Hole is a disorderly district where death and mutilation are common. The residents of Hole are the dregs of society and the test subjects of the magic users that live separate from it. Residents are constantly tested on or just murdered by these mages. In Hole is Kaiman, a man with a head cursed to be that of a lizard, but with an immunity to magic. He spends his time set on hunting down these magic users in one small bit of justice for the people that live in Hole.
Despite the (UGH) CGI of it all, Dorohedoro and its story deserves an anime adaptation and has a great underrated story to tell. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Dorohedoro, then head on down below.
Anime Like Dorohedoro
For Fans of Hellholes
Gunnm – Battle Angel Alita
Doctor Ido lives in Scrapyard, a hellish city where the rule of law means little. While foraging, he find a perfectly preserved female cyborg in the trash and rebuilds her. Strong and curious of the world, this cyborg Gally begins her life where every day can end up a fight.
Unfortunately, Gunnm is just an OVA. However, they are both about towns that are essentially the dumping ground for elites. The citizens within this trash heap suffer, but there are those within it that have the power to fight back.
Blood Blockade Battlefront
Vampires, fishmen, supersonic monkeys – They are all normal residents living alongside humans in Hellsalem’s Lot, formerly known as New York City. When a gate between Earth and the Beyond popped up there three years ago, old NYC became dominated by monsters, and now Libra, a secret organization, is tasked with keeping it in order. After hobbyist photographer Leonardo Watch obtains the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods, he finds himself recruited into Libra.
While Hellsalem’s Lot isn’t exactly the hellhole like Hole, it is a city with a lot of problems. In each series, you follow the problem solvers with their various battles against the monsters that live in the city. Both series have a lot of light moments, but some great battles as well.
Texhnolyze
As an orphan that made his name as a street fighter, Ichise finds his way of life crushed when an angry promoter takes an arm and a leg. Before he dies, he is rescued by a scientist that uses him as a test subject. With new limbs at his disposal and a new mysterious girl that can tell the future at his side, he realizes the city is on the brink of destruction, and only he can save it.
Both shows tell the story of an underworld where the people in it are generally treated like trash and test subjects. You also find that those who were tested on use their new powers to seek justice for the rest.
For Fans of Monster Heads
Guin Saga
The kingdom of Parros has been invaded. The king and queen have been slain, but their twin children have been spirited away by a strange device in the palace. Lost in the Roodwood, they are rescued from invading soldiers by a strange amnesiac leopard-headed man named Guin.
Dorohedoro and Guin Saga both follow men with beast heads that want to know why they have beast heads. In Guin Saga, he has a leopard head and the series is set in a fantasy world, vastly different from Kaiman’s lizard head in a dystopian world. While Guin Saga is more about guarding two children, those kids also lend a similar lightness to the plot like the moments in the bar that you find in Dorohedoro.
Beastars
This is a world of anthropomorphic animals where carnivores and herbivores live side by side with each other. At Cherryton Academy, young wolf Legoshi is a member of the drama club. While he is often called menacing due to his appearance, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. When one herbivore classmate is killed and devoured, Legoshi finds himself as the primary suspect.
While Beastars seems quite different from Dorohedoro in tone, it actually is more similar than you’d expect. Both suffer occasionally from the use of CGI, both are about characters with animal heads, both have main characters that are nicer than you’d expect, and both actually end up quite dark. The difference is you really don’t expect the darkness in Beastars.
No Guns Life
Thanks to the Baruhren Corporation, powerful cyborg soldiers known as Extended now exist. Juuzou Inui is one such Extended with no memories before he was used for war. Now, he helps take care of Extended-caused incidents around the city. Recently, rumors of an Extended kidnapping a child have spread, and when Juuzou returns to his office, he finds the Extended there with the child in tow. With everyone seemingly out for this kid, it leads Juuzou into a mystery that threatens to unravel everything.
Both No Guns Life and Dorohedoro take place in a city where crime is high and justice is pretty low. Furthermore, they each follow a gritty story surrounding a guy with something else other than a human head. In Dorohedoro, he is a lizard man. In No Guns Life, he has a gun for a head.
For Fans of Vengeance Hunting
Berserk
Gutts has been a mercenary for as long as he can remember, caring for nothing but moving to the next battle. One fateful battle puts him at odds with the rapidly rising mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk. Their charismatic, idealistic leader Griffith soon makes him join by force, but the bond he forms with the Band of the Hawk may very well mean the end of the world.
While these series don’t start off similar, they become similar as an event happens in Berserk and suddenly the series is all about revenge. Both series end up in a dark world in which everyday is a battle.
Dororo
In order to become indomitable on the battlefield, a samurai lord barters his son’s organs away to 48 demons and then abandons him. However, his son doesn’t die. Instead, a medicine man saves him with primitive, but lethal prosthetics that allow him to hunt down the demons and regain his organs for an eventual battle with his father.
Both are series about strong fighters with unique bodies that slay every Tom, Dick, and Demon that get in their way. Both vengeance quests are searches for answers about what happened to them and why it happened to them.
Goblin Slayer
A young priestess fresh out of the temple is excited to start her life as an adventurer. On her first day, she joins an adventuring party to go slay some goblins. However, like so many young adventure parties before them, they underestimate the goblins. It ends with two dead, one viciously raped, and the priestess saved from fate by a man whose only mission in life is to slay all the goblins.
While Goblin Slayer has less fun moments in it, it is a mission of vengeance that blends hardcore battles with lighter comedy. Each series follows a protagonist that hunts what they do because they were personally wronged by the targets in the past. However, there is likely no filling the vast need for goblin slaying unlike in Dorohedoro where Kaiman wants answers.
Do you have any more anime series similar to Dorohedoro? Let fans know in the comments section below.
