Reviews

I somehow missed putting this in my list until today, even though I’ve probably watched the first season through several times over. Maid Dragon has been my current play-in-the-background anime for a few months now. It’s a mix of comedy, slice-of-life, iyakishei, even technically magical-girl in some respects- it’s the kind of fantasy anime some of us love the most: fantasy where a person from the fantasy world comes into the present-day world, and how they adapt. Tohru, a typical fire-breathing green dragon- is able to pass through a portal to come to our world and go back to her own at will. And in the human world- for some not entirely clear reasons- decides to work for the title character Kobayashi- as a maid. She takes the form of a blond haired dragon girl with horns, her big tail, and occasionally wings she can sprout up. What made this one so immediately likable (besides how funny and pleasant it is) is how unique and everyday its characters are. How many anime are there- where the lead is a completely plain looking, not especially feminine, somewhat bland young woman who works as a developer in an office and lives in an apartment alone? Her friend at work Takiya- is just a friend at work. He’s a dorky otaku gamer- but not in some exaggerated way but in exactly the way many of you and me probably are: a basically decent guy with normal hobbies, a small apartment, a good job, a handful of friends- and who is a supportive coworker and friend? There was nothing especially tragic brewing- nor anything wrong with the lives of the people in this show- they are ordinary, and therefore perfectly relatable.
Enter Tohru, then Kanna- and suddenly a bland but likeable young woman has a family. It’s rewarding to watch. My favorite episode (apart from the Christmas special) was the third- where Kobayashi does something as exciting as: decide to look for a larger apartment.
But a seemingly everyday event is made funny and interesting thanks to the presence of two adorable and silly dragon girls- who are delighted by the rooftop space on the building Kobayashi chooses. The vignette that follows has them figuring out how to get along with their new and somewhat noisy neighbors. I mean, I live in a building not all that different and on the same exact floor height as these characters do, and have literally had conversations with my neighbors about odd noises in the building and such things. So seeing this all play out with dragon girls is really fun.

Then there are the episodes about Kanna deciding she wants to go to school- seeing her fall asleep on the bed with the new backpack that she’s obsessed with made me laugh so hard- say what you will about lolis but despite being a dragon girl, Kanna has to be the most believable child character I’ve ever seen in an anime. Everything she says and everything she does is precisely how a six year old is- without any anime tropes or anything- they nailed it.
And I would have nothing but endless praise for this show- but there are a few things that I do think kind of miss the mark- and that could have to do with Japanese humor not perfectly lining up with my western mind….
The character Lucoa and her gigantic boobs would sort of be funny if she weren’t literally harassing a six year old boy with them every day. There are quite a few jokes about Tohru having sexual desires toward Kobayashi, which I kind of felt ruined the dynamic between them and seemed a little too perverted at times- Kanna is the perfect picture of a 6 year old girl EXCEPT FOR the first day she knocks on Kobayashi’s door and accuses her of being a slut. There are some other things that don’t make a lot of sense- like Tohru explaining that dragons don’t need to sleep and hardly ever do…. like huh?? Isn’t sleeping exactly what dragons are famous for? Isn’t that why there’s the saying Don’t Wake the Sleeping Dragon? Isn’t Fafnir famous for sleeping among his gathered treasure in a cave? Then there’s the mystery of Kobayashi’s parents, which I can’t figure out why it’s a mystery.
So it is not perfect, but Dragon Maid is a really unique kind of anime, made by a studio that was burned to the ground in a horrible and tragic event that played out on television to the shock and disbelief of millions of anime fans around the world. It was too long ago for me to remember how much I donated to the fund that helped revive Kyoto Animation, but to the creators of this wonderful series who lost their lives in that fire- may they rest in peace, the work they did on this show shall always be appreciated.
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a great anime and you should definitely watch it ( ^_~ )