Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: When Dragons Learn to Love Humans, Magic Happens

Dive into the magical world of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, where mythical creatures adopt human form and create an unconventional family that challenges our understanding of connection, belonging, and the everyday magic of human existence.

From the moment Tohru crashes into Kobayashi's life, this series delivers a perfect balance of heartwarming slice-of-life moments and jaw-dropping animation sequences that seem to come out of nowhere. What truly sets this anime apart is how it evolves from season to season, developing each character beyond their initial introduction and revealing layers of depth beneath their colorful exteriors.

The second season particularly shines by exploring the complex histories and worldviews of its dragon characters. We witness Fafnir transform from a human-hating dragon to a devoted gamer who shares an apartment with his human friend. Kanna's childlike wonder provides both comedy and profound observations about human society. Meanwhile, the tension between the Chaos and Harmony factions adds fascinating worldbuilding to what could have been a simple comedy.

Beyond its stunning visuals and distinctive character designs (those expressive eyes and vibrant hair colors!), Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid delivers unexpected wisdom about appreciating life's simple pleasures. Through Tohru and her fellow dragons, we're reminded that sometimes it takes an outsider's perspective to recognize the beauty in our everyday experiences. As Lukoa wisely states, "If you ain't having fun, you're not really living."

Whether you're drawn to the found family dynamics, the surprising moments of action brilliance, or the gradual development of Tohru and Kobayashi's relationship, this series rewards viewers with both comfort and substance. Have you discovered this perfectly balanced slice-of-life masterpiece yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
• 1:47 Season 2 Character Development
• 5:01 Fafnir: From Dragon Hater to Gamer
• 9:02 Family Dynamics and Dragon Wisdom
• 14:34 Character Design and Animation Excellence
• 22:12 Love, Relationships and Final Thoughts
• 29:28 Closing and Sims 5 News

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. It's about time we got around to review this one Because, honestly, I think it's great, it's a very good anime. And, crazy enough, sebby Phantom and I were reviewing Windbreaker Season 2, and how is it that we were just talking about how the second season, it just feels like, doesn't really expand on anything that much, aside from new characters being introduced. Meanwhile, miss kobayashi's she, they introduced a new character, lulu, in season 2. I think that's the Well. No, there's Chloe too. But I like how, with season 2 With season 1, okay, you get introduced To all the different dragons and you get to know them, of course.

Speaker 1: 1:00

But with season 2, I love how they just expand on each character. Like you get to know the characters a lot more in this season and there's a bunch of wisdom bombs being dropped in season two a lot more than season one, if you ask me. And aside from that, there's just a bunch of cute hijinks that sometimes Get crazy. Like, see, like Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid, it can be cute, it can be funny, but when they get Serious, they get serious. Like the animation of it all Just Top tier. I just love it. Uh, semiperson, how you feeling about Miss Kobayashi?

Speaker 2: 1:47

This is everything I want in a slice of life Romance. The whole thing, this whole thing is amazing. I know a lot of people enjoy this anime and I have to say 10 out of 10 for me. I'm going to just come out of the bat and just say it. I think it's cute, funny. Again, you have a great point. There are some serious things where it comes in, but overall it's just a perfect slice of life anime and it makes me feel a little warm inside. I bet.

Speaker 1: 2:17

Now, I do have some characters that I do want to talk about, but would you say you have a favorite among them?

Speaker 2: 2:26

Yeah, it's Fafnir.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Yeah, see, I like Fafnir because you know he's kind of crazy enough. I keep telling myself, man, he was like something straight out of Black Butler, honestly, with the suit and all that, and you know how he can kind of be to himself, kind of go closed off. But he likes Takuya and likes playing video games with him and whatnot. So he does love video games and I like how he just really gets into him. Ooh, excuse me, and yeah, I kind of like them, but what are your reasons for liking Fogner?

Speaker 2: 3:09

Well, one of the big things is that he looks like Sebastian from Buck Butler, but that's besides the point. I like the fact that when we meet him he's like I hate humans, I don't want to talk to humans, I hate everything about it. But then it starts to click when he gets that otaku interest and he has to stay up all night to play video games because dragons don't need sleep. You know that. But I just think it's all funny when he's like yeah, I have to play this game and I don't care what you say, but it's a human game, I don't really care, I'm gonna play this game and you're gonna like, like it.

