Review of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Out of 100 Nobles watching… 92 were impressed! 8 would have liked more structured narrative At long last the world has been blessed with a sequel season of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and while some fans may have been surprised by changes in season 2, I was overjoyed with the work that KyoAni presented us with. Most of that same quality from the first season is there. Really if you watched the first season you know what to expect. Repetitive yet well used slice of life background music, a lovely color palate, and the excellent character designs adapted from the manga are all still here. What may bean unexpected change to some is the shift in structure. The show was adapted very differently than the source material in the first season which had a general overarching narrative without too many plot lines going on at one time. Season two on the other hand takes a much more direct approach to its adaptation with each episode being a few chapters of the manga. This shifts the feeling of the show from a more slice of life presentation to an almost gag comedy show as we hopped around to individual interactions between characters. I didn’t really mind this change and enjoyed seeing the chapters of the manga adapted faithfully. I was hoping to see certain major character arcs covered in the show but outside of the Iruru arc and Tooru/Elma arc the show stuck to mostly inconsequential chapters. That said we got a little of everyone. Kanna, Saikawa, Shota, Lucoa, and even Fafnir and Takiya all got plenty of time on screen and that’s just great.

Fhána freaking killed it with the OP and the ED was good too, I guess. I don’t think anything will top season one’s Ishukan Communication. It’s one of my favorite songs. Ever. Period. But I still really loved the music in this season and it just ties the whole perfect product up with a tidy bow.

This is the first completed anime season produced by Kyoto Animation since the tragic massacre at their studio. I struggle typing this review even now without crying, but it’s less so the pain from all that was lost and more tears of happiness. Happiness that despite all the tragedy KyoAni can still create something pure and heartwarming like Dragon Maid. Thank you and good night.