As Kobayashi sets off for another day at work, she opens her apartment door only to be met by an unusually frightening sight—the head of a dragon, staring at her from across the balcony. The dragon immediately transforms into a cute, busty, and energetic young girl dressed in a maid outfit, introducing herself as Tooru.
It turns out that the stoic programmer had come across the dragon the previous night on a drunken excursion to the mountains, and since the mythical beast had nowhere else to go, she had offered the creature a place to stay in her home. Thus, Tooru had arrived to cash in on the offer, ready to repay her savior's kindness by working as her personal maidservant. Though deeply regretful of her words and hesitant to follow through on her promise, a mix of guilt and Tooru's incredible dragon abilities convinces Kobayashi to take the girl in.
Despite being extremely efficient at her job, the maid's unorthodox methods of housekeeping often end up horrifying Kobayashi and at times bring more trouble than help. Furthermore, the circumstances behind the dragon's arrival on Earth seem to be much more complicated than at first glance, as Tooru bears some heavy emotions and painful memories. To top it all off, Tooru's presence ends up attracting several other mythical beings to her new home, bringing in a host of eccentric personalities. Although Kobayashi makes her best effort to handle the crazy situation that she has found herself in, nothing has prepared her for this new life with a dragon maid.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Veronin
Kyoto Animation has been something of a lost soul, struggling to find its identity in a post-Haruhi and K-ON world. It is through flipping back the dial and returning to their roots that their newest title, Maid Dragon, is able to find its footing. It feels like something that might have been animated once upon a time in 2005, and that is precisely what makes it so special in the modern climate of harem and superpower. And unlike many of their more recent titles, it knows what it wishes to be and never compromises its vision in a futile attempt to appease everyone and anyone. Itdoesn't play around with drama, and it never centres on action and explosions despite its cast of malevolent dragons. It's silly. It's relaxing. And it can even be a bit heartwarming when it tries, too. Have I also mentioned that Tohru is cute as all hell?
Some may immediately wince and groan upon reading the series' synopsis. Maids plus dragons does not make for a very promising setting, nor does it seem like a combination that required much more than two or three seconds of thought. Everything that could possibly exist has, or inevitably will, receive some sort of series with cute girls indiscriminately slapped onto it. Modern anime has trained people to be cynical.
But to treat Maid Dragon as just another silly comedy with moe characters wouldn't be entirely fair, as there are a number of things it does quite differently. Kobayashi, the show's title character and languid protagonist, is a working adult rather than the conventional teenager. Whereas most anime of its nature would choose instead to play a teenager as some pseudo-adult ("my parents are conveniently away on a business trip, so, hey, I have this house and this maid lady all to myself"), Maid Dragon chooses instead to portray real adults with real issues. Kobayashi is so bored with the office-lady routine that she will choose to drink herself halfway to death after a long day's work. Such is life in much of Japan.
By portraying adult characters, the sense of family between Kobayashi, Tohru, and Kamui feels genuine. Kobayashi is the mother of the household, and she will snap back at her dragon friends whenever they do something unreasonable. She is strict, yet also caring, and tries her best to understand their difficulties with getting used to the human world. Even little things such as peeling oranges for the two on their kotatsu makes it clear that she appreciates their company, even if she may not always be clear and forthright about it. Maid Dragon is true slice-of-life.
Kobayashi being female also helps to keep the show away from any unnecessary sexual undertones. If she were male, the show would no doubt be a harem, and it would be all the worse for it. It is hard to care about a cast when the only thing characterising them is accidental breast fondling (yay) and walking in on (and screaming at) each other in the bathroom. Yawn. While Tohru's feelings for Kobayashi are humorously exaggerated as being romantic, that is not Tohru's actual intentions, and indeed, her reactions come more from gratitude and a desire to protect her guardian, rather than anything genuinely romantic or sexual. The one exception is that, yes, there is a compulsory beach scene, although I suppose I can't fault it too much as it was relatively short and harmless (and because Tohru's body is a lovely sight indeed).
Maid Dragon can occasionally be funny-- Tohru visiting Kobayashi's workplace and repeatedly tripping her crabby boss, or challenging one of the other dragons to a fight in another dimension only to close it on them-- but it isn't an anime that is particularly defined by laughs. It is meant more to be relaxing, and, undoubtedly thanks to Kamui's presence, cute, at times adorable. I just wish it didn't have to repeat the same joke about Tohru cooking her tail a million and one times over.
The anime is at its strongest when it focuses on these main three, which makes the scenes with the other three dragons and Kobayashi's otaku friend, Takiya, significantly less appealing. Takiya's split personality is so jarring and exaggerated that he is often more obnoxious than anything, and Quetzalcoatl is pretty much a non-character whose only defining traits are that her boobs are large and that she likes to dress in scantily-clad clothing. If they were taken out altogether, I don't think anyone would find much reason to complain. More time should instead have been spent developing Kobayashi's cynical worldview, and Tohru's newfound interest in human society, the show's two most compelling themes. It would be nice for Kamui to also have something else to her besides simply being cute and snugly, but then I suppose it would be difficult to develop a character who is essentially the equivalent of a six or seven-year-old child. I sure as heck did not have anything else defining me at that age besides a love for candy and temper tantrums.
Kyoto Animation's artwork is generally excellent, but it certainly stands out in Maid Dragon's case. While there are few scenes that draw particular attention for their animation, the cute and humorous expressions the characters make (notably Tohru and Kamui) make the anime a ripe for grabbin' screenshots. Tohru's eyes are especially detailed, and draw attention to her nature as a dragon while never seeming overtly inhuman. Bright colours and soft edges also do well to enhance the fluffy, relaxing atmosphere the anime strives for. Part of the problem I had with some of KyoAni's other titles, such as Hibike Euphonium, is that they just looked so bland and dreary all the time. It's always welcome to see them return to a more traditional style, as traditional, it seems, is the very thing that KyoAni is skilled at.
To label Maid Dragon as something stellar or ground-breaking may be giving it a bit too much credit, but there is little doubt that it is at least a return to form for a studio that has been losing its way for many a year. It is as well a fun time in its own right, an almost nostalgic recollection of what slice-of-life anime used to be, and could, can be once more.
Vene
~Multilingual review, English & Español: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid~ In the Japanese culture there are two really heartwarming greetings that represent the core of the family bonds: 'Tadaima' (ただいま) and 'Okaeri' (おかえり), respectively meaning 'I'm home' and 'welcome home'. The exchange between these greetings happen when one person arrives home, and there is another one to welcome them back. While not strictly restricted to family members alone, and can be used colloquially between friends and acquaintances, even in workplace and school, these greetings carry a deep and strong meaning behind them, which is no other that 'this is the place I belong to'. Although there are manyfactors that determine the place we could call 'home', and some of them may, naturally, not include a physical person, in my personal opinion just because there is someone eagerly waiting for your return, and acknowledges that is only natural for you to come back, because this is your place, is nothing less what I would call 'the feeling of getting home'.
While it is impossible to chose which family born in, the choice of what to call our 'home' is entirely up to us, and that includes, the circle of people that will come to form part of it. Claiming that 'there are many types of families as there are stars in the sky' might be quite a silly over exaggeration, however it is not entirely wrong to say there are countless combinations and bonds that shape, what we would later call, 'our family'.
Moving one step back to the things impossible to chose, and the next one in the list is: Falling in Love. However this might be a completely biased opinion since I am a total, silly, romanticist, but there is a thing I believe we all have to agree: It is a completely unexpected chapter in our lives. After all, while all the other emotions arrives from the front door, this little bastard show itself from the back door while you were standing there like a dumb trying to see if Happiness was also in the group. Falling in love with someone takes you completely by surprise, and so as well, in some cases, is the person fated to mess around your entire existence.
Falling in Love + Different race + same gender = Love problems?
In this particular case, to scramble our protagonist life, is a certain dragon's unconditional Love. Blind as it is, but really really that blind that gender, age, and even race, represent nothing but just tiny details, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid features a mighty powerful dragon who falls in love with a female human, and although remaining an important lead, the show's gimmick does not spin entirely around it, to the extent that it would not fall under the Romance category, the show has way more to offer than a simple fairytale love story.
As previously mentioned, the story follows super mighty dragon Tooru, and her time in the human world after becoming Kobayashi's maid, the person she's completely infatuated in. Kobayashi is a young office lady leading an existence of the prototypical Japanese salaryman. Work until late hours, almost nonexistent private life, (sometimes forced) drinking parties with the boss, and obviously getting home so tired that just opening the home's door is the last action before collapsing to the floor, everyday repeat, repeat and repeat. And so the gray and monotonous everyday life of office lady Kobayashi starts to gain, definitely, more color.
Meet the Kobayashi's household - Residents: 1 human + 2 dragons + ♥ = Family
Being a Slice of Life series as it is, the anime narrates the everyday life of Tooru, self-proclaimed 'Dragon maid', the somewhat stoic office lady, Kobayashi, and little dragon, Kanna. What I really liked the most about this show is how the three of them, with the progression of the story, started to develop the bonds of a real adoptive family, satisfying the affective desires of each other, and caring deeply for the wellbeing of the members. These developments can be seen throughout the great writing of the dialogues between the characters, I specially adored the interactions between Tooru and Kobayashi, as they were the ones that contained the themes which I expressed in the very beginning of this review, 'the place I belong to'.
Tooru's inner turmoil regarding the human world, and her love for Kobayashi, which contradicts the apparently hate and fear for the humanity, are a constant recurring theme for the entire anime's progression. The series explores other themes such as the diversity and integration, something entirely affecting the dragons living in the human world, and their feelings regarding it's inhabitant, because living among them does not necessarily means living with them.
Unknown world + Unknown people + Being different = Trust problems
Going back a bit to the part when I mentioned that all the family members satisfy the affective desires, we can perfectly observe how the relationship wheel spin, and how much these interactions affected the lives of our three main characters. Kobayashi is a really stoic, passive person, and the difficulties she has maintaining a relationship with the other characters are plenty visible to see, specially towards the affection that comes from Tooru, as she has never been close to anyone before, she does not know how to behave. The exchange is bidirectional towards the dragon maid's inner chaos due to the new life and her love for the female human, that allows her to soon discovering that even though she sees humans as inferiors, she does have indeed desire to understand them. And finally little Kanna, the dragon which embraces the new environment with curiosity and willingness to integrate.
Being realised by Kyoto Animation, we can aspect some really cute designs, fluid quality animation, and bright colors, as per the studio's standard procedure. Also the Original Soundtrack was very great too, they accompanied the events perfectly, I could not ask for better.
In my personal opinion this is a great Slice of Life, although moving perfectly according to the standard of the genre, bringing nothing original nor unique to the industry, it succeeds wonderfully in developing the main themes the show reached out to us, transmitting the message and the values, that were set as a primary goal for the accomplishment of what I consider, Quality.