Speaker 1: 3:44

And that's crazy too, because you find out with Toru when you discover how she knows Fafnir with the whole thing, with the cave where she was sleeping in his cave and they fought it out and whatnot.

Speaker 1: 3:59

And then they were like, oh well, you know, I respect your strength and I respect your war, so you know, yeah, we can share a cave together, like Faf.

Speaker 1: 4:11

It was like oh well, you know, I respect your strength and I respect your war, so you know, yeah, we can share a kvm, like fathom there really loves a challenge, and speaking of which I like how you brought that up with fathom, you're not liking humans, because if it was just fathom here, then okay, whatever right. But then you realize that in season two they explore on to where Toru and Elma also felt the same about humans, because there was this whole narrative that was being taught by the dragons, especially by her father, the Emperor Demise, how humans just ruin things and whatnot. But then again you hear from people like Kobayashi and Lukua and others where you just get some wisdom behind it all, how, like, not all humans are bad, but they accept it. They don't deny that there are some bad humans. It's just that there's some beauty to humanity as well. And it's the cute moments whether they're going to the festival or the beach or whatnot it's those cute, beautiful, simple moments that give these dragons hope for humanity. That's what I kind of like about the series.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Yeah, most definitely it's like. To me it's kind of like a family. It's family oriented. A family it's family oriented, but not in a family oriented way. I guess you could say that because you have Kobayashi, you have Toru and then you have little Kana. I just want to squeeze her little cheeks, but they kind of create like a family dynamic. Um, kana, like the little sister to Toru, toru the maid Kobayashi, like the parent, almost like toru, toru the maid kobayashi, the like, the like the parent, almost like taking care of kana, um things like that. Like it gives me family-oriented vibes in some portions and then other parts you're like, yep, that's definitely most happening, but overall it's just a cute anime. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Now let's start with toru, for instance, where she was willing to go up against the gods just to be able to have freedom from all the fighting between the chaos and the harmony faction. That's just the thing. Uh, in season one you would think, okay, her and elma were just rivals, right, they just don't get along, right. But in season two we just explored upon how they're from Toru's from the Chaos faction, so it's a Lulu, and then Elma's from the Harmony faction and they. The weird thing is they knew from jump that they just couldn't get along. But it was like they were vibing with each other for a little while Just to feel each other out, but they just Ultimately came to the conclusion that they just can't get along. But Kobayashi was looking at it like it's crazy how y'all keep Bickering with each other, but it seems like y'all Are really good friends and whatnot. And they were like we're not friends, we hate each other, we're gonna kill each other. And then Miss Kobayashi was like, yeah, whatever, y'all like each other. More about Toru is how, just like with a lot of the dragons, where we see that they're trying to adopt to the whole human society their culture and whatnot, putting on a mask, so to speak, and that's just the things. But I just think it's crazy how, like, they kind of slowed it down. And season two to where, like, okay, there's still hijinks, but it's like season one had more hijinks mainly because, you know it was more, uh, geared towards being a rom-com. But, uh, then season two is like, because we know these most of these characters already, they're able to slow it down, to give us some more insight on how each of these characters are thinking. And that reminds me of koyashi, to where, like, okay, she kind of impressed me to where she mentioned how we kind of live in a society where we sacrifice our freedom and whatnot to be these uh, functioning members of, like, she sacrificed having a private life in order to excel in her career, ultimately leaving her with no friends in real life up until Toru and the gang showed up. So it's like, in a way, toru and the other dragons are reminding her that she needs to take time for herself. And, you know, enjoy the scenery, you know, like with the cherry blossoms and whatnot. Just you know, enjoy life. Kind of like what Luka would say if you ain't having fun, you're not really living.

Speaker 1: 9:00

I'm like, you know what. That's why I love fucking with Luka, like she is like this big sister character that I like, especially the way she kind of teased Shota in a way, almost the way Lulu teases Take from the Dagashi shop, and aside from that, she does have some wisdom to her. But she also wants freedom just as much as Toru does, and I do like her, uh. Oh, now that I think about it. Oh, she definitely had an interesting past, kind of like similar to toru in a way, where you know she trusted humans and then that changed and but you know she got the typical character development and I do like her. But, jesus Christ, it's like it's one of those dangerous things where you have this short stack here, but the melons though.

