In winter 2017, Kyoto Animation adapted Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) into an anime. The first season had a runtime of 13 episodes and there was a sequel made in 2021, which had 12 episodes. If you’re here and you’ve never seen the anime then let me start off by recommending it. As a matter of fact, I think it’s one of the better slice of life anime out there. And today I would like to take a moment to talk about why this show works as well as it does. To do so, I will be talking about episodes 9 and 12 of the second season, and why these two episodes in particular highlight what makes this show special. So if you don’t mind some spoilers – This is a slice of life anime, so spoilers don’t hurt it too much – join me in diving into this wonderful show.
To give a quick summary of the story for those of you who are unfamiliar with it and curious, Kobayashi is an office worker who gets drunk one night and meets a dragon. It turns out dragons exist in another world and some have come to the world of humans. This dragon immediately falls for Kobayashi and then joins her household as a Dragon Maid, donning a humanoid appearance. Other dragons show up throughout the series and they appear at various points in Kobayashi’s previously boring life. By this point in season 2, we’re familiar with half a dozen dragons, some of which have some outstanding beef. One of these longstanding arguments, between Elma and Tohru, comes to a boiling point in the second half of episode 9.
This fight is a marvel of animation, reminding us all that Kyoto Animation may prefer cutesy slice of life shows but has no problem creating something much more violent. Two dragons clashing levels an area in a matter of moments. They are still dragons after all, and their presence in our world is highly dangerous. I’m not going to go into their whole story more than this, watch the show if you want to know their history, but these two beating the crap out of each other while the environment goes flying is peak insanity.
After their clash ends, things go back to normal and we have only three episodes left of this season. That brings me to episode 12 titled: Life is Constant Change (But It’s Okay To Stop And Appreciate It). This episode features a summer festival and the cast is attending. Summer festivals in anime always look like such fun, which makes me all the more sad that I had so much anxiety growing up. I remember my parents taking me to similar events on holiday and I would just be crying and wanting to go home. Missed opportunities. The episode starts off filled with melancholy. Both Tohru and Kobayashi think back to how they met and in Tohru’s case what got her to this world. The episode slowly meanders through the day of the festival until we reach the main event. It’s also interesting to hear the dragons talk about the festivals from their old world. They’re both different and similar. Everyone splits off into their own little groups and enjoys the festival separately. They’re sitting on a bench eating festival food while talking about being ancient gods and dragons. It’s the stark contrast between the two that makes this show so interesting.
Covered in lights that seem to blend in with the night’s sky the two main characters then walk through the festival together. When we’re further away from the characters, the voices sound further away. When the conversation gets serious the music fades out, and only some light chimes accompany talks of life as being different people. Human and dragon. Accepting yourself for who you are. Punctuated by beautiful fireworks we watch on as everyone is enjoying the festival. There is something incredibly serene about this episode that you can only really experience by watching it. And that’s what makes this show so great. It’s got insane episodes with dragons destroying entire regions and all sorts of strange escapades. And then we have people walking through a normal festival. It goes from utter insanity to the most mundane things in life in the blink of an eye. And that contrast is what makes each of the two extremes so satisfying to watch. And we end this season not with a bang, but with a nice relaxing flower viewing. As if to say that epic moments are not needed to write a good story.
Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid has been a pleasant ride from start to finish. It seems to know exactly what it’s good at and makes sure to polish that exact thing. It’s not perfect, I personally don’t care much for episodes focused on Kanna and her school friend, but very few shows have only good episodes. Whenever the story focuses on Kobayashi, Tohru, Elma or the broader cast as a whole, the show is always a joy to watch, outside of the episodes highlighted as well.
I’ve gone on about these episodes for a little while now, but rewatching them has made me realize that my initial assessment still stands. This show works because it mixes the mundane and the insane just right. If you want to treat yourself, give this beautiful slice of life show about maids and dragons a watch. And as usual, thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you liked this show.
Opal Kaharis 
Years ago, I tried Dragon Maid but only got through the first episode. I remember finding the characters kind of grating on me, but then I might have been in a lousy mood at the time which can definitely have an effect. On top of that, I’ve softened a lot over slice-of-life anime in the last year or two. It might be time to try this one again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
it definitely isn’t perfect and there’s some episodes I would call plain bad. The good episodes more than make up for it in my opinion, and just rewatching some of the parts of this second season while writing this post was a lot of fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person