This is it – this is the Maidragon I’ve been missing. These two episodes were a potpourri of workplace comedy, dragon combat, intergenerational bonding, and concentrated optimism that left me grinning after each of their miniature stories. I won’t touch on all of them in this post, but each one was a worthy addition to the show’s already-stacked collection of vignettes. If you’ve fallen behind on this season, or simply found yourself too busy to start it up, this doubleheader is the perfect reason to hop aboard the Kobayashi-san Express once again.

Continue reading “Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 9-10” →

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid has been in hangout comedy mode for several weeks now, paying just as much attention to its supporting players as either of the characters in the title. I love when TV shows spread the wealth between cast members, but not all of Maidragon’s are created equal. I’m all Lucoa’d out, for instance, and the show hasn’t offered a lot of worthwhile societal commentary to offset her recent prominence. It feels like chapters are being adapted hunt-and-peck style, rather than being grouped into episodes by theme (an area where the series has excelled in the past). So, with each miniature story feeling so disjointed, and the show not generating much food for thought as of late, it’s time for a lazy Kaguya-style ranking of the six segments from Maidragon’s past two episodes. Gotta bang this post out somehow, man.

Continue reading “Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 7-8” →

It can be easy to forget just how big Dragon Maid’s cast is, since a lot of its supporting members are pretty one-note, but these two episodes did a great job of checking in with (nearly) all of them. Some of those check-ins were better than others, though, particularly the imaginative and revelatory trip down Tohru and Elma’s shared memory lane. I think I mentioned this earlier in my coverage of the series, but I’ve never paid much attention to its lore, so it’s possible that we already knew about this chapter of their lives and this episode merely gave us a longer look. Whether it was brand new or a simple expansion, the beautiful Middle Eastern setting gave the dragons’ first meeting a visual specificity that I loved. Tohru and Elma would have sought out the relative freedom of the human world millennia ago, given their loose alignment with their clans’ value systems, so the fact that they crossed paths in proximity to the fertile crescent made all the sense in the world.

Continue reading “Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 5-6” →

One thing I’ve always enjoyed about Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is its energetic commentary on the human experience. It’s interested in topics such as friendship, work-life balance, and finding greater purpose, but it always presents them with gusto, never using them as an excuse to drone in your ear. Ironically, nonhuman characters such as this series’ dragons are great tools to explore these issues – their lack of familiarity with human customs and behavior lets the show be a bit more direct in its messaging. Other anime with anthropomorphized casts tend to use their animal natures to drive the story, which often results in sensationalist plotting, but that’s not the case here. Miss Kobayashi’s dragons exist in the real world (or an ideal version of it) and seek fulfillment in ordinary life, despite their unearthly proficiency at nearly every task they try.

Continue reading “Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 3-4” →

After a week of the Internet wringing its collective hands over the “gift” given to Kobayashi-san in the previous episode, it only lasted for seven minutes of this one. I had little doubt that this adaptation would resolve the issue quickly (its first season apparently skirted a lot of weirdness from the manga, as well), but I’m pleased nonetheless. Dragon Maid is an anime with a lot going for it, but those positives are already difficult enough for traditional audiences to glimpse without the author’s fetishes further clouding their vision. Of course, we had to go through Kobayashi’s trials as the new owner of a dangling appendage first, with a new waste disposal routine and her roommate’s bountiful breasts to threaten the status quo, but all was resolved before long. I think we were meant to infer that Tohru shedding her precious outfit was what restored a disappointed Kobayashi to her former self – in the end she’s just a maidsexual programmer, regardless of whatever biological forces are imposed on her.

Continue reading “Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 02 [Hot Guy Kobayashi!]” →