This review contains no spoilers

My main opinion of the first season of Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was that it was good, and possibly great even, but it didn’t show true mastery over what it did. I still stand by that opinion firmly. It has all of the elements of a great slice of life all the way through, but I felt that a lot of what it did was done better at least somewhere else. That is not to mention that all ecchi parts were a bit of a mixed bag. Still, though it was good fun that was especially aided by the Kyoto Animation’s golden touch. However, the wait for the sequel turned from more of a sense of hype to one of general emotion. Even though the tragic events of the arson attack on KyoAni’s Studio 1 building happened over two years ago at this point, it still somewhat feels like a surreal event. It sticks to my mind to this day due to how even in the current year, and probably will when it fades from the general consciousness of most of the anime community. Even though Dragon Maid wasn’t my favorite KyoAni property, it now meant something truly larger. A lot of the wait became more of a wait of an old friend finally coming home. Something familiar to all of us on our television or computer screens that once brought us joy was finally coming back. Even if Dragon Maid S was just okay or even sub-par, we would all probably still forgive it just on the fact that it just represented KyoAni’s return to TV. It didn’t have to be in the upper echelons of their catalog for it to mean something. However, even although it would’ve been well-received either way, the team at Kyoto Animation managed to pull off something truly beautiful. You know when I said that Dragon Maid didn’t have proper mastery of everything it tried to do? Well, this second season was about to flip my narrative of the show completely on its head.

From the get-go, Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid’s two main characters, Kobayashi and Tohru are like a match made in heaven. Even with the introductions of their personalities in the first episode, the two of them make for an incredible comedic duo. They foil each other in a remarkable sense. The idea of “opposites attracting” comes into full swing here. Seeing an eccentric mythical being head over heels for an ordinary office worker is just plain fun a lot of the time. The two’s chemistry with each other allows the show to be more reliably funny, as a lot of the comedy is centered around the characters rather than the situations. Since the bulk of the series follows these two, it allows nearly every segment primarily featuring the two of them to flourish. While this combination of personalities leads to incredible comedic potential, it also leads to incredible dramatic potential. Even if it isn’t at the forefront of the series a lot of the time, it is as integral to what makes Dragon Maid work as its comedy. While the obvious differences between Kobayashi and Tohru are in their personalities, the direction that their character arcs go in is completely different. Kobayashi lived a mundane life, but the introduction of Tohru brought excitement and wonder to her lifestyle. On the contrary, Tohru lived a chaotic life, but the introduction of Kobayashi in her life brought new peace and tranquility. While the directions that these two characters go in are completely different, they each end in the same place. In many ways, they complete each other. Like yin and yang, Kobayashi and Tohru are the two halves that make the whole of Dragon Maid.

This is the main formula that makes Dragon Maid work, and the first and most of the second season have more or less the same approach to frame this relationship in the story. In the first season, the dramatic elements are nearly all used for heartwarming moments at the end of a segment. This is a common hallmark of slice of life series of this nature since their premises are so down to earth that heartwarming moments are one of the only ways to squeeze dramatic value out of the series. Most of the second season has the same approach, and it still works very well here. There is a common theme around slice of life shows of this nature. Since the characters grow on the audience throughout the series, the second season is usually better than the first just on the fact that the viewer is usually far more attached to the characters and is way more invested in their antics. This applies to the second season as well, but Dragon Maid S takes it an extra step. There are many segments where the comedy takes a backseat, and character development is the primary focus. In a comedy/slice of life series like this one, the changes to the writing don’t feel jarring due to the serious segments just building off of what the comedic parts built up in the background. To even further compliment these moments, there are also moments of very interesting philosophy explored through these moments. Part of the reason why Dragon Maid S works so much better than its predecessors is owed to the presence of moments that lack comedy.

While the main duo was always what made Dragon Maid as special as it was, things start to get a bit more mixed when transitioning over to the side characters. Kanna is probably the character that gets the most screen time besides Kobayashi and Tohru. While not as deep as the two of them, Kanna’s ventures to figure out the human world around her are very entertaining. She exemplifies childhood wonder in a way that is very hard to replicate. The new side character, Illulu, is probably my favorite side character in this show. Her arc near the beginning of the series perfectly fits in with the general themes that the relationship of Kobayashi and Tohru set up. For the few episodes where she is the focus, she manages to be a perfect counterpart for both Kobayashi and Tohru. Illulu’s place in the story is completely natural in the grander arcs of Kobayashi and Tohru. This is the same with Elma, being instrumental to the growth of Tohru while just being an entertaining goofball in her own right. I don’t particularly find myself that attached to Fafnir and Takiya, even though I do still enjoy them when they are on screen. However, the two side characters that are the biggest stains on this otherwise beautiful picture are Saikawa, Lucoa, and Shouta. Saikawa is a singular joke on a broken record. She marvels at how Kanna is cute with the same face all the time, and it got completely old after the second time. The subplot with Lucoa and Shouta… is problematic. I don’t really want to mull on it since it makes me uncomfortable to think about, but the people who know what it is about these two know what I am talking about. This is the first season of Dragon Maid’s largest problem, and Season 2 more so leaves the bad side characters in the background rather than fixing anything about them. This was probably my biggest disappointment with Season 2, since leaving it in the background doesn’t exactly solve anything. Still, though the bulk of the side characters are entertaining but not as good as characters as Kobayashi or Tohru.

In terms of my biggest surprise, this series actually has some of the best action scenes all year. Kyoto Animation was never a shounen studio. They specialize in slice of life, and they are pretty good at bringing them to life. The first season did have action scenes, but they weren’t prominent enough to be memorable. With the action scenes in the second season on the other hand, what the fuck. To be honest, I am not exactly the biggest fan of battle shounen, take one look at my anime list to figure that out, but the action scenes and their animation of Dragon Maid blow my mind. Unlike with story or characters, I really can’t put into words why the animation of the second season is good, but I don’t really think it takes any analysis to see why it hits it out of the park. Kyoto Animation is just flexing their muscles at a time when they would be forgiven for not doing so. However, Dragon Maid’s action scenes go even further than just good animation. Since most of the series focuses on slice of life shenanigans, the few action scenes that are there are placed very purposefully. They either progress character development or the story when there are no better methods to do so. With the moments of action so sparse, it makes it far more rewarding when one comes up compared to a battle shounen with fights nearly every episode. If you told me a few months ago that Dragon Maid S would be the best action series of 2021, I wouldn’t believe you, but now I think it blows everything else out of the water.

Out of any anime studio that exists, Kyoto Animation has a stranglehold on most of our hearts like no other. Dragon Maid S is a perfect encapsulation of why they are so special. It is a fun slice of life series with sprinkles of action with a lot of deep philosophy under the hood. It is as fun as it is deep. For a return of a studio after such tragic events unfolded, their return didn’t need to be a kick in the door like this. It didn’t have to have amazing animation. It didn’t have to break new ground. It didn’t even really have to be good just because we would be thankful that KyoAni is back. However, Dragon Maid S manages to rank as one of the studio’s best in circumstances that truly boggle the mind. Because of the effort put in by the ones behind the scenes, Dragon Maid S managed to be one of the bright spots of this year for me. And to be frank, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thank you for reading to the end of the review if you did. If you have any criticisms of how this review was made, you are free to message me or reply to this activity to critique what I had to say.

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And most importantly, rest in peace to all at KyoAni that had their lives cut short. Thank you for the work that touched me and many others in their lives. You will forever be missed.