Wonderful characters + excellent development + Great rhythms = Must watch
[Español - Traducción con la ayuda de mi querido amigo OnionSoda]
En la cultura japonesa existen dos saludos de verdad reconfortantes los cuales representan el núcleo de los lazos familiares: 'Tadaima' (ただいま) y 'Okaeri' (おかえり), que significan respectivamente 'Estoy en casa' y 'Bienvenido a casa'. El intercambio entre estos saludos se verifica cuando una persona recién llega a casa, y a su vez, es recibido por la otra persona que se encuentra ya en ella. Si bien no es restrictivo al uso familiar, y puede ser utilizado entre amigos y conocidos, incluso en el lugar de trabajo y escuela, estos saludos cargan el peso de un fuerte significado con ellos, el me gustaría describir como no más que 'el lugar a donde pertenezco'.
Si bien hayan mucho factores que determinan el lugar que llamaríamos 'hogar', y naturalmente, algunos pueden que no incluyan una persona física, en mi opinión personal sólo por el hecho que haya alguien que espere ansiosamente por tu regreso, y reconozca que es normal para ti el hecho de retornar, porque este es tu lugar, es algo que nada más ni nada menos llamaría 'el genuino regreso al hogar'.
Aún siendo imposible la decisión de escoger en que familia nacer, la elección de lo que decidimos llamar nuestro 'hogar' es enteramente al alcance de todos, y con ellos incluye, el círculo de personas que se vendrían a formar alrededor. Exclamar una frase como 'existen tipos de familia cuanto estrellas en el cielo' llegaría a ser una tonta exageración, de todos modos no estaríamos en el error al decir que son incontables las combinaciones y lazos que vendrían a formar, lo que llamaríamos luego, 'nuestra familia'.
Haciendo un paso atrás, a cuando hablábamos de las elecciones imposibles, la próxima en la lista sería: Enamorarse. De todos modos, esto podría ser una opinión parcial ya que soy un completo, tonto, romántico, aún así hay algo en que creo que todos tenemos que acordar: Es un capítulo totalmente inesperado en nuestras vidas. Después de todo, cuando todas las otras emociones pasan por la puerta principal, este pequeño bastardo se presenta por la puerta posterior mientras tú estabas ahí parado como un bobo tratando de ver si Felicidad estaba también en el grupo. Enamorarse de alguien te toma completamente por sorpresa, y lo es inclusive, en algunos casos, la persona destinada a revolver tu total existencia.
Enamorarse + diferente raza + mismo género = Problemas de Amor?
En este caso particular, a desbaratar la vida de nuestra protagonista, es el Amor incondicional de un cierto dragón. Ciego como es, pero realmente ciego que el género, la edad, e inclusive la raza, representan nada más que pequeños detalles, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid se enfoca en un potente y temible dragón que se enamora de una chica humana, y si bien quedándose como un importante desenvuelve, la esencia del anime no gira completamente entorno a ello, al punto que no caería en la categoría Romance, este show tiene más por ofrecer que una simple amorío de un cuento de hadas.
Como mencionado anteriormente, la historia sigue al potente dragón Tooru, y su estadía después de ofrecer, forzadamente, sus servicios como maid a Kobayashi, la chica por la cual perdió la cabeza. Kobayashi es una joven trabajadora cuya existencia sigue los pasos del típico 'salaryman' japonés. Se trabaja hasta tarde, casi inexistente vida social, (a veces obligadas) salidas a beber con los jefes, y obviamente el llegar a casa tan destruido que, la última acción antes de desplomarse al suelo, es abrir la puerta de casa. El continuo repetirse de los días, una y otra vez. Es así que con la llegada de los nuevos huéspedes, el gris y monótono día a día de Kobayashi comienza a ganar, seguramente, más color.
Conozcan la residencia de los Kobayashi - ocupantes: 1 humano + 2 dragones + ♥ = Familia.
Siendo una Slice of Life como lo es, el anime narra el día a día de Tooru, autoproclamada 'Dragon Maid', la apática joven trabajadora, Kobayashi, y la pequeña dragón, Kanna. Lo que realmente me encanto de esta serie es como las tres, con el desarrollo de la historia, comienzan a establecer los lazos de una verdadera familia adoptiva, que satisfacen las necesidades afectivas de cada uno, preocupándose mutuamente por el bienestar de los miembros. Esta progresión es llevada a cabo gracias a la buena escritura de lo diálogos entre los personajes, especialmente adore las interacciones entre Tooru y Kobayashi, ya que fueron los que contenían los temas con los cuales, anteriormente, decidí abrir esta reseña, 'el lugar a donde pertenezco'.
La confusión interior de Tooru acerca el mundo humano, y sus sentimientos por Kobayashi, los cuales contradicen su aparente odio y miedo por la humanidad, son temas recurrentes por el entero arco narrativo de la serie. La serie explora temas como la diversidad y la integración, cosas que afectan principalmente los dragones que viven en el mundo humano, y sus sentimientos acerca sus habitantes, porque vivir entre ellos, no necesariamente quiere decir vivir con ellos.
Regresando un poco a la parte donde menciono que todos los miembros de la familia satisfacen sus necesidades afectivas, podemos observar como la rueda de las relaciones gira al rededor de la nueva presencia en sus vidas. Kobayashi es una chica de verdad estoica, y las dificultades que tiene al mantener las relaciones con los otros personajes son fáciles de individuar, especialmente cuando se trata del afecto que le proporciona Tooru, siendo el caso de nunca haber sido tan cercana a alguien antes, no sabe cómo comportarse. El cambio es bidireccional hacia el caos interior que tiene la dragon maid debido a la nueva vida que enfrenta y a los sentimientos que tiene por la chica humana, el cual le permite descubrir que aún reputando los humanos como inferiores, tiene de verdad deseo de entenderlos. Y por último esta Kanna, la única que acepta el nuevo ambiente con curiosidad y empeño a integrarse. Aun teniendo una mentalidad similar a la de Tooru, al ser un infante ella logra ver un mundo bajo una diferente luz, un lugar lleno de cosas que esperan a ser descubiertas.
La serie fue realizada por Kyoto Animation, por lo que podemos esperar diseños bonitos, calidad de animación fluida, y colores brillantes, como suele proceder el estudio normalmente. También el audio fue bastante bueno, se acompaña a la perfección a las escenas y eventos, no podría pedir algo mejor.
En mi opinión personal esta es una gran serie SoL, si bien moviéndose perfectamente de acuerdo al patrón del género, trayendo nada de nuevo o revelador a la industria, logra desarrollar, magníficamente, los temas que se propone, trasmitiendo el mensaje y los valores que fueron puestos como objetivo primario para el resultado de lo que reputo, Calidad.
Personajes geniales + Excelente desarrollo + Muy buen ritmo = No hay que perdérselo
themegamancave
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid- Making Anime Fun Again Remember when anime was pure, unadulterated fun? Racing home as if on a quest to save a dying loved one, plopping your giddy ass on the sofa and turning on your favorite after-school cartoon? Nowadays, myself included, people get ignorantly pretentious and critical when it comes to anime… most likely due to the accessibility of other’s opinions on the internet (you’re guilty MAL!). But what happened to the days when you could share a bond with another over some good, old fashioned Chinese cartoons? God forbid you meet some dragon t-shirted, fedora wearing pleb that only cares formainstream shounen... whilst peddling Magic Cards out of his mom's basement. Sometimes even I fall into an over-analytical stupor and forget what makes anime so damn entrancing and fun to watch.
The undeniably successful Studio KyoAni’s 2017 release of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a breath of fresh air in a barrage of unoriginality and criticality. It’s endearing, cute, charming and hilarious, and most of all is that it doesn’t rely on “2deep4u” plot lines or edgy characters to become a hit. It’s an anime that breathes nostalgia for me, crafting a diverse, likable cast that has one character for everyone to enjoy and although ramps down, never gets stale. Of course Kobayashi isn’t perfect, but moreso perfectly imperfect. Accompanied by an outstanding script and stunning, extravagant visuals, KyoAni smashes the target of a true feel-good anime, leaving self-proclaimed pundits with little ground left to criticize.
When it comes to story, sometimes simple is best. Nothing in Dragon Maid seems contrived, but moreso plays out like a situational comedy. The story is straightforward:
-A shut-in girl (Kobayashi) gets drunk and accidentally makes a deal with a dragon concealing herself under the masquerade of graciously endowed maid. (Tohru)
-Tohru and Kobayashi take in an adorable loli dragon, Kanna.
-The three of them (and some of Tohru’s mythical adversaries) live out the seasons in an episodic, heartwarming anime that’ll be sure to make you smile.
The writing in Dragon Maid is the pillar of the entire anime. As previously mentioned, the simple structure of everything helps add to the endearing, carefree atmosphere that the show contains. Whether it’s a scene about cooking or a candid beach/Christmas episode, the script is constructed in the most efficient manner possible. There is an array of characters from Tohru’s mysterious homeland deriving from mythology. There’s Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of learning and self-reflection, as well as the Norse referenced Fafnir, who was cursed and turned into a dragon. Seeing these fictional personalities personified and placed into ordinary scenarios like playing video games… most specifically the scene where Fafnir was playing the Dark Souls-esque dungeon crawler.
The comedy is often slapstick or quick-witted, emphasizing the quirky nature of Tohru and her friends. Jokes are subtly slipped into scenes without being corny or abundant, and there more than a few historical and pop culture references thrown in to liven things up as well. It reminds me of a less overblown version of Nichijou (thank you KyoAni!). Above all other aspects of the writing, Dragon Maid has a unique tendency to make me feel just, comfortable. Whether it was the family bond that Kobayashi, Tohru and Kanna emulated or the cozy scenes where they just wanted to sit around and watch tv, I truly felt at home with these “peculiar” characters. I certainly didn’t expect such a simple show to hit my nostalgia buttons.
As with any show, there were some aspects I didn’t care for, or that could’ve been done better. There was a lingering yuri theme present between Kobayashi and Tohru that acrobatically teetered between friendship and something more. I’m not sure if I’m the only one that noticed this, but I can’t say it was entirely necessary. Echoing this opinion was the relationship between Quetzalcoatl and her “master”. Fanservice is one thing, but her intrusive nature and suggestive sexuality was starkly convergent to the atmosphere present in the rest of the show. Lastly, the charm of Dragon Maid can tend to wear off over the length of the show, so I’d recommend watching the anime in stages to prevent this.
Kobayashi is a 9-5’er; a twenty-something introvert who takes out her aggressions from her job over a beer or twelve at night. She’s what most of us in that age bracket don’t care to admit that we are. Tohru is a self-proclaimed servant, attempting to erase her past and start a more peaceful life on Earth. Tohru and Kobayashi both developed significantly throughout the series, and played off each other very well. Most importantly is that the writers did this without making it the focus of the anime. Kanna is truly the cutest thing in existence, and everyone knows it… and Fafnir’s deep hatred for the human race slowly dissolved the more time he spent around them. The slow addition of side characters, and their mythological influence was reminiscent of The Devil is a Part Timer, only done significantly better.
