The main innovation was the new portrayal of Hyakkimaru, a weaker samurai than the one written by Tezuka with director Kazuhiro Furuhashi among other staff member conceiving the alternate of take of the young swordsman becoming a new person following his journey with Dororo in a similar manner to buddy films.

During the Muromachi period, a feudal lord has his newborn son's organs and limbs sacrificed to the twelve demons gods in exchange of prosperity for his people.

Along the way, Hyakkimaru meets a child named Dororo who decides to follow him, teaching him how to live and fight demons in exchange for food when visiting villages.

As the duo fight demons, Hyakkimaru recovers his hearing which causes him to fall in love with the young singer, Mio, who had been selling her body to soldiers.

Hyakkkimaru returns to Daigo's village to recover his last body parts and once again battles Tahomaru and his assistants Mutsu and Hyogo who also made a pact with the demons to kill him.

With Daigo's land destroyed, the feudal lord attempts to offer his son once again when Hyakkimaru spares him as he claims both can redeem themselves from killing people.

Iwataki incorporated the soft movement expression and roundness of Tezuka into the range of Asada's painting, and the feeling of the Dororo moving around in the animation.

Hyakkimaru for the competition that he drew in a week was set to be older than now, and at a meeting after that, Furuhashi said there are too many Egui expressions, and that the design was cute.

While the series featured multiple episodic stories, Furuhashi made several to be focused on Daigo's family in order to combine with Hyakkimaru and Dororo's journey.

[12] Osada explained in an interview that Hyakkimaru's slender body frame is a deliberate effort to accentuate the image of him being a “ball-joined doll”.

MAPPA made effort in sound effects for little things like – for example, the tiny movement when a character is about take a step forward.

Masafumi Gotoh from Asian Kung-Fu Generation stated that he made the music with all his thoughts so as not to be ashamed of the original Tezuka manga.

[16] Taking place during the chaotic Sengoku period, the anime focuses on the tragedy on war and men's devotion towards religion.

[18] Tor.com compared Hyakkimaru's life with the narratives created by Ursula K. Le Guin in regards to how Daigo uses his body as part of the bargain to obtain prosperity for his land.

Although Hyakkimaru's quest to recover his body might give chaos back to the world, he is unwilling to be a guinea pig anymore as he expresses his desire to stop living in pain, something that clashes with the comments of other people close to him like Jukai who fears his adoptive son's being devoted to violence or Dororo because he is a victim of war.

[19] Biggest in Japan considered Hyakkimaru's journey as an inversion from the hero's journey, rather than becoming a stronger person, he instead becomes weaker due to fighting with a more common body, and like other writers, cited his tragic story with Mio and friendship with as one of the series' biggest strengths as they further change the main character's personality.

[20] The 24-episode series was broadcast from January 7 to June 24, 2019, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and Jidaieki Senmon Channel,[21] and was streamed exclusively worldwide on Amazon Prime Video.

[44] Early impressions of the series were positive with the handling of MAPPA's animation, the alterations to Hyakkimaru's portrayal and origins in comparison to Osamu Tezuka's manga and Dororo's personality.

[52][53] Dororo's backstory was also noted tragic not only for how the young child suffered following the death of his parents and it was shown how he created a stronger personality in order to fight for her life, acting like a male rather than a girl,[54][55] though Fandom Post found it as obvious knowledge for the audience.

Despite Shiranui's twisted nature as he uses shark-like demons to feed on his preys, he still shows love towards them in tragic tones when Hyakkimaru kills one of them.

[52][60][61][62][63] In regards to the series' ending, Manga.Tokyo said he did not look forward to Hyakkimaru's hatred towards Daigo as he still enjoyed deep bond between the leads rather than a possible tragedy.

[64] The series' finale felt rushed by Anime News Network for how Dororo's gender issues were not properly explored which is left ambiguous when Hyakkimaru compliments his look upon recovering his sight.

Nevertheless, he praised the conclusion between Hyakkimaru's arc in regards to his family as he spares his brother and father, something that works as a result of his growth as a person.

[65] Fandom Post had similar commentaries in regards to Hyakkimaru's family and whether or not his mother needed to die in the fire as well as whether or not the continuous wars from the Sengoku will bring more harm the leads' life.

[61] In conclusion, the reviewer praised how MAPPA managed to improve on Tezuka's original manga by changing the characterization of the two leads despite noting issues in the series' production.

He still recommended the series to Berserk and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fans due to the heavy fights and narrative style.