English Dub Review: Monster Girl Doctor “The City of Dragons’ Doctor”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Lady Skadi’s surgery went successfully after all, and the city of Lindworm has a big ceremony to celebrate the operation’s completion. However, Glenn doesn’t attend, as Sapphee has caught a cold and stays home to recuperate. Glenn gives her some helpful treatment before going out to make a housecall.

But while he’s out and about, he runs into Skadi, who has developed quite a crush on the good doctor. She ends up bestowing a giant barrel of wine to him, and once some of his past patients see Doctor Glenn on his way home, they all pitch in to give him gifts. Back at home, he has a little party at the clinic, where all of his patients/love interests fight over his attention.

Our Take:

Monster Girl Doctor’s final episode is one of the lower points of the season, without much drama, excitement, or comedy going on. Rather, there’s just a whole lot of his patients talking about how head over heels they are for him, and cattily fighting for his affections. I had hoped for a more put together finale, but that was not to be.

The episode starts off with Skadi and her celebration, but quickly turns the attention from her successful recovery to her crush on the doctor. She even starts calling him an affectionate nickname, which is translated in the dub as ‘Big Brother’. It’s awkward, especially since Lady Draconness is hundreds of years older than Doctor Glenn. Instead of seeing more of Skadi’s newfound peace of mind and exploration of the joys of rediscovering life, the episode just turns her into a puppet singing Glenn’s praises — as if we didn’t have enough of those already.

Sapphee, perhaps the only truly well-developed love interest for the doctor, spends much of the episode separated from him as he goes about his house call. Arahnia comes over to take care of her, and the two of them have some stilted dialogue about which one likes the doctor more, etc. etc. It all comes across as just more of the same dumb drama over Glenn, and doesn’t add anything new to the episode or to their dynamic.

One of the episode’s redeeming qualities is how it integrates all the former cast members in fairly believable and natural ways, as they all come together to show their appreciation for Glenn’s medical skills. From Lulala inquiring about the barrel of wine to the village of harpies bringing their bounty of food provided by the giant goddess, I always like it when old friends show up in finales.

While this episode didn’t rank highly in my book due to its failure to do anything unique or special in wrapping up the story, perhaps that’s just what the anime ending was meant to do. There are several books out that detail what happens next, and buying them is probably what the anime producer’s are hoping for — although without even a cliffhanger to interest potential readers, it’s unlikely anyone will be in a hurry to learn what’s in store for Glenn and his harem of patients.