KyoAni nailed it again when it came to animation. Colors are vibrant and lively, with Tohru’s eyes set ablaze with a mix of red and orange hues. Although not “technically” superior to shows like Hyouka, Dragon Maid’s art style takes on a life of its own. The character models are all so original and inviting, and the action scenes were a joy to watch. More similarities were present with Nichijou, especially Kobayashi’s “dead fish” eyes, and the sporadic expressions on various character’s faces. Beautiful work for sure.
The OP is one of the most jolly, alluring OPs I’ve ever come across, both due to the upbeat music and flawless animation. It tells its own story, one of innocent fun and excitement. I definitely put it on my phone already :P The ED is just as good, and acts as the punctuation at the end of each episode. I don’t always listen to the ED all the way through, but I made an exception for this anime. I also enjoyed hearing the variety of tracks in the OST… with its overall cheeky tones and beats. The voice acting is superb, especially considering most of the cast is relatively unknown. Some of the better performances coming from Kobayashi and Tohru themselves.
I enjoyed the hell out of this anime. The simplicity, coupled with the characters and overall coziness make a show I won't soon forget. I prefaced my review with a paragraph discounting criticality for a reason. Go into Dragon Maid to relax and have fun, nothing else. It's not intellectually stimulating, there's no abstract symbolism and there's no unnecessary ecchi moments. Enjoy it for what it is. I'd recommend this to fans of other heartwarming shows like Barakamon or Usagi drop, or fellow KyoAni-ites. They really surprised a lot of people with this show, and I'm certainly happy that I watched it. Thanks for reading!
HaXXspetten
"Ravioli, ravioli, don't lewd the dragon loli." Easier said than done when the anime is basically doing it for you already. I must admit that I have been rather critical of Kyoto Animation in the last few years. Such a talented studio who used to work wonders back in the day with titles such as Clannad, Haruhi, Lucky Star and K-On, but over the course of the last four years or so I have been rather disappointed with their series, with shows such as Kyoukai no Kanata and Musaigen no Phantom World really failing to live up to their previous standards. But Kobayashi-san Chi no MaidDragon actually feels like KyoAni finally returning to their roots, and for the first time in several years, it made me remember why I used to love this studio so much back in the day.
The anime starts with the typical adult office worker Kobayashi suddenly receiving a surprise visit one day... from a dragon. A dragon who then transforms into a human girl in a maid outfit and proclaims that she wants to live with her and work for her as her personal maid. As it turns out, Kobayashi had actually proposed the idea herself during some drunken escapade in the mountains earlier, and thus awkwardly finds herself having to invite the girl in. And thus begins Kobayashi's hectic everyday life of cohabitating with a dragon maid: Tooru.
It is a very simple series at heart but it works. It's reminiscent of KyoAni's wacky moe comedies of the past, and most of its success stems from the overblown characters and the stellar production value. Tooru is one big bundle of endless energy, in stark contrast to Kobayashi's deadpan and cool-headed personality. She is largely unfamiliar with how human society works as she came here through a portal from a different world, and as a result she sometimes suggests some ludicrous things such as haphazardly slaughtering people, and it is up to Kobayashi to keep her in check. Tooru is also rather openly affectionate with Kobayashi and repeatedly claims that she loves her, though Kobayashi mostly seems to see it as a child looking for parental affection rather than anything romantic for the most part.
If the entire series had solely revolved around Kobayashi and Tooru though, it would likely have become stale and repetitive before long, but fortunately that is not the case. There are numerous other characters, most of them other dragons, who are introduced one at a time as the anime progresses. The first of these, and also the only other one who would have to be considered as one of the show's main characters, is Kanna Kamui: proud owner of the sexiest piece of loli ass in a very long time (not to mention her thicc thighs). In all seriousness though, everything about her just screams moe, and in my mind she is the real star of this anime. Her looks, her personality and behaviour, even her husky and emotionless voice; all of it is unbearably cute. I think she is right up there with the likes of Kafuu Chino and Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko as far as pure moe overdose levels go. Kanna's role in the story is as a young dragon who follows Tooru to the human world and eventually ends up living with Kobayashi as well. She acts like the child of the strange household and also starts attending a local elementary school due to wanting to experience everyday life in human society in a way befitting someone of her age. What her exact age actually is we are never informed of, but she is supposedly still over 600 years old in human years, so she is presumably of legal age enough to do whatever degenerate things you lolicons want to do to her. On top of being irresistibly adorable though, I think Kanna also brings out the best side of Kobayashi. As the story goes on, you can gradually see Kobayashi becoming more and more of a mother figure to Kanna with the way she treats her, through acts such as taking time off work in order to be able to visit Kanna's school's sports festival and trying to sneak in presents in her Christmas stocking just like how she believes Santa would do it. It brings a genuinely heartwarming touch to what is otherwise a relatively non-serious anime, but it all blends together really well.
Regarding the supporting cast there is also Kobayashi's fellow coworker and otaku Takiya, as well as three other dragons in the form of the reclusive and mysterious Fafnir, the diligent but naïve Elma, and the easygoing and voluptuous Quetzalcoatl, more commonly known as Lucoa. Takiya and Fafnir have a sort of otaku bromance going on, which serves as a pretty nice contrast from the craziness going on whenever Tooru is around, and Elma functions well as the one dragon who can actually interact with Kobayashi on somewhat normal terms due to her personality and occupation. Lucoa however is the one character in this show which I honestly find rather useless. For one she is a typical fanservice character with gravity-defying breasts bigger than her head, but the way she utilizes them is kind of disturbing too. She does not move in with Kobayashi but rather lives in the house of a local child, and the way she interacts with him is basically through ignorant sexual harassment, which feels rather creepy to watch considering their milf and shota characteristics (the kid's name is literally Shouta I might add). Even outside that household though, the only thing Lucoa ever seems to do is jiggle her enormous knockers and nothing else. Her entire persona can be summarized by her tits. The show would really be better off without her.
So Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is definitely not without its fair share of fanservice, however discounting Lucoa, the other stuff in that department that the anime has to offer is honestly more of a plus than a hindrance I think. Takiya and Fafnir may have a very close friendship past a certain point in the story, but it feels legitimately believable and honest rather than a pair of boys who just got shipped together for the hell of it or anything put into a sexual context. While I am sure the fujoshi crowd will have no problem overcoming that barrier, at least in the context of the show itself, their relationship only comes across as two people who became close friends due to a common interest of hobbies, in this case anime and video games. There are also numerous segments starring Kanna and her human school friend Riko, where it is made quite clear that the latter has a pretty huge infatuation with her dragon classmate. What exactly the nature of those feelings are is debatable considering Riko's young age, but either way there are many scenes of the two of them snuggling together and Riko being super excited about it as a result. It is kind of like a running gag throughout the show where Riko gets so excited over Kanna that she almost gets an ahegao as a result, which I guess is at least somewhat original instead of the more stereotypical nosebleed reaction. Kanna also does some rather surprising things to Riko in return sometimes such as spontaneously licking her on the cheek, but this feels more like an animalistic behavior caused by her non-human nature as she does not seem to mean it to be anything more than a friendly gesture, though of course Riko probably does not interpret it as such. Some people might find it a bit weird seeing two lolis being so physically affectionate with each other, but considering how clingy girls can be amongst friends combined with the facts that Kanna is a dragon and that Riko is highly exaggerated like most anime characters, it still feels believable to me. And also given how incredibly cute Kanna is as a character, it is not like I can blame Riko if she really does have some deeper feelings for her.
In terms of production value, the anime is undeniably top notch. The fact that the art and animation is stellar should be a given since it is KyoAni we are talking about, and there is not a whole lot to say about it other than that it looks like KyoAni shows normally do: in other words fantastic. Since this is a throwback to their moe shows of old though, it is perhaps a bit more colorful than normal in order to fit the light-hearted nature of the show. The music department is also great: the OP and ED are both super catchy tunes and it also has some surprisingly good insert songs throughout the episodes themselves as well with a rather tranquil and artistic feel-good atmosphere to them, and the voice acting is all-round solid as well. There really is not much to complain about in these aspects of the series.
All-in-all though, what you have is a well-directed and thoroughly entertaining anime which--while simplistic in nature--is very much aware of its own limitations and unapologetically embraces its own strengths. It shifts quickly between being over-the-top absurdity and relaxing yet heartwarming slice of life shenanigans, but the transitions are smooth and natural, and it is just as enjoyable in both ways. Yes, there are some things that could have been done better, and no, it is not the single best moe comedy ever made, but it is quite well above average at the very least, and definitely something well worth your time checking out.
TL;DR
Pros:
Diverse and likeable characters
Top tier moe, especially Kanna
Oftentimes quite heartwarming
Superb production value
Simple, light-hearted fun like the KyoAni of old
Cons:
Although entertaining, it is not exactly hilarious either
Lucoa is useless
RPWPA
Have you ever thought about making creepy people and pedophiles acceptable? well look no further because this anime is what you need, the "How to Abuse jokes and make creepy characters appear acceptable by using the homosexuality shield" anime is here, you also get the "It isn't pedophilia because the one doing it is a female" extra. Jokes aside, in this review I'll talk about the comedy aspects and the characters so to start I have to say there is a big variety of character in this starting from cute characters to the creepy ones. There are creepy and disturbing characters like Saikawa which i'm notsure if the mangaka wanted to make an acceptable version of a pedo so he made her, annoying characters like the otaku version of Makoto and Tohru (in the first 7-8 episodes) and useless characters like Elma which i'm not sure why she is there to begin with, it's not like she helped the plot progress or anything, even tohru's dad made the plot move a lot quicker than her and he only appeared in the last episode (which sadly had a cliche ending).
On the other hand there are some good characters like Kobayachi, Kanna, the other version of Makoto, Fafnir and Elma who was useless but the 1 minute she appeared in in every episode was actually enjoyable.
Most of the interactions between the characters are well-written specially between Kanna and Kobayashi and Kobayashi and Makoto while some are just creepy like Kanna and Saikawa.
Now the comedy in this show is weird, I would laugh at some jokes but they would overuse them till they started becoming annoying.
For example: every time Kanna touches Saikawa or looks at her she turns into the creepy pedo version which was disturbing from the very beginning, How is sexualising a 6 Y/O and giving her an orgasm every time she touches Kanna be acceptable, people genuinely find this cute just because she is a lesbian and that really makes me disgusted with them because of how messed up those people are and their way of defending this is the cringy "You must be a homophobic" argument, it's like those people are defending their own messed up way of thinking tbh.
Same thing with Shouta and Quetzalcoatl but you know since this time it's a young boy with an older lady and not the other way around then people won't talk about it and about how creepy it actually is, also the fact that in the last episode they made the only cute scene between them when he pretended to exorcise her was just a sad way to try to hide all the other pedophilic scenes and say "She is a caring girl and there is nothing sexual about their relationship".
Other than those examples and the annoying version of Makoto which I think was also there for comedic purposes the rest was really nice to watch.
And before I end the review, I have to give credit to the people who worked on the art because it was very well-drawn from episode 1 till the last episode.
Overall I would give this anime a 3/10.
