Dorohedoro Season 2 ‒ Episodes 1-5

©2026 Q-HAYASHIDA・Shogakukan／Dorohedoro Season2 Project

Dorohedoro is back, and it is just as gory, grimy, and gleeful as it has ever been. I am as happy as En in a pile of fungi. It has taken over six long years for the anime adaptation to return to Hole, and it wastes no time throwing the audience back into its nettle thicket of plotlines, which wrap around each other like disemboweled intestines. Due to that, I am sympathetic to my cowriters' “Preview Guide” woes, where the lack of recap and immediate triple episode onslaught made for a somewhat exhausting reintroduction. It's not how I would have handled the second season either, so I will stress to you, dear readers, that it would behoove you to rewatch the first season.

Or you can catch up by reading the manga! As much as I enjoy Dorohedoro in animated form, Q Hayashida's original version remains untouchable. It's one of my favorite manga of all time, and she draws it like nothing else I've ever read. She has an incredible eye for character and world design, a masterful command of line weight, and a punk sensibility that pulls inspiration from underground comics, zines, and mixed media art. I know it might be weird to suggest this in the middle of the second season, but I will use any platform available to me to shill for the Dorohedoro manga.

As far as the second season in particular is concerned, production-wise, it is business as usual—and that's very impressive! Yuichiro Hayashi continues to steward this ship well. The use of 3D character models is a compromise that allows the anime to emulate some of Hayashida's hyperdetailed linework without killing its animators, and the six-year gap reveals an appreciable improvement in CGI sophistication. The action scenes in particular feel more dynamic, and the integration of 3D and 2D also seems more seamless to my (admittedly untrained) eyes. Of note, I had worried about the departure of Shinji Kimura from the role of art director, because the setting of Dorohedoro is just as important as any of the characters. The first season's backgrounds beautifully captured the alluring filth of Hole and its countless seedy corners, and thankfully, that eye for grime continues under Miho Sugiura's watch. Overall, the tactile sensation of Dorohedoro remains. If I try, I can taste the blood and dirt.

The story, meanwhile, has grown as tangled and byzantine as the alleyways traveled by Caiman and his many companions/enemies. Case in point, the first episode of the season does not even clue us into the goings on of Caiman and Nikaido. The Cross-Eyes instead take center stage, and they're a good case study for the narrative's thorniness. During his search for the man who killed him, Risu finds one sect of Cross-Eyes, who are largely bumbling besides the shrewd Dokuga. Another group of Cross-Eyes worships a wax statue of their leader and does battle with Shin and Noi towards a disastrous end. Another group of “Cross-Eyes” slings black powder on the streets, but the bright-eyed Natsuki abandons their fraud leader to latch onto Caiman instead. And Caiman, of course, originally has crosses on his eyes before a traumatic memory causes him to claw his scales clean off. That is a lot to keep track of, and the Cross-Eyes are just one faction. En's group is still working against them. Shin and Noi team up with Kasukabe's posse for a bit. Chidaruma and the Devils have their own power struggles going on. And on top of that are all the flashbacks fleshing out backgrounds and motivations (often with copious amounts of mangled flesh and fresh blood). A single answer often reveals several new questions. The mysteries never end.

Despite the complexity, Dorohedoro handles its plot well by never taking itself too seriously. This series' genre is horror first, comedy second, and mystery third. It might shuffle those priorities around at any given moment, but Hayashida always makes sure to throw a disgusting monster or a farcical dalliance into the fray before the narrative becomes too weighed down by its growing cast and compounding storylines. In fact, Hayashida is an expert at taking a joke scene and turning it into a pivotal moment. The third episode, for example, begins with En treating everyone to his new Dream Machine mushroom, which causes everyone's desires and insecurities to step forward with hilarious results. However, this also causes Ebisu to remember her parents and old home, which incites her tender solo journey to find them. You never truly know where Dorohedoro will go next.

Unfortunately, I don't think all of the humor holds up. Chota's infatuation with En and effeminate mannerisms often add up to an exaggerated stereotype. And some of the gags about the landlady feel more mean-spirited than macabre, which is especially disappointing when one of Dorohedoro's best assets is its diversity of body types. Noi is hashtag-goals for me with her huge muscles and huge rack, both of which Hayashida is all too eager to put on display. And I love that Noi exists alongside the similarly buff Nikaido, the twiggy Ebisu, and the eldritch Haru. The manga is over 25 years old at this point, and Dorohedoro is still ahead of the curve compared to its peers in this department.

Ultimately, though, Dorohedoro is all about heart. Sometimes, there are literal hearts splattered on asphalt. Other times, Shin's iconic mask takes center stage. But no matter how far the story drifts into terror, humor, or intrigue, it comes back to how much these characters love each other. Shin and Noi would do anything for their partner. Kasukabe's affection for his wife is undeterred by her metamorphosis into a devil. In memories, Risu and Aikawa's bond feels even deeper given its eventual tragic end. Nikaido also remembers her gentle childhood with Asu when he was still a Sorcerer, which influenced her own un-Sorcerer-like personality. And finally, Caiman and Nikaido's friendship is the heart of the series. The fifth episode knows there's no greater gut punch of a cliffhanger than the prospect that Caiman and Nikaido will never speak again. That's more terrifying than any demonic entity.

On a final note, Dorohedoro's second season, like the first, comes with an English dub that is quite excellent. As far as I can tell, the cast hasn't changed much in between seasons, with the exception of Alejandro Saab taking over as Risu. The entire lineup, old and new, sounds at home in these characters, so the dub is a worthy companion to the similarly stacked Japanese cast. I'm particularly partial to Cherami Leigh's Noi, whose gruff and butch timbre belies her puppy-dog soul. And Aleks Le does deft work with Caiman. Our favorite lizard guy is going through it this season, so Le's ability to tap into Caiman's sensitive side goes a long way.

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Dorohedoro is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflilx.

Sylvia is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. She loves Hole. You can also catch her chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.