English Dub Review: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid “Summer Staples! (The Fanservice Episode, Frankly)”

My inner prude is screaming in torment. My inner artist screams in glee. Shota is just screaming.

Spoilers Below

Summer fever is upon Japan if you couldn’t tell from the heat and festival atmosphere from the other “real-world” anime I review. Kobayashi and the gang head over to the beach. The dragons do so because it’s time for fun, Kobayashi because her boss asked her to watch his son. You remember him? Shota, the boy mage who tried to summon a demon and got Lucoa instead. Why Kobayashi has to watch him is anyone’s guess, but it gets her out of the house. First order of business? Get some clothes on Lucoa. No wonder the kid thinks she’s a succubus, she’s a brick house and letting it all hang out. Next? Sunscreen! Of course, this leaves the two lady dragons in a position to put their hands all over their master’s body- “Get weird, get fired.” Kobayashi says. Shota blushes so hard he gives himself a sunburn and runs off.

After a couple summertime beach games, Tohru and Kobayashi get to talking about family. Kobayashi had a pretty normal family life. They loved her and gave her plenty of opportunities to succeed. In recent years, they’ve grown apart, simply from distance and preoccupation with her job. Tohru recedes into her own thoughts. Thoughts of a dragon instructing her that all humans are evil, and to kill them all. The programmer notices that the dragon is bothered. Listless, she says, never been this low on energy. Kobayashi, in a moment of deep understanding, asks Tohru if she could ride her dragon form.

The gang, now speeding through the ocean on Tohru’s back, are free to be themselves. While fishing, Kobayashi admits the conversation got her thinking that she should go see her parents. The dragon responds that she wishes she could introduce her master to her parents, but they would try to kill her. Kobayashi points out that Tohru has developed her own thoughts and values independent of her parents, a natural step in growing up.

The next day, Tohru and Kobayashi join Fafnir and Takiya at Comiket, a convention devoted to independently produced manga. Takiya has a table where he’s selling a manga, and he needs the ladies’ help in keeping control of the line. Lucoa can’t help because she’s being carted off for having too skimpy an outfit again. Fafnir couldn’t help because he has a manga of his own: “Curse Anthology”. Not a story about cursed people, but an anthology of curses. If one were to read his comic out loud, they’d start killing people. And he’s selling them for 1000 yen! That’s a little under $9, and really not that bad of a value for that much firepower. Thankfully, they aren’t selling well, primarily because this is his first year. While Kobayashi handles Takiya’s table, Tohru wrangles the line. Not only is the convention floor packed elbow to elbow, lines for specific tables are out the door and around the building. A photographer comes up to Tohru and asks about her maid cosplay. She objects since it’s her actual uniform, but he’s impressed all the same and asks to take her picture later.

Now, Tohru isn’t the only one there who is more than meets the eye. Her magical senses detect that many supernatural creatures are hanging about, all in their natural forms. They’ve taken advantage of the convention atmosphere to be themselves. She sees this environment and pines to be a bit more of her true self. Kobayashi ascends and the dragon lets out her wings and tail. Shortly thereafter, she develops a line of photographers all her own. She marvels, wondering what this special feeling is that Comiket engenders. Whatever it is, it reminds her of what she feels when she thinks of Kobayashi.

By the way, this whole episode has bits of Kanna eating random critters. Somebody take that girl to a buffet, her appetite is showing!

I was afraid of this episode, to be honest. I’m not a big fan of fanservice. All in all, it kept things pretty tame and used the episode to start delving into the backstory of the two main characters. I was more than pleased when the setting switched to Comiket. I’ve worked as an independent artist at a convention before, and the episode really captured the spirit. The maddened crowd, the disappointment of a first-timer, and the air of connection and enthusiasm that permeates the whole building. I was really amazed by the animation in this portion, as the cosplayers posing was so realistic in motion, I felt like it was rotoscoped. The scene in the ocean with Tohru’s dragon form was also well animated, with great art for Tohru’s face. I’ve gotten a new understanding of the direction taken for Kanna’s voice by Jad Saxton. The monotone of her speech is something I’d heard before in small children but didn’t connect until now. I’m just waiting to see about the fifth dragon that they’ve been teasing…

In case you’re wondering, I give this episode eight skimpy bikinis out of ten.