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
MetaThPr4h
Honestly, I’m not a fan of writing negative reviews since I prefer to use them to recommend series that I enjoyed, but as a fan of both comedy and the “cute girls doing cute things” genre I felt disappointed with Maid Dragon, that was the anime I was looking forward the most for this Winter 2017 season. I know that comedy is a very subjective genre, so I can see why other people would like it, so in this review I will talk about what I liked and what I didn't from this anime, while trying to keep it as a recommendation to give ita try as long as you're fine with what this anime delivers.
The story begins when a woman called Kobayashi finds a dragon named Tohru, that looks for a home to live, and after insisting she becomes Kobayashi’s maid, from there other dragons start to appear and they become a part of the daily life of our protagonist. With each introduction we get hints that there is more to know about the dragon world and the conflicts that happen there, something that sadly doesn't get explored in this anime, and while I find that fine since this is just a context for the story and it’s still early on to really need development, I still feel a bit disappointed because the idea is interesting and I wanted to see more.
My issues with this series (and in the end what makes me like a comedy or not) is the characters and the comedy itself. While some characters were fine the way they were (Tohru and Fafnir in special were pretty nice and I enjoyed most of their comedy bits), there are some that very early on reached a point where I was annoyed with them, and the constant repetition of their gag (even 4 or 5 times in an episode at times) without them getting any development during the series to make me feel that there was more to them than that, reduced a lot my enjoyment of this anime.
First in that list is the duo Kanna-Ahegao girl (she's called Riko, but she really deserves that nickname), Kanna is cute, I get it, everything she does is made to be an overdose of cuteness, but all Ahegao girl did for the whole series was, yeah, doing an ahegao face when near Kanna because she was really cute like always, while some people find that face funny, I found it absolutely annoying right from the first time, and nothing about her character changed at any point to make the gag atleast funnier or different. One thing that really bothered me is how the series used Kanna for fanservice at times, and more considering how she has the attitude of a child. One scene with Ahegao girl in particular was very uncomfortable to watch and made me lose the hopes in ending up warming up to this anime sooner or later.
But if we're talking about uncomfortable, Lucoa definitely takes the cake here. I can resume her character in a single word: boobs, all of her comedy comes from them, either via having them bouncing, her wearing dresses that show them a lot (she even gets called as someone that “dresses like a slut” by Kobayashi, I'm dead serious), but definitely the worst part is her constant gag of breast smoothering a kid she lives with using them, I'm fine with some fanservice, but Maid Dragon reaches a point where I think that they went too far, both with how much it uses it, and to which characters the fanservices goes directed to.
Finally there is Kobayashi, our protagonist, that while I find her a pretty bland character, I think that this is exactly her purpose since she is there to bring the heartwarming moments of the series, related to her enjoying having all these weirdos around giving colour to the lifeless world around her due to her personality, I find that scenes well executed and I wish that the series revolved more around the family feel they create.
In the artistic part, well, it's KyoAni, really well animated moments in the scenes where the series needed them while staying nice from start to end. The series also provides a solid OST, with personal mention to the song that plays in the previously mentioned heartwarming scenes, that improved them a lot in my opinion, and the opening “Aozora no Rhapsody” that is a very catchy song to start the episode in a nice mood.
In the end, while I personally didn't enjoy this anime due to not being a fan of the comedy and the fanservice present in the series, it's definitely worth trying out if what I mentioned didn't bother you.
HellLyter
In the beginning, we see a dragon; how frightening! It flies across the sky as fast as lightning Finally, it arrives at the apartment of a woman Does it plan on eating this helpless human? When the woman goes over and opens the door She beholds the dragon, and stands rooted to the floor But then to the woman’s great surprise The dragon transforms into a girl right before her eyes!The dragon girl calls herself Tohru, and gives her thanks
To the woman who had recently pulled a sword out of her flanks
And so that her debt to the woman can be repaid
Tohru asks to work for her as her maid!
The woman, Kobayashi, eventually agrees
And the dragon Tohru is visibly pleased
This event, I’m sure, Kobayashi will always remember
And thus the story begins with them living together
Being a lighthearted comedy, the plot isn’t that deep
But don’t let this be a cause for you to weep
For the anime excels in other areas
From the detailed designs to the funny characters
The dragon girls are drawn with many vibrant colors
Which makes them aesthetically pleasing to see
And although Kobayashi isn’t as detailed as the others
Her blandness can actually be sort of funny
Thanks to the art, we get many attractive females
And whatever your fetish, its surely represented
You got the tomboy Kobayashi and Tohru with her twintails
The loli Kanna and Lucoa who’s large chested
Ms. Kobayashi is the protagonist of the story
She always seems calm and acts reasonably
But if she's drunk, she can rampage crazily
Plus she gives the hopeless dragon girls helpful tips
Tohru is the first dragon we see
She wants to be a successful maid so badly!
She seems to be in love with Ms. Kobayashi
I wonder if she’ll ever kiss her on the lips?
Kanna is a dragon loli
Her cuteness levels are too much for me!
She basically eats everything she sees
And damn, she has some thicc hips!
Overall I’d say the characters are rather nice
But if I had to give the creator’s some advice
I’d say that the characters needed more depth and detail
But hey, at least their merchandise can make for a good sale.
What can I say, this show was fun
And now my poem is nearly done
But before I depart, I’ll leave some advice
And if you don’t follow it, you’ll pay the price
You better not lewd the dragon loli.
Ah, who am I kidding, resistance is folly.
SpetzisnotaWeeb
Dragon Maid is a yuri slice of life anime with some...interesting...undertones. I'm going to review this by Story, Art, Sound, Characters, and Enjoyment, like the official review scorer. [SWEARING AND SOME SPOILERS AHEAD] Story: 5/10 It's a great concept if a bit cliche, a magical being comes to the human and doesn't understand shit, the human is stoic and peeved, the magic being is all smiles, and there's a host of weirdos that come along for the ride. It's very good at first, with excellent comedy and touching moments with the title characters, Kobayashi and Tohru the Dragon Maid. Kanna is just generally adorable, and itfeels very sweet and nice. Then the middle of the series rolls around and everything goes to absolute shit. This includes meaningless characters, idiotic repetitive jokes, and pedophilic undertones. Actually undertones is a bad way of describing it, as a fucking second grader has an ahegao orgasm every three seconds, a dragon with watermelons for breasts smothers a child with them repeatedly, and at one point Kanna nearly goes full on R. Kelly on ahegao girl. Thankfully it improves by episode 9, which was my favorite episode and single-handedly raised this anime's score from a 2 to a 4. the rest of the show is decent, though the last episode is a bit cheesy.
Art: 7/10 Nice art, simple in design and very colorful. I loved the fight scene animation and I wish there had been more. It was fluid, smooth, and very warm and cheery. The character design was good except for a certain ex-goddess of fertility.
Sound: 8/10 I loved the Dragon Maid OP, I even added it to my master playlist. It's very happy and fun to listen to, and I never skip it as it is quite frankly the best part of the entire show. The ending is good too, though I frequently skipped it. The actual anime audio is good, the sound effects are on point, although the amount of noises Lucoa's breasts make when they jiggle is a bit excessive. As for the English voice acting (I watched the dub) it's good overall, if pretty typical. Kobayashi is very entertaining to listen to when drunk, but Takiya's otaku voice is grating and annoyed me. The other characters have pretty typical voices and I can't fault them.
Character: 2/10 Oh boy, this category is a doozy. Every character in this anime has quality varying from good to downright awful. Let's start with the best. Kobayashi, Tohru, and Fafnir all are entertaining, sweet, and likable. Kobayashi's stoic attitude is a nice contrast to Tohru's cheery ignorance and Fafnir's comical emo hatred is funny and a nice way to balance out the cast. On to the "ok" characters. Elma is not altogether bad, but very underdeveloped, as her late introduction gives her a very one-dimensional personality with a somewhat exasperating indecisiveness. Takiya is an alright character, and his dual personality from normal office worker to Fafnir's crazed otaku roomie is comical but grating. Shota is also alright, though I was too busy pitying his poor slot in life to really analyze his character. Now here's the selection of characters that killed this anime for me: Kanna, Riko, and *shudder* Lucoa. All of these characters are awful, and each for similar reasons. You might be saying, "sPEtZ kaNnA iS ABsOluTeLY pERfeCt kILL yoURseLf" but let me explain. Kanna is indeed adorable, precious, and God's gift to humanity. Thing is, she also attempted to rape a child. Kanna is 600+ years old, and literally forces Riko onto the ground and says she's gonna go "Dragon Style". What. The. Fuck. This was a major turn-off to me as this kind of thing is unacceptable. So that's why I kind of hate Kanna. Riko is up next and her character is pretty simple. She's absolutely infatuated with Kanna in a clearly sexual way despite being a second grader. Whenever Kanna brushes by her she has a goddamn ahegao orgasm. A fucking second grader. Orgasming. Some of you may find this cute but for me that's really fucking creepy. Now, onto the bitch that literally brought this anime's quality down from a 6 to a 2. (episode 9 and the OP brought it up to a 4.) Lucoa is an awful character, not because she's designed for fan service but rather for the fact of how she does it. Her breasts aren't large, they're disproportionately massive, to the point of looking like tumorous watermelons growing off her chest. What does she do with these absolute units of tits you ask? She rubs the face of a nine year old boy with them. Dis-fucking-scusting. She also refuses to look modest, to the point of disgust rather than being turned on. She repeatedly antagonizes Shota with them to the point he thinks she's a succubus. She often acts pedophilic towards him but no one cares, because "hey! It's a chick!" despite the unnerving similarity to Boku No Pico at some points. Also, after analyzing the character, personality, and mythological factors it's safe to assume that Lucoa may be a male dragon. Did anyone else just see Jared from Subway flicker in front of them like Slenderman, or is it just me? Either way it made this character meaningless and intolerable. All in all, the characters are the worst part of this anime and if a good amount were dropped it could have brought this anime to an 8 or even 9.
Enjoyment: 4/10 This anime has a fantastic OP, an interesting story, and some likable characters. The art is clean, the audio is good, and Fafnir is hilarious. However, the inclusion of excessive fan service, maid fetishes, lolicon influence, and pedophilic undertones brought this anime down exponentially, and it's a sorry shame that this couldn't have been better. Fuck you Lucoa.
In conclusion, Dragon Maid is a failure of an anime that could have gone far. Don't buy into the hype, this anime is only worth watching if you like feeling like a pervert after completion. I would love to see a rewrite of this concept with a higher focus on the ignorance comedy and quasi-dimensional battle concept. However it is instead a pulpy creepfest that left me feeling uncomfortable. And that's my whole review of Dragon Maid, thanks for reading if you got this far!
bmoore07
******* Kyoto Animation Studio October 6, 2016 After enduring the taunts, jeers, and sneers that resulted from the underwhelming Myriad Colors Phantom World, Mr. Hideaki Hatta, the president of Kyoto Animation, decided to recommit to the conventional. He guided the studio producers into a months-long effort in crafting a sequel to the massively successful Sound! Euphonium. When the dust settled, KyoAni’s staff, with the utmost confidence, released Sound! Euphonium 2, and then they celebrated. They engaged in several rounds of poker, and they consumed multiple tabs of LSD (One employee in particular swallowed six tabs at once), as well as a large helping of cocaine. 4 hours passedbefore Mr. Hatta summoned his employees into the meeting room. He stated, “I know that we already took care of the Fall season with Sound! Euphonium 2 but we need something to air in the winter. Any ideas, guys?”
