English Dub Review: Dragon Goes House-Hunting: “Hunter goes Dragon-Hunting”

Overview: The hunter known as Huey (Damian Mills) along with his trusty cat companion, Albert (Dawn M. Bennett) hunts for the Letty. Later, Dearia (Steven Kelly) and Letty (Michael Kovach) save a princess known as Nell (Jad Saxton) from abduction. 

Our Take: In a remarkable turn of events, as opposed to having our big red dragon on the prowl for a home, we have Letty being hunted himself. Although I suppose that’s not terribly shocking considering most times everyone and their mother wants a piece of him. All the same though it makes for an interesting start to the series’ tenth episode. 

Dragon Goes House-Hunting often gets its kicks from putting Letty in precarious positions. And god damn if it never gets old. It always manages to work so well because of all the uniquely absurd premises and characters the show creates that cause his reputation to be overblown and for propaganda to be spread, which in this case, is thanks to the hunter Huey and his little pal of a kitty, Albert. Besides that their appearance, although short and sweet, is yet another great addition to the satirical fantasy video game world as the wacky characters make for a great duo in Huey’s relentless cowardice and Albert’s pacifying tone. 

The real meat of the episode however is in the form of a new character introduction in that of Princess Andriana Ellen Croixdea Margarethe Emmalyn Narsham Felna, or Nell. She is an excellent new addition to the main cast with her spoiled and uppity manners that mixes with Letty’s kind demeanor like oil to water creating a fun bickering banter. She too is looking for a home after leaving hers and asks for Dearia’s help in the matter. It is also where we get to learn about her idea of an average, everyday exquisite house made entirely of glass and all the very normal amenities that come with it, like a luxurious bathroom and sculptures. The search for Nell’s bare minimum is just goldflaked icing on top of the velvet cake in how it emphasizes her bratty personality and Jad Saxton plays her to perfection with her condescending tone but also her sweet bashfulness too. 

Now you may have asked yourself before: Was it really necessary to write out her entire meandering name? And I assure you it absolutely was because the satirical and/or hyperbolic references poking fun at general fantasy affairs is part of what makes this episode, and the show as a whole, so much fun. Whether it’s that of heroes constantly pestering princesses or even just long ridiculously long last names, House-Hunting understands fans of the genre and plays to them exceptionally well.

Lastly, after Letty proves himself as kind and loyal, Nell decides to join him along with Pip and Dearia in their adventure for a home. Their relationship throughout the end of the episode is really sweet as they show how much they care for each other that is made even more wholesome with more of their petty quarreling . It does seem to tease some sort of romance potentially which would be quite interesting were it to actually progress considering the species difference. Perhaps I’m misinterpreting it and it’s just an adorable friendship but it sure as heck seems to be otherwise and would be quite a development moving forward.