‘Mud And Sludge’ is a big hardcover volume collecting the grotesquely delightful illustrations from Q-Hayashida’s Dorohedoro manga (ドロヘドロ). The book’s title is a loose translation of the manga name, which in itself is a wordplay on ‘Mud'(doro).

Published back in 2020, I’ve been chastised by some of my readers on why it took me this long to pick up and review this title; the honest answer lies somewhere between the fairly high price tag ( close to 7000 yen / $47 ) and the lack of opportunity to browse a copy of the book in order to ascertain it’s quality.

Thankfully, this was finally rectified after my Tokyo trip in May where I was able to finally flip through a copy at Kinokuniya, and yes, I’ve indeed been missing out because this is a geniunely splendid volume packed from cover to cover with Q-Hayashida’s fascinating art work. Her detailed drawings & painting style ( most, if not all done traditionally, I believe ) are intriguing in their boldness and rich use of colors, albeit veering more toward a more sickly palette ( I mean that as a compliment ).

For the uninitiated, it is rather hard to describe what Dorohedoro is really about in a nutshell ( a post-apocalyptic sorcery world? ) and the best ( and most fun way ) to find out is really to dive into the manga and/or the excellent anime series. Now the quality of the manga art itself however is plain to see and can only be described as exemplary. This 344 pages big hardcover is a sheer delight for fans of the manga. Highly recommended.

Update Feb 2026 – An English edition of the art book will be released by VIZ in September 2026. Because the book’s contents are almost entirely art work, I don’t think the English and Japanese editions will have significant differences.

“Mud And Sludge – Dorohedoro Art Book Q-Hayashida ドロヘドロ画集” art book details :

Dimensions – 18.7 x 2.7 x 25.7 cm
Hard cover, 344 pages
Full color, In Japanese & English

  
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