English Dub Review: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid “Emperor of Demise Arrives! (It Was the Final Episode Before We Knew It)”

The differences between us are what makes our bond strong. That bond is home.

Spoilers Below

It’s Kobayashi’s day off, and she’s looking to just chillax under the kotatsu. Tohru prepares some coffee for her, and it’s just right. The right temperature, the right potency. She reveals that she had been experimenting to be able to match the coffee to how she thinks Kobayashi is feeling. The results are astounding and almost impossible. But it isn’t the fact that she’s a dragon that makes it possible. It’s Tohru. Her passion and attention to detail. Kobayashi watches Tohru wave goodbye to Kanna for the day, then gaze up at the melancholy overcast sky. She is about to head out for the day’s shopping and asks what she should make for dinner. An image appears in Kobayashi’s mind. A happy dragon maid presenting Omurice. It’s a simple image, filled with meaning and depth. An image of home. Omurice it is, but if it could be “normal” omurice, it would be nice. The dragon leaves Kobayashi to ponder her Goldilocks coffee.

As she shops, she spies a show on the news. How short lives they have, it says. This strikes her like an arrow to the knee. Of course, it’s talking about certain kinds of mice that only live a year or so, but it means something to her. She is reminded of that which she has left buried in her for all this time. Kobayashi is gonna die someday. She’s going to die long before Tohru or any of the other dragons even get old. A phantasm of her inner dragon appears before her. It demands to know how long she intends to stay like this. How long she intends to continue being a false human and live such a tiny limited life. But Kobayashi is her life. She knows that the programmer is going to die, but in the meantime… this is her life, and she enjoys it. The debate grows heated, and the phantasm shatters the world around her in her mindscape. Each of the other dragons senses a disturbance in the force, turning their gaze to the shopping district. Can they feel Tohru’s anguish? Can they feel her control over her draconic nature slipping? Though it is, her inner turmoil is not caused solely by what is within her. No. There is another.

Tohru’s father, the Emperor of Demise has arrived and has drawn her up in the sky to him. He continues to ask her the same questions posed by her inner dragon. When her answers do not please him, he unfurls his cloak, wraps her up in it, and takes her away. Away to the dragon world. Kanna arrives at home and tells Kobayashi the news. It doesn’t even register. When the truth of the situation, that Tohru is gone forever, finally hits the woman, it tears at her mind and heart. All of the stages of grief pass through her and she’s left feeling… empty.

Kobayashi and Kanna live by themselves now. So many of the things that Tohru just did feel alien to the pair. Getting Kanna up in the morning? Making coffee or warm milk? All of these things are completely normal, but Tohru made them just immaterial. The coffee is terrible now. It used to be a symbol of her joy and fervor. Now it’s just a piece of her that’s missing. Knowing how and when to take out the trash is a complication. Dirty clothes are strewn about. Kobayashi has reverted to how she was when Tohru arrived and is taking Kanna with her. When the little dragon is with her “friend” for a sleepover, she just huddles under the covers for comfort. They’re alone, even when they’re together. Her life is hollow and void. She doesn’t even want to go out drinking with Takiya.

There’s a knock on the door. Tohru knocks on the door. It takes a moment for this to sink in, and when it does, Kobayashi is up like a shot. The doorway is filled with the snout of a green dragon. She returns to her human form and greets her mistress. Kobayashi is overjoyed to see her friend but is confused. She didn’t think Tohru would be able to defy her father’s will like that. How come she was able to come back? As if on queue, a portal opens, and the Emperor of Demise arrives. He’s furious that Tohru left again.

This isn’t just about a controlling father, or about a war that desperately needs her power. There are rules and reasons Tohru can’t stay. If she does, other dragons will want to come. And the more dragons that come means that not all of them will be nice. Soon, there would be a full-scale invasion. Kobayashi is unsure about whether or not to get involved between a parent and child, but hearing Tohru’s resolution to stay, she chimes in with a simple “Hey”. A flick of the elder dragon’s finger launches the woman back, breaking her glasses. He will allow her to speak, but she should choose her words wisely. He may not be allowed to kill her, but he will bring her within an inch of her life. She throws back his logic. That is just a possible future, and he’s using it to deny her happiness in the now. It wouldn’t be her fault if there was an invasion. Isn’t he aware of just how awesome Tohru really is? “Yes, I am.” A response that cut straight to Tohru’s heart. Her father… thinks she’s awesome… Kobayashi presses further. And further. She is determined to keep Tohru with her.

And Tohru says no. This act of defiance is all he can stand. The Emperor leaves through a portal, and his daughter follows, but not to the dragon world. The two meet on a vast battlefield and return to their dragon forms to fight a battle for Tohru’s freedom. It rages on, the two mighty beasts pitting their wills against each other. As they charge up what is sure to be a final exchange, Kobayashi arrives astride Kanna. She begs them to come to a compromise, and can’t understand why these dragons are always so driven to conflict. That difference between them is the reason he is forbidding this relationship. Kobayashi and Tohru are too different to be able to fit. The programmer counters. When two people see their differences and find the ones they like, those differences turn into respect. That respect can become understanding and that understanding into fondness. It is their differences that allow them for bonding. Tohru is more than capable of making this kind of understanding and can make decisions for herself. Doesn’t he trust his daughter?

That last question got to the heart of the matter. He doesn’t approve of what Tohru is doing, but he doesn’t have to. He just has to trust in her ability to find her own happiness. He turns and leaves. Tohru launches herself at Kobayashi in the hug we’ve seen in the opening sequence of every episode. She’s free. Having met Tohru’s father sparks something in the programmer. She’s thinking she might go back and see her parents. She invites her dragon friends to come along, and they are more than delighted. They’re home.

Wowee! This episode was very intense. The full feelings of the characters really came out, and I was barely able to remember to take screenshots for you all! The scenes of Kobayashi and Kanna without Tohru were depressing and left you feeling the void that Tohru left behind by using the little things of their life that were slipping through the cracks. The art was PHENOMENAL. Every scene was either detailed and filled with dragon-y awesome, or subtle and reeking with authentic feeling. The animation took the cake. All of it was traditional, and I saw not a hint of CG, which makes it all the more apparent: This episode was a labor of true love. Those animators let this show go out with a bang, arguably better than any other episode in the season. The voice acting followed suit. These actresses knew their characters and worked hard to bring out their feelings. It actually left me wanting more, and a bit sad that this may be the end of the series. I give this episode my first ten of ten, would watch again.

P.S.: Don’t forget to cuddle your dragons.