The Most Entertaining Kobayashi Maru Exam (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Review)
Sorry for the Star Trek reference, I was trying to incorporate it at one point in the article. But what to say of this season and its hilarious comedies and all the girls/women. From Hikari and the rest of the adorable Demi-Chans, to Tanya’s adorable insanity, to the angelic daemons Satania and Vigne or the daemonic angels Gab and Raphi we’ve seen some great contenders for Best Girl among them all. For either hilarity, awesomeness, or just overall moe status, we’ve had a great season. Rounding out my articles from Winter 2017 is another great example, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. While the loyalty of Tohru is top notch, the sheer cuteness of Kanna, the ecchi factor of Lucoa, and even the dorky Elma has the cast rounded out very well.
So, my reason for this being the first article on this show is that until a friend out the BAYOG crew mentioned and posted a few GIFs of Kanna, my heart was set that Interviews with Monster Girls and Gabriel DropOut were my neck and neck runners for most adorkable female-based comedy. Kanna going and eating just about any random smaller creature she saw (see below) had me busting out laughing and I just had to give it a try. While I’m still in love with the Hikari nomming scene, this show had me hooked very quickly.
The story starts out with the titular (but ironically flat and boyish looking) Kobayashi heading out for work at her boring desk job as a computer programmer. Upon opening her door, she’s greeted with a dragon in her face on her 5th floor apartment. After learning they had made some sort of deal the night before when Kobayashi was absolutely shit-faced drunk, she of course states that there’s no way in hell that she can take a dragon maid in (which we find later is very emotional for poor Tohru) and eventually relents and allows Tohru to stay.
As the next few episodes roll through, we are introduced to other dragons that are associates of Tohru from the dragon realm (essentially a realm of heroes and monsters, gods and well…dragons) who are all interesting characters in and of themselves. Second dragon up is Kanna, who is an elementary school aged dragon and adorably thinks Kobayashi seduced and stole Tohru which is kind of the scenario but I digress. She finds herself in this realm after being banished for too many pranks but soon finds Kobayashi as a mother figure and even begins attending school (seriously, anything with Kanna is gold and could be a show in and of itself). Next, we meet the two dragons, Fafnir (who’s a deadpan, murderhappy version of Sebastian from Black Butler) and Quetzalcoatl (Lucoa) who is a busty bit of multi-colored fan service. The two of them find their own places in the human realm with humans to interact with and grow closer. Fafnir finds himself becoming an otaku gamer and staying with Tohru’s closet otaku gamer programmer co-worker, Marc Cunanan Makoto Takiya. Lucoa allows herself to be “summoned” by an elementary school boy in the same school as Kanna named Shota (who’s entire family is mages, including his father, the director of Kobayashi’s company). Last up is a dragon of Order, Elma, how is a rival of Tohru and decides to stay in the human world (more like stranded but still) and finds employment with Kobayashi’s company, even though she cannot code. She doesn’t really adopt a human but does obtain a huge taste for human foods.
A number of comical events occur from Fafnir writing a dojinshi loaded with legitimate death curses and trying to sell it at Comiket, to Kanna inadvertently befriending and seducing another classmate of her (it’s the most adorable lesbianism in anime imo), to the dragons doing things like wrecking a playground by playing “dragon-level” dodgeball and even performing a hilarious rendition of The Little Match Girl for elderly people complete with magical girls, evil daemon lords, and insane special effects.
The show has its serious moments, such as Tohru dealing with dragon PTSD and eventually her father appearing to take her home. Eventually, dragon interspecies lesbian love proves strong enough and Tohru stays in the human world along with the others to enjoy a happy time with Kobayashi. While a generally feel good show, the elements of mortality and the future where Tohru recognizes she will outlive Kobayashi take hold but she stays strong and decides to live in the moment. As a review, the art style had me thrown for a loop and can put a comical and light-hearted touch on just about anything, then shifting to serious mode, typically when the dragons were having it out. The music is just happy in audio form. As far as the plot, I can’t wait for season two to continue this happy story, but I could also be content should they end it there since the conclusion was great with Kobayashi taking Tohru to meet her family. So go watch this hilarious show and leave a comment or like before a dragon force feeds you her tail meat.
