Nikaido From 'Dorohedoro' Practices Time Magic — Here's What That Means
Updated June 15 2020, 5:52 p.m. ET
Anime fans have been obsessing over Dorohedoro, which Thrillist has deemed "one of the best anime series of the year." The series was created by Attack on Titan director, Yuuichirou Hayashi, in conjunction with MAPPA Studios, and it's based on Q Hayashida's manga series which concluded back in 2018 after 23 incredible volumes.
In Dorohedoro, there are two different dimensions — one miserable realm called "the Hole," and the other, which is overrun by sorcerers that perform black magic on the Hole. The series hones in on a man with a lizard head named Kaiman and his best friend Nikaido, a martial artist and gyoza chef, who teams up with Kaiman to hunt down evil sorcerers. Nikaido's special powers in Dorohedoro are unlike anyone else's, making her one of the most interesting characters in the series.
Nikado is a sweet and unassuming character with an extremely powerful dark side.
Nikaido is an accomplished martial artist, and an esteemed gyoza chef, with one of the best gyoza and shiso restaurants in the Hole, called the Hungry Bug, according to Fandom. She is very easy-going and comes off as innocent, but secretly, she's an incredibly talented magic user. At one point, Nikado underwent intense Devil training, which means she is immortal and is also responsible for the infrastructure of the world. Her magic type, Time Magic, also happens to be one of the rarest of all.
Nikaido's special power is called Time Magic, which basically enables her to create magic time machine boxes to completely rewrite history. She was able to save a friend from dying in a terrible accident, for example, and she also successfully got revenge on an evil wizard. Her magic, however, has a strict time limit, so it's important for her to be diligent and extremely careful to avoid getting herself into serious trouble.
Nikado and Kaiman are essentially "anti-heroes," which makes the series all the more interesting.
The story of Dorohedoro primarily focuses on Nikado and Kaiman's friendship which is unlike any other, as their bond is mostly focused on mercilessly tracking down and killing evil wizards. Although there's definitely no denying these wizards got what was coming to them — after incessantly tormenting an unassuming community of non-magic people — Nikado and Kaiman are truly ruthless with their magic.
Nikado and Kaiman are doing what's best for the Hole, which is suffering from the wrath of the oppressing wizards. They look out for each other, as well as the well-being of their fellow people. Without Nikado and Kaiman, the Hole's residents would be completely lost, and potentially dead.
The series is praised for its outstanding character development and incredible animation, which combines 2-D and 3-D illustrations. Although the series' story and plot lines are somewhat unusual, to say the least, the characters and its aesthetic come together to make for a truly interesting and layered series.
Dorohedoro is now available for streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
