the artists who worked on this anime, all I can say was "Bravo!".
And amazing slow-mo animation on the fight scene featuring Nikaido. She looked so badass there.
Music / Sound
Some jazz music and operatic song were the highlights of this episode.
Here's a pic of a disc playing the opera song:
PS: '
Q Hayashida (Kyu Hayashida)' was the author of Dorohedoro, while
MAPPA was the animation studio working on the series.
