One thing can always be certain when it comes to anime these days, and that's the inclusion of at least show about anthropomorphised creatures of some sort every season. Many people will already be familiar with humanoid cats, foxes, dogs, etc, and with the "popularity" of the types of anime that normally include such characters, it's somewhat surprising to find dragons thrown into the mix.
Now this isn't a new thing, especially as these giant fire breathing lizards have appeared in works of fiction for many, many years (and it's even longer when we start talking mythology - but we won't go there). From tales of steel clad warriors going toe to toe with something that sees them as canned food, to the stylings of Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series where humans live and work with the creatures, dragons have long been a source of inspiration, fear, admiration, majesty, and many other things besides.
But aside from their appearances in certain anime, nobody has ever called them cute (or tsundere - more on that later).
Dragon Crisis is, first and foremost, a light novel series by Kizaki Kaya that spans eleven volumes, all of which have been published under Shueisha's Super Dash Bunko line, and as with any reasonably popular written work, it was earmarked for an anime adaptation, this time by Studio DEEN.
Oh goody. More adaptations.
The story is about Kisaragi Ryuuji, a seemingly normal high school boy whose life is suddenly thrown sideways by the return of his treasure seeking cousin Nanao Eriko. She persuades him to join her on her latest venture, but things don't turn out the way she plans when instead of treasure, they find a girl in a suitcase.
Throw into this various other anthropomorphic beings (generally female), magical treasures called Lost Precious, and a very familiar comedy angle and what do you have?
That's right. It's another supernatural harem romantic comedy.
The main issue with the Dragon Crisis is the lack of explanations. There are any number of interesting aspects to the story that really could have been expounded upon, but in the typical manner that is common these days the viewer is expected to simply sit there, accept what they're given, and not want for anything better. The lack of any real detail about The Society, dragons and the Lost Precious puts a strain on the storyline that becomes more pronounced as matters progress.
That said, the plot is actually paced reasonably well, but that's simply based on the even scattering of tokens throughout the series (usually one per episode), and it's pretty clear that a great deal of thought wasn't expended on making the story interesting. Instead Dragon Crisis relies on stereotypical comedy and the generic methodologies applied to almost every other harem rom-com in an effort to move things along, and because of all of this the whole show is about as predictable as the sunrise.
Visually the series isn't bad, but it's not brilliant either. The reliance on generic character types is very obvious from the get-go as it's not something that can really be hidden by changing clothes (or school uniforms), hairstyles and eye colours. That said, the characters are emotive to a degree, and it's nice to see that efforts have been made to allow a bit more expression that one might initially expect from this type of show.
Sadly the typical anime reliance on the European style dragon once again rears its head, and this time they're coloured (which brings into question the issue of dragon racism, but that's a matter for another time).
On the plus side the series features some nicely detailed backgrounds that, although somewhat generic, are also rather appealing. In addition to this there are some well choreographed and interesting CG effects that give the action sequences that little bit more flair, and the quality of the animation is stays at a pretty decent level over the course of the show.
When it comes to music, Dragon Crisis has a range of tracks on offer to suit almost every occasion, from foreboding techno beats to melodic piano pieces, and there are also some rather nice audio effects throughout the series. Unfortunately there are occasions when the two clash, and although the timing is pretty good, this isn't enough to salvage the resulting cacophony.
The opening theme, Immoralist by Horie Yui (who plays the role of Maruga or Margerite, whichever you prefer), is a rather dramatic J-Pop number with martial overtones that feels a little out of place with the concept of Dragon Crisis. As for the ending theme, Mirai Bowl by Momoiro Clover, this rather more playful piece also doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the anime, but that may be due to the rather whimsical beginning to the song.
So, on to the acting, and oh look! It's Kugumiya Rie playing yet another clone of Louise/Shana/Taiga, except this time her role is far less tsundere so hopefully the industry will stop typecasting her at some point. Even with that though, she is able to inject a likeability into the character of Rose that is nice to see. Shimono Hiro and Yukana also play their respective roles (Ryuuji and Eriko), passing well, and while the overall series may be tediously generic in many aspects, it's nice to see the seiyuu still working hard to deliver some decent performances.
The unfortunate part is that there's only so much a voice actor/actress can do in certain situations, and this is one of them.
The reliance on genericism severely stunts the characters in certain fundamental ways that prevent even the best seiyuu from delivering a stellar performance, and while part of the problem stems from the anime, the majority of it comes from the source material itself. The simple fact is that each character is designed to deliver a specific plot token into the story, and this makes them objects rather than people. Because of this there is the appearance of development over the course of the series, but in truth this is nothing more than a veneer that covers some truly lazy characterisation. That said, Dragon Crisis does feature some diverting interactions and relationships, and while there is little in the way of real growth, the series does maintain a degree of enjoyability due the inoffensive nature of the characters.
One thing that is a little puzzling though, is the decidedly human nature of the dragons themselves. While this could easily be explained away by stating that they're anthropomorphic creatures who have lived alongside humans and adopted their personality traits, this information has to be extrapolated by the viewer, and this brings up the issue of why they have to act like humans. It would have been far more interesting to see humans and dragons learning to cope with the problems presented by modern day society from the perspective of the dragons. Likewise the prospect of watching the characters adapt to the daily problems faced by each species would have offered some completely different insights, yet still left room for situational comedy.
Dragon Crisis offers little in the way of innovation, but that's pretty much expected from supernatural harem rom-coms these days. While the original concept may have been interesting enough in the beginning the execution leaves a lot to be desired, and there's a mechanical feel to the show due to the "fill in the blanks" approach to the story, and the fact that this is essentially a "production by numbers" (hence Kugimiya Rie in a typecast role).
The series does have its good points, and there are some enjoyable moments to see, but ultimately Dragon Crisis is yet another example of a wasted opportunity, only this time its not the fault of the anime as the source material is to blame.
