The bloody and chaotic magic of Hole is finally back
Six years. That’s how long fans of Dorohedoro have been waiting—watching, hoping, refreshing feeds like gamblers at a slot machine that hasn’t paid out since 2020. The wait is over.
The production committee has finally stopped teasing and delivered something tangible: a proper trailer, a firm release date, and enough new details to remind everyone why they fell in love with this grotesque little gem in the first place.
The second season lands on Japanese television April 1st—yes, April Fool’s Day, which feels either like a deliberately cruel joke or a stroke of marketing genius. For those who simply cannot wait, Tokyo gets an early showing on March 22nd with a three-episode premiere screening.
What we know
MAPPA remains at the helm, which is reassuring news for anyone worried about visual continuity. The core creative team returns intact:
- Yuichiro Hayashi — directing
- Hiroshi Seko — handling scripts
- Tomohiro Kishi — steering character designs
New additions include Miho Sugiura stepping in as art director and Itsuku Onishi ascending to key colour artist—both moves that suggest the production is building rather than rebuilding.
Musically, (K)NoW_NAME is back. Their industrial soundscapes were part of what made the first season feel so distinctively gritty. They’ll be powering both the opening (Zettai Must Danmen
) and closing (Return to Head
) themes.
Fresh voices for old trouble
The Crossed Eyes organisation finally gets its moment in the sun—or more accurately, the perpetual gloom. The new cast reads like a roll call of reliable talent:
- Koki Uchiyama (Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia, Meruem in Hunter x Hunter) takes on Dokuga
- Daiki Hamano (Admiral Ryokugyu in One Piece) voices Tetsujo
- Tomokazu Koshimura joins as Saji
- Katsuhito Nomura steps in as Ton
- Atsushi Imaruoka (Rudol von Stroheim in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) handles Ushishimada
- Sara Matsumoto (Namida Suzumeno in Boruto) signs on as Natsuki
That’s a solid lineup of seasoned performers entering Q Hayashida’s surreal playground. The original 2020 adaptation earned its cult status honestly—Netflix distribution helped, but the material did the heavy lifting. A dark fantasy that manages to be grotesque, bizarre, and strangely endearing isn’t easily replicated.
The question now
Can this second season justify the wait? Six years is a lifetime in anime production cycles. Studios fold, creative teams scatter, audience attention drifts.
That Dorohedoro is returning at all—and with its DNA largely preserved—counts as a minor miracle in an industry where projects routinely disappear into development limbo.
April approaches. The Hole reopens. What remains to be seen is whether the magic still cuts as deep as it did the first time around.
Does the return of the original creative team give you confidence that this sequel will maintain the first season’s quality, or does the long gap between seasons raise concerns about creative momentum? How do you think the introduction of the Crossed Eyes will shift the dynamic of a series that has always thrived on moral ambiguity?
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