The KyoAni employees, still buzzed from the booze, drugs, and other late-night adventures, quietly remained in a state of half-consciousness.
Mr. Hatta, visibly exasperated, muttered hopelessly, “Just blurt out the first thing that pops in your head.” It was Jiro Tazaki, a fresh-faced intern on his first day, that spoke up. It remains a mystery if it was the LSD, the alcohol, or God Himself that planted the idea in Tazaki’s mind but on that day, the concept he introduced would be the catalyst behind KyoAni’s latest heavy-hitter project.
After Mr. Hideaki Hatta spoke, what Jiro Tazaki responded with was, “Bouncing dragon tits.”
*******
With that, Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon was born.
If there’s one thing that could turn away potential viewers, it’s the cutesy character designs. From the woefully oversized eyes to the roundness of the character’s frames, and even the rose-tinted cheeks, the character designs are a victim of moé overdose. Then again, realism has always been a foreign concept for Kyoto Animation, so no surprise there.
Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon prides itself in its humor but early on, its comedy is a bit too dependent on unnecessary boob grabs for its own good. While that element is minimized yet never erased, the show leans more and more on its Fish out of Water jokes as the runtime progresses, and this is where the show strikes comedy gold. There are more than a few instances in which Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon constructs an exaggerated, fantastical contrast to real-world occurrences. When the characters are shopping for school supplies, a common stapler is interpreted as a torture device. When one character seeks to learn about sports festivals, events like running, ball-tossing, and tug o’ war are processed as medieval tactics in battle. It’s scenes like those that aid Tohru (Miss “Bouncing Dragon Tits” herself), and her other fire-breathing friends in adjusting to a world not their own.
It’s right here that you’d be tempted to think, “Slice-of-life/comedy about characters from a different world living on our own? Hey, this is The Devil is a Part-Timer all over again!”
While Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon does have a similar premise with that of The Devil is a Part-Timer, that is the extent to which these two titles are identical. While The Devil is a Part-Timer has its characters lead normal lives in a day or two, it requires a month for this show to do the same. While The Devil is a Part-Timer allows its characters to showcase their abilities in broad daylight, there are consequences that occur when this show does the same. While The Devil is a Part-Timer maneuvers its supporting characters to the sidelines, Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon allows its relatively minor characters (like the domineering Riko Saikawa, the perpetually anxious Shouta, or (my personal favorite) the brooding Fafnir) to claim their moments in the spotlight. While The Devil is a Part-Timer briefly mentions the characters’ past lives and never bothers to provide details, Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon reflects on the bygone days and consistently links that to the cast’s arcs. In short, Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon embarks on the same path as The Devil is a Part-Timer yet it contains a more enhanced storyline than the latter, as well as greater character depth.
Although, the aforementioned character depth is what distinguishes this series from its peers, the method in which depth is handled as flawed at best. Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon exists on the strained relationship between humans and dragons, as well as attempts to rectify this dynamic. However, the razor-sharp focus on this concept, though admirable, prevents this show from delving into potentially fantastic subplots. Sure, there are a few discussions about familial dynamics and self-exploration, but ultimately the show never truly ponders on these ideas. Though it appears quite underwhelming, the (very) limited range of thematic elements in Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon shouldn’t automatically blacklist this title (After all, Onihei isn’t exactly a paragon of versatility yet there are many, myself included, that consider it to be this season’s hidden gem). However, I must advise you to be prepared for this show’s “serious scenes”. Suffocating beneath the overwhelming weight of the warm, childlike atmosphere of the show, these segments provide a complete contrast to the rest of the series. At first, they carried grace, sophistication, and a unique charm (CGDCT + pathos wasn’t a formula I encountered before) but later on, it felt as though these segments were recycling the same handful of storyline beats over and over. By the fifth episode, I was bored to tears, and apparently so was KyoAni’s brain trust. They ensured that the serious scenes received a mercifully short runtime with each appearance.
Ambition is a trait that I absolutely covet when it involves anime. There are few things I adore more than witnessing an anime series journey beyond the conventional. With this series, however, I am satisfied with its exercise in normalcy. Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon doesn’t desire to reinvent the wheel nor to “save anime” in the vein of Studio Trigger. No; what it seeks is to entertain, and on that front, it has more than succeeded. Whether it’s the witty sexual innuendos, Tohru trolling Miss Kobayashi’s short-tempered supervisor, or her utterly breathtaking chasedown of a purse snatcher, Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon guarantees excitement. And that’s just fine with this run-of-the-mill reviewer. For once, the hype is justified.
6 dodgeball-playing dragons out of 10
Stark700
Once every now and then, we get some strange premise that gets animated on television. Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is one such title that is probably more appealing to be quoted than anything else at first. Literally translating to Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, it’s definitely a title that will raise some eyebrows. I mean really, a dragon as a maid? That’s the probably one of the silliest ideas if you think about it on paper. It also shouldn’t be surprising as it’s one of Cool-kyou Shinga’s works. The author is known for expressing a lot of freedom in ideas. As such, watching this showwith an open mind will definitely bring in a lot of enjoyment.
Who would have thought that Kyoto Animation would be the studio to adapt this show? Unlike some of the author’s other works (which turned out to be very short shows), this one runs for full length. Make no mistake about it though, the series is exactly what it sounds like. The first episode pretty much establishes the general concept as we meet Kobayashi, a young software programmer living her normal life in Tokyo. Life take a turn for her when she unknowingly saves a dragon named Tooru during one of her drunken scenarios. Fate follows and soon, Kobayashi has her own personal maid. Err, dragon maid. As you can judge from this premise, the show is portrayed more or less a slice of life fantasy. Despite being a dragon, Tooru isn’t entirely violent although she does possesses a disdain for humans. The only human that she seems to care the most is Kobayashi. In fact, she even develops a girly crush on her to the point of being devotion. That’s what really makes this show so entertaining because at its core, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon always seeks to have fun by expanding on its ideas into a colorful fashion.
The series consists a diverse yet noticeable character cast. I’ll be honest though, main female protagonist Kobayashi is probably the least interesting character. She is the epitome of normal in this show when compared to others. Face it, she looks plain with an average paying job and average personality. However, Tooru finds her very appealing because she is honest to others and herself. Speaking of Tooru, she stands out as the most interesting character in the show. Coming from an entirely different world, it’s no surprise that she lacks common sense about Earth and its people. From the first few episodes, it’s shown that she lacks knowledge about being a maid at all. She also has virtually no experience with technology, cooking, or job skills. However, Tooru adapts well or at least she tries. Kobayashi is her main motivation to improve and she even comes to like Earth as time passes on.
Other noticeable characters in the show is a young dragon named Kanna. As one of the youngest characters in the show, she behaves exactly like a child. In the beginning, Kanna has a disdain for Kobayashi and wants Tooru to return with her to their world. However as time progresses, she is more accepting of Kobayashi and even starts treating them like her family. Kobayashi’s life gets even more complicated when Tooru’s other friends Fafnir and Lucoa makes their appearances. Speaking of Kobayashi, we can also see that she is slowly but surely warming up to Tooru. She is more accepting of her presence and the other dragons despite knowing how different they are compared to her. In the meantime, the others learn from Kobayashi about how human behavior works and even begins to adapt with their society. A clever example is Fafnir where he develops an addictive habit of playing video games. Another would be Kanna adapting with school life and making new friends including with schoolmate Riko.
In essence, I think the primary successes of this show relies on its character chemistry and humor. Character relationships are important as it establishes personalities and allows the audience to understand them better. It also makes the show much more entertaining as we see how humans and non-humans interact. There’s also change and development too with characters like Kobayashi, Fafnir, and Kanna. The way their roles are played out makes the audience curious about how far they can change. This is shown with characters such as Fafnir through his interaction with Makoto Takiya, Kobayashi’s co-worker. Fafnir begins to accept and even becomes obsessed with video games and culture thanks to his influence. On the other hand, there’s the comedy. It’s freely defined and sells its humor without going over the board. Characters such as Kobayashi, Riko, and Tooru are prime examples of this as they display out-of-character qualities at times. (I mean, just look at Kobayashi when she is drunk!) In retrospect, the show makes an attempt to get the audience’s to laugh and I have to admit, it works.
As a manga reader, the show expands parts of its adaptation in certain episodes to give some more vivid details of storytelling. However, not everything is faithful as one particular episode goes entirely on an anime original route. Also because this is airing on television, the adaptation is more tamed compared to the manga. In other words, the original source has much more lascivious scenes and suggestive innuendos. That actually also brings up another point as well. The show portrays itself as a slice of life comedy but if you watch it carefully, there’s also many parts with some adult humor. Whether it’s the cultural references or some suggestive camera angles, it can get controversial at some cases.
Kyoto Animation doesn’t let down expectations when it comes to production quality. The show looks very colorful and filled with energy. Almost every character has their own distinctive look especially the dragons. Characters such as Tooru, Kanna, Lucoa, Elma, and Fafnir all display traits of their dragon characteristics. (Example: tail, horns, eyes, etc) In the meantime, director Mikiko Watanabe puts his talent to work and makes a strong impression. The way the camera angles are directed makes certain scenes feel impactful. The colorful action can also be very noticeable with spectacular choreography from early episodes. The series even has a charisma for decorative outfits as seen in certain episodes to make the characters look more fashionable. The only questionable tactic the show uses at times is its fan service. Lucoa is probably the guiltiest of this as she wears skimpy outfits and a running gag of the show even has her being on top of Shouta.
If you thought the art presentation was impressive, then soundtrack doesn’t fall far from that level either. While it can be dismissed at times at being dull, the overall delivery is well crafted and fitting for the slice of life genre. OP and ED theme songs are highly decorated with colorful themes. The voice mannerisms of characters defines their personalities especially for characters like Kanna and Fafnir. I also have to give praise to Kanna’s VA praise for portraying her character at an exceptional level. It’s not always easy to voice a child character but Maria Naganawa made her sound very convincing.
Ah Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, a show with quite a peculiar title. I mean, a dragon maid is the last thing you’ll expect to see in slice of life stories these days. Yet, this show cleverly gives its character cast freedom to be what they want. While this show doesn’t involve any complex storytelling, it makes it up with its very distinctive character cast. It has the ingredients of cooking up good humor and doesn’t hold back to deliver just that. I can’t say this enough but really give this show a try. It looks stupid at first glance but the more you watch it, then more you’ll find it entertaining. Trust me, it earned it.
