Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 sees the fallout of En’s (Ken’yû Horiuchi, Cowboy Bebop) demise, as there is no way to keep the leader’s death a secret, as his mushrooms all begin to rot. While many are unsure of what to do, Shin (Yoshimasa Hosoya, Arknights: Rise From Ember) and Noi (Yû Kobayashi, Fate/Strange Fake) hatch a plan to find En’s killer. Meanwhile, Nikaido (Reina Kondô, Romantic Killer), finding a new lease on life with En’s passing, decides she’s going to get back what’s hers, with potentially terrible consequences.
The majority of this episode revolves around En’s murder. Largely narrated by Fujita (Kengo Takanashi, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom), we learn how quickly the system built upon En’s domineering personality and powerful magic crumbles without him there to maintain it.
Everyone has a fascinating reaction to the new circumstances in Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8.
What makes this side of Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 fascinating is how the various personalities react to the new circumstances. Despite no one really liking En, many recognize the power vacuum left in his wake and the chaos that will follow as individuals and groups move to fill the void. And we haven’t seen many options in this world that feel like they will be noticeably better than En was.
But, love him or hate him, Shin and Noi decide to pursue their boss’s killer, since that is their job. Always eager for a brawl, the pair concoct a plan to find En’s missing head, using a doll designed to track him down. This artificial construct proves a bit too eager to do its job, resulting in a comical high-speed chase lest its creators not be able to keep up with it.
The other major element of this episode focuses on Nikaido. Still unconscious after her struggle with En’s mushrooms, Nikaido endures a nightmare where we learn what happened that made her hate her time magic as much as she does. The season-and-a-half build-up to the reveal did not oversell the character’s trauma.
With Asu’s support, it seems Nikaido is ready to use her powers again.
What makes Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8’s dive into Nikaido’s one use of her magic so painful is how truly innocent the mistake is. While many science fiction stories concerning time travel harp on the dangers of changing time, using epic consequences as potential repercussions, the penalty Nikaido pays for her tampering with time is terrifying, not in scale or scope, but in its silence.
By changing something precious, Nikaido erases it from reality. This leaves no one to understand what she has done. The thing she messed up never happened. No one can grieve with her. No one understands. When she tells her family about her magic, they don’t even believe her and accuse her of making up stories.
This crushing isolation, coupled with knowledge of what she has done, results in an appropriately impactful outcome for the huge scar the moment has left on her life. But, with Asu’s support, it seems she is ready to use her powers again, in a bid to get back what was taken from her.
Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 delivers a lot of narrative progress and character exploration.
Whether this is in reference to her childhood failure or saving Caiman from his perceived death is left unclear. But given how seriously the series takes time alteration, it feels like a resolution that could bring stark consequences.
Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 also touches base with the Cross Eyes. Having learned of En’s fate, they conclude that their boss must be back and proceed to a likely hideout after a brief phone exchange gives them hope of their long-awaited reunion. As they arrive, though, they find Shin and Noi heading for the same place, leading to a cliffhanger ending that promises a rematch of the season’s opening bout.
Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 delivers a lot of narrative progress and character exploration. Nikaiddo’s reveal delivers on her past with incredible poignancy, while the present day prepares to devolve into anarchy as the players prepare to clash once again.
Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 is streaming now on Netflix.
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Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8
8.5/10
TL;DR
Dorohedoro Season 2 Episode 8 delivers a lot of narrative progress and character exploration.