Speaker 2: 10:04

I was totally gonna say something like go watch. Like you know, when you're a kid, you're watching an anime and it's just the greatest thing in the world, and the moment your parents open the door, something sexual happens on tv. Yeah, that's exactly how I felt yeah, it's like.

Speaker 1: 10:19

It's not what you think. It is not like. It's not always like this, I swear I promise yeah, uh, who else?

Speaker 1: 10:29

kana? Oh, I like kana like, like you said, she's like very cute and whatnot. It's crazy how miss kobayashi mentioned how people don't say moe a lot anymore, which is crazy. I was just thinking, damn, you really don't hear that word anymore. Yeah, that's a great way to describe Kana in a way.

Speaker 1: 10:50

But the funny thing about Kana, how like so one thing like the way she kind of like eat, uh, you know, like when she ate that crab or some sort of bug, like the way she'd be like chomping on his legs, kind of cute, I think it's kind of crazy that I think she's like kind of aware that Psycho has like strong feelings for her. You know how, like, as much as Psycho wants to be Kana's friend, it's almost like it's very suggestive that she's like into girls and that's okay. I just think it's kind of cute in that sense. But Karna is almost like she knows, but she kind of Plays along with it but doesn't Really like Go all the way. You know, kind of like with Hits where it's like A 90-10 kind of thing to where She'll go 90%, but then plot kind of Gives her that 10%, kind of like a dance that's mocking her to where it's like they don't go all the way with it, but she kind of plays along with it, almost like because you know how sometimes they be playing around like playing Twister and whatnot, and it's almost like, um, she's trying to seduce Psycho and then Psycho's like hold on, wait a minute, like I didn't think I'd get this far, but then you know, maybe like she like passes out or whatever, and then it doesn't really actually happen. But I just think it's kind of funny how connor, on the one hand I feel like she's aware of it, but at the same time she's kind of, uh, being oblivious at the same time, and it's kind of like a very uh, I can't say. I want to say it's kind of I guess crazy is the best way to put it like it's kind of clever in a sense. But one more thing about connor.

Speaker 1: 12:45

What I noticed, like between season one and season two, especially if you watched it dub, you know how she sounds like a totally different person when she's mad, like. I noticed that like okay, when she first got introduced, like she was mad at Kobayashi, claiming that she stole Tori away from her, and she just sounded like an angry brat. But then for most of the series. She just seems like it's almost like this cute but monotone voice from her. But then she got mad at Kobayashi for some reason. That was like undisclosed, just some sort of argument that happened. Then she decided to run away from home and then there's that voice again. I'm like so there's, her voice changed when she gets mad.

Speaker 2: 13:44

Yeah, I think it's more in the fact that it goes back to like she's a, like a young dragon. She's like it's still in this form. She's like in her human form. She's more like a child than anything. So I know that, based upon some, children tend to have a higher speaking voice and get more like upset. So I guess that's kind of where it's coming from. Her voice tends to switch out between what she normally talks to as like a dull, not really personality, kind of just here, and the moment she doesn't get her way. It's kind of like a tantrum, tantrum voice.

Speaker 1: 14:11

Yeah, I feel that. But outside of that, I thought Kana was like one of the better characters in all this, like some of them, some of the characters like they're just kind of there, but Kana kind of carries this show to some degree, like Toru definitely does. Uh, lulu was definitely carrying season two for me, and Lukua, well, she's always good. I'll just give her that she's got this vibe that I can kind of have a drink with her in a sense. Who else? I already touched on Psycho a little bit Shota, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1: 14:55

Before I get into shelter, I do like how you brought up, uh, kana being a child, but crazy enough, um, I don't know who it was. I think it was either toru, or the emperor demised himself or whatnot. But either way, one of the dragons said that in actuality, um, there's really no such thing as a child or adult dragon in their world. It's more like, oh, that's just something that dragons got. It's kind of like saying there's generations in our world to where there's Gen X, gen Z, millennials and whatnot. In actuality, that's just something that we made up to classify certain folks, but in actuality, in their world, a dragon's a dragon.

