The grind is something most people deal with every day. Rather it is work, school, or some other tasks that usually yield some sort of currency or social acceptance. Naturally, when it comes to the grind there is an equal, opposite, action that usually is used as some sort of decompressing action. Some of these are considered healthy, mediation, yoga, I’d say even gaming falls under that category. Others, drinking, smoking, chemical fixes, not so much. So it isn’t really surprising Kobyashi, a typical salary woman, finds herself hitting the bars after a rather unfortunate day that the office. What most people don’t experience during a drunken tirade, however, is striking a deal with a massive dragon, saving its life in exchange that (she) will, from that moment on, be your maid.
There are few shows in recent memory that have struck a chord much like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. A slice of life fantasy story that has heavy comedic dialogue as it follows seemingly indifferent Kobyashi, a woman that hasn’t done much in her life outside of work, and her new dragon maid, Tooru. Though extremely powerful, Tooru grows to have a deep admiration for Kobyashi, especially her willingness to accept the massive mythical beast and her quirky ways. This dynamic is quickly uplifted as another dragon joins the fray shortly thereafter, Kanna.
Kanna, though very old in human years is quite young when it comes to the age of dragons, creating the household of there having a mother-mother daughter role, then comedy ensues. What a lot of Dragon Maid is, is what most would expect out of a slice-of-life comedy. There are moments of Tooru trying to get used to and fit in within normal human life, an obstacle that becomes tricky at times since she has lived hundreds of years killing the fragile beings she often makes fun of. This of course is paired with the overall fascination of Kobyashi’s amazement of Tooru’s power as she quickly becomes used to the dragon, accepting her in her normally lonely life, both Tooru and Kanna bringing a spark into her life that she never had, or knew that she ever wanted.
One of my favorite things about this show is outside the humor. With plenty of bits such as Tooru’s repeatable attempt to have Kobyashi eat her tail, (which at the time of writing this I just realized that is just another innuendo I missed) or my personal favorite of Saikawa, one of Kanna’s classmate’s euphoric outbursts anytime Kanna literally does anything that leads to physical contact towards her. But there a moments of realization, moments that recall the fact Tooru is indeed a dragon from another world, a powerful destroyer, irrelevant of her love or desire to stay as the maid to Kobyashi.
It is with these moments we are reminded that even with all the humor, cute, wholesome, and even deviant moments. Only tragedy will result from this love affair, the simple fact Tooru will outlive Kobyashi times a thousand (and then some). This type of bitter backdrop is something I am not familiar with within these types of shows, even more so when alluding humor plays such a large factor. Konosuba comes to mind, but in that series, there isn’t ever a real sense of danger or bitterness, there is always something happening that will correct the course of action from the show but that sense of loss never happens, but it does in Dragon Maid, and it hit a lot harder then I was expecting.
Outside of the main three, we are also introduced to (all of which are at some level deviants) Elma, the kinda-sorta, police of the dragon world trying to get Tooru back. Fafnir is a human loathing homicidal dragon who turns into a weeb pretty quickly. Quetzalcoatl who sole purpose exists to harass young boy Magatsuchi, Shouta to no end while also being the, um, top-heavy, trope. All of which play on each other’s whims pretty naturally, ultimately coming around to either trust Kobyashi herself or her work friend, Takiya, Makoto the guy who converted the ever so mighty Fafnir into a never sleep, also game fiend.
When it comes down to it I really enjoyed Dragon Maid. It was hysterically funny, full of light-hearted feel-good moments, and a number of gut blows. It has been praised in a lot of ways and now that I’ve seen the first season, I know why. I do plan on knocking out season 2 once it’s finished airing but as if writing this I haven’t seen any of it, and it is on the ‘later’ list. So yeah, if you want a top-tier humor/ slice of life show, Dragon Maid is a near-perfect fit.
As always thanks for the read!
Otaku Post 