Skittles
Dragons are well-known to be fierce creatures of legend, but they can also be regarded as the personifications of good. In cartoons, children's books, and family films, dragons are often depicted as friends of men. In certain cultures, dragons are portrayed as heavenly creatures. While all these representations are interesting, none are as adorable, nor as lovely as that of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: a whimsical tale about the life of a lonely programmer and her fantastical human-dragon hybrid friends. As a character-driven gag series, Dragon Maid emphasizes its fun using an endearing cast. Protagonist Kobayashi may be your typical introvert, but it's hard not to smilewhenever she quarrels with Tooru—the titular dragon maid who pledges herself to the programmer's service after a comical misunderstanding in the previous night. The stoic Kobayashi and cheerful Tooru are polar opposites, making their dynamic one of the most interesting feature of Dragon Maid. Their squabbles play a major part in evoking laughter from the audience, but there are more to them than just being elements of comedy. As the story progresses, their interactions between each other slowly develop their character, transforming them into sympathetic individuals. Dragon Maid is rife with good humor, but it's also filled with heartwarming scenes and strong character progressions that transcend it above the typical comedy.
Perhaps the element that will be overlooked most often in Dragon Maid is the desire to be human. The dragons claim to despise humans, but their obvious curiosity in our species says otherwise. The ever-so-adorable Kanna is by far the greatest example of this: although the young dragon is jealous of Kobayashi claiming her beloved Tooru, she nevertheless gains an interest in enrolling to school to learn more about the human world. There, she meets Riko, an equally adorable human girl who helps Kanna learn the meaning of becoming human. Another character who experiences a similar development is Fafnir, a no-nonsense dragon who gradually mellows out of his old facade thanks to the eccentric yet kindhearted Takiya. Like Tooru, Fafnir is initially distrustful of humans but begins to adopt an alternate perspective once Takiya shows him the joy of playing video games and writing doujinshi. Of course, Kanna and Fafnir's antics are mainly played for laughs, but their desire to assimilate with human society is definitely worth noting.
No cast is ever perfect, and the same can be said for that of Dragon Maid. The three remaining characters—Elma, Lucoa, Shouta—range from underdeveloped to terrible. Elma is at least funny and cute when paired up with Kobayashi, but Lucoa and Shouta are simply unlikable. While the other characters have some sort of trait that make them endearing, this bizarre pair exists only for the sake of fanservice. Furthermore, the backstory of how they met is a forgettable five-minute scene that's never brought up again. From all the dragons, Lucoa seems to be the only one who does not enter any sort of development phase. True, it’s likely this way because of her kindness to humans since the beginning of the series, but why not make this trait more prominent to the story? It would have been better if she aids the other dragons in getting along with Kobayashi and other humans, but alas, she did not. Some might complain that the intimate relationship between Kanna and Riko is troublesome, but I personally find it very cute in comparison with Lucoa and Shouta’s nauseating bond.
As a charming series, Dragon Maid comprises adorable character designs and a colorful palette. Although the series takes place in a city, my personal favorite setting is the gorgeous grassy plains where Kobayashi, Tooru, and Kanna goes to play. The events that transpire there might only be a fleeting moment, but the beauty of the scenery—especially the peculiar shot of the mantis and butterfly—accentuates the natural beauty of the show. On what makes Dragon Maid most amiable, the visuals only lag behind the characters.
The OP is ridiculously catchy, but the ED and soundtrack—except for the interlude theme—are forgettable. On the other hand, Dragon Maid boasts some of the best anime voice cast in recent memory. Kobayashi’s stern but motherly voice, Kanna’s cute mumbles, and Tooru’s energetic cheers are the three that deserve special attention—without them, Dragon Maid would undeniably feel less lively. My personal thoughts? I could listen to Tooru’s voice all day long without getting bored.
So is Dragon Maid worth watching? Yes, and much more. Not only is this gem of a comedy worth seeing, but it’s also the best series of the Winter 2017 batch. Delightful characters, nice visuals, spot-on voice acting, and an interesting premise makes Dragon Maid a solid top-tier show.
Androidski
I watched this all the way back in 2018 when I was still in middle school, and I really liked it. But Now about 6 years later I can't say the same thing. Lots of sexualization of adults and minors, and a very basic story. I would not be as harsh with it if it was only adult characters being portrayed sexually, but minors is where I draw the line. Otherwise, I probably would have just said "this must just not be my cup of tea" and went on with my life. I felt extremely dirty after revisiting this, I really don't recommend watching.
spiffokid
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is a slice-of-life anime about a woman named Kobayashi who befriends a dragon named Tohru. The two of them live together, and Tohru helps Kobayashi with her housework. One of the funniest scenes in the first season is when Kanna eats a crab. Kanna is a small dragon, and she is very curious about the world around her. She sees a crab on the beach, and she decides to eat it. Here are some specific things that I like about the scene: • It is unexpected. Kanna is so small, and the crab is so big. But she doesn't hesitate to eat it, andshe enjoys it very much.
•Kanna's reaction is cute and funny. She makes a lot of cute expressions, and she says some funny things.
•The scene is a good example of the humor in Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon. The show is full of funny moments, and this is one of the best.
I would recommend Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon to anyone who enjoys slice-of-life anime or funny anime. It is a great show with a lot of humor.
However, I should note that the scene of Kanna eating the crab may be disturbing to some people. If you are sensitive to animal cruelty, then you may want to avoid this scene.
cookin
I want one. Want what? A cracker? A Kanna. Huh? Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon will saturate you with its moe. It’ll charm or maybe even offend you with its fan service. It’ll amuse you with its spontaneity. Yet none of these things are what make it special. It’s about choosing your own path in life, and discovering what and for whom you should most make time for. With help from a friend, or lover or two. Young adult nine-to-five office worker Miss Kobayashi naïvely opens her apartment door one morning to find a dragon on her doorstep. After surprisingly not freaking out all that much (Kobayashi is a chillone…), Tohru the dragon takes the form of a young lady and declares she wants to be Kobayashi’s maid. After some initial hesitation, the introverted Kobayashi reluctantly accepts Tohru’s proposal and Tohru moves on in! In this instant, Kobayashi’s mundane life gains fresh purpose.
Tohru fills a void in Miss Kobayashi that she didn’t know existed. Tohru bathes Kobayashi with praise and showers her with lovin’. Her overwhelming affection and attention is not immediately reciprocated, but becomes increasingly appreciated by Kobayashi as she begins to warm up to Tohru and her new lifestyle. For the duo of Tohru and Kobayashi, love and care for the other party outwardly manifests itself at varied pace, exemplifying that friendships and relationships are a two-way street. At times, an emotional burden is placed on the individual who is more invested in the partnership, and at times, the other party feels guilty when they cannot reciprocate the other’s strong feelings. It’s an aspect of reality that Dragon-Maid does well in capturing, amongst the rest of its cast, too.
Did I say duo? Well… because one dragon is never enough, Kanna Kamui soon joins the household and completes the trio. And my god… this young loli dragon may very well be one of the most moe female characters of ALL time! Maria Naganawa’s voice acting can aptly be described as perfection, as the cute curiosity of Kanna Kamui immediately manifests itself through her playful, childlike tone. But Kanna isn’t just for show! She’ll surprise you with her wit and her situational awareness. She is naïve yet wise, caring and honest, complete with adorable mannerisms that’ll touch your heart. Want ONE reason to watch this series? Kanna Kamui. She’s just that special!
Dragon-Maid is self-aware about its intensions, almost bluntly so. It’s like the writer is playing with his audience. Just look at the titles of some of the episodes! Episode 2: Second Dragon, Kanna! (We’re totally spoiling here). Episode 7: Summer’s Staples! (The Fanservice Episode, Frankly). This unabashed nature also takes form in the portrayal of some of the show’s female characters, a.k.a. the fan service, and it can serve to amuse or offend. It can elicit a chuckle by way of the writer’s sheer honesty in his utilization of certain characters like the well-endowed (understatement of the century…) Quetzalcoatl and the constantly under-duress young boy Shouta (fancy a guess as to why he is named Shouta?), or force an audible groan because the same formulaic sleazy “gag” is repeating over and over again. One thing’s for sure: It brings a unique intrigue to the series. It can become a bit tiresome, but take a lighthearted approach and it may nicely “round” out your experience.
Social by nature, us humans want to feel needed, whether we realize it or not. Whether by our families, our pets, our friends, or by, perhaps ...dragons? And we want to do more than fit in with those close to us; we want to find our niche. Our purpose. Our journey began with Kobayashi, Tohru, and Kanna, and continues on with the addition of a few more cast members. As we meet the rest of the dragons, the attention-drawing Quetzalcoatl, the aloof Fafnir, the food-and-work driven Elma, they, too, embark for self-discovery and companionship in heartwarming fashion. Development among these three isn’t necessarily ample, but enough attention is paid to make each of these dragons feel complete. They each embrace human nature and take in the human world in their own way, and construct meaningful lives of their own accord.
The Slice of Life genre is Kyoto Animation’s bread and butter, and it’s no surprise that the production value is high here yet again. The character designs are appealing and delve a bit into each of their personalities, from Elma’s chin-covering scarf to Fafnir’s calmly sinister, blood-red eyes. The fun facial expressions are both humorous and adorable. The world feels vibrant, suitably matched by its light color palate and rich, accordion-filled soundtrack. It’s a nice package, if not quite a spectacle (although the OP certainly is!), and it doesn’t need to be. It’s a fitting canvas for the characters to live out their lives, and it suffices splendidly.
Dragon-Maid is more than it appears on the surface, it’s more than Tohru’s bouncing boobies in the preview, and it’s something to be appreciated. It’s a journey of love, and friendship, and deep, personal bonds, and community, and damn if it doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s about living life, and finding a companion or two who allows you to do just that to the fullest.
Heck, we could all use a little more companionship. A little more Tohru and Kanna in our lives. Kanna, especially. I loved her character... Could you tell?
TL;DR: Show up for Kanna. Stay for the quirky humor, controversial fan service, and the heartwarming SOL moments. 9.0/10
olivers-garden
Simply atrocious. What at first seems to be a cute well animated slice of life yuri about a dragon girl and an office worker turns into a pedophillic show with disgusting moments, such as Kanna, who looks and acts like a kindergarten age child, climbs on top of another child in a sexualized manner, or the “hilarious” moments where Luccoa fucking molests and r*pes Shota. And it is supposed to be funny/fanservice. Simply put, this is the worst piece of media I have ever seen, unwatchable and disgusting in every way. If you enjoy it, totally fine, as long as you recognize that these parts are simply terrible.If you actually enjoy that stuff, I hahe nothing to say other than that you need serious therapy/jail-time.
As for somewhat better aspects, the animation is beautiful, and Torhu, Kobyashi, and Shota (that poor kid, getting assulted by Luccoa much…) are likable characters and I wish they were in better shows.
