The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru! (2018-Present)

The new adaptation, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru, is by Satoshi Shiki (Attack on Titan: Before the Fall). For the most part the stories match up, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same. For instance, while the original Dororo explains what leads to Hyakkimaru’s curse at the very beginning, the adaptation just teases that it will be told at some point in the future. Instead of having Tezuka’s cute, Disney-esque art, Shiki has given real atmosphere and mood that fits with the subject of demons and war, using shadowing and slick character design. But when you ask, “Why bother adapting?,” you can see that this is a new vision that has its own feel and structure. It also gets you sympathetic to the character Dororo more quickly than the original does. Neither one of these manga would replace the other, and in fact it can be fun to check out both. And who doesn’t like a character who has swords for arms?