Disclaimer: This review covers 13 episodes of "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid" and a 14th OVA episode, titled "Valentines and Hot Springs! (Please Don't Get Your Hopes Up)".If you were to ask me for a recommendation of a good comedy anime, I would be quick to recommend 2011's "Nichijou" by Kyoto Animation. It's a visual feast from an animation perspective, and it's humor is relatable in the way most newspaper comics are (albiet with exaggerated reaction shots). Kyoto Animation has proven themselves to be versatile across different genres, but comedy in its purest form is rare from them (they typically focus on romance or high-school drama). I figured we would never get another show to compare to "Nichijou," and I accepted that.But in 2017, a show named "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid" came along. It isn't quite as universally appealing as "Nichijou" was, but its strengths may help it appeal more strongly to a modern audience.The title of the show speaks for itself. Kobayashi is a standard adult woman, an office worker writing code in Japan. She's a refreshing change from most high-school anime protagonists: she's meek but not shy, not overtly cute or attractive, just living a normal lifestyle alone in her apartment, working hard at her job, and letting loose with her co-workers at the bar. One night, in a druken stupor, she comes across a large dragon in a nearby forest, and without thinking, offers it to live with her. The next morning, the dragon shows up at her apartment door, transforming into human form, and introducing herself as Tohru, Kobayashi's new live-in maid. Kobayashi isn't certain how to handle the situation, but goes along with it, letting Tohru stay and helping her get accustomed to the human way of life. Oh, and Tohru "loves" Kobayashi, stating this directly in the first episode. "You... want to eat me?" Kobayashi asks. "No! I mean sexually!" Tohru states. This is the first nitpick I have of the show. I don't mean I have a problem with Tohru being gay; while a dragon maid might seem a strange choice for LGBTQ representation, it works to the show's favor. I have a problem with Funimation's English translation, which was done almost in real-time as part of their "simuldub" online broadcast of the show. The scene I just mentioned would have translated better if the word "want" was used instead of "love": Tohru explains the dangers of wanting treasure, but exclaims "I... I want you, Miss Kobayashi!" "You... want to eat me?" "No! I mean sexually!" You see? It flows better. But both the English dub and the subtitles use the inferior translation, even on the home video release. This type of issue happens a few times throughout the show, especially noticable in comedy, when jokes fly fast and need to make sense to the native audience. This is the main reason why the English dub suffers, even though the actors otherwise provide a good performance despite script problems. Anyway, that's mostly all there is to the story. It's a slice-of-life adventure with vignettes ranging from half an episode to a few seconds, representing jokes from the original manga the show is based on. Kobayashi either doesn't understand that Tohru is in love with her, or perhaps just doesn't care... or maybe she doesn't mind? Either way, they get along, and soon, a few other dragon characters also follow after Tohru, and decide to settle down in the area with human hosts of their own. One dragon is an adorable child named Kanna, another is a woman with massive breasts, another is a gothic man who finds passion in video games, etc. A comedy like this doesn't really need a strong story, and the theme of acceptance is well played. I don't know that I would be able to watch much more beyond the 13 episodes (plus one subtitled-only OVA), but the time spend with the first season felt just right.
Truely, the anime is simply sweet, and its hard not to love these characters. And family-friendly too... wait, scratch that. There isn't much fanservice in the show (and the character designs don't explicitly push that aspect), but there are a handful of jokes that are surprisingly sexual. Perhaps it might fly over the head of a child, but an adult would be concerned sharing this with their family. It limits the audience, but so does having a gay dragon with a big fat tail. And it was these jokes more than anything that made me fall to the floor laughing. If a show is able to do that at least once, then it did something right as a comedy.Visually, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the look of "Miss Kobayashi." The character designs are a bit more plump than the original slender manga designs, but it works for their personalities. None of the characters are necessarily attractive, but they are cute to varying degrees. The dragon elements are unique, giving their human forms antleer-like horns, and rendering their full dragon forms as massive round figures. It isn't super detailed, but it is pleasant, colorful, and distinctive enough to be immediately recognizable, the type of art I would be happy to buy a lunchbox of. And the animation is a treat, like most of Kyoto Animation's shows. In this case, it comes in the form of human-dragons letting loose by blasting fireballs in the sky, or wrestling each other in the local park playground. During these scenes, the action is fluid, but even during regular moments, the production team clearly spent a lot of time and care even in the regular moments. It's because of that relative consistency that I consider the animation as a whole to be strong here. Aside from the English dub (good, but not great), the music is enjoyably catchy, thanks to a great opening and ending theme, and otherwise has upbeat and peppy background music to set the right tone.It's harder for me to whole-heartedly recommend "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid" to literally anyone in the street: it features gay dragons, maid otaku, and some questionable sex jokes with a dragon five-year-old. But I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't fall in love with the show either. I guess when you get to know them, most things aren't as strange as they seem, or are sometimes better for those differences. Only Funimation's handling of the release (substandard English script, undubbed OVA) puts me in a bad mood, otherwise this is a great way to brighten up the day.