English Dub Review: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid “Second Dragon, Kanna! (We’re Totally Spoiling Here)”

This is not the Double Dragon you were looking for.

Spoilers Below

So, fresh off last week’s start, we return to the life and times of Kobayashi and her live-in dragon maid, Tohru. Early on, we’re treated to a little shopping scene in an outdoor market. This gives us a little bit of insight into Tohru’s mind. She hates big-box grocery stores, and prefers one-on-one contact with humans to large groups. This is all the result of her ancient dragon PTSD. I mean, if you have spent eons with angry mobs wanting your head, you’d likely steer clear of crowds, too.

This is when we are introduced to the tiny child, Kanna. She’s a young dragon with gothic lolita style and a puffball tail. Kanna has been banished from the dragon realm for her pranks and is now low-powered and unable to go home.  She tracked Tohru down from her magical antics in the last episode but has nowhere to go. Kobayashi invites her to live with them. Kanna plugs her tail into a wall socket for a recharge of her powers, and when that’s all done, it’s time for play! Have you ever had two cats? When they play-fight, it looks an awful lot like real fighting. Apparently, when two dragons fight, it’s like that. With fire breath and lightning beams. Only Goku and Vegeta would think it’s cute. Apparently, this is not only a play for dragons but normal for humans in the dragon realm. Kobayashi leaves it up to Tohru’s (admittedly limited) knowledge of the human world to teach the tyke how to act. A few incorrect explanations and sweet treats later, we start getting a touch of Tohru’s backstory.

Tohru has apparently been gone from the dragon realm for some time, and everyone has thought she died. She’s allowed this to happen, as she’s had to escape from the dragon realm for some unknown reason. She was badly injured, but Kobayashi had managed to save her. They decide to don their magical perception filters and go visit Kobayashi at work.

This being their second entry, the format of this show is becoming more clear. The writing is less about telling one contiguous story in an episode, and more about giving you a feel for the zany lifestyle Kobayashi has been thrust into. There are tiny vignettes of Tohru trying to convince Kobayashi to eat bits of her tail meat. It’s okay, it grows back. These develop the characters’ various personalities through comedy instead of drama, which also lightens up the rare instance of deeper plot. If you’re looking for heavy drama, look elsewhere (maybe Chain Chronicle?). There wasn’t as much of Tohru trying to force her affections on Kobayashi, but she continued professing her love. They may be toning back her more provocative nature.

The animation on this episode has gone up a notch. The fight scene between the two dragons is quite the treat, and earlier in the episode, Tohru lays the smack-down on a purse snatcher. These two scenes have excellent animation and amazing effects, despite how brief they were. This proves that Kyoto Animation is not slacking on the polish, even for a comedy anime like this. If you need to know who they are, go watch the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumia and Full Metal Panic! for some reference. The dub quality was pretty much the same as the last episode, with nothing quite remarkable in it. Still solid enough to get the job done. It seems they’ve dealt a bit with Kobayashi’s low volume. I still had to turn it up, but I wasn’t straining to understand her as much as I was in the last episode.

So, they’ve kept up the funny, reduced the ecchi, and drove the animation through the roof for this episode. I’m really quite pleased with the turn it’s taken, and will definitely continue watching it. I give it nine hunks of tail meat out of ten!