A unique story with familiar elements
Doron Dororon is the latest shonen series to come from Weekly Shonen Jump, and debuted in the magazine’s latest issue. The story already caught the eye of many otakus who saw similarities with Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia.
Before we get into that, let’s take a look at the story.
The story (spoilers ahead)
The first chapter of Doron Dororon spans over 55 pages, and takes us to a world plagued by man-eating demons known as Mononoke. Special squads called the Samurai also exist to protect citizens from the Mononoke. However, Samurais are special warriors with supernatural powers and only people with powers get to join the squads.
We are then introduced to our protagonist Dora Sasaki, a teenager who is a skilled fighter with a deep hatred for Mononoke. Dora’s dream is to join the Samurai, but while his recruitment is taking place, superiors discover that he has no capacity for supernatural abilities.
After he gets disqualified, Dora comes across a friendly Mononoke named Kunasagi, who agrees to help him in his fight. So now, Dora is also a vigilante Samurai, and Kusanagi is his secret weapon.
Familiar tropes
At a single look, Doron Dororon does draw a lot of parallels between popular shonen mangas. The premise of demons, plus Dora’s appearance is similar to Demon Slayer and Tanjiro Kamado. Then comes the part of him not being able to achieve his dream and having to rely on someone else – similar to Black Clover‘s Asta, and My Hero Academia‘s Izuku Midoriya. These elements contrast to the early shonen stories like Naruto or Dragon Ball, where the protagonist had massive power stored within them.
However, the story is enjoyable and sincere, rather than copying other styles. His unlikely alliance with Kusanagi is a bit Chainsaw Man-ish, but the two of them fighting to save humanity is fun to see. Doron Dororon has great potential and you can expect an anime adaptation in the coming years.
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