Speaker 2: 15:47

Once you're born hey, you're good.

Speaker 1: 15:52

I don't think they even keep up with birthdays that much, because you know dragons live so much longer. It's like yeah, I mean I'm alive. So you know, no need to celebrate every year that I'm alive, because I'm gonna be living for like hundreds of years. Um, but yeah, shota, I kind of like this kid to where he's a mage and, by the way, his father is Kobayashi and Elma's boss, but also friends with the Emperor Demise. So it makes me wonder just how deep he knows about all this shit. But Shota, I like how his main thing is with Lukua. But Shilta, I like how his main thing is with Luke.

Speaker 1: 16:34

He's trying to prove himself to be a man or at the very least, be respected, like, at the very least, stop treating him like he's a kid. And the whole time I keep thinking of SpongeBob's where, like you know, spongebob was like I am a man and holding up that razor that's how I picked yourself. So I was like I'm a man, damn it, stop treating me like a kid. And then luke was like oh, you're such a cute yo, hey, stop it. I kind of feel that because sometimes you be like that, whether it's like your parents or your older family members where it doesn't matter how old you get, for some reason they still like to look at you and think of you as a kid. I'm like bro, like I'm 33. How long do I keep this going? Come on, man, I am a man, I have a job, I have goals. I have a job, I have goals and ambitions. I have a mind of my own. I can think of myself and they're like what's your life in there? And I'm like I don't know. Okay, chicken's fine. Yeah, who else? That I didn't mention Takia of Bop New Years Roommate. That, uh, I didn't mention uh Takia, uh roommate and Kobayashi's co-worker.

Speaker 1: 18:00

I kind of think it's funny how, between him and Kobayashi, how they have this commentary on maid attire, how Kobayashi never really liked uh Toru's outfit because it just didn't seem very uh authentic or more like it just felt a little low effort. But as soon as she put it on, she's like oh, you know what, maybe I'm tripping because, you know, I never thought I looked good in these girly dresses, so I just mainly dressed like a dude. But maybe that's just my hang of like uh, her, she's one of those type of girls where, oh well, she's not exactly conventionally attractive, not saying she's ugly, but she's not exactly like built like Luka was, so to speak. So she kind of have like this uh, heightened sense of standards when it comes to maid attire and whatnot. So it's almost like a mask insecurity, so to speak.

Speaker 1: 19:04

But that's just the thing. It's like wow, like you really get to know these characters in season two, which is a very stark contrast compared to when we just reviewed windbreaker. And that's just crazy to me. That's the craziest part about doing this review. Now to where? Crazy how we were just saying, yeah, if only windbreaker kind of expanded on the characters that we already know a little bit more, so we'll feel like we know these characters.

Speaker 2: 19:34

Meanwhile miss kobayashi does exactly that yeah, I agree with you so much, jb. I was literally just thinking I'm like, yeah, I pretty much know all the characters, the main characters that we meet in mish kobayashi, and I can literally go off and name each one and tell them how they like kind of compare and contrast to myself, because in almost every single character I can pinpoint something and go, yeah, I kind of feel like that. Miss kobayashi especially, oh my gosh, I feel for her so much, like that is such a mood she's like tired.

Speaker 1: 20:11

When did this series become oddly relatable? That's what I was feeling, because I was like, damn, you know what. I kind of fuck with this show even more now, because what I did like about Ms Kobayashi's at first was, I want to say, the left field hygiene that they get into. I swear one of my favorite moments when it comes to the action was episode 2 of season 1, to where, okay, toru and Connor's going to play and Miss Coby is going to lie down for a little while. Okay, well, I'm just going to chill out for a little bit. And then next thing, you know, you hear that explosion going off. And then there was like Toru kind of was going at it. It was like kind of flinged Toru into the air, almost did like a male-male way type move shooting at her, but it missed. And then Toru gonna launch this Naruto tail beast bomb-like attack at her and I was like whoa, hold on, wait a minute. Like where is this coming from? And then you would think, oh, that's gonna be like the last thing they do, like, okay, so it's not gonna get that crazy from that point on. But actually actually there was like a few more moments like that in Season 2. So I was like a few more moments like that in season two. So I was like okay, so it's like fairly consistent.

