Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Complete Series Review

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: The Complete Series Review

Created By: Coolkyousinnjya

Directed By: Yasuhiro Takemoto

Studio: Kyoto Animation

Audio: Japanese, English

Subtitles: English

Episode Count: 1 – 13

Format: DVD, Limited Edition Blu-Ray, Digital

Licensed By: Manga Entertainment UK

Release Date: 17th August 2020

 

Miss Kobayashi, an ordinary Japanese office worker, drunkenly heads up into the Mountains one night in search of another drinking buddy. In the middle of the woods, she comes across an injured Dragon from another World. By morning she awakens to find a new live-in maid at her doorstep. Turns out the Dragon she met last night, wasn’t actually part of a dream!

This is perhaps one of the most obscure anime I have ever seen, but was nonetheless quite entertaining. To begin with I think I have found perhaps my exact anime counterpart in the character of Miss Kobayashi, in not only appearance but also personality. To be honest, after watching this anime – I don’t hate the idea! This show follows an everyday office worker, who just so happens doesn’t really care about having a feminine appearance and is usually dressed like her fellow co-workers. So all the cute Moe stuff, actually comes from her live-in Dragon Maid and ‘almost’ adopted dragon-daughter that joins them later on. After an adventurous night of drinking and wandering through the woods, Miss Kobayashi comes across a dangerously injured dragon. Now in this World, Dragons don’t actually exist but Miss Kobayashi is so drunk it doesn’t even seem to have registered in her brain at the time. In the end Miss Kobayashi ultimately ends up with a new scaly-flatmate who can alter her appearance to fit in better both in society and the small apartment. It really is a bit of a wild story, that still carries that slice of life reality in their everyday life.

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So Miss Kobayashi is portrayed almost as a kind of genderless lead character, as in the entirety of this anime her gender never had any impact on the story. I have never seen an anime that has portrayed a character like this so well before. Instead it chose to put full focus on the dragons. Beginning with the Dragon-Maid herself – Tohru. A Dragon that has decided to leave her homeworld behind, in hopes of finding some peace and happiness without being hunted. After being saved by Miss Kobayashi, Tohru falls in love with her saviour and out of pure devotion, she continuously tries to feed Kobayashi parts of her tail (which she can grow back)! It’s an unusual relationship, but it works. To make the duo into a family, Kanna Kamui enters the scene. A friend of Tohru’s from the Dragon Realm, who went in search of her. This little dragon ends up exiled from her home, but in time becomes almost like Kobayashi’s adopted daughter as they grow closer. The young Dragon even enrolls in school later on, with the sports day episode being the sweetest one out there.

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Now Dragons love to play, however in Kobayashi’s eyes their ‘play time’ looks more like a death match! A full power up battle, with claws out, super sonic speed and flamethrowers at the ready. Their playtime makes for entertaining battle scenes. On the other hand, there are countless comical moments throughout this short lived 13 episode anime series. Although the story is completely bizarre, I would still classify it as a slice of life – just with dragons.

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Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (Kobayashi-san Chi no Meidoragon) was created by a Japanese mangaka named Coolkyousinnjya, who also created I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying (Danna ga Nani o Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken). Miss Kobayashi manga series debuted back in 2013 in Futabasha’s Monthly Action Magazine, it currently has 9 volumes available and is still on-going today. It has been translated and published for Western Audiences by Seven Seas Entertainment. Two other manga adaptations have also been translated and published by Seven Seas Entertainment, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life which debuted back in 2016 and is still on-going. As well as Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary, which began in 2017 and is still on-going. This anime adaptation was also released in 2017 and was produced by Kyoto Animation, famous for their long history and work including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad and K-On!

You can watch this anime online at FunimationNow or grab the physical release that will be heading our way from Manga Entertainment UK.

Overall: 7/10

 

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