Dororo

Hyakkimaru is born grievously disfigured after his father makes a pact with 48 demons to seize power. To spare him from execution, his mother Nui no Kata sets the infant adrift on a river. A healer named Jukai finds him, raises him, and crafts prosthetic limbs from the remains of dead war orphans. A mystical blade is embedded in his left arm, and a guiding voice promises that slaying demons will restore his body.

On a road through a war-scarred landscape, Hyakkimaru encounters Dororo, a resourceful orphan thief who becomes his companion. By this time, Hyakkimaru has already slain fifteen demons and is driven by the vow to reclaim his humanity. Dororo joins the journey with grit and street smarts, ready to survive the perils of the era. Together they set off across the dangerous territories that divide a fractured land.

As they travel, Hyakkimaru continues to hunt demons and gradually reclaiming fragments of his lost humanity. They witness villages devastated by war and the ever-present threat of supernatural beings. The partnership between hunter and thief deepens as they press forward toward their uncertain destinies.

Dororo's origins are revealed: her father Hibukuro is a bandit who steals from oppressive samurai and hides treasure at Bone Cape. He is betrayed by Itachi, crippled, and escapes with his wife Ojiya and their child. In a final act, Ojiya dies, marking Dororo's back with a map to guide her toward the treasure.

Itachi uses the map etched on Dororo's back to guide him toward Bone Cape, capturing Dororo along the way. A mysterious boatman ferries the group across dangerous waters, accompanied by two demonic sharks that attack the bandits. Dororo and the survivors manage to kill the first shark, while Hyakkimaru intervenes during the second attack, wounding the beast. They land, but danger continues as the boatman lures the remaining bandits toward a poisoned spring.

Landing on shore, Hyakkimaru slays the second shark and then the boatman, and with that victory, he regains his voice. Itachi searches for the treasure but finds only a letter from Hibukuro stating that it has been moved. Corrupt magistrates arrive under false pretenses, and Hyakkimaru, Dororo, and Itachi defend themselves; Itachi is mortally wounded.

Hyakkimaru learns that his father Kagemitsu Daigo is possessed by the remaining demons and that the Daigō domain has fallen into ruin. The survivors plan a rebellion, but a traitor informs Kagemitsu, who massacres the rebels with archers and drives the rest back into a hidden tunnel. The fortress falls into chaos as the rebellion is crushed from within.

Hyakkimaru infiltrates the fortress while Dororo joins the slaves in their ambush. Dororo is captured, and Kagemitsu orders Hyakkimaru to execute Dororo. Pretending to comply, Hyakkimaru hurls his sword into the darkness, striking the physical manifestation of the demons. Some demons escape, but the slaves surge forth and overwhelm Kagemitsu's forces, forcing the tyrant to flee with Nui.

After Hyakkimaru regains his sight, he discovers Dororo is female, though the child has insisted she is male and has been raised as a boy to endure hardship. He encourages Dororo to embrace strength as a farmer's child and offers the coveted sword before departing to continue his quest. He vows to reunite with Dororo when his body is finally complete.

Decades pass as Hyakkimaru persists in his lifelong mission, and eventually the last of the 48 demons is slain. His body nears completion, but the world keeps moving around him as he continues to wander. The story closes on the note that he will reunite with Dororo only when his body is fully restored.