Ladies and gentlemen, dragon maids all around, here is my review of "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon", known in English as "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid".
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon begins when Kobayashi, an office worker, finds a dragon standing at her door that day; the dragon then proceeds to transform into a cute girl with D (for dragon)-cup breasts and introduces herself as Tohru. As it turns out, Kobayashi and Tohru met on the mountains one night when the former had taken a drunken excursion there and the latter got defeated and fled to this other world; seeing that she had nowhere to go, Kobayashi offers Tohru to live with her. As a result, Tohru has arrived to not only accept her offer, but she has also become her maid! Albeit reluctant at first, Kobayashi agrees to let Tohru stay. With Tohru around, it's needless to say that Kobayashi's life has gotten more interesting, especially with other dragons arriving in this world, too.
I'll say this first, just to get it out of the way and prevent me gushing over it too much; the animation from Kyoto Animation is, once again, a sight to behold. With its fluid movement, simple (although simplicity is perfect for an anime like this) backgrounds, and cute character designs, it goes without question that the folks at KyoAni has provided excellent animation once more. The voice acting is pretty solid, too; the voice actors do their best with their respective roles, and not only do they succeed, they also seem to be having fun with their roles. The opening and ending themes, which are respectively "Aozora no Rhapsody" by fhana and "Isshuukan Communication" by Choro-gonzu (the seiyuus for Tohru, Kanna, Elma, and Lucoa), are also excellent songs that both fit this anime's atmosphere to a T.
As for the story, it's rather simplistic; if you're looking for an anime that has both dragons and a complicated plot, you're not going to find the latter, so unless you're just going to settle for the dragons, I suggest looking elsewhere. It's not a huge problem for me, though; as a fan of slice of life anime, I enjoyed the story this anime had to tell. There were also quite a few jokes that were thrown my way that made me bust up laughing. For example, there is one running gag where one character, Saikawa, goes crazy for another character, Kanna, in certain situations; those moments never failed to make me laugh, especially because of the facial expressions she has as a result.
Now, let's talk about the driving force behind Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, and that is its characters. Kobayashi is a rather standard protagonist, but even she has her moments of amusement; that, along with the strong bonds she has with Tohru, Kanna, and other characters in the series, made her a great character through my eyes. Tohru is also a fun character; her energetic personality and genuine determination to make Kobayashi happy make it easy for the audience to root for her. However, the best character is, without a doubt, Kanna; her antics are definitely adorable, and every time she was on screen, a smile never failed to grow on my face. There is also a great number of lovable supporting characters, such as Saikawa (for reasons I've already mentioned), Takiya, and Fafnir; all of the supporting cast have a role in bringing color and life to this anime.
Overall, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is an extremely well-executed anime. If you're in for a cute slice-of-life/fantasy anime, you're in for a real treat. After all, who can pass up dragon girls, especially if they're dragon maids?