Speaker 1: 21:36

When it comes to the fighting twitch, when they start fighting, okay, that's where the animation budget really got uh dumped into. Like I can tell y'all definitely, um, put some of that budget towards fight, um, the fight choreography and uh, aside from that, you know the way they did the artwork, the way they. That's the funny thing. Like the eyes, like I'm gonna say the same thing about my dress of darla mcdew, season two. But it's like just something about the way they do the eyes like there's like a lot of details in the eyes and also crazy enough like I like how round and polished the faces of most of the characters are. Like, aside from guys, that's like you can tell he's a bad guy, so you know he's not that cute. But for the most part it's like people got like this round, almost baby like face and it's like it just adds on to the softness, like it just makes it extra cute and whatnot. It's almost like this anime makes you drop your guard with how cute it is, up until they do some bullshit like uh, toru like trying to stop this, this one guy, from stealing some woman's purse. And then she was like all right, dig her heel into the ground and just bolted at the dude.

Speaker 1: 22:59

I was like holy shit, yeah, I just love moments like that, like it's just like damn, like you just didn't see that coming, and I guess that's why I love about miss kobayashi dragon made like it honestly deserves a 10 out of 10 for that, where it has lovable characters, a simple story that expands as you go along. Uh, the music is fairly decent. I kind of like how, with season two, but even though they go with a new Theme song like the old theme song, it's still kind of you still kind of hear it Every now and then so you can tell that, oh yeah, that theme song is going to be our Flagship. Like, when you hear that theme song, you know exactly what anime we're talking about. But, um, yeah, the artwork was beautiful and whatnot. I said local characters, simple story that spans itself, good music selection and a whole lot of moments. That just catches me off guard. So, yeah, 10 out of 10. Very good anime. I would recommend this to the anime girls.

Speaker 2: 24:10

And I will back you up right there. 10 out of 10. I agree with you the faces, but with the Faces they make them like slightly different. That's what I think I like about it. It's not like a copy and paste template. It's Um. Each character has their own unique Like little, like their eyes. Going back To the eyes, their eyes are so detailed.

Speaker 1: 24:29

Oh, yeah, and hair coloring.

Speaker 2: 24:30

Yes, hair coloring Luka with that blonde, that neon yellow blonde, it's like a blonde and green.

Speaker 1: 24:39

Meanwhile Toru got like blonde and orange, like a golden orange, and, uh, elma is more like yeah, kana is like white and like ice blue. Yeah, like purple Purple. Yeah, yeah, okay, I was thinking like ice blue. Yeah, like purple purple. Yeah, yeah, okay, I was thinking like ice blue, like you know glacier blue.

Speaker 1: 24:59

I don't know. Like, uh, blue is purple, huh, yeah. But then elma, she's like brown and I think that's definitely she got blue going on. Okay, that's probably who I was thinking of. But, um, yeah, it's like, oh yeah, even funk near to where it's he got black hair, but it's almost like a almost like a blood red or almost like a brownish kind of highlight going down his hair. Like, yeah, it's almost like these characters, like design-wise, they have life to them. It's like they don't look boring, like they're very vibrant, good-looking to the eyes. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 25:35

No, yeah, absolutely. And it's not that main character syndrome either, where it's like here's character A Sitting in the back of a school With neon purple hair, while everyone else is brown and black hair. No, all of the characters are pretty concise and they all look good together. It's great. I love that.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Aside from that, I think I'm good. I think I'm good. I would highly recommend this to the anime girls, for sure, or some of the guys who just might want a good laugh, like you know, because it is fairly funny in some instances to where it's like the moments where it just catches you off guard with you know. But you know, without sounding like a broken record, just watch it, just give a chance definitely give a chance.

Speaker 2: 26:29

Just sit down, just take a glance at it, watch it, laugh at it. It's a slice of life. I love slices of life and romances. This is right up those people's alleys like this is great.

