Netflix is the streaming home of an incredible 13-part fantasy anime that boasts a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 100%. Despite earning almost unanimous acclaim from viewers and critics and being produced by MAPPA Studio (Attack On Titan: Final Season & Jujutsu Kaisen), the show unfortunately remains relatively overlooked.

Despite being far less popular than some of MAPPA Studio’s best anime, though, the show in question has been renewed for another season. It is all set to return on Netflix almost six years after its first season’s premiere, which is a rare feat in itself. Since the anime remained overlooked when it first landed on Netflix, it seems like the perfect time to give it a chance before its second season premieres.

If it garners a big enough viewership and manages to get renewed for more installments, the Netflix original anime in question has the potential to become as popular and enthralling as some of MAPPA Studio’s best creations.

Dorohedoro Season 2 Premieres 6 Years After Its Predecessor

Dorohedoro, which is based on a manga written and illustrated by Q Hayashida, first premiered on Netflix in 2020. Since the original Dorohedoro manga has a wildly chaotic art style and presents an expansive fantasy world with some bizarre magic systems, adapting it into an anime was no easy feat. However, MAPPA Studio did a brilliant job of capturing the manga’s chaos while also getting its heartfelt story beats right.

Considering how weird and offbeat Dorohedoro can often be, it is not exactly for everyone. Viewers who are relatively new to watching anime would especially find it hard to sit through its unusual opening arcs. This is perhaps the reason why Dorohedoro never acquired that big of a viewership.

In terms of critical reception, however, the anime did incredibly well and impressed most viewers who ended up watching it. The show even boasts an impressive score of 8.04/10 on MyAnimeList, with over 300K user ratings. After its first season ended its run, Dorohedoro was not expected to return by most viewers.

MAPPA Studio, too, was already too caught up with other big projects like Attack on Titan‘s final season and Jujutsu Kaisen, which suggested that Dorohedoro‘s season 2 would never see the light of day. As the years passed, the odds of its return diminished even further.

Surprisingly, though, Dorohedoro is finally returning to Netflix on April 1, 2026, with season 2. As its season 2 trailer suggests, it will be even more violent, surreal, and narratively chaotic than the first season. Since its second installment’s release is not too far away, it seems like the perfect time for viewers to give its opening season a chance.

Dorohedoro Remains One Of The Most Overlooked Anime

Dorohedoro centers on an amnesiac man named Caiman, who has the head of a lizard and a deep-seated hatred for sorcerers. Caiman’s sole purpose in the series is to find the sorcerer who gave him his lizard head, but he struggles to remember his true identity. He also lives in The Hole, which is a decaying world separated from the realm of the sorcerers.

With his friend, Nikaido, Caiman sets out to find the wizard who turned him to be able to become human again. During his quest, he not only encounters some of the strongest, darkest sorcerers but also finds a few unlikely allies.

Apart from having a wildly engaging storyline, Dorohedoro also adopts an “industrial-punk” aesthetic and body horror visuals to appeal to viewers. The show even has a twisted sense of humor, and, despite dabbling with many mature themes, it somehow retains a childlike sense of wonder with its world-building.

In its first season, the Netflix anime manages to strike a surprising balance between being disturbing and oddly charming. Its unique ability to blend grotesque violence with moments of warmth and absurd comedy makes it one of a kind. Owing to this, before its next season premieres on Netflix, anime fans should check out its first installment.