Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryuu to Odoru

Dances with the Dragons is certainly a badass name for a show which is both: bad and ass.

When I heard the main character is called Jerde Dolk Melios Ashley Boeuf Gigina, I assumed upon introducing himself, he would continue this with something like "friends call me Billy." but unfortunately the author of this series was completely serious when they wrote this piece of shit name monster. This petty much sums the series' biggest mistake. It tried to be serious when it was obviously so bad it could have only carried itself as a comedy or alternatively by creating content that is so over the top ... it becomes entertaining to watch.

Basically elf-people, philosophers and high school kids who wear classes and look like bishonen princes are fighting against dragons in a fantasy universe filled with technology. Sounds great once again until you remember the series tries to be serious. Pretty much the only way to enjoy this show is to mock it and view it ironically, but it comes off so lacklustery it's nearly impossible to find even one detail or factor that can be laughed at. The show is simply the visual representation of "nothing". Not even tabulara rasa is this content-lacking.

I somewhat enjoyed the scenes where MC for example took an elf-lady in a manly fashion while she whispered "baka". Pretty much all the entertainment the series can offers lies within fanservice where main characters grope tits and embarrass elf ladies in lewd ways.

Maybe ppl who have sicker sense of humor than myself can find some enjoyment in this, but be warned, I was able to enjoy shows such as Hand Shakers, Guilty Crown, Sword Art Online, Death March, Shingeki no Kyojin and even Mirai Nikki ironically. This show is where my humor stops.

TLDR:
Honestly, avoid Dances with the Dragons. There is simply is no serious direction and use of such a series and is just a clutter of random fights and events which clamp together to make an ugly and poorly thought out series. Unless you're sadistic and want to watch a confusing, action-oriented, thoughtless and plotless anime, or want another drop to your list, then go for it. Other than that avoid watching this.

Scores~ Story [1] Art [4] Sound [4] Character [1] Enjoyment [1] Overall [2.2]

Story [1]
This anime makes a clearly unsophisticated and pathetic attempt at an action sci-fi anime. It chucks random individuals with no backstory, ... explanation or reason and makes them do things. You simply cannot find any place where this series has made a serious attempt to make things even slightly interesting apart from making things fight other things.

Art [4]
The art is fine. Nothing too exciting or horrible either. It is averagely drawn but doesn't really give the characters a hint of identity. The art is honestly, just there to adapt the manga to anime form. It's decent.

Sound [4]
Again, the sound is fine. The studio has made no real attempt to put forth any high-quality sound and clearly has made no real effort to make this a lasting impression. Again, its here just to adapt something to anime form. it's decent.

Character [1]
I could go on and on about how horrible the characters are, but ill keep it brief-ish.
They are hollow, dumb and daft, almost like placeholders for boxes. They don't really develop, have any real meaning, background, drive or reason. It's almost like we are placed in a world with some dragons and flashy explosions and are following their every move, including the chores. It's honestly sad. If you don't want to see an anime character pay the bills, then you don't want to see this.

Enjoyment [1]
Argh. Such a cool flashy name ruined by a studio's inability to make this series at least decent. Sure they're some cool dragon fight scenes but even those will get boring. The studio has made no effort to make this series decent and it's honestly sad and a BIG chore to watch. At least be bearable.

Overall [2.2]
This is an anime made with no real effort or conviction, like a series that exists just to exist. It's honestly pathetic to see the studio disappointing me in every aspect, except with the mediocre art and sound. It's sad, depressing and hurtful.

Also, the name "Dances with the Dragons" for this series is honestly a waste and should be used for an at least respectable PG-13 show. *sigh* *sighs harder*

"Dances with the Dragons" is a show that shows moderate potential but fails to deliver fully on that potential, resulting in a thoroughly mediocre show. The plot introduces threads out of nowhere, and there's more loose threads at the end than a ball of yarn that went through twenty cats.


Story:
The story is the worst link in the show. I'm not sure if this is handled with the same amount of grace in the original light novel, but the story has approximately four major plotlines that converge together at two separate points awkwardly like the wreckage from a two-car collision ramming into two other cars creating ... a flaming storytelling four-car pileup. The serial murder and "peace talk" arcs that take place in the first five episodes are barely related, and due to there being no apparent link between the Urmun and Maga-something-Japanese-I-forgot arcs at the beginning, I'm confused at what location they even are at sometimes when it shows them going through border control and then back at their agency in one simple cut.
Also, episode 11 and 12 are the textbook definition of "awkward pacing".
There's also a bunch of convenient things that happen to Gigina and Gaius that go completely unshown before showing up. Characters appear and disappear without prior warning.
I still don't know where that huge fireball Gaius shot out in episode 10 came from.
Here's a nice idea: instead of four plotlines and focusing on none of them -- it'd be easier to focus on one plotline and commit to it.



Setting:
The original light novel obviously has a very complicated and delicate setting -- it's the only way I can justify all the incredible facts about the world I'm supposed to know. Eridana is split into half between the Dragon Empire and Seven-Cities-Alliance? Oh, they never mention it in the show as far as I can recall. Nidvolk's orb? The poison? The other damn countries that are offhandedly mentioned? Good luck finding exposition.
The setting normally won't be such big of a deal, but when sociopolitical-maneuvering seems to be your only constant thread within the show, it would be nice to get some exposition on the world.


Art and character design:
I like the character designs, and the art is serviceable. However, the fight scenes lack motion (dragon fights don't actually show the characters with sword swinging and excess movement much), and when it gets dark, it gets really dark. Like some others mentioned, I had to turn up my screen's brightness just to see what was going on.


Sound:
The music in this show sound closer to a JRPG soundtrack -- noticable and a bit obtrusive. It's good enough though, and the vocal flourish at the end of the opening theme is a nice little moment to get your blood pumping.


Characters:
Characters are given time to develop, but not enough to make them stand out as good characters. Gigina and Gaius have almost no chemistry apparent at first, but instead of showing why they butt heads, it just tells you to accept that they do. Their relation improves of course, and they actually share one or two quite funny moments at the last few episodes of the show.
Of the support characters, Jivanya is probably the only constant one throughout the series as Gaius's girlfriend. Her character is never given enough time to develop as well. Moldeen could count as well, but his goals and motivations are so illusory it's hard to grasp his character at the end.


Enjoyment:
There aren't many enjoyable or despicable moments in this show. Things happen, and the viewer is swept along. It's not bad enough to make you unable to watch, but there isn't much of anything that actively engaged or interested me. No well-developed characters, a plot with horrible pacing and a bit of mediocre comedy -- it's not exactly a recipe for maximum fun.

Oh, I guess Norio Wakamoto is here, so if he's your thing (he should be) he'll provide some fine entertainment.


Conclusion:
The plot is confusing, the characters only barely there. What's there to like? The art is a resounding "meh", the sound and music passable. Nothing here's bad enough or crazy enough to be interesting, and the only thing that seemed like it had potential -- the setting -- was laid to waste by a lack of exposition and a lack of screen time.
Meh. It wasn't that bad. I guess. "Decent" works.
Recommended to no one but fans of the original light novel or its manga adaptation. Maybe if you are one, you'll get more mileage out of this than me.


Edit: Apparently Norio Wakamoto isn't in here. I swear I heard his voice, but I guess not. At any rate, I don't feel any urge to go back and rewatch to make sure.