A Spoiler Free Gush Fest
UGHHHHHHHHHH!!
I still remember how I binged the first season. Cup of tea, pitch black and on my bed. Comfy, just like this show. The opening is seared into my hippocampus. A vaguely overweight, balding man, spinning, the perfect T-pose. Breathtaking.
Dragon Maid is back with S to try to con me into thinking “slice of life” is a genre I even vaguely fuck with. This mix of the mundane, filtered through the fantastical sheen of all-powerful dragons is ridiculously potent. I imagine it’s similar to the way parents feel re-experiencing the world through their children. What was once barely noticed due to the over-exposure of daily living becomes hyper charged with mystery and charm.
KyoAni just demonstrates time and time again that everything is about execution. This is A N I M E. The aesthetics and character designs are highly memorable. Hitting all the correct visual feel for a show of this type. The animation putting the majority of other TV anime to shame. Jokes are always given that extra little layer to surprise. Hands on hands. Too many hands to count!
In terms of overall structure and presentation of the plot, season 2 is basically a home run. While presenting strong episodic concepts and fully exploring them, there is also a gradual reveal of backstory and lore from the fantasy world all our dragon compatriots originate from. It manages emotional punches, to go along with the physical ones. No longer is the finale a dowdy, misplaced piece of drama. It’s a recapitulation of all that is most endearing about the series, set in this hyper-stereotype of Japanese ecology.
This all leads to my greater, more meta-perspective on Dragon Maid. Both seasons are a celebration of anime as a medium. A steelman of classic anime tropes. It’s quite common for anime fans to take an increasingly pessimistic view on common tropes of the medium as the number of titles added to their belts increase. Ecchi and harem as genre are for horny teenage boys. They aren’t for those of us with galaxy brains! But Dragon Maid comes along and shows why, or at least how, some of the oldest tropes in anime can be entertaining. Illulu having huge knockers may be titillating for teenage boys but it’s because of some quirk of dragon physiology okay!! Huge boobs and random groping via perfectly timed falls may not do anything for me, but it’s Anime damn it, and I love anime.
_If you have any thoughts please send me a comment : ) No I will not apologise for being a stan. My only reservation is that Faf and Makoto don't get more screen time :'( This season is likely to increase to a 10 on re-watch (which is the precondition I place on myself for giving the illustrious "10"). _
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