Review of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Kyoto Animation Returns!!With Dragon Maid Season 2- after the tragic fire killed 35 people at the modest studio building in 2019; we thought Kyoto Animation would be gone forever. But overwhelming support from abroad with huge donations helped bring a revival that is so amazing to me every time the song plays at the beginning of each episode I cry. Here is the first big title release of the revived Kyo-Ani: a joyful comedy with bright colors that mostly takes place in an apartment building that along with its surroundings- bears a strong resemblance to modern Kyoto. Introducing a new dragon on the block: ILULU!Well, her character design is either pure comedy or pure fan service depending on your point of view. Ilulu has gigantic watermelon boobs that produce fire! Of course she shows up and starts blowing things up immediately, to the objection of Tohru who takes her on right away; gives her a good beating that only pisses off Ilulu more- and hijinks ensue.

The way Ilulu comes into Miss Kobayashi's home follows a familiar path of fighting, then understanding and finally love and friendship. Ilulu is adorable and eager to join in playing with Kana & Saikawa, she's more childlike than Tohru and she's not a foodie like Elma but loves donuts. So with her in the household Kobayashi has THREE dragon roommates stuffed into her cozy little 1BR apartment- but this ain't cool with Tohru who wants Ilulu to earn her keep and get a job. She doesn't know what to do, but the job she finds comes around by way of her love of children. I love Ilulu's story arc, but not all the episodes focus on her- the comedy is all over the place with this one; with one of the episodes having Tohru visit neighbors and rip some incredible riffs on a guy's Les Paul and carve a detailed owl that humiliates the elderly sculptor- he's surprisingly cool about it. One moment she's casting spells at a restaurant; or beating up neighborhood bullies in a pink dress, then making figurines of Miss Kobayashi. Some of the jokes get me laughing pretty hard; like their time at the theme park and at the beach. Other times it's kind of meh.. and sometimes I really wish they'd tone down Ilulu's chest just a bit lol

But I'm watching this season over again because I enjoyed it so much. I think it's possibly better than the first series; and they've left the door open to more. Hopefully the new Kyoto Animation can bring us more installments of this wonderful & unique series in the future.