Review of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Decent, But Could Have Done a Lot More. Dragon Maid S starts out very fun with the introduction of Kobayashi's third dragon roommate, Ilulu. Heck, you knew this would be one of the main highlights of the season when the end of the first episode revealed that KyoAni was indeed going to cover the infamous chapter in the manga where Tohru becomes a man. However, around the halfway point, a sad realization eventually sets in: Dragon Maid S is basically playing it safe and trying to follow in Season 1's footsteps a little too much, especially in terms of how episodes are structured. Don't get me wrong here:it would make sense to have the episodes that set up Ilulu's character be similar to the first four episodes of Season 1. Meanwhile, the episodes that focus on Elma and Kanna are definitely the highlights of the season (with both of them adapting some of the more memorable chapters of the first half of Volume 7), while the anime-only Kanna stories remind me of her spin-off manga (which is a must-read to any Dragon Maid fan).

However, there is one arc in the manga that I really wanted to see get adapted this season, and I am sure a lot of the manga readers would have love to have seen it as well. However, the way a number of Season 2 episodes feel a little too similar to Season 1 episodes (i.e. having one manga story adapted midseason because it involves a Comiket-like event, saving off a major game-changing story until the penultimate episode because it features Tohru's dad, a finale that feels like an OAV episode), it became apparent that we wouldn't be getting this arc this season (with things only being made worse with a finale ending that could suggest that we may not getting a third season of the show).

Dragon Maid is a great franchise, and I consider the show's first season and the OP for S. However, I also feel that the second season could have been handled way better.