Speaker 1: 26:41

I love it oh yeah, definitely, oh yeah. One more thing how uh toru really trying to get kobayashi to fall in love with her and whatnot, and then Kobayashi's like no, you're a dragon, so that's just not going to work for me, but like, she totally just keeps trying. And the craziest line that she dropped in this whole series was like when they were out in the I think it was like carnival or whatnot and they were riding the merry-go-round and they were talking in the I think it was like carnival or whatnot and they were riding the merry-go-round and they were talking about how, with unicorns, it represents virginity. And then Toru dropped a wildest line where it's like your virginity belongs to me and I'm like whoa, hold on now. Like you're.

Speaker 1: 27:30

I'm like I had to do gender politics on the podcast, like. But it's like crazy, how? Uh, well, let me back that up, because sometimes we go there, but I'm not trying to go there with this anime, but like, listen, if you're tori's lucky that she is who she is, because, like, if that was a dude that said that bro like lock his ass up lock his ass up you're going to jail.

Speaker 1: 28:03

You're going to jail. Yeah, it'd be like something like that because, like bro, that was a wild thing to say. But yeah, you know what? Aside from that, that, I'm done. Sebby, you got anything you want to add on before we close this out?

Speaker 2: 28:19

One more thing I like that at the end spoiler for you if you haven't watched it yet I love that Kobayashi admitted to Tora that she likes her too, but she didn't understand how it meant to love somebody. And then, when they explained it so much, I was so happy.

Speaker 1: 28:35

I wanted that made me so happy man, the way they that toru tried to set her up for a wedding, because it was like the whole time kobayashi was like oh, something's not right here, something's off for a little bit. Cherry blossoms or air on us, oh, fucking doing a picnic or not. What's going on here like this is suspicious. And then next you know you see that uh, ball drop and it's like oh god, tori tried to trick you into a wedding. I got you in a wedding dress and everything. And she was like no, not like this.

Speaker 2: 29:12

That's what them foreign families be doing. Speaking of, because I am a foreign person, that's what them foreign families do. Hey, we're going to a party, oh, cool. Whose party is it? Oh, it's just a party. Okay, oh, it's a wedding. Whose wedding is it? It's yours. I'm like what the fuck?

Speaker 1: 29:29

Why'd you set me up like that? I'm like what the fuck? Why'd you?

Speaker 2: 29:31

set me up like that it's your wedding. I'm not ready for this kind of responsibility. We don't care. Congratulations.

Speaker 1: 29:42

That will be it for our Mystical Beyonce Dragon made review. Like we said, we gave it a 10 out of 10. It's great for what it is. And before we close this up, I do have a piece of nerdy news that might be A little disappointing to hear. I'm hearing news that the whole Sims 5 thing is not Actually going to be a thing.

Speaker 2: 30:05

I know, I know, I know.

Speaker 1: 30:09

I was like I was looking forward to the whole online multiplayer part. I was like, huh, how is that going to the whole online?

Speaker 2: 30:14

multiplayer part, though I was like huh, how is that gonna work? The moment I heard that news for those who don't know I've got like 20 000 hours locked into sims 4, but um, wrote a whole blog about it. But the moment I found that they were canceling and no longer going forward with sims or anything of that sort, I went okay, well, I guess we get you there. How about you fix Sims 4 first? Then Please fix the game, fix it.

Speaker 1: 30:42

Yeah, like if you're not doing a whole new game, like can you at least enhance what you already got?

Speaker 2: 30:51

Just fix it, because right now it is completely broken. Just fix it, because right now it is completely broken.

Speaker 1: 30:54

Just fix it Please, sir. May I have some more?

Speaker 2: 30:57

Please, sir, fix this for me, because it's useless.

Speaker 1: 31:01

It's useless right now. I'm sorry, but yeah, that was all the nerdy news At this point. Yeah, we're not going to have a whole lot of nerdy news that at this point. Yeah, we're not gonna have a whole lot of nerdy news at the end of our reviews, but more, at least one I'm gonna before we go. We're gonna have at least one, but yeah, with that being said, y'all go ahead and have yourself a good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night, but ultimately, you do take it easy, stay nerdy and remember that great things are coming. We are zoning out of here.