FrozenRoy
From Kyoto Animation, responsible for far too many of the slice of life shows around to possibly remember, comes the charming and wonderful Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon, an extremely charming and heartwarming slice of life show which stands atop the head of slice of life shows. Our story begins when the titular Miss Kobayashi, a programmer who loves to hang out for drinks after work, wakes up after a night of especially hard drinking. Getting ready to go back to the grind of work, she opens her door to a rather surprising sight: A giant, scale-y dragon! Utilizing shapeshifting this magnificent dragon, Tohru, declares that Kobayashitotally said she could crash at her place after saving her life last night, and that she now wishes to serve Kobayashi as a maid. Thus begins Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon, a delightful romp of the story between one middle classed Japanese office worker and her fish out of water dragon maid.
The show is not exactly subtle with its premise and goes right for the jugular early on, with Tohru being pretty inept at the idea of modern society with a mindset more fitting a magical fantasy world, where dragons and humans are mortal enemies and the gods themselves can rain down divine punishment. Tohru herself is fittingly overpowered, with giant flaming breath, magical tricks involving dimensions that would make modern physicists spin in their graves, tearing the sky asunder to deal with a rainy day when taking out the laundry and more. Kobayashi, on the other hand, brings Tohru down to Earth and slowly gets used to actively living with another, quite odd person.
As the show progresses, a more diverse and fun cast join the fray, such as the WAY TOO ADORABLE Kanna Kamui, who serves as a bit of a surrogate daughter with Kobayashi and Tohru due to being banished to our dimension by her parents, the dark and chilly Fafnir, who sits on the edge of wishing to destroy the world but soon becomes distracted by the weight of MMORPGs and other games to care, and Lucoa, a goddess demoted to dragon who is just along for the fun, although she feels like one of the less fun members of the show due to being one note.
This show has all the laughs you would want from a slice of life show, or at least the jokes landed for me mostly, but another good technique this show works together is the ideas of tensity, developement and a nice warming of the heart. Kobayashi isn't a generic, I don't care kind of protagonist, but more as just kind of internalized her life and chugging along content enough, with hobbies that exist but do not dominate and define her life. She handles and soon compartmentalizes the changing world around her as Tohru and Kanna enter her life, which also causes her to warm up and examine parts of her own life, such as her relationship with her parents. Just how well the compartimentalization works can be seen in the ending and is done well.
This is contrasted with Tohru, who is impressed by the world of less danger that Earth brings compared to hers, and begins to enjoy a slower pace of life with the one she loves, as her attraction for Kobayashi is very, very real, and enjoyably is not relegated to mere subtext and is discussed at points. The tensity of how people will react to someone fairly alien if exposed forms a rather enjoyable part of the show and the show makes use of tenseness well, one of the most notable examples is in Episode 10, where the episode seems to be using tenseness and the general plot to make it seem as if it is building up to a Cringe Comedy routine, but then turning out to be something even more wonderful.
This series also had a lot of heartwarming moments that were really able to speak to me, especially the start of Episode 9 for example, or how comiket is handled for the cast. This is the part I can least discuss without spoilers, so I won't get into it a ton, but lets just say that lots of the characters get nice, heartwarming moments.
The story cannot be discussed a lot, it doesn't have a ton, especially since it is a slice of life show, but undercurrents of things like the ending are laid out through the series and some solid continuity. I give it a 6 because as far as slice of life plots go it is perfectly fine and has some nice things, but it isn't any masterpiece.
Stylistically, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid has some really nice animation, using some good effects when the dragons use their powers, really great character designs with things like Kanna's hair or Tohru's eyes. There's even some surprisingly well done action sequences in this slice of life show. It is somewhat basic, but definitely trying to be and does so very well. It has extremely catchy opening and endings that are incredibly cute and will get stuck in your head for far too long. It also has some good ambvient music and some really nice voice acting all along, but especially with Kanna and Kobayashi and helps make the characters leap off the screen.
So, what's the shortform of this review? If you want a slice of life show, watch Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon. Even if you don't end up liking it, it is simply very worth forming an opinion on. If you like maids, watch this show, and be amused by Georgie and Kobayashi interacting. If you like dragons, then you'll like the parts of this show that examine the oddities of this mythological creature adjusting to a low powered world like ours. If you want lesbians and a little romance, it got some lovely bits of that. It even has some action! It will tickle your funny bone and warm your heart.
VaasMontenegro
This anime is so pure... I had to watch it thrice... Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is purely great from it's standard point of plot and it's slice-of-life quirkiness to its characters. It's fun, not too shallow nor dull, but happiness with living color nonetheless. Even though the story is quite odd from the beginning — where it tells a story of a living, breathing dragon that has the size of Kobayashi-san's apartment, that brings nothing but destruction and chaos, came to her apartment, hiring herself as a maid and has mad feelings to a human from the present day — the comedic approach and the runninggags and random situations really stands up from all of it with a right amount of RomCom, fan service and story development.
The only thing that criticizes me is the last episode of the story. Sure, the ending is a good thing to wrap up this anime, but tends to leave a lot of unanswerable questions that put everyone in a cliffhanger... unless you read the manga, then you're the special snowflake in the room.
Other than that, the art... of course it was made by none other than Kyoto Animation. So, it kinda surprises me a little bit though. I kind of or not kind of expected that Kyoto made this because the it reminds me of Nichijou because of somewhat similar art style. So there's that. (Anyways, WHERE'S NICHIJOU SEASON 2, GODDAMNIT!!)
The sound is really great honestly. But the only sound I would like to hear is Kamui's voice... especially when she hums like a cute vanilla ice cream with cherry on top. Especially when she moans, I really, REALLY like to.. ohh shit, the FBI suddenly came into my room and he's about to smash me to the keyboa- aiohiahdfa; fphoa'hc'p hefajopdjoapjd'[pAJo...
But no, seriously, the voice actors and actress were great. The OP is catchy... but the ED is kinda on-par. Maybe it's cringey or it's just me.
The characters performed here are great. Memorable, rather. And they are actually adorable, honestly. I found Kobayashi-san cute honestly, and she kinda reminds me and also to everyone who are working in a unfriendly and toxic environment that drastically change her personality. To me, she's realistically as she gets to a real-life worker and keep on struggling just for a living and hanging on to an environment she usually doesn't like to work there. But she had a good and wacky relationship to Touru and the rest to keep her self more motivated and learn something more than that.
Overall, everything surrounds Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon is truly one of the best Slice of Life animes yet. Maybe a slight homage to the wacky world of Nichijou, which is another Kyoto Animation anime, and it's truly fun to watch. I have no words to describe as how charming this anime to me... So, just go and watch it!
Lucas8990
I love anime, and I have been watching it for years. Meaning that naturally, I have watched a lot and am always on the lookout for new shows. After hearing the hype surrounding this show, I decided to check it out. The show starts off strong with a good art style that I really liked, two likeable lead characters, and a decent enough premise. The first lead character Kobayashi is an office worker who meets a woman named Tooru. Who happens to be a dragon in human form. That for various reasons has come to love and admire Kobayashi. So to show said admiration she becomesher live in maid. Which leads to a few episodes of wholesome slice of life comedy, that genuinely had me laughing. The two leads have a good dynamic and I liked watching their relationship grow. Again its a decent premise that I rather enjoyed, at first. But that's where my praise ends. Because after episode 5, the show takes a nosedive for me.
That's because after episode 5 it becomes a thinly veiled loli/shota anime. Which is a category I find to be reprehensible and disgusting. The show for the remainder of the season proceeds to sexualize and fetishize several characters who are clearly children. The most blatant being Kanna, who was initially the two leads sort of adopted daughter. She was funny, adorable, and really helped further the relationship of the two leads. So I found it sickening when the pedophilic undertones started coming into play. Which there was a copious amount of. Ranging from upskirts and questionable poses to Kanna pinning another child on the ground saying she was gonna do her "Dragon Style". All of which made for a very uncomfortable and abrupt change of tone.
Now maybe you could overlook that as a one off weird comedic "dark humor?" moment. But it just gets progressively more and more gratuitous after that. Especially after the next character named Shota is introduced. Another child that one of the uh...more voluptuous characters, constantly sexually harasses and borderline assaults. Again, extremely reprehensible and disgusting to me.
By the end of it all, I went from enjoying the premise and characters, to genuinely being disgusted with what I had just seen. Which is unfortunate, as I was genuinely looking forward to this one. It may be a small amount of content in the industry. But I hope going forward that the anime community and industry as a whole, can weed out and shun this kind of content. I think it gives the medium a bad name and tarnishes the image of a great form of entertainment.
Valenthyne
I like dragons, I like cute girls, and most important of all, I like good anime. Unfortunately, these three don't always mix, that is, until I came across this gem. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid spreads its wings and soars above the rest, powered by the feeling of love and making use of beautiful aesthetics, exuberant characters, and imaginative designs to present one of the most heartwarming and memorable experiences of the genre. Will you like it? You may enjoy Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid if you... -- want something that's cute as all hell -- love heartwarming, character-focused stories -- enjoy tasteful, well-executed yuri relationships -- appreciate creative, vibrant, and kinetic stylesof animation
You may not enjoy Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid if you...
-- generally avoid titles in range of Slice of Life
-- take up your pitchfork at the mere presence of anything "cute", "moe" or "light-hearted"
Story
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is the animated adaptation of Cool-kyou Shinja's manga of the same name, published in the West under the Seven Seas banner. From what I've seen, the author is a cool dude with a fun imagination, and that bleeds out well into the story.
After recovering from a rough hangover, Kobayashi starts off for work and encounters what seems to be a massive dragon waiting outside her apartment. The dragon introduces herself as Tohru, claiming to have been invited over the previous night and offered to serve as Kobayashi's personal maid. The confused human initially rescinds her proposal, though seeing how much it meant to Tohru, she allows her to stay as long as the dragon promises to serve as an authentic maid. This unlikely companionship proves initially troubling for both individuals, as the otherwise reserved Kobayashi must become used to having such an energetic personality in her personal space, with the proud Tohru struggling to fit in alongside mortals she deems strikingly inferior. As time passes, more of Tohru's dragon friends arrive from their own realm, further transforming Kobayashi's otherwise quiet and mundane existence into one of excitement and fantasy.
The episodes mostly concern themselves with the adjustments both Kobayashi and the dragons (Tohru and Kanna) must make as they come to live with one another. The supporting characters come into play at various parts, generally as a result of their own subplots or to observe the main characters' changes over time. Kanna, one of the previously mentioned friends of Tohru, is the focus of many episodes, as we observe her attending a human school or making friends with a girl named Riko. Tohru's backstory is a subplot that develops a bit of tension as time goes on, with the final episode resolving much of it in a climax of a conclusion. All in all, I was impressed to see how greatly I enjoyed each episode, not once feeling dissatisfied with the events unfolding, avoiding any sort of "dead spots" Slice of Life anime often experience through the course of a season.
To enrich the story even further, a few moments of strong thematic focus rise up to give some substance to the otherwise happy-go-lucky experience. Understanding differences and limitations, the importance of communication, the ambiguity of freedom, and coming to terms with the past are a few examples of the sort of themes you'd come to expect, allowing for some genuine moments of thought to blossom forth. While I respect Slice of Life anime for generally being "feel-good", it's always great to have a certain range of depth to help promote the merit of the experience, as though there might be cute girls doing cute things, these exist for more than just show.
Genre & Characteristics
Personally, it seems like it's becoming harder and harder for "Slice of Comedy" anime to set themselves apart from each other, though I do believe Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid managed to achieve that goal thanks to its interesting lore and lively characters. A lot of the comedy spawns from the characters' interactions, with a few recurring gags utilized but never overused here and there. Honestly, humor is subjective, so it's really hard to say whether you'd like it or not without watching it, but I can say for sure I've had many, many moments of genuine smiles (and even laughter) from certain scenes.
Now, despite a mostly stellar execution, the anime does succumb to some common flaws that plague the contemporary edition of the Slice of Life genre. Episodic diversity suffers a bit when you again see those familiar "beach", "sports", and "holiday" episodes. I had watched a fellow Winter 2017 anime in Gabriel DropOut alongside this one, and it was disappointing to see both sharing some of the same exact episodic concepts. However, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid can indeed be credited with making good use of these otherwise overused settings. For example, in regards to the aforementioned "holiday" episode, most of it focuses on an impromptu play the dragons must put on, and that play was easily one of the highlights of the series. Despite being faced with the problem of "been there, done that", the series grabbed it by the horns and showed us all that you can still find uniqueness among the conventional.
Moving on, a variety of fantasy elements serve an integral part in the story's lore (as if the "dragon maid" part wasn't obvious enough). The dragons arrived in the mortal realm from an mystical world of their own, one complete with exciting magic, alien foods, and foreign species. While the story largely focuses on the normal aspects of things and the dragons' attempts to understand such foreign things, the whimsical elements utilized here and there are quite nice to see. Hell, a few of the most humorous scenes involved Kobayashi struggling as both Tohru and Kanna go overboard with their superhuman abilities.
Considering perhaps the most important characteristic of all, the strongest feeling I think back upon in regards Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is that of pure, unadulterated love, easily the best attribute of the series. There's so much of it to go around, with a great variety of relationships involving that sort of affection you crave to see over and over. I wouldn't call the show a "romance" by any means, however, rather the tenderness displayed functions more as a binding function than a plot element. The love develops naturally and legitimately, never once feeling forced or artificial in nature. I'm sure anybody who watches the series would want someone to fawn over them as sincerely as Tohru does for Kobayashi.
On a lesser note, there is a great deal of "eye candy" for the audience in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, though save for some gags associated with Lucoa, it never exists as a primary focus. Breasts and butts (and thick thighs) are all nice, and Kyoto Animation sure knows how to present them well, but for those who don't care much for anything "fanservice", don't worry (unless you have a no-tolerance policy, then I recommend passing).
Animation
It would be futile at this point in time to award anything but praise to Kyoto Animation, undoubtedly one of the Japanese animation industry's all-time greats. Both the directors and animators are rightfully revered for producing some of the most aesthetically inventive series of the last few years, and Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid could easily be viewed as another stellar mark in their catalog.
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid makes heavy use of a "storybook" image in its artistic presentation, likely as a nod to its fantasy characteristics and otherwise imaginative foundation. Everything is full of color, often shiny, and quite vibrant in appearance. Each scene felt like a treat to my eyes as I took in the gorgeous visuals. Scenery blooms forth with a particular watercolor aesthetic, offering a unique, stylized quality that greatly enhances the artistic merit of the anime.
A few scenes in particular, such as Tohru and Kanna's friendly battle or the cast's holiday performance really stand out as exemplary works of animation, way beyond the already respectable quality of the series. Honestly, though I already view the series in high regard, you can really tell the moments when the budget was improved.
As the series is going for that bright, delightful aesthetic, the characters are aptly represented in their distinct yet familiar designs. I noticed particularly that each character (save for Fafnir) has a rounded, kind face that enforces that "cutesy" feel the anime is going for. Additionally, an overwhelming variety of expressions, both slight and exaggerated, are frequently used to present each character dynamically, allowing them to break free from the "chains" of being two-dimensional.
Sound
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid possesses a marvelous, original score that offers a fresh take on your general Slice of Life soundtrack. There's something truly special about it, as each background theme gives off vibes that translate well into the comfortable feeling the series succeeds in promoting. In terms of sound effects, they exist in an appropriate amount, generally accompanying character actions. The only effect I can say I wasn't too impressed with was the dragon voices, but that's a minor element that's was only used during the rare moments Tohru was in her dragon form. Blame it on years of playing fantasy games, but I'm just too used to the gruff, abrasive dragon voices you come to expect.
In regards to the voice acting, I can't think of anything better to complement the brilliantly designed characters of the series than its talented cast of seiyuu. Each character, both main and supporting, perform their roles convincingly and with great emotion, personality, and enthusiasm.
Kanna's seiyuu in Maria Naganawa reminds me very much of Hiromi Konno (Hakase Shinonome of Nichijou), as both have proven excellent at adapting that "little girl" voice without being whiny or grating. Further, she really seemed to nail the perfect "neutral" tone, one that fits Kanna as a character well but doesn't descend into a state of monotony. I look forward to seeing her future roles, as I see a lot of promise in the young seiyuu's future.
It's worth mentioning that you're introduced to the series in quite the exciting manner. There are many things that go into a great opening, and fhána's "Aozora no Rhapsody" virtually expresses each and every one of those elements in style. As a package, it does a fantastic job at weaving a creative animation sequence and an upbeat, lyrically relevant track into one pleasant introduction. It's as if Tohru were the one performing it, too, as she remarks heavily on the unlikely relationship with this one individual (Kobayashi), and how no matter what barriers exist between them, they just feel so happy together, basically the premise of the entire series.
In regards to the ending, it's equally if not even more so pleasing. The whole concept of "Ishukan Communciation", or "interspecies communcation" echoes the thematic relevance presence in "Aozora no Rhapsody" and the series itself, yet presenting a more personal perspective as the theme is performed by the four female dragons in Tohru, Kanna, Elma, and Lucoa. Personally, it's one of my all-time favorite endings, and I'll be listening to it often as a result.
Characters
It cannot be stressed enough that Slice of Life anime live and die by the quality of their characters, and most fortunately, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid passes this benchmark with flying colors. The main threesome of Tohru, Kanna, and Kobayashi work so well off each other, making use of great chemistry to present that realistic family feeling whenever you see them together. The supporting cast are relevant and delightful, though at times, they might only pop up to further a particular scene or gag. Having such a strong cast, both humanoid and draconic, working together to form the foundation of the series causes you to actually care about what's happening because you care about the characters.
In the following few paragraphs, I'll discuss the main characters in detail, with a few words to say regarding the supporting cast.
Kicking off the main characters, Tohru is a dragon from her realm's Chaos Faction, notorious for encouraging the destruction of mankind and battling with divine powers. Despite expressing a general disdain for humans, viewing them as primitive, inferior beings, she idolizes her mortal counterpart in Kobayashi with the utmost reverence. She often takes offense when compared to them, stating often (with pride) that she can destroy all of mankind if she so wished. Much of the conflict of her character stems from this insecurity, as Tohru finds it increasingly difficult to "lower herself" to that of humanity. That being said, she will do whatever it takes to make Kobayashi happy, even if that means humiliating a proud dragon such as herself. It's precisely this authentic devotion that ends up pulling tightly at your heartstrings.
Kanna Kamui, also known by her trading card name "Blue Eyes White Dragon", is perhaps one of the cutest characters ever developed in an anime. Young by even dragon standards, she was expelled from her realm for playing too many pranks on the powers that be. Because of this, she comes to live with her friend Tohru and Kobayashi in the mortal realm. Kanna is often depicted with an indifferent expression, though she retains a fascination for many things, particularly insects and food.
A touching and unexpected mother-daughter relationship grows between Kanna and Kobayashi, and the young dragon grows to develop such an affection for Kobayashi that she even assumes her surname when she becomes a student. Much like Tohru's relationship fuels the heartwarming parts, Kanna's relationship helps to supplement the adorable presentation of the series, completing the perfect familial trifecta we are privileged to experience.
Last but certainly not least of the main three, Kobayashi-san is our familiar human being, the object of Tohru's love, maternal figure towards Kanna, and best girl (hey, even Tohru agrees!) In many ways, Kobayashi is a considerably relatable character, partially the reason why I adore her so much. As is often the case for programmers, she's noticeably reserved, not really sure at how to function among individuals (be they co-workers or dragons) who are very social by nature. Change is foreign, even uncomfortable at times, and the introduction of Tohru proves quite a shock for the young woman. She generally finds it hard to express her feelings, notably towards her companion of Tohru, and sometimes tension can arise from this. Even so, Kobayashi retains a mutual appreciation for her newfound family, grateful to Tohru for bring color to her otherwise grey life.
Lucoa, Fafnir, and Elma are the supporting cast of dragons, the former two of which are Tohru's friends from their own realm. Much like Tohru and Kanna, each character has a distinct, interesting design.
Lucoa, technically an ex-goddess, noticeably defined by her mismatching eyes, enormous bust (G's for "goddess"), and risqué clothing. While she primarily serves as eye candy for the audience, Lucoa does present herself as a supportive friend of Tohru, one of the few dragons seemingly accepting of humans and more interested than anything.
Elma is from the Order Faction, rival dragons to Tohru's Chaos Faction. Though she initially comes to the human realm to retrieve Tohru, this cute water dragon ends up enjoying the mortal delicacies of our world, taking a job at Kobayashi's technical department though having no knowledge of coding whatsoever.
Fafnir, inspired by the Norse dragon of the same name, is a dark, brooding dragon, perhaps the only one of the five that detests humans more than Tohru. Despite this, and much like Elma, he finds himself addicted to another mortal creation: video games. Takiya takes in Fafnir when the latter decides to stay in the human world for awhile, and the two grow to develop a surprising friendship, as Fafnir considers the otaku "one of the good ones".
Riko Saikawa, a cheerful, proud young girl, Shouta, a skittish boy wizard, and Makoto Takiya, Kobayashi's otaku co-worker, are the supporting cast of humans, with each receiving an ample amount of screen-time but less than the dragons. They all primarily play off a particular dragon in Kanna, Lucoa, and Fafnir, respectively, helping further a few subplots and gags that help supplement the series. While not as interesting as the dragons, I liked them, and never felt them being invasive or irrelevant.
Conclusion
After my thirteen episode journey alongside Kobayashi and the crew concluded, the dread of having completed such a wonderful series proved particularly painful this time. I attribute it to the connection I formed with the characters, as the genuine familial presentation seemed more like an invitation into someone's home rather than just a scripted portrayal of a writer's work. As the best of the Winter 2017 season and an all-time personal favorite series of mine, I cannot justify Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid as anything less than one of the best in its field. It understands how to do Slice of Life correctly, and serves as an unforgettable series that, despite its short length, will live on in the hearts of its fans for years to come.
Whether we receive a new animated season or not, I know I'll be continuing to engage myself within the life of Kobayashi through the manga, keeping close watch on whether or not she'll finally give in and taste Tohru's juicy tail.
"I wonder what I used to be like? I've already forgotten